Several studies report a substantial rise in plasma catecholamines after caffeine. Epinephrine infusion induces a pressor response after nonselective beta-blockade. We studied the hemodynamic and humoral effects of drinking coffee after placebo and after both nonselective (propranolol) and beta 1-selective (metoprolol) blockade in 12 normotensive subjects. After placebo, coffee induced a rise in systolic and diastolic blood pressure and a fall in heart rate, whereas forearm blood flow did not change. Plasma catecholamines, especially epinephrine (+150%), rose and plasma renin activity, fell after drinking coffee. The effects of coffee on blood pressure, forearm blood flow, and all humoral parameters were not altered by pretreatment with propranolol or metoprolol. The fall in heart rate after coffee, however, seemed to be greater during propranolol. We conclude that the rise in plasma epinephrine after coffee was too small to reveal differences in reaction in propranolol- and metoprolol-pretreated subjects.