Death Wish Coffee

Who are Death Wish Coffee?

A New York roaster that built a national brand on one number, and certifies more carefully than the branding suggests.

Death Wish sells arabica and robusta blends, most of them USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified, in whole bean, ground, instant and pod formats. Its flagship dark roast carries 19,107 ratings on Amazon, which puts it among the most-reviewed coffees sold there.

The position is caffeine. Robusta carries roughly twice the caffeine of arabica by weight, and Death Wish blends it in deliberately rather than treating it as a cheap filler, which is the usual reason it appears in a blend.

What the caffeine claim rests on

One published figure, on one blend, at a stated brewing ratio.

Death Wish Dark Roast is rated at about 180mg per 6oz cup, measured at 2.5 tablespoons of grounds per 6oz of water, with the maker noting that natural variability applies. A 6oz cup of ordinary drip runs around 80 to 100mg.

Two things are worth holding onto. First, that dose is stronger than a standard recipe, so some of the difference is the brewing rather than the bean. Second, it is the only blend with a number: Valhalla Java, the medium roast and the blueberry publish none, only strength language.

This site records the milligram figure because it is a measurement. It does not repeat the rest of what these listings say about caffeine, which is written in terms of how you will feel rather than what is in the cup.

The sourcing is better than the branding implies

Two audited certifications on three of the four bags here.

Skull imagery and names like Odinforce read as novelty, and it would be reasonable to assume the sourcing matches. It does not. The dark roast, Death Wish Medium Roast and Valhalla Java are USDA Organic and Fair Trade Certified, and the dark roast names five origin countries.

The exception matters: the blueberry carries Fair Trade only and no organic claim at all. Assuming brand-wide certification would have got that wrong.

Where Death Wish stops is below country level. No altitude, no varietals, no farm or cooperative, no processing method, no roast date on any bag. Against Intelligentsia or Stumptown, which publish farm-level detail and roast dates, this is certified commodity coffee rather than traceable coffee. Against Peet's, whose sourcing language names no certifying body, it is well ahead.

Which Death Wish coffee to buy

Three unflavoured blends, and they are genuinely different from each other.

Buy Death Wish Dark Roast if the caffeine figure is the point. It is the flagship, the most reviewed, the only one with a published number, and the only one naming its origins. It publishes no tasting notes.

Buy Valhalla Java if you want to know how it tastes. Cocoa, molasses and roasted nut, medium body, low acidity, from Indonesian and Latin American beans. It is the heavy, round, low-acid option and the best first bag for someone unsure.

Buy Death Wish Medium Roast if dark roasts taste flat to you. Caramel, stone fruit and chocolate at medium acidity, though the robusta makes it heavier than a conventional medium roast.

The blueberry is the flavoured option, ground only, Fair Trade but not organic.

Death Wish vs Kicking Horse

The two certified, irreverent, high-strength roasters, and each is transparent where the other is not.

Kicking Horse is organic and Fairtrade across its range and publishes tasting notes on every bag, including 454 Horse Power, its own high-caffeine dark roast. What it does not publish is a caffeine figure.

Death Wish publishes the figure and skips the notes on its flagship. So on the specification each brand trades on, only Death Wish gives you a number, and on flavour only Kicking Horse is consistent.

Kicking Horse is also certified across the whole range, where Death Wish has the blueberry exception. If you want one brand you never have to check, that is Kicking Horse.

Frequently Asked Questions

How much caffeine is in Death Wish coffee?

The dark roast is rated at about 180mg per 6oz cup at 2.5 tablespoons per 6oz of water, with variability noted. No other Death Wish blend publishes a figure.

Is all Death Wish coffee organic?

No. The dark roast, medium roast and Valhalla Java are USDA Organic and Fair Trade. The blueberry is Fair Trade only.

Why does Death Wish use robusta?

Robusta carries roughly twice the caffeine of arabica by weight. Death Wish states it uses it for that reason, blended with arabica for smoothness.

Which Death Wish coffee has the most flavour detail?

Valhalla Java and the medium roast both publish taste, aroma, aftertaste, body and acidity. The flagship dark roast publishes none.

Does Death Wish publish a roast date?

No. None of its bags carry one, unlike Stumptown.