[{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BlogPosting","@id":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/death-wish-coffee\/#BlogPosting","mainEntityOfPage":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/death-wish-coffee\/","headline":"Death Wish Coffee Review","name":"Death Wish Coffee Review","description":"Death Wish Coffee came out in 2012 and went viral and all the coffee freaks went nuts over it. The hype around Death Wish Coffee has mostly died down, and I realized the other day that I never got around to trying it. This post reviews two versions of Death Wish Coffee in ground form....","datePublished":"2022-01-05","dateModified":"2025-03-21","author":{"@type":"Person","@id":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/author\/will-roby\/#Person","name":"Will Roby","url":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/author\/will-roby\/","identifier":4,"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846b80075b3411bde7ac4a75ce27257663312a3104a1d362a710f8a484603ac9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","url":"https:\/\/secure.gravatar.com\/avatar\/846b80075b3411bde7ac4a75ce27257663312a3104a1d362a710f8a484603ac9?s=96&d=blank&r=g","height":96,"width":96}},"publisher":{"@type":"Organization","name":"Reflective Dynamics, Inc.","logo":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wizard-of-coffee-blog-logo.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/12\/wizard-of-coffee-blog-logo.jpg","width":600,"height":60}},"image":{"@type":"ImageObject","@id":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/death-wish-coffee-review.jpg","url":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2021\/10\/death-wish-coffee-review.jpg","height":360,"width":720},"url":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/death-wish-coffee\/","about":["General"],"wordCount":1814,"articleBody":"Death Wish Coffee came out in 2012 and went viral and all the coffee freaks went nuts over it. The hype around Death Wish Coffee has mostly died down, and I realized the other day that I never got around to trying it.This post reviews two versions of Death Wish Coffee in ground form. You can also read about Death Wish Coffee in another post here, the one about the best cheap coffee brands.Please note \u2013 this isn\u2019t a sponsored post. Death Wish didn\u2019t pay us for it. I bought my coffee (with my boss\u2019 money) fair and square. I\u2019m not being told what to say, and I don\u2019t ever want anyone to think that I\u2019d accept money in exchange for a good review.I\u2019m happy to review products and try them for free and such, but I won\u2019t let anybody tell me what to write. If I like a coffee product, I\u2019ll write that. If I don\u2019t like a coffee product, I\u2019ll do my best to explain why.Death Wish Coffee: The BasicsDeath Wish Coffee is a brand of coffee products marketed as \u201cthe world\u2019s strongest coffee.\u201dThey use Robusta beans and a trademark roasting process to bring out the caffeine content.You can get bags of whole or ground Death Wish Coffee as well as individual coffee pods the brand lovingly refers to as \u201cDeath Cups.\u201dThe coffee is something of a novelty \u2013 there was a time when every \u201ccoffee person\u201d just had to try this product \u2013 but there are legions of fans who swear by the product itself.Yes, it makes a fun gift \u2013 with its black-on-black skull & crossbones packaging and warning labels and such. But how does the coffee taste? Is it worth the hype?Before I share my personal review of the Death Wish Coffee experience, I wanted to share the answers to the most frequently asked questions related to this product.How Much Does Death Wish Coffee Cost?Right now, you can get a pound of their roast coffees for $19.99 each.They also have several bundle products, combining different coffees and other products together for a slight discount.We bought a Dark Roast and Medium Roast Bundle \u2013 two pounds of ground coffee for $34.99.The price may change in the future. I\u2019ll update the review as needed.How Strong is Death Wish Coffee?The logical answer is that Death Wish Coffee is as strong as you make it. You can use more ground coffee or less ground coffee to produce different results in terms of strength.The recipe on the bag recommends a ratio of 2.5 ground tablespoons for every 6-ounce cup of coffee. How does that compare to typical coffee preparations? Most people use 2 tablespoons of ground coffee for every 6-ounce cup.If you follow the maker\u2019s instructions and use 2.5 tablespoons instead of the usual 2, you\u2019re going to get a stronger-than-usual coffee. The truth is, you could take your typical ground coffee product that you drink every day, use a little bit more grounds per cup when you brew it, and you\u2019ll produce a stronger coffee.Caffeine is not added to the beans or the final product. The creators of Death Wish brand coffees say that they use a unique blend and roasting process that intensifies the caffeine content of the beans.However, you can use as much or as little Death Wish Coffee as you want.How Much Caffeine Is in Death Wish Coffee?This is a better question than simply asking \u201chow strong is Death Wish Coffee?\u201dWhen it\u2019s made according to the recipe on the bag, Death Wish Coffee contains 59 milligrams of caffeine per fluid ounce. Most people drink a 6-ounce cup at a time, that\u2019s 354 milligrams of caffeine per cup.Since a normal cup of home-brewed coffee comes in around 60-80 milligrams, you\u2019re looking at a coffee that\u2019s somewhere between 4 and 6 times stronger than average.It\u2019s a significant amount of caffeine, and obviously, people who are sensitive to caffeine should probably avoid it.But if you’re a caffeine fan, this might be the coffee for you. Deathwish Coffee will certainly wake you up.Another option, rather than avoiding it, is to make or consume a smaller amount, or use less of the grounds per 6-ounce cup, producing a gentler effect.Is Death Wish Coffee Safe?The answer to this question is different for each consumer.Some people may be taking medications that don\u2019t mix well with high doses of caffeine.Other people may know that they are particularly sensitive to caffeine and avoid it just to be safe.I\u2019m sure a person seeing a cardiologist or other cardiopulmonary specialist should avoid Death Wish Coffee, at least until talking to a health professional.Here\u2019s why \u2013 the FDA says caffeine doses up to 400 mg are generally safe. A cup of Death Wish Coffee can easily press right up against that amount, or easily exceed it, depending on the way it\u2019s made and consumed. Two cups of Death Wish would put you well past the level of caffeine that the FDA recognizes as safe.However, this doesn\u2019t mean the product isn\u2019t safe.Those delicious Little Debbie cakes at the grocery store are perfectly safe \u2013 provided you don\u2019t eat 500 of them in a row or eat a box of them every day for twenty years or something.The whisky and vodka you can buy at your neighborhood liquor store are perfectly safe products, provided you use them the way they were intended.Used responsibly \u2013 meaning according to the instructions and various warnings on the product \u2013 Death Wish Coffee is just as safe as any other caffeine containing product.Is Death Wish Coffee Any Good?I don\u2019t like value judgements like \u201cgood\u201d and \u201cbad,\u201d it\u2019s way less interesting for me as a writer and a reader.However, I can tell you how other people tend to feel about the coffee brewed from Death Wish grounds and beans.Coffee drinkers who favor strength over any other factor are a sure fit. Some of these people will feel like they\u2019ve finally found a cup of coffee strong enough or their appetite.Since even the lightest roast available in this line is relatively dark when compared to the competition, fans of darker roasts are more likely to think Death Wish Coffee is good than people who prefer lighter or fruitier coffees.I\u2019ve found that young people tend to like Death Wish Coffee more than middle-aged guys like me. That\u2019s not an across-the-board reality, but in general a person\u2019s age is the best guide to whether they\u2019ll think this is a good coffee.Death Wish Coffee Review \u2013 Aroma, Flavor, & StrengthNow to the most exciting part of the review \u2013 making, drinking, and appreciating the coffee.Death Wish Coffee AromaMost coffee fans started their love affair as children, smelling the mysterious and rich aromas bubbling out of the kitchen while watching Saturday morning cartoons. The aroma is really everything when it comes to coffee \u2013 it prepares your mouth to enjoy the flavors, and for me, aroma is most of the coffee experience. It warms me on cold days, calms me in the summer time, and is a huge part of my own coffee fandom.My biggest problem with Death Wish Coffee is the aroma. You can absolutely smell that typical brewing coffee aroma, and it fills the kitchen, but it\u2019s watered-down. That\u2019s the best way I can put it. It isn\u2019t even as pleasing an aroma as a typical can of Folger\u2019s or whatever.I brewed both the Medium and the Dark Roast, and there was no discernible difference in aroma at all.This extended to the cup, where I really had to dig my nose into it to get a deep and meaningful sense of the coffee\u2019s aroma.It smells quite sweet and there\u2019s some muted dark cocoa in there, but not much else.Death Wish Coffee FlavorSince aroma is so much of what makes up our sense of taste, I wasn\u2019t surprised to find that Death Wish Coffee fails to deliver a real kick-in-the-mouth of coffee flavor.That\u2019s what you\u2019d expect from looking at the coffees. Even the Medium Roast is on the very dark side when compared to typical commercial roasts.I didn\u2019t notice much difference in flavor between the two roasts, except to say that the Medium Roast is even less robust than the typical darker roast versions.Death Wish Coffee StrengthI have plenty of friends and fellow coffee fans for whom flavor and aroma aren\u2019t a big deal, and for whom a coffee\u2019s relative strength is its only meaningful feature.This number includes my own parents and grandparents. If my maternal grandfather had access to Death Wish Coffee during World War II, we might have finished the war in the Pacific a month or two sooner.If you\u2019re the type of person that needs a huge dose of caffeine to get your mind going, this is the coffee for you.I drank half a cup of each of the Dark and Medium roasts, and I was legitimately caffeinated.I\u2019m not talking a particularly speedy or druggy feeling \u2013 just a heavy dose of concentration and a little extra toe-tapping.I also didn\u2019t need another cup the rest of the morning, which saved me time and trips to the bathroom.Death Wish Coffee RecommendationsAt $19.99 a pound, I think Death Wish Coffee is a fine gift for someone who likes strong coffee, or a novelty coffee drinker interested in adding something wild to their collection.I\u2019m not sure it makes much sense as an everyday coffee product, though I think most doctors would agree that a cup of Death Wish makes a healthier study aid than whatever stimulant is currently making the rounds on college campuses.If you want to add a big brand, high-end coffee with an interesting story to your collection, I suggest you do what I did, and spend somebody\u2019s else\u2019s money (thanks, boss!) and pick up a bundle so you can try both the Medium and Dark roast versions.ConclusionFor the record, my wife thinks the Medium with a splash of milk is better than her usual drink at Starbuck\u2019s. She likes lighter-flavored coffees but needs the caffeine jolt on tough days.I\u2019ve also read on forums that headache sufferers are using high-caffeine products like Death Wish Coffee to treat migraines. For some patients, high doses of caffeine can slow, halt, or even reverse some forms of headache.In short \u2013 it may not be for everyone, but for some coffee fans it\u2019s the perfect product."},{"@context":"https:\/\/schema.org\/","@type":"BreadcrumbList","itemListElement":[{"@type":"ListItem","position":1,"name":"Death Wish Coffee Review","item":"https:\/\/www.wizardofcoffee.com\/death-wish-coffee\/#breadcrumbitem"}]}]