A new coffee from South Africa has been called the strongest in the world, and has now gone on sale in the United States.
The beans can be purchased online in the US, but those willing to try this intensely strong coffee should consider the amount of caffeine they are about to consume. (Although interestingly, since going on sale, the beans are now labelled 'unavailable'.)
A cup of the appropriately named contains 351 mg caffeine. To put this into perspective, a regular single shot of espresso contains 50 - 90 mg caffeine.
The previous contender for strongest coffee in the world is 'Death Wish', clocking in with 330 mg caffeine in one cup.
extreme beans
It’s official: coffee has gone crazy
Other brands have made similar claims as being the strongest coffee in the world, so the makers of Black Insomnia sent samples of their beans and others for scientific testing at a Swiss-based laboratory to prove that their coffee is the strongest.
Tests, done via liquid chromatography, found that 'Death Wish' contains 13.2 grams of caffeine per kilogram and 'WodFee' cofffee, which up till now had also been a contender for the strongest coffee title, contains 13.8 grams per kilogram. Black Insomnia, however, was found to contain 17.5 grams per kilogram, beating the two other brands.
In the US, the Mayo Clinic's recommended limit for maximum caffeine intake is 400 mg per day.
Due to the coffee skirting the limit of maximum recommended caffeine intake in the US, the founder of Black Insomnia, Sean Kristafor, urging other companies not to attempt to surpass the strength of their record-breaking coffee "in the interest of public health and safety”. He also said that while developing Black Insomnia, “any blend that resulted in a higher caffeine content than 702 mg [per 12 ounces / 0.34 kg, which is one tall coffee] adversely affected the flavour and thus was rejected.”
While there's no official health-based guidance or maximum limit for caffeine in Australia, state that more than 210 mg caffeine per day (approximately 3 cups of instant coffee) has been linked to increased anxiety levels in adults.
In Australia, gained national headlines as the country's strongest brew - the "Adelaide Asskicker" from Viscous Cafe in South Australia contains a whopping 5 grams of caffeine, and comes with a health warning that has been issued by a GP. The high level of caffeine comes from the custom brewing process, as opposed to the actual strength of the coffee beans.
