How The Coffee Chart Is Built
Every number on this site comes from one typed dataset, and every page reads from it. Caffeine starts from a USDA measurement of the coffee. Ratios, cup sizes, and origins come from specialty-coffee guides and food-history references, each one logged.
Where the numbers come from
Caffeine starts from a USDA FoodData Central measurement of the coffee itself: espresso, and an ordinary cup of brewed coffee. Each drink scales that basis by the amount of coffee in the recipe we state, so the measurement is USDA's and the recipe is ours. We use a USDA record only when what it actually measured matches how the drink is really made.
There is no second food database to check a caffeine figure against, so each figure rests on a single USDA record rather than on two sources agreeing. Where no USDA record matches a preparation, we say the figure is ours and label it that way rather than borrow a number that measured something else.
Every number is derived, not typed twice
The site runs on one typed dataset. Diagrams, tables, and comparisons all read from it, so the same drink shows the same numbers everywhere. Caffeine figures are typical, not exact - they move with the bean, the dose, and the size - and the page states that basis instead of pretending a single cup is definitive.
Diagram fill heights reflect each drink's measured liquid - espresso, brewed coffee, water, and milk - drawn to one scale. Foam and ice sit on top as a visual cue, not a measured amount.
What strength means
The strength label is concentration: how concentrated the coffee tastes, on a one-to-five scale. It is not a caffeine rating. A small, intense drink can read stronger than a big milky one that carries more caffeine overall. We keep those two ideas apart so the chart stays honest.
When the history is not settled
Some origins are genuinely disputed - the flat white is claimed by both Australia and New Zealand, for one. Where the record is not clear, the page presents the open question rather than a tidy but false certainty.
Sources
These are the kinds of references the numbers trace back to, by field:
Caffeine
Caffeine figures start from a USDA measurement of the coffee and scale by the amount the recipe uses. Cold brew and Turkish coffee have no USDA record of a matching preparation, so those two figures are ours alone.
Ratios and cup sizes
Cafe recipes are conventions rather than standards, so these are typical proportions, not a specification. Each one is logged with the guides it came from.
Origins and history
Origin notes come from food-history references. Disputed origins are presented as open questions, never asserted.