“World’s strongest coffee” arrives in US stores

The "world's strongest coffee" is now available in the US; it is so strong that downing just one cup of the brew could see you above the daily caffeine consumption limit.

"If you want to stand out, you need to be the 'est' - the biggest, smartest, strongest, or cheapest," said Black Insomnia founder Sean Kristafor.

"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."

Coffee-lover Kristafor created Black Insomnia, last June, after retiring from a corporate job. He joined hands with a coffee roaster and started selling locally to cafes in Cape Town, South Africa.

Retailing at $19 a pound, the company's online business sold three tons more than the other local shops in August, and by October, it had customers in 22 countries. In March, it was listed on Amazon in the US, and now according to the company, it sold five to six tons of coffee a month.

Black Insomnia owes its strength to a type of bean, robusta, and its method of roasting. To prove their "world's strongest" claim, Kristafor had his beans  tested chemically against competitors.

At 58.5 mg per fl. oz., Black Insomnia was more than twice as strong as Starbucks' dark roast, at around 21.25 mg per fl. oz. Of course, much depended on how the coffee was brewed.

One cup (12 oz) of the brew could add up to 702 mg of caffeine, which far exceeded the FDA and the International Food Information Council's recommend 400 mg of caffeine for daily consumption.

A normal cup packed 70mg and founder Sean Kristafor claimed to have hit reached the upper limit.

In a press release he warned competitors against attempting to ''surpass this content in the interest of public health and safety.'' The release also noted that while developing his coffee, ''any blend that resulted in a higher caffeine content than 702mg [per 12 ounces] adversely affected the flavor and thus was rejected.''