Adenosine is a compound present in all living tissue. Adenosine builds up in the body during the day making you feel more tired, as you sleep Adenosine gradually declines to make you feel less tired. After a good nights sleep Adenosine will be very low, and you will feel wide awake but when you haven’t had enough sleep you will still have Adenosine in your system, and you will still feel tired
Espresso contains caffeine which binds to Adenosine receptors, which prevents Adenosine from increasing in your body and making you feel tired, so yes Espresso will wake you up, but how much do you need?
It takes between 30-60 minutes for caffeine to be absorbed by the body, the effects will last for up to six hours, 70mg is considered to be the minimum to wake a person up with 200-300mg enough to keep a person awake. Everybody has different metabolisms and caffeine sensitivity so personal experimentation will be required.
- A single shot of Espresso contains around 70mg of caffeine
- A double shot of Espresso contains around 140mg of caffeine
- A regular cup of Coffee contains around 95mg of caffeine
It would be safe to say that a double shot of Espresso will wake you up, have another one mid-morning and that should be enough to keep you awake for the rest of the working day. You might, however, need a third shot sometime in the afternoon.
Getting The Most Caffeine Out OF Your Espresso
A finer grind of your coffee beans will result in a slower extraction process and more extracted caffeine.
If you want more caffeine, grind your beans fine.
Most Espresso comes from Arabica beans which will on average give you 140mg to a double shot of Espresso. Robusta beans contain on average 83% more caffeine than Arabica beans, so a double shot of Espresso made with Robusta beans will give you 256mg of caffeine.
So if you want maximal caffeine from your Espresso use Robusta Beans