An 8 oz cup of Earl Grey lands somewhere around 40 to 70 mg of caffeine. It is a flavored black tea, so it carries the same caffeine as its black tea base. For reference, Caffeine Informer puts brewed black tea at 42 mg per 8 fl oz, and Bigelow gives a 30 to 60 mg range for the same cup. Call it roughly a third to half of what you would get from drip coffee.
Why Earl Grey is not a special case
People treat Earl Grey like its own caffeine category because of the bergamot flavoring, but the caffeine comes from the tea leaf, not the citrus oil. Earl Grey is black tea with bergamot added, so its caffeine tracks whatever black tea the blender used. That is why the numbers move around. Twinings lists unflavored black tea at 40 to 76 mg per serving (one bag in 200 ml) and flavored black tea, which is where Earl Grey sits, at 31 to 45 mg. Same plant, slightly less leaf mass once you make room for the flavoring.
Steep time is the lever you actually control. Twinings notes that the longer the steep, the stronger the caffeine extraction, and recommends 3 to 5 minutes for black tea. A 2 minute dunk gives you a weaker, lower-caffeine cup. A 6 minute steep pushes toward the top of the range and gets astringent. If you want the caffeine without the bitterness, pull the bag at 3 minutes.
Earl Grey caffeine compared to other drinks
Here is how an 8 oz cup stacks up against the usual suspects. All figures are per 8 fl oz.
| Drink (8 oz) | Caffeine | Source |
|---|---|---|
| Earl Grey (flavored black tea) | ~40 to 70 mg | Twinings, Caffeine Informer |
| Brewed black tea | 42 mg (30 to 60 mg range) | Caffeine Informer, Bigelow |
| Green tea | 25 to 50 mg | Bigelow |
| Decaf Earl Grey | trace, near zero | Twinings |
| Brewed coffee | 95 mg or more | Bigelow |
The headline comparison holds up across sources. Twinings puts it plainly: on average a cup of black tea has about a quarter the caffeine of a cup of coffee. Bigelow says roughly half. The gap depends on how strong you brew each one, but Earl Grey is always the milder option. Against green tea the difference is smaller, and a long-steeped Earl Grey can easily out-caffeinate a quick green tea.
Decaf Earl Grey is not zero. The decaffeination process strips out most of the caffeine but leaves trace amounts, so if you are cutting caffeine to nothing, decaf tea still counts as something. Twinings sells a decaf Earl Grey for exactly this reason, aimed at evening drinkers who want the bergamot without the buzz.
For context, the FDA cites 400mg of caffeine a day as an amount generally not associated with negative effects in healthy adults. How caffeine affects you depends on your own tolerance and health, so treat these numbers as information, not advice.
What changes the number in your cup
Three things move Earl Grey caffeine more than the brand on the box. Steep time is first, as covered above. Second is how much leaf you use, a double-bagged mug runs higher than a single bag. Third is water temperature, black tea wants a full boil, and cooler water pulls less caffeine along with less flavor. A loose-leaf Earl Grey brewed hot for five minutes sits at the top of the range. A single bag pulled early sits near the bottom. Neither is wrong, they are just different cups.
An Earl Grey latte, sometimes called a London Fog, uses the same tea base, so the caffeine is the same as the tea you steeped. The steamed milk adds volume and calories but no caffeine. If a shop makes yours with two bags or a concentrate, it climbs.
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Related caffeine numbers
If Earl Grey is your drink, these are worth a look:
- London Fog caffeine, the Earl Grey latte broken down
- Boba tea caffeine, since most milk teas start from a black or green tea base
- The Barista Life caffeine database, our full index of drink numbers
FAQ
Does Earl Grey have more caffeine than green tea? Usually yes. Earl Grey runs about 40 to 70 mg per 8 oz against green tea's 25 to 50 mg, per Bigelow, though a lightly steeped Earl Grey and a strong green tea can meet in the middle.
Is Earl Grey a good coffee replacement for caffeine? It is a step down, not a match. Black tea carries roughly a quarter to half the caffeine of coffee, per Twinings and Bigelow, so expect a gentler lift rather than the same jolt.
Does decaf Earl Grey have any caffeine? A trace. Decaffeination removes most of it but not all, so decaf Earl Grey is near zero rather than truly caffeine free.