Skull-and-crossbones symbol and a warning grace the 16-ounce bag, which comes at a stiff price — $20.
UNCONFIRMED: Death Wish Coffee is the world’s strongest coffee.
If you like your morning drink extra strong, the creators of Death Wish Coffee say they can oblige with a medium-dark roast that comes with a warning label and about 200 percent the caffeine of “your typical coffee.” It’s “the strongest organic/fair trade coffee on the planet,” its web site says, creating buzz, so to speak, from Buzzfeed, Time, and Daily Mail.
“You probably can’t handle its flavor and intensity. Many sleepless nights will result,” the warning label reads, in part. “…By making this coffee some have called us irresponsible, we think it’s revolutionary.” A 60-day guarantee says you can get your money back if it’s not the strongest cup of coffee you’ve ever had.
Death Wish founder Mike Brown wanted to create a strongly caffeinated coffee after several customers of his coffee business in Upstate New York said to him: “Give me a cup of your strongest coffee.” He’d reply that his strongest-tasting joe wasn’t his most caffeinated. Lighter roasts contain more caffeine. “A puzzled look would usually follow,” according to a press release.
What do testers think?
“We do think we get an extra kick; it’s like a sugar rush alongside the smooth caffeine soar we typically get,” states Ohgizmo.com, adding “it’s not anything that had us shaking, twitching, sweating.” A former Starbucks barista who tested it for Time danced in her swivel chair and was “sweating a little bit” after consuming 8 ounces, which she ultimately concluded was her limit, as 16 ounces brought a bigger crash. Amazon customer reviewers are largely favorable. Elsewhere, after Andy Campbell of Huffington Post drank it for three days, he wrote, “Is it the strongest, most amazing cup in the world? No…”
Is it safe?
Skull and crossbones aside, is it safe? Some doctors suggest that it’s safe to consume up to 200 milligrams of caffeine daily, according to FDA.gov, which the agency translates to mean 10 ounces of ordinary coffee daily. Mayo Clinic’s web site translates it to mean 16 ounces of ordinary brewed coffee daily, which is the limit it advises for pregnant women. Consuming up to 16 ounces of ordinary coffee actually could help protect against heart failure, a study suggests. Each person is a little different in how sensitive they are to caffeine’s effects, the FDA says.
Death Wish contains about 250 milligrams of caffeine in an eight-ounce cup of coffee, Megan Corrigan, of Death Wish Coffee, tells MSN News.
Experts agree that 600 milligrams of caffeine each day “is too much,” the FDA says. Caffeine tablets, which each contain as much caffeine as five to 15 ounces of coffee, similarly are dangerous, the FDA says, pointing to a 19-year-old college student who overdosed on caffeine tablets to stay awake – and died. To top it all off, it all may be for naught. Coffee consumption actually turns out to be unrelated to alertness, according to a study that suggests the stimulating effects are “an illusion.”
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