Abstract After doing the experiment on extracting caffeine from tea, the students also want to know how to extract caffeine from coffee, however few literatures are available so far. In order to solve the students' confusion, this paper introduced the experiment operations of the extraction of caffeine from instant coffee. The experimental methods to obtain pure caffeine included the filtration, extraction, drying, distillation, sublimation and other operations. On the basis of the information provided by this paper and comparing the different experimental methods for extracting caffeine from two different substances,students can better understand the relationship between the material properties and the experimental methods/operation steps. The understanding towards the extraction experiment and the operation methods are enhanced, and therefore the students' innovative ability and practical ability are improved.