A plain cup of black coffee has just 2–5 calories.
However, once you add cream, sugar, or flavored syrups, that number can skyrocket fast.
This guide breaks down the true calorie count of your morning brew — from minimalist to indulgent — so you can sip smarter without derailing your goals.
Black Coffee Calories: The Exact Numbers
A standard 8-ounce cup of black coffee has just 2 calories, according to FDA data. That’s because it’s nearly all water, with only trace solids from the beans.
Preparation method can shift this slightly — espresso, for example, packs around 20 calories per 8 ounces due to its higher concentration of dissolved oils and solids.
But don’t worry: a single espresso shot still only has about 2 calories.
No additives = barely any calories. It’s everything you add that changes the equation.
Compared To Other Coffee Drinks
Compared to other coffee drinks, black coffee is, by far, the healthiest.
When you include additives in your drink the calorie count can jump up.
Here’s how the calorie counts of different coffee drinks stack up per 8 ounces:
- Black Coffee — 2 calories
- Iced Black Coffee — 2 calories
- Espresso — 20 calories
- Brewed Coffee from Flavored Beans — 2 calories
- Coffee with 1 Tbsp creamer — 32 calories
- Coffee with 1 Tbsp skimmed milk — 7 calories
- Coffee with 1 Tbsp half-and-half, and 1 tsp of sugar — 38 calories
- Nonfat Latte — 72 calories
- Flavored Latte — 134 calories
- Bulletproof Coffee (Containing coffee, butter, and coconut oil) — 325 calories
Macronutrients
The macronutrient content of coffee is exceptionally low. As we said before, black coffee is mostly water and contains a small amount of dissolved solids from the coffee beans.
Therefore, a cup of coffee contains negligible amounts of calories, carbs, protein, and fat.
It does contain some micronutrients, however. The most notable ones are the antioxidants that coffee is full-to-bursting with, as well as the potassium and magnesium content.
It’s important to remember that these micronutrients don’t represent a meaningful number of calories or nutrition, though.
How Coffee Additions Impact Calorie Content
While all additions do increase the calorie content of a coffee drink, some increase it more than others.
Milk Options
Different forms of milk will add different numbers of calories to your cup, typically based on how much fat is in them. This will particularly be the case for creamer, which has a lot of fat and sugar in it. Let’s break down some common types of milk and how they can add calories to your drink.
For these measurements, we’ll presume that you’re adding roughly 15 ml of milk to a cup of coffee, around a tablespoon’s worth.
- Dairy Milk, Whole — 9 calories
- Dairy Milk, 2% — 7 calories
- Oat Milk, unsweetened — 7 calories
- Almond Milk, unsweetened — 3 calories
- Creamer — 19 calories
- Half-and-half— 19 calories
- Sweetened Condensed Milk — 46 calories
These options are all assuming you’re having a black coffee with some added milk. If you’re having a milky drink like a latte, though, you would expect it to contain around 6.7 oz/200 ml of milk.
Here’s how the milk options stack up with that in mind:
- Dairy Milk, Whole — 59 calories
- Dairy Milk, 2% — 46 calories
- Oat Milk, unsweetened — 46 calories
- Almond Milk, unsweetened — 20 calories
All of these options add some calories to your beverage, but perhaps the most surprising is creamer. Adding a splash of creamer to your morning cup will add nearly ten times the original calorie count of the coffee!
This may not be too much for one sitting, but considering how many of us drink coffee all day long, the numbers can add up to be quite worrying.
Sweeteners
Because of coffee’s naturally bitter flavor, plenty of coffee lovers prefer to add something sweet.
Here’s how one teaspoon of these common sweeteners compares to one another:
- Sugar (white) — 16 calories
- Sugar (brown) — 18 calories
- Honey — 15 calories
- Maple Syrup — 13 calories
- Stevia — 0 calories
- Sweet ‘n’ Low (saccharin sugar substitute) — 8 calories
Specialty Options
Several additives find their way into coffee, other than simply sugar or milk.
Below, we’ve drawn up a list of some common additives and listed their calorie count for a roughly average serving size.
- Flavored Coffee Syrup, 15 ml serving — 46 calories
- Sugar Free Coffee Syrup, 15 ml serving — 3 calories
- Whipped Cream, 30 g — 115 calories
- Vegan Whipped Cream Alternative, 30 g — 106 calories
Most cafés use 1–2 pumps (7.5–15 ml each), so just two pumps of chocolate syrup can add up to 92 calories—and that’s before whipped cream.
These extras aren’t “bad,” but if you’re drinking them daily, the calories can quietly stack up. Treat them like dessert: enjoy occasionally, not automatically.
Does Brew Method Affect Calories?
For the most part, no. Most black coffee — whether French press, pour-over, or drip — has about 2 calories per 8 oz.
The only real outlier is espresso, which has more dissolved solids per ounce due to high-pressure extraction. Still, a single shot (1 oz) only has 2 calories, same as a full cup of drip.
Filtered vs. unfiltered brews (like French press or espresso) can differ slightly in fat content due to coffee bean oils, but the calorie difference is negligible — less than 0.001 kcal.
Calculating Exact Numbers for Calorie Counting
If you’re tracking calories, don’t ignore your coffee — especially if it’s not black.
Here’s a simple way to estimate the numbers:
- Discount the Coffee — While coffee does contain a small number of calories, it’s such a small number that it may not be relevant for quick calculations such as this one.
- Consider the Milk — Depending on whether you’re having a splash of milk or a milk-based drink like a latte, the calories will increase by different amounts. We’ve got many examples laid out above, but for whole dairy milk, a tablespoon equates to 9 kcal, and 6.7 oz/200 ml for a latte equates to 59 calories.
- Consider the Sweeteners — Many sweeteners are labelled as being sugar-free or calorie-free, and they typically won’t increase the overall calorie count. For every teaspoon of sugar, however, add 16 kcal to the running total.
- Consider the Syrups — It can be tough to know the exact calorie count of different syrups, but a good rule of thumb is that sugar-free syrups add around 3 kcal per pump, and regular syrups add around 50 kcal per pump.
As you go through the above process, keep a running total in your mind, and you’ll have a good estimate of the calorie content of your coffee drink.
While it’s not as precise as it could be, it should be close enough to be useful when tracking calories throughout the day.
Black Coffee & Weight Management: Facts vs. Myths
Coffee isn’t a magic fat burner — but it can support weight loss when used right.
Several compounds in coffee (not just caffeine) affect fat storage, metabolism, and exercise performance.
How Coffee May Help With Weight Loss:
- Prevents Fat Storage: Coffee may inhibit adipocytes — cells that store body fat [2].
- Slows Carb Absorption: Chlorogenic acids can reduce how quickly your body absorbs carbs.
- Improves Exercise Performance: Caffeine may enhance strength, endurance, and movement speed [3].
- Boosts Resting Metabolism: Drinking coffee can raise your metabolic rate by 5–20% for up to 3 hours [5].
Caffeine: The Active Driver
Caffeine is the primary stimulant in coffee — and one of the key reasons it helps with weight management.
- Promotes Fat Reduction: Regular intake may reduce body weight, fat mass, and BMI [4].
- Enhances Mental Focus: Alertness and energy from caffeine may help you train harder and stay consistent [3].
Common Misconceptions
There are many misconceptions around how coffee relates to weight loss, so let’s break a few of them down.
- It’s a silver bullet — While coffee can be useful as part of a wider approach to weight loss, it won’t do all the work for you. To see a meaningful and long-lasting effect, it’s important to make lifestyle changes and exercise regularly.
- Coffee’s an appetite suppressant — Some people find coffee to be an effective appetite suppressant. However, studies into this have been very mixed, with some saying that it has little to no impact.
- Coffee burns fat — The caffeine in coffee can release fatty acids in your system, but this isn’t a big enough impact to truly burn fat. Diet and exercise appear to be much more critical.
- The caffeine is the important part — Coffee contains many compounds, and lots of them can help with weight loss. Chlorogenic acids, in particular, may help to slow the absorption of carbohydrates.
Black Coffee and Intermittent Fasting: Does It Break a Fast?
No, plain black coffee is fine during a fast.
It has 2–5 calories and no carbs or protein, so it won’t affect insulin or autophagy.
- ✅ Fasting-safe: Black coffee only
- ❌ Breaks fast: Anything with calories — milk, cream, syrups, sugar
Metabolic Impacts & Autophagy
Fasting triggers autophagy — a natural process where your body recycles damaged cells for energy. Black coffee may support this by encouraging a faster metabolic shift from glucose to fat for fuel [7].
Coffee may also reduce inflammation, offering added metabolic benefits during a fast [6].
Timing Your Coffee During Fasts
Drinking black coffee during a fast is fine — but timing matters.
Aim to drink your coffee 1–2 hours before your first meal.
That way, the caffeine “crash” overlaps with the natural energy boost from your post-fast meal, helping you stay sharp and avoid a dip in energy.
FAQs: How Many Calories in a Cup of Black Coffee?
Here are some straightforward FAQs to clear up any confusion.
1. How Many Calories Are in an 8-Ounce Cup of Black Coffee?
An 8-ounce cup of black coffee will contain approximately two calories. However, a 1-ounce espresso can have the same number of calories due to a higher caloric density, so avoid larger portions of espresso.
2. Does Adding Milk to Coffee Significantly Increase Calories?
Adding milk to coffee can significantly increase calories, simply because black coffee contains virtually no calories. 1 tbsp of whole milk adds 9 kcal, 2% adds 6 kcal, and half-and-half adds around 20 kcal!
3. How Many Calories Does Sugar Add to Coffee?
Sugar can add many calories. Per teaspoon, sugar has 16 kcal, honey has 15 kcal, and maple syrup has 13 kcal. Stevia and other zero-calorie options can be good, but may affect insulin response in some individuals.
4. Does Black Coffee Break an Intermittent Fast?
No, black coffee doesn’t break a fast. It contains around two calories per portion, significantly less than the 10-calorie limit that breaks a fast. To be on the safe side, steer clear of additions like milk or sugar.
5. Does Black Coffee Help With Weight Loss?
Black coffee can certainly help with weight loss. Drinking a cup around thirty minutes before exercise can give you extra energy to make the workout easier, and can enhance muscular strength [3].
6. How Do Different Brewing Methods Affect Coffee’s Calorie Content?
Different brewing methods have very minor impacts on the final calorie count of the cup. Paper filters can trap some of the fats from the coffee, so pour-over methods can have 1–2 calories per portion, while French press and cold brew can have 3–5 calories per cup.
7. Does Decaf Coffee Have the Same Calorie Content as Regular Coffee?
Yes, both decaf and regular coffee have roughly the same number of calories: 2. The calories in coffee come from proteins and oils in the beans, not the caffeine.
8. How Can I Track Black Coffee in My Calorie-Counting App?
Black coffee can be added as zero calories, since two calories are negligible for a daily total. However, if you’ve got lots of additivities, add those separately for accurate tracking.
9. Does Adding Cinnamon or Cocoa Powder Significantly Increase Coffee Calories?
A dash of cinnamon on top of your coffee contains around 1.6 calories, and the same amount of unsweetened cocoa powder contains three calories. These additions are negligible, especially compared to calorific syrups or sugar.
10. How Does Coffee’s Calorie Content Compare to Other Common Beverages?
Black coffee has significantly fewer calories (2–5 per 8-ounce cup) than other beverages. The equivalent amount of orange juice contains 110 calories, cola contains 90 calories, and a latte contains 120+ calories. Switching to black coffee can make a significant difference.
References
- Ratnayake, W., Hollywood, R., O'Grady, E., & Stavric, B. (1993). Lipid content and composition of coffee brews prepared by different methods. Food and Chemical Toxicology, 31(4), 263-269.
- Sirotkin, A. V., Kolesarova, A. (2021). The Anti-Obesity and Health-Promoting Effects of Tea and Coffee. Physiological Research, 70(2), 161.
- Guest, N. S., VanDusseldorp, T. A., Nelson, M. T., Grgic, J., Schoenfeld, B. J., Jenkins, N. D. M., Arent, S. M., Antonio, J., Stout, J. R., Trexler, E. T., Smith-Ryan, A. E., Goldstein, E. R., Kalman, D. S., & Campbell, B. I. (2021). International society of sports nutrition position stand: caffeine and exercise performance. Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition, 18(1), 1.
- Tabrizi, R., Saneei, P., Lankarani, K. B., Akbari, M., Kolahdooz, F., Esmaillzadeh, A., Nadi-Ravandi, S., Mazoochi, M., & Asemi, Z. (2019). The effects of caffeine intake on weight loss: a systematic review and dose-response meta-analysis of randomized controlled trials. Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 59(16), 2688–2696.
- Zhang, H., & Speakman, J. R. (2024). The complexity of coffee and its impact on metabolism. The Journal of Endocrinology, 262(3), e240075.
- Kim Y, Je Y. Moderate coffee consumption is inversely associated with the metabolic syndrome in the Korean adult population. British Journal of Nutrition. 2018;120(11):1279-1287. doi:10.1017/S0007114518002635
- Anton, S. D., Moehl, K., Donahoo, W. T., Marosi, K., Lee, S., Leeuwenburgh, C., & Mattson, M. P. (2017). Flipping the Metabolic Switch: Understanding and Applying Health Benefits of Fasting. Obesity (Silver Spring, Md.), 26(2), 254.
