Coffee Calories

The coffee, espresso, and tea that Europeans sip in their cafés hasn’t changed much

over the years. But stop at a coffee house in the U.S. (there are probably two on the

next block), and that 10-calorie beverage has likely morphed into a 500-calorie

milk shake. Here’s how to keep your coffee break from turning into a Big Mac break.

Like their fast-food cousins, Starbucks and

other coffee sellers put nutrition numbers

on their Web sites, but not their menu

boards. If Starbucks did, here’s what you’d

see.

Latte.

A grande (16 oz.) nonfat Caffè

Latte (two shots of espresso with steamed

milk) is a bargain when it comes to calories

(160), saturated fat (0 grams), and

calcium (some 450 milligrams). But

you’ll add:

•

70 calories for flfl avored syrups (unless

you get no-cal, sugar-free Hazelnut or

Vanilla),

•

100 calories for whole milk instead of

nonfat, or

•

50 calories for soy milk.

If you’re not careful, your bargain can

balloon to a whole-milk Vanilla Latte

with 320 calories and 7 grams (a third of

a day’s worth) of sat fat. Oops.

Bonus: get any grande nonfat latte iced

and you’ll save about 50 calories.

Cappuccino.

The mix of steamed

and foamed whole milk that’s added to

the espresso supplies a grande with just

150 calories, but who needs 5 grams of

saturated fat in their coffee? Stick with

nonfat milk and you’ve got a 100-calorie

Best Bite with around 250 mg of calcium—

20 percent of a day’s worth.

Mocha.

A grande White Chocolate