Black Insomnia Coffee is the brainchild of founder Sean Kristafor, who had a vision of ‘rebooting’ the coffee industry. According to Kristafor, “It is time to offer something a little different – something stronger and darker, with an edge.” After experimenting in the company’s lab, Kristafor and one of the world’s foremost roasters, Dr G (Gerald Charles), managed to roast up a blend of beans that produced an indulgent smooth sweet nutty flavour, which the company says trumps other coffees trying to make the same claim.
Black Insomnia is pure and naturally very high in caffeine without any added chemicals, preservatives, sugars or any other additives. Laboratory test results, using the high-performance liquid chromatography method, have found that this amounts to 17,524 mg of caffeine per kg. Compared to the 13,179 mg of caffeine per kg in Deathwish Coffee, Black Insomnia is 33% stronger. The International caffeine reference website, the Caffeine Informer, has now accredited Black Insomnia as ‘the world’s strongest coffee’.
This is not to say that coffee cannot have higher caffeine content, whether natural or artificial, but rather that it should not. This is motivated by two primary reasons, of which public health and safety are first and foremost. According to Mayo Clinic, “Up to 400 mg [equivalent to 6 mg/kg body weight in a 65-kg person] of caffeine a day appears to be safe for most healthy adults. That is roughly the amount of caffeine in four [170 ml] cups of brewed coffee.”
Thus, having just one 170 ml cup of Black Insomnia almost fulfils the recommended maximum intake. According to Kristafor, during their experimental phase, “Any blend that resulted in a higher caffeine content than 702 mg adversely affected the flavour and thus was rejected.”
