Is there caffeine in soda?

December 3, 2025

Headache this whole afternoon. Got this ice-cold soda can. Finishing ingredients like a puzzle. Will it wake me up? Will it add more mass? Soda geek out. Caffeine in soda debates? Light or dark? Big deal. Dark sodas? Problematic. Coke. Dr. Pepper. 12oz. Caffeine content: 30 – 40mg. Barq’s root beer? 23mg caffeine. Mild buzz. Mug root beer? No caffeine. Coffee? Way more. 80 – 120mg. 8oz. No sugar crash. The Flavor Excuse Caffeine was originally added to soft drinks to enhance bitterness. The more sugar you add to a drink, the more bitter it gets. They use high-fructose corn syrup. No one wants to see a whole other nightmare I’m trying to avoid. They want us hooked. It’s vaulted flavor.

Let’s examine the facts. Regular Coca Cola has close to 34 mg of caffeine. Not a lot. A standard cup of a coffee can have 95 mg or more depending on how angry the barista was that morning. That being said, it can be assumed that chugging sodas all day is completely safe. BUT it is not. Because nobody drinks just one can. I sure don’t. You drink three, and suddenly you’ve downed a cup of coffee with a mountain of sugar. It’s a dirty little trap. Now, the clear sodas, like Sprite, 7-Up, Ginger Ale. Usually safe, Usually zero caffeine. But then Mountain Dew comes along, and it looks like radioactive waste. 54 mg of caffeine in a can. It’s a minefield. It screams at your kidneys.

The absolute worst part of the experience is attempting to figure it out right there in the store. Figuring it out as you’re standing in the aisle while people are awkwardly trying to push right past you as you try to read the incredibly tiny print on the back of the bottle – ‘contains caffeine.’ Some are big. Some are small. Some of those things are even hidden next to the ingredients list which is printed in such a color that barely contrasts with the color of the drink. Why make it hard to read? Just slap a caffeine sticker on the bottle for crying out loud. Some people drink so much that if they don’t get their daily Dew in each day they get a headache. Whatever. it’s a soda. That sounds pathetic honestly but I get it. I’ve been there. I’ve experienced the hallucinations and the mood swings that could kill a houseplant. There are plenty of sodas that are caffeine free but you have to be extremely careful and very even a bit paranoid. Sunkissed orange soda is caffeine free but Fanta orange soda is – black and white. There is no caffeine in it. Just a minefield. You think you know the rules and then a brand just breaks them to mess with you.

So is there caffeine in soda?

In soft drinks, is there caffeine, yes or no? Yes or no is also not an answer. It’s really a matter of what the manufacturer thinks you need, a caffeine jolt, or simply a sugar coma. Reviews of color, flavor, or brand not only inaccurate, but also irrelevant. At some point you simply need to read the label. At some point you need to accept the possibility of staying wide awake until 4 am, staring blankly at the ceiling contemplating the course of events to this moment. Alright, what the heck, I’m opening another one.