When Jeremy Clark entered his 40s, he started to feel anxious in the mornings. Deciding caffeine was the likely culprit, he began weaning himself off his usual multiple cups of coffee by going down to a single cup. He then moved to black tea, then green tea.
Now most mornings he makes a chicory root latte, or occasionally orders a latte made from hojicha, a roasted Japanese green tea with low caffeine. The anxiety has declined “almost to negligible levels, so I think it was worth it,” says Clark, an engineering professor in Montreal.
While plenty of Americans are emphatically unready to give up caffeine, many are experimenting with a new range of options beyond the traditional cup of hot java, paying heed to caffeine’s impact on their sleep, mood and energy level. Consumers are becoming more cognizant of “energy management” in their beverage choices, says Daniel Jhung, president of the coffee and beverage division of Nestlé USA. For many, this might mean drinking coffee in the morning, but going easy on caffeine in the afternoon.
The average 8-ounce cup of coffee contains 96 milligrams of caffeine, according to the Mayo Clinic. Nestlé introduced a half-caffeinated Starbucks Coffee at Home House blend of its K-Cup pods in 2023, and late last year it brought out the retail version of Starbucks Refreshers Concentrates, which have the same amount of caffeine as green tea. Another option, Peet’s Middle Ground half-caffeine coffee and K-Cup pods, launched earlier this year.
Formats are also shifting, as younger consumers embrace cold, canned beverages over hot coffee. That’s visible in the rapid growth of energy drinks, but also in less-supercharged options. Sales of refrigerated, ready-to-drink bottles of uncaffeinated coffee and tea were up almost 15% in the 52 weeks ending March 22, while sales of coffee beans and cocoa fell nearly 10%, according to data from Spins, a market researcher. Caffeine-free sodas were up 4.1% in dollar sales, while beverages labeled “decaf” grew almost 37%, in the 52 weeks ending May 9, according to NielsenIQ.
Here’s a look at some of the forces fueling this minimalist approach to caffeine:
Replacing booze
With alcohol consumption declining, some people want an evening alternative that won’t leave them too buzzed for bed. Communications strategist Michael Ricci, 45, decided to cut down on caffeine for Lent and avoid alcohol on weeknights. The Maryland resident couldn’t relinquish his morning coffee, but he gave up energy drinks. At the grocery store, he stumbled upon Coca-Cola Zero Zero, which has no sugar or caffeine, and he now buys a couple of cases at a time.
“The idea that you could have the signature sweetness of Coke Zero without the caffeine consequences — it’s the perfect suburban nightcap,” he says. Coca-Cola unveiled a redesigned Coca-Cola Zero Zero can in Europe, after the company’s research found that roughly 60% of adults there watch their caffeine intake at night.
Clean-label living
Recent health and wellness trends have persuaded many consumers to scrutinize ingredients more closely, with many trying to cut back on artificial dyes, added sugar, processed food and, in some cases, caffeine. Tiffany Henriques, a lifestyle and wellness content creator in South Florida, stopped drinking coffee after a long bout with strep throat, replacing it with iced matcha lattes.
“What I love about matcha is, if I don’t have it, I’m totally fine,” says Henriques, 27. The switch felt “less about the caffeine and more about a wellness ritual I was adding to my morning.”
Adriana Gindlesperger, a 38-year-old resident of Malvern, Pennsylvania, found she felt less anxious when she drank decaf coffee during her pregnancy, and decided not to return to the regular version. “It’s just not the right energy that I’m looking for,” she says. But, having trouble finding anything she thought tasted good, she decided to make her own. This year she and her husband, Christopher, launched Lowkey Coffee, which offers two canned decaf cold brews.
Wearable technology
Newer personal health-monitoring technologies, including the Oura Ring, Apple Watch and Whoop, let people track how changes to their routines affect their sleep. These devices also tell people when they consume caffeine and how much.
Lakeisha Allen, who left the corporate world to become a longevity coach, helps clients improve their health and nutrition. She realized that caffeine was cutting into her deep sleep after she started wearing an Oura Ring.
“I was basically tired but wired, because I would have the typical afternoon slump,” says Allen, 39, who now lives in Portugal. She cut out caffeine in the afternoon, making a small matcha in the morning. The change has given her more deep sleep and left her more energized, she says.
Energy moderation
Many consumers just want to cut back on caffeine, not eliminate it, and a slew of new options tout energy in moderation. There’s Pure Leaf Mental Focus, a sparkling iced tea PepsiCo introduced in April that has L-theanine, an amino acid found in tea leaves, and 69mg of caffeine from black tea. Tamar Date Coffee offers blends that dial down the caffeine by cutting the coffee beans with roasted dates.
A new Liquid Death energy drink has 100mg of caffeine. That’s about the same as a cup of coffee, but roughly a third as much as energy drinks like Reign Total Body Fuel and Bang Energy. “We just knew that the category had gone a bit caffeine-crazy,” Liquid Death CEO Mike Cessario says. “We think about ourselves as the light beer of energy drinks.”
Nick Bergantine, a substitute teacher in Portland, Oregon, decided to swap out a higher-caffeine energy drink for one with lower caffeine after efforts fell short to eliminate it entirely. Bergantine, 34, says he used to drink Reign energy drinks, but experienced so much anxiety that it convinced him he needed to change his routine.
Novel formats
Many forms of caffeine don’t arrive in a cup at all. In recent years, consumers have been able to choose from caffeine gummies, lollipops, mints, gum, pouches and trail mix with caffeine-infused chocolate, among others. All of these products quantify how much caffeine each serving delivers — 35mg in an espresso-flavored Alert Pop lollipop, for instance.
Friss Labs began selling a line of caffeinated pouches this year that come in doses of 75mg and 100mg. “Instead of a kick in the face, the energy ramps up gradually and fades over two hours,” says Abel Santa, the company’s founder.
The choice to give up caffeine can still seem baffling to those not making the switch. Jack Reeves, a 37-year-old speechwriter based in Austin, says no one blinked when he tapped the brakes on alcohol. His switch from coffee to bone broth in the morning has given him more consistent energy, but it’s drawn more quizzical looks from friends.
“It’s like saying I’ve stopped drinking water,” he says. “People are like, ‘Why?’”
Peterson writes for Bloomberg.