About Death Wish Coffee
Death Wish Coffee Co. started in 2012 in a small coffee shop in Saratoga Springs, New York, where founder Mike Brown set out to build a blend that was both strong and genuinely drinkable for his groggy morning regulars. The result was a deliberate Arabica-Robusta blend paired with a slow roasting process built to push caffeine content well above a standard cup, without tipping into the burnt, ashy flavor that most extra-dark, high-caffeine beans fall into. The company is still headquartered in downtown Saratoga Springs, with its roasting and manufacturing facility down the road in Round Lake, New York, and every bean it sells is USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified.
Death Wish's biggest visibility moment came in 2016, when it won Intuit's Small Business Big Game competition and became the smallest company ever to run a national commercial during the Super Bowl. That underdog story built a following that has translated into real category standing: per SPINS MULO scan data, Death Wish has ranked as the #1 selling organic and #1 selling fair trade roasted coffee brand in the United States. On our own cupping table, we found the reputation holds up -- the dark roast and espresso roast both cup as bold and chocolatey with real cherry and caramel depth, not just burnt bitterness dressed up as strength.
Brand website: deathwishcoffee.com
What Death Wish Coffee makes
Death Wish Coffee's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Death Wish Original Dark Roast
whole bean and ground -- our pick for strong & high-caffeine coffee — featured on Brew Gazette
Death Wish Espresso Roast
whole bean, built for espresso and espresso martinis -- our pick for highest-caffeine espresso — featured on Brew Gazette
Valhalla Java Odinforce Blend
sister high-caffeine blend, Arabica-Robusta, whole bean and ground
Single-serve K-Cup pods
Death Wish and Valhalla Java blends for Keurig-style brewers
Cold brew concentrate
ready-to-brew cold format of the original high-caffeine blend
Bulk 5 lb bags
whole bean or ground, original and Valhalla Java
Why we recognized Death Wish Coffee
The Brew Gazette Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Death Wish Coffee earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, brewed with daily, and judged on what lands in the cup.
Death Wish Coffee products we rated highly
Death Wish Coffee Dark Roast Whole Bean
The definitive high-caffeine bean on the shelf, backed by a deep, loyal review base in the tens of thousands. On the cupping table it reads as bold, chocolatey, and lightly cherried -- a well-made dark roast rather than the burnt, ashy edge that ruins most commodity high-caffeine beans. It's also USDA Organic and Fair Trade certified, which is genuinely rare in the high-caffeine corner of the market, and it holds up well to milk and cold brew where its heavy body and low-acid chocolate notes cut through dilution instead of disappearing.
Read the 10 Best Coffee Beans of 2026 guide →
Death Wish Espresso Roast Whole Bean
The honest answer for anyone who wants an espresso shot that actually does its job -- an Arabica-Robusta blend built for a serious caffeine load, with the Robusta content throwing a thick crema and bold bite that make it a standout base for an espresso martini. Despite the intensity, it cups as baker's chocolate, caramelized sugar, and black cherry -- heavy-bodied and low-acid without a burnt edge -- and carries the same USDA Organic and Fair Trade certification as the rest of the Death Wish lineup.
Read the Best Coffee Beans for Espresso in 2026 (Q Grader Tested) guide →What earned Death Wish Coffee the recognition
- Top picks in two separate areas of BrewGazette's coffee coverage -- everyday coffee beans and beans for espresso -- both times as our pick for drinkers who specifically want maximum caffeine without sacrificing a clean, well-roasted cup.
- USDA Certified Organic and Fair Trade Certified across the entire lineup, a combination that's genuinely uncommon in the high-caffeine, high-intensity corner of the coffee market where quality often takes a back seat to marketing.
- Real, independently reported category standing: per SPINS MULO scan data, Death Wish ranks as the #1 selling organic and #1 selling fair trade roasted coffee brand in the United States, not just a self-reported claim.
- A well-earned reputation built the hard way -- founded in a single Saratoga Springs, NY coffee shop in 2012, and still roasted and packed in-house in nearby Round Lake, NY rather than outsourced to a co-packer.
- On our cupping table, both the dark roast and espresso roast held their bold, chocolate-and-cherry profile without the burnt, ashy bitterness that typically comes with beans pushed this hard for caffeine content.