How Many Calories & Sugar Are In Your Favourite Hot Drinks?

By Moira Chisholm

Pic: iStockphoto

Courtesy of Nuyoo

There’s nothing better than grabbing a hot drink when you are heading to work, or relaxing with friends, but do you know the calorie and sugar count in the four classic choices at your favourite cafés? The results below may surprise you!

Calorie counts and sugar content

How do these figures stack up?

Caffè Nero takes the crown for the ‘healthiest’ cappuccino, with only 65 kcal and 2 grams of sugar for their regular size; Starbucks has the most sugar (11.4g).
Starbucks’ hot chocolate has the lowest amount of sugar (22.7 grams), while Costa’s hot chocolate has the lowest number of calories (208 kcal).
The most calorific drink Pret a Manger serve is a hot chocolate with 35.5g of sugar!
Caffè Nero has the least amount of sugar when serving up a mocha (19 grams), although it has most calories (305 kcal) compared to Greggs, whose mocha has a whopping 30g of sugar.

Brits may be partial to a cup of tea, but figures from The British Coffee Association show that approximately 95 million coffee cups are consumed every day in the UK, and it seems coffee is continuing to increase in popularity, for its ability to release the caffeine spike we all need to tackle the day ahead.

Coffee may be your ‘hit me-up’ drink, but have you ever stopped to consider the nutritional value of your favourite coffee when purchased from one of the leading retailers in the UK?

Four drinks, five coffee shops

Health and nutrition experts at Nuyoo.co decided to compare four classic hot drinks from five major coffee shops (Costa, Starbucks, Pret a Manger, Greggs and Caffè Nero) to see which brands slip in the most sugar and contain the most calories before additional sugar is added by the customer.

The data was gathered by looking at the nutritional information offered by each retailer on their website to reveal the number of calories and grams of sugar found in four of the nation’s most popular hot drinks: Cappuccino, Latte, Hot Chocolate and Mocha.

The researchers at Nuyoo selected semi-skimmed milk which most retailers use, as well as opting for a “regular” cup size which is approximately 12 oz. It must be noted that while “regular” was chosen, the measurement is approximate, and Starbucks measure their hot drinks in fl oz.

Cappuccino

Nuyoo found that if you are a cappuccino lover the best option with the least sugar comes from Caffè Nero, with their regular cappuccino containing 65 calories and 5.2 grams of sugar. Shockingly, Starbucks’ cappuccino contains almost double the calories and sugar (129 calories and 11.4 grams of sugar).

Latte

If you prefer your coffee milkier, then your personal preference could be a latte. Once again, Caffè Nero takes the lead as the “healthiest” with 78 calories and 6.4 grams of sugar. On the other hand, Starbucks makes the most calorific latte out of the five retailers with 143 kcal and 12.7 grams of sugar – roughly 3 teaspoons of sugar.

Hot chocolate

Surprisingly, when considering a classic hot chocolate, Starbucks’ take on this chocolatey delight contains the least amount of sugar (22.7g) and 234 calories. Comparatively, Costa’s hot chocolate has the lowest number of calories (208), and the second “best” for sugar (23.2g) The retailers frothing up a hot chocolate with the most amount of sugar is Caffè Nero (33.9g) and Pret a Manger who slip in the highest level of sugar when compared to all five brands (35.5g) – that’s nearly 9 teaspoons of sugar!

Close up view of word sugar written in granulated sugar

Pic: iStockphoto

Mocha

Nuyoo found that mocha is also relatively high in calories and sugar. However, if you are looking for the one classified the “lightest”, Caffè Nero comes again to the rescue, with their regular mocha containing 19g of sugar, compared to Greggs which contains a whopping 30g of sugar. However, whilst Caffè Nero contains the least amount of sugar, Nero’s mocha has the highest number of calories (305 kcal). Fancy a mocha, but don’t want to pile on the pounds? Head over to Pret a Manger (185 kcal).

Interestingly, Caffè Nero can be considered one of the best retailers for your choice of hot drink, with the lowest sugar and calories in three out of four classics.

Figures correct when first supplied by Nuyoo

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