There’s good news for all coffee enthusiasts: the “world’s strongest coffee” is now available in the USA. But the bad news is that drinking just one cup could not only exceed a person’s individual caffeine limit, it could also cause palpitations.
Sean Kristafor, founder of Black Insomnia – the coffee’s name – said, “If you want to stand out, you need to be the ‘est’ — the biggest, smartest, strongest, or cheapest.” He further explained,
So when we wanted to compete in coffee, as a caffeine product, we had to be the strongest, but obviously, we don’t exceed the world guidelines.
Kristafor, a coffee lover, came up with the company after retiring from a corporate job, CNN reports. He looked for a prestigious coffee roaster online then created Black Insomnia in June, initially selling to local cafes in Cape Town, South Africa.
Black Insomnia, which sells for $19 per pound, began selling three tons of coffee more than other local shops in the area with just their online business. By October of the same year, the company had customers in 22 countries and in March, they got listed on Amazon in the USA.
Now, Black Insomnia sells five to six tons of coffee monthly.
The strength of the brew comes from the type of bean Black Insomnia uses, and the way the beans are roasted, resulting in a sweet, nutty flavor. To prove its claim of being the “world’s strongest coffee,” Kristafor had the beans tested chemically.
Black Insomnia contains 58.5 mg per fl. oz., making it twice as strong as Starbucks’ dark roast coffee. But it all depends on how a person brews the beans, of course.
Kristafor said this caffeine content is well within the global limits for an espresso shot, but one cup could add up to 702 mg more. The US Food and Drug Administration recommends just 400 mg of caffeine for daily consumption, while the International Food Information Council says 300 mg.
Caffeine Informer, an information website that collates data on coffee, lists Black Insomnia as one of the “Most Dangerous Caffeinated Products.”
Mary Sweeney, a researcher of caffeine at John Hopkins School of Medicine, said that drinking too much strong coffee can be dangerous. “Effects can range from mild to severe, for example, jitteriness, nervousness, restlessness and trouble sleeping. The most serious effect would be cardiac arrhythmia (irregular heartbeat),” she said.
Black Insomnia’s number one competitor is Death Wish, which is also a very strong type of coffee.
Kristafor defended his coffee, saying, “We are very aware of the limits and there are clear warnings on the labels. On Caffeine Informer, they say that if you drink more than 20 cups of Black Insomnia, you win the Darwin Awards…an award for people who pass away for doing stupid things.”
