WellByNumbers.

When to stop drinking flat white

Flat white · 12 oz holds about 130 mg of caffeine. That's 1.4× an 8-oz brewed coffee — #35 of 78 drinks on this site, and about 32% of the 400 mg daily ceiling. Pick your bedtime and sensitivity; the cell is the clock time your last one starts — computed with a 5 h average half-life, and the calculator above adjusts live.

Finish your last one by

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Your 130 mg over the next 16 hours

0501000h2h4h6h8h10h12h14h16h50 mg bedtime limitunder 50 mg →
BedtimeSensitive · 25 mgStandard · 50 mgTolerant · 100 mg
10:00 PM10:06 AM3:06 PM8:06 PM
11:00 PM11:06 AM4:06 PM9:06 PM
12:00 AM12:06 PM5:06 PM10:06 PM

Source — Starbucks — Flat White nutrition (Tall 12 oz), checked 2026-10-13.

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Common questions

When should I stop drinking flat white before bed?

For a 23:00 bedtime at standard sensitivity (50 mg bedtime limit), finish your last flat white by 4:06 PM. Sensitive readers should shift earlier; tolerant readers later.

Why do the times differ so much between people?

Caffeine half-life ranges 1.5–9.5 h across healthy adults, and dose differs by drink. The same can that clears a fast metabolizer by dinner can still be 50 mg in a slow one at midnight.

Method

Cutoff = bedtime − T½ × log₂(dose ÷ limit), base T½ 5 h, limits 25/50/100 mg. Every cell is computed, not quoted — the cutoff calculator applies the same formula with your metabolism factors.

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