fbq('trackCustom', 'view_shop_coffee'); var trackEvent = 'shop_coffee'; The strongest coffee is typically made from robusta (canephora)…
Do you need a crowbar to pry your eyes open in the morning? Do you feel groggy until that third or fourth cup of coffee? If your coffee consumption is primarily for the effect, then there is good news. Death Wish Coffee (DWC) is one of the strongest, widely available coffees on the market.
We tested several Death Wish blends at home to evaluate caffeine strength, taste, and brewing performance. While these coffees are less about delicate flavor complexity, they deliver a bold profile with a noticeably higher caffeine impact.
The year was 2012. Mike Brown, Death Wish creator, succeeds in perfecting the recipe and roasting process for the world’s strongest coffee. Lighter roasts usually have more caffeine. But his unique process preserves caffeine content while letting the roast go super dark.
DWC is often marketed as an extremely high-caffeine coffee, and it has even been featured in special projects like NASA-related collaborations. In 2018, the company worked with NASA Food Labs to create a unique instant coffee. This freeze-dried blend was sent to the International Space Station and drank by the astronauts there.
Because this coffee is very high in caffeine, you should take note of how much you are drinking. A single cup has twice as much caffeine as your brewed coffee at the coffee shop. While caffeinated coffee can have health benefits, do use caution. Just a couple of cups can exceed the FDA’s recommended limit of caffeine.
How do they get such a high caffeine content? DWC is a blend of arabica and robusta beans. Arabica beans are prized for their complex flavor and delicate aromas. Robusta beans have about twice the amount of caffeine but have a reputation for being bitter. They were primarily used in instant and cheaper commercial coffees, but that is changing. More roasters are using robusta beans in their blends to add a depth of flavor and boost the caffeine content. As a result, more care is taken with the growing, harvesting, storage, transporting, and roasting of the beans. This, of course, means better-tasting beans.
DWC is recognized by the Specialty Coffee Association as a specialty roast. All coffees from DWC are certified Fair Trade and USDA Organic. They also go the extra mile to take care of their employees by offering comprehensive health care, paid vacation and holidays (including birthdays), and flex-time.
How strong is the world’s strongest coffee? An average 6-ounce cup of drip coffee is around 75mg of caffeine. A 6-ounce cup of DWC has about 350mg of caffeine. So, be warned. The Mayo Clinic advises that a healthy caffeine amount is up to 400 mg per day. For pregnant and nursing women, that limit is reduced to 200mg per day.
Because of the caffeine strength of this coffee, it is good to know the effects of too much caffeine. According to the FDA, this can include insomnia, jitters, anxiousness, and a fast heart rate.
In general, Death Wish suggests using the ratio recommended by the Specialty Coffee Association. For good, strong coffee, that amounts to about 2.5 Tablespoons of coffee to 6 ounces of water. That gives a ratio of about 1 part coffee to 16 – 18 parts water. You can adjust to match your taste preference. Using less water will produce a stronger brew, but if you go too far in that direction, you might end up with undrinkable swill.
If you’re drinking coffee for the effect, you should know that the grind size and brew method make a difference in the caffeine content. A finer grind will release more caffeine, but if too fine, will give you a bitter brew. So be sure to follow the recommended grind size for your chosen brew method.
Immersion brewing methods, namely French press and cold brew, will yield the most caffeine in your cup. While you use a coarser grind, the immersion time is greater. Espresso uses a much finer grind. But because the contact time is so short, 20 to 30 seconds, it extracts the least amount of caffeine.
DWC prefers manual brewing methods, such as pour-over or French press. Heat water to between 195- and 205-degrees F. If you don’t have a thermostat, you can bring water just to a boil, then let it sit for 30 seconds. This will get you close to the desired temperature.
There are many ways to buy DWC. Perhaps the easiest is to buy from the Death Wish store on Amazon. You can purchase the coffee as whole bean, ground, or instant. You can also get the coffee in convenient K-Cups.
DWC is also available in many grocery stores around the country. We don’t usually recommend buying coffee at the grocery store because you don’t know how long it’s been sitting around. Another option is to buy directly from Death Wish. Through the company, you can sign up for subscriptions that will give you fresh coffee delivered to your door on a regular basis. List of other coffee subscriptions.
For our at-home test, we received Death Wish dark roast, Death Wish medium roast, and Valhalla Java. All these coffees are a blend of arabica and robusta beans. The beans for the Death Wish blends are usually sourced from India and Peru. The beans for Valhalla Java are sourced from Honduras, Guatemala, Sumatra, Peru, and India. Robusta beans are smaller than Arabica, and you can easily see this in these blends.
As a company, Death Wish maintains the irreverent and rebellious attitude it had from the start. This attitude is apparent in its packaging. But they also take coffee seriously. All the bags were well sealed with one-way valves to retain freshness. Although there was no roast date listed, opening the bag released an explosion of fragrance. The bloom was vigorous, and it tasted fresh.
Both of the Death Wish varieties (dark roast and medium roast) were easy to open and reseal. The same is not true for the bag of Valhalla Java. This bag was difficult to open. We ended up having to tear the bag. Even then, we could not fully open the bag. As a result, we needed to store the coffee in an alternative container. This was frustrating, especially since the other two bags worked perfectly.
This is a dark roast that yields slightly oily beans. It had a roasty, tobacco taste. I was not impressed by the pour-over or automatic-drip cup, as they seemed to accentuate the bitterness. Brewing with a French press produced an acceptable cup. It held up to milk very well. When brewed in an espresso machine, I could not drink this straight. However, it made a fine latte. Overall, it lacks complexity of flavor, but if you like really dark roast and want a hefty dose of caffeine, this will do the trick.
Of the three coffees, I was least impressed with the medium roast. It didn’t have the depth of flavor I expected in a medium roast. The natural sugar in milk helped. The addition seemed to bring out the slight caramel and nutty flavor notes. This performed best as a French press; the extended extraction time brought more flavor.
This is another dark roast, just slightly lighter than the Death Wish Dark Roast. The beans are quite oily. If you have a finicky grinder, you might run into trouble. I noticed quite a few deformed and broken beans in the Valhalla Java. It did make a very nice espresso. The Valhalla Java does not have quite as much caffeine as the Death Wish blends, but it was still a kick in the pants. It did have the heavy, dark chocolate notes you expect from Indonesian coffee. If you like that, which I do, you will probably enjoy the Valhalla Java whichever way you brew it.
Yes, provided you don’t overdo it. Use your best judgment. If black tea and caffeinated soda get you going, you may want to pass on Death Wish.
Attitude and caffeine. Due to its blend of robusta and arabica beans, a cup of Death Wish can have more than twice the caffeine as ordinary coffee.
Yes. It has a strong taste and a high caffeine content.
The full effect typically lasts between four and six hours. But caffeine does have a half-life. Use your judgment when drinking after about 2 pm. Unless, of course, you work the night shift.
Absolutely yes! It makes a wonderful espresso. Because espresso produces the lowest amount of caffeine among brewing methods, starting with the highest content is a definite plus. Death Wish and Valhalla Java both stand up well to milk and other additives.
Death Wish is one of the most well-known high-caffeine coffee brands, but the “strongest coffee” depends on the beans, brew method, and serving size.
A 6-ounce serving of DWC has about 350mg of caffeine. That is about four times what you’ll get in your average cup of brewed coffee.
If you love strong coffee, both in taste and caffeine, then you’ll love Death Wish coffee. Often marketed as one of the strongest coffees available, it packs a much higher caffeine punch than your average cup. Its unique blend of robusta and arabica beans gives it a serious boost while Death Wish’s roasting methods keep it smooth. If you consume coffee for the effect but still want to enjoy the experience, give Death Wish a try.