by Nigel Ong
Many of us take strong coffee for the caffeine, thinking it can help to perk us up and keep us going for longer. If you do this regularly, you may wonder what coffee with the most caffeine tastes like.
To answer this, I picked up a bag of the “World’s Strongest Coffee” by Death Wish Coffee.
In this post, I will brew the coffee three ways and then sample it with flavorings such as sugar and milk. I will also try to describe if the caffeine is affecting me much before comparing its taste with other dark roasts.
About Death Wish Coffee
You may have heard of Death Wish Coffee, which regularly claims to have the “world’s strongest coffee.” It was founded in 2012 by Mike Brown in Saratoga Springs, New York.
Brown sought to create a highly caffeinated and flavorful coffee blend, addressing customer demands for a stronger coffee in his coffee shop.
The company gained significant attention after winning a contest to air a commercial during the Super Bowl 2016. This propelled the coffee roaster into the mainstream and made it popular.
The coffee is known for its high caffeine content, achieved by blending Arabica and Robusta beans. The specific roasting process, which is a trade secret, enhances the coffee’s strength and flavor.
Aside from the World’s Strongest Coffee, Death Wish Coffee also offers various roasts, with their signature blend being the most popular. This blend is characterized by a dark, bold flavor with subtle notes of cherry and chocolate.
Despite its potent caffeine content, Death Wish Coffee has received praise for maintaining a good coffee taste. Many enjoyed its smooth, palatable flavor profile, distinguishing it from other high-caffeine coffees.
In addition to its classic blend, Death Wish Coffee has introduced seasonal and limited-edition varieties, catering to different taste preferences. The company uses only organic, fair-trade beans, ensuring quality and ethical sourcing.
World’s Strongest Coffee – First Impression
My World’s Strongest Coffee bag is slightly larger, at 16 oz (454 gm). The coffee is very well packaged, with a one-way valve. It, however, does not have the foldable freshness tab.
On the packaging, you know this is a no-nonsense coffee. It has a large ‘World’s Strongest Coffee’ label written on it, with the USDA Organic label at the lower end of the packaging.
Once I tore away the seal, I could smell the coffee inside. The coffee smells fresh, with notes of bittersweetness, something akin to cocoa. However, the dominant aroma is smoke and wood, indicating a dark roast.
My World’s Strongest Coffee bag comes as ground coffee, meaning there isn’t much I can do to compare it with other coffee beans. It does look noticeably dark and reminds me of Peet’s Major Dickason’s Blend.
How To Brew The World’s Strongest Coffee
There are many ways to brew coffee. However, for the World’s Strongest Coffee, I’ll brew them using a French press, pour-over, and espresso. Here’s why:
French Press
This brewing style makes a murky, full-flavored coffee with floating particles. This should allow me to sample the coffee in its full flavor.
I will use my trusty Bodum Caffettiera French press to brew my French press. My brewing style is based on the recommendations by Illy Coffee.
I will keep to the 1:12 ratio, using 15 grams of coffee and 180ml of hot water at around 185°F (about 85°C). I will then stir the ground coffee and let the concoction brew for 4 minutes before pouring.
Pour Over With Filter Paper
This method produces a ‘cleaner’ version of the coffee without too much oil and particles floating about. This should help me to sample more of the subtle notes.
I will be using this set of gear to make my pour-over coffee:
My pour-over brewing steps are taken from Starbucks. I kept to a 1:18 ratio to simplify the process and used hot, off-boiling water for my pourings.
Espresso
The World’s Strongest Coffee is a dark roast and is said to have a lot of caffeine. Sounds like the perfect kind of coffee to turn into espresso.
For espresso, I will be using my Wacaco Minipresso GR to pull an espresso shot. This is a hand-held, manually-operated espresso maker.
How Does the World’s Strongest Coffee Taste?
French Press
As I brew, the coffee has a smoky aroma. This will be a strong cup. As I pour the World’s Strongest Coffee out from my French press, I can see that the coffee looks a bit dark in color with some slight transparency.
When I take my first sip, I notice the coffee’s overall smoke and wood notes. Let’s just say the smoke and wood notes punched my palates quite well.
The coffee has a very Robusta-like bitterness, reminding me of the Bali Kintamani Robusta I had recently. A quick search online shows Robusta beans in the World’s Strongest Coffee.
Robusta generally has more caffeine in the beans than the regular Arabica beans we normally drink. This may explain how Death Wish Coffee can produce the World’s Strongest Coffee here.
As the coffee sits inside my mouth, I can pick up a bittersweet taste with a chocolate-like undertone. There is also some dark cherry flavor, which helps to make the coffee more enjoyable.
The coffee finishes quite strong, too, leaving an aftertaste of slightly sweet notes on my tongue after I swallow the coffee.
Pour Over With Filter Paper
The pour-over version of the World’s Strongest Coffee certainly has fewer sediments since the filter paper likely removed some of the coffee particles. The coffee seems to look a little ‘cleaner’ as well.
As for the taste, the pour-over coffee tastes a little less intense than the French press brew.
These are likely the work of the filter paper. Aside from the particles, it may also have removed some of the coffee oils.
The smoky and woody notes are less punchy, making the coffee smoother and easier to enjoy. The cherry note is stronger here, with a more subdued chocolate note.
A pour-over brew may work well if you tried the coffee with a French press and think it is too bold.
Espresso
The resulting espresso from World’s Strongest Coffee is rich, with velvety crema. The color is beautiful, too. The aroma is smoky and woody but less intense than traditional espresso.
As for the flavoring, the espresso is bold and beautiful. The initial flavor is smoky and woody, and the punch is strong.
However, resist the temptation to gulp the espresso down, and you may pick up some chocolate notes on the coffee and a bit of cherry, too.
Swallow the coffee down, and the aftertaste is long. At this point, I was able to pick up a stronger cherry note.
With Sugar
With sugar, I added a brown, coarse sugar stick into my cup of the World’s Strongest Coffee, French press style. This should be around two teaspoons of sugar.
Sugar makes the coffee feel more textured, with some sheen. The coffee developed a bouncy texture in my mouth.
However, I wouldn’t say I like the taste. I dislike mixing smoky coffee with sugar; I do not think smoke and sweetness blend well. This is a similar case with the World’s Strongest Coffee.
With Sweetener
Next, I experimented with sweeteners. I added two drops of Equal artificial sweetener to the World’s Strongest Coffee. I stirred the stuff in and started drinking the coffee.
The sweetener altered the coffee in ways different from sugar. It doesn’t really add shine or texture to the coffee like sugar. The sweetness is also slightly different and seems to come a little later.
To me, this is worse than sugar. Aside from the sweetness and smoke issue, sweeteners are also less natural, giving the coffee a ‘synthetic’ taste. Not very enjoyable, at least to my palate.
With Milk
I generally enjoyed smoky coffee with milk, as the richness of milk blends well with it. I look forward to seeing how the World’s Strongest Coffee will taste with milk.
I poured a shot of fresh, whole, UHT cow’s milk into my cup of coffee. A shot is about a single ounce in imperial, or about 30 ml to those who do metric measurements.
The milk adds more texture to the coffee, making it slightly thicker. It also softens the coffee, making it an even more indulgent cup.
The milk helps turn the cocoa note into something chocolatey and slightly sweetens the coffee, especially at the finish. This could be the lactose in action.
I thoroughly enjoyed my cup here with milk, taking additional sips that I usually do when reviewing coffee.
With Creamer
I added two teaspoons of Coffee Mate non-dairy creamer to my cup of the World’s Strongest Coffee. Made of palm oil, it is one of the most popular non-dairy creamers around.
The creamer alters the coffee in about the same way as milk. It mellows the coffee further by cutting into its smoke and woody notes.
It also makes the chocolate and cherry notes a little more obvious. I also enjoy the richer, sweet taste.
However, I still prefer milk. Coffee Mate does not seem to have the right kind of creaminess I want, lacking the depth and fullness of milk. It just cannot give me the creamy satisfaction milk gives in my coffee.
Iced
Finally, I wonder how the World’s Strongest Coffee tastes iced. Ice has a way of muting certain flavors and boosting others in the coffee, making it worth trying.
To do this, I added half a cup of slightly concentrated coffee into a glass stuffed with ice.
I noticed that the ice helped to bring up the smoke and woody notes of the coffee. This means the coffee tasted much more bitter. However, the bitterness is pleasant, with undertones of cocoa.
How Strong Is The World’s Strongest Coffee?
You may wonder if it is the World’s Strongest Coffee and if the coffee’s caffeine content strongly affects people who drink it.
As I sip the coffee, I notice a stronger heart palpitation and a general sense of anxiousness. The feeling is less noticeable when I sample other coffee, but I can definitely feel it when sampling this coffee.
A quick search online tells me why. A standard 12-ounce (355 ml) cup of Death Wish Coffee contains about 728 milligrams of caffeine.
This is significantly more than the caffeine content in a typical cup of coffee, which averages around 95 milligrams for the same volume.
Drinking a single cup of the World’s Strongest Coffee would mean you take in about 7 cups of regular coffee. No wonder I feel the jitters!
Speaking of which, if you are to try out this coffee, be mindful of its caffeine content. Make sure you are not drinking too much of it in a short time.
World’s Strongest Coffee vs Popular Dark Roasts
I decided to try the World’s Strongest Coffee side by side with the other dark roasts I have in my stash:
- Starbucks Caffe Verona
- Dunkin Midnight Roast
- Peet’s Major Dickason
- IKEA Patar Dark Roast
The World’s Strongest Coffee may not beat these dark roasts in caffeine content, but not in flavor.
I would place it ahead of the Starbucks Caffe Verona and IKEA Patar, but not as good as the Midnight Roast and the Major Dickason.
World’s Strongest Coffee lacks flavor depth and does not satisfy me more. Plus, I can sip the Midnight Roast and the Major Dickason without worrying about blowing my daily caffeine limit off the park.
World’s Strongest Coffee vs Regular Coffee
I picked up a cup of coffee from the most regular of places, a 7-Eleven. The idea here is to compare the taste of the World’s Strongest Coffee with regular coffee and see if it will taste better.
World’s Strongest Coffee tastes better and gives me more satisfying sips. Chances are it will be the same compared to regular coffee from places such as gas stations or other convenience stores.
Should You Try the World’s Strongest Coffee?
After sampling the coffee, I have to agree that The World’s Strongest Coffee may be more hype than anything.
I already suspected it may use Robusta beans since they pack more caffeine. One thing about Robusta, however, is its lack of flavor. Death Wish Coffee was able to help add flavor to the coffee, but it simply cannot match 100% Arabica coffee.
I drink coffee for its flavor, not for the caffeine. If I wanted a strong caffeine hit, I would have taken caffeine pills instead. Drinking the World’s Strongest Coffee may work, too, but I would have to watch my intake, which I know will leave me unsatisfied.
Give it a try for the sake of novelty. However, there are better dark roasts with more satisfying flavors in the long run.
