Small cup, big dose
Starbucks’ Cortado comes in one size only: an 8 oz cup with three ristretto shots of blonde espresso and a little steamed milk, 230 mg of caffeine. That is more than a Grande Flat White (195 mg) in half the volume, and about three times an 8 oz cup of drip coffee at USDA’s reference strength (95 mg).
Ristretto shots are pulled shorter than a standard shot, which concentrates the espresso rather than diluting it, and three of them in a small cup is why the cortado punches well above its size.
The strongest small drink on the menu
Among Starbucks’ short-format espresso drinks, the Cortado’s 230 mg beats a Doppio Starbucks Espresso (two shots, 150 mg) and even a Triple (225 mg), despite fitting in the same 8 oz cup as a Short latte or cappuccino at 75 mg.
The single-size format also means there’s no way to order a smaller cortado to reduce the dose the way you could ask for a Short cappuccino; asking for fewer shots is the only way to bring the caffeine down while keeping the drink’s style.
Where it fits in a day
At 230 mg, a single Cortado is over the 200 mg single dose EFSA assessed as safe for healthy adults, on its own. It is a little over half the 400 mg daily figure the FDA cites for healthy adults. In pregnancy, where ACOG uses a 200 mg daily ceiling, a single Cortado already exceeds the whole day’s allowance.