How Much Caffeine Is In McDonald's Iced Coffee?

Caffeine is what keeps the world humming. It's the sweet nectar that we need coursing through our veins for those early morning work meetings and those late night projects, research papers, and soccer tournaments. But caffeine is the Goldilocks of ingredients. Too much of the stuff and you get the jitters; not enough caffeine and you're falling asleep. You want a coffee that hits the sweet spot, and if you're a fan of McDonald's iced coffee, you might be wondering how much caffeine this brew contains. 

While McDonald's doesn't explicitly state the amount on its website, the general consensus is that it can range from between 94 milligrams of caffeine for a small 8-ounce cup of iced java and 200 milligrams per serving for a large 17-ounce cup. On the caffeine spectrum, 94 milligrams is approximately the amount of caffeine in a single cup of brewed coffee, give or take a few milligrams, while 200 milligrams is like drinking two cups of hot coffee and will give you a respectable buzz. In fact, you could have two large McDonald's iced coffees before you hit the maximum amount of caffeine you can safely consume each day, which is a whopping 400 milligrams. How do other popular fast food chain's iced coffee compare?  

McDonald's coffee competitor, Dunkin', is pretty forthcoming about its iced coffee's caffeine content. In an online Q&A on its website, the donut chain shared that the jolt customers get from drinking a large 32-ounce Dunkin' iced coffee clocks in at 398 milligrams, while a small 16-ounce cup of this brand's iced coffee contains roughly 198 milligrams of caffeine. For those who are math challenged — no judgment — that's slightly less than double the amount of iced coffee and double the amount of caffeine compared to McDonald's. And if your taste buds crave Starbucks, and you aren't challenging yourself to only order this chain's best drinks that aren't coffee, its 16-ounce cup of iced coffee contains 185 milligrams of caffeine. 

If you are getting the vibe that the amount of caffeine that all these iced coffees contain is virtually the same and the only thing that is different is the size of the cups, we're with you. But this is an important detail if you don't want to be bouncing off the walls because of excessive caffeine consumption. So, if you are having a large McDonald's iced coffee, along with one of your favorite fast food breakfast sandwiches, just remember to limit yourself to no more than two a day.