Death Wish Coffee is a coffee brand that claims to sell the "world's strongest coffee." The coffee is primarily sold online, but it is also sold in grocery stores across the United States. Death Wish Coffee was introduced in 2012. The company was founded by Mike Brown in Saratoga Springs, New York, and is now headquartered in Ballston Spa, New York. Its production facility is in Round Lake, New York. Death Wish claims that its coffee has double the caffeine of an average cup of coffee, but that it also does not taste bitter or acidic. Death Wish Coffee and Valhala Java are USDA-certified organic and can be found in more than 10,000 stores across the nation, including Hannaford, Price Chopper, Healthy Living Market, ShopRite, Safeway, and Walmart.
List of products
Death Wish Coffee
Death Wish is a dark roast coffee made with a blend of Arabica and Robusta coffee beans sourced from India and Peru. It claims to contain double the caffeine than an average cup of coffee. Death Wish Coffee is available in whole bean, ground, and single-serve pods.
Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend
Valhalla Java was created with guitarist Zakk Wylde. It's a medium-dark roast blend available in 12-ounce bags in whole bean or ground, in addition to single serve pods. It has nutty and chocolate coffee notes. Beans for Valhalla Java are mainly sourced from Honduras, Guatemala, Sumatra, Peru, and India.
Cauldron Aged Pumpkin
Death Wish Coffee's seasonal Cauldron Aged Pumpkin blend is released in the fall and is available in whole bean and ground. It's made by simmering cardamom, cinnamon, and ginger for about 12 hours. After, unroasted coffee beans are aged in the blend for 10-12 days before it's roasted to a dark roast blend.
Barrel Brand
In collaboration with Albany Distilling Company, Death Wish Coffee periodically releases Barrel Brand blends throughout the year. These blends are made by soaking green coffee in freshly poured oak barrels provided by Albany Distilling Company. The beans are then slow roasted to preserve the liquor flavors. Barrel Brand is made with whiskey, rum, or bourbon and is made in limited batches.
Cold brew coffee
The Death Wish coffee offers three types of cold brew coffee: Unsweetened Black Coffee, Slightly Sweet Black Coffee, and Cream and Sugar Latte. ;Unsweetened Black Coffee The Unsweetened black coffee is roasted in small batches with natural ingredients to make a cold brew coffee that is two times stronger than the average coffee. Since the coffee is unsweetened and devoid of artificial flavoring, each cold brew can has only 15 calories and is packed with 300 mg of caffeine. ;Slightly Sweet Black Coffee The slightly sweet black is another variation of Death Wish cold brew coffee. However, this cold brew coffee is dairy and gluten-free with 35 calories and 300 mg of caffeine per can. It is similar to the unsweetened version, but as the name implies, this one is slightly sweetened. ;Cream and Sugar Latte The cream and sugar latte is made with all natural ingredients and packed with highly caffeinated punch. It is slightly lighter and more sweet than other cold brew coffee flavors offered by Death Wish coffee. The cream and sugar latte comes in 300 mg cans.
Awards and recognition
Death Wish Coffee gained publicity when it was chosen as the winner of Intuit QuickBooks "Small Business, Big Game" competition in 2015, allowing it to have a Super Bowl commercial carried nationwide free of charge during Super Bowl 50. In 2017, owner and founder Mike Brown was named the EY Entrepreneur of the Year for Emerging Business in New York. Mike Brown was also named a 2018 40 Under 40 by the Albany Business Review. ;Coffee To The International Space Station On June 29th, 2018, Death Wish Coffee sent an instant, freeze-dried, version of its coffee to the international space station aboard the Falcon 9 SpaceX rocket with the Dragon Capsule. The coffee arrived the station on July 2nd, 2018. The Coffee company once again sent black coffee into three tubes with airtight clamps called MixStix into the space in June 2019 as a part of partnership with iLEAD and DreamUp – a provider of space-based educational opportunities. The purpose was to test whether black coffee kills a particular bacteria found in teeth plaque in micro-gravity in the same way as it does on Earth.
Social Responsibility
Death Wish Coffee partners with different non-profit and social organizations to sponsor events, social causes and more. ;Special Olympics New York Special Olympics New York is a non-profit sports organization for children and adults with intellectual and physical disabilities. Death Wish Coffee partnered with Special Olympics New York for three years. In 2018, Death Wish Coffee generated $37,492.50 for Special Olympics New York through special edition mug sale where 100% of the proceed directly went to the charity. The coffee chain also sponsors charity’s annual summer event. ;Zakk Wylde Zakk Wylde is an American guitarist, musician and actor. Death Wish Coffee collaborated with Zakk Wylde to introduce its artisan brand Valhalla Java, a medium-dark roast coffee made with beans from different parts of the world. Death Wish Coffee has also worked with Zakk Wylde to raise money for St. Jude Children's Research Hospital. In 2018, the coffee house donated $30,000 to the St. Jude's Hospital with Zakk Wylde through a custom designed mug including Valhalla Java logo. ;Dropkick Murphy's In 2018, Death Wish Coffee worked with American Celtic punk rock bandDropkick Murphy to raise money for the Claddagh Fund, a non-profit founded by Ken Casey in 2009. The coffee chain raised $41,500 for the Claddagh Fund in 2018 through a mug sale where $10 went to the charity for every mug sold.
Podcast: Fueled By Death
Every Thursday, Death Wish Coffee releases a weekly podcast called 'Fueled by Death', hosted by Jeff Ayers. The podcast features a different guest each week including rock stars, coffee enthusiasts, athletes, entertainers, authors, astronauts, etc.
Recall
In September 2017, Death Wish Coffee voluntarily recalled its 11-ounce cans of Death Wish Nitro Cold Brew coffee. Concerns arose that their cold brewing process could allow the growth of Clostridium botulinum, the bacterium responsible for botulism. No illnesses were reported.
