To make coffee ice cream, you need coffee, and almost all ice cream makers choose to use the good stuff, instead of silly old decaf. If you’re trying to avoid any bit of caffeine, you are unfortunately out of luck. That being said, the most caffeine any coffee ice cream has in it is about the equivalent of one half-cup of coffee per serving, less than 50 milligrams, and some brands’ caffeine content is much lower.
The amount of coffee, and thus caffeine, used in coffee ice cream can vary greatly by producer: Ben & Jerry’s Coffee, Coffee BuzzBuzzBuzz! flavor, for example, uses right around the equivalent of half a cup of coffee, with 45 milligrams of caffeine per serving. Talenti Cold Brew Sorbetto and Coffee Chocolate Chip Gelato contain a minuscule amount, .002 milligrams per two-thirds cup serving — that’s way lower than decaf coffee, which contains up to 7 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce serving.
But if you’re trying to get some ZZZ’s soon after having your dessert, and even the tiniest amount of caffeine could alter your schedule, you might want to avoid coffee ice cream. Most ice cream producers don’t print the amount of caffeine that’s in one serving of their delicious, frozen treats.
