Coffee Brands With Too Much Caffeine: How Much Is Too Much?

Short answer: The highest-caffeine coffee brands list between about 700 and 1,555 mg of caffeine per 12 oz brewed cup. Devil Mountain Black Label, Great British Trading Very Strong Coffee, Contact Coffee Red On! and Biohazard are the four usually named. Every one of them is over the FDA's 400 mg a day for most healthy adults, and that's in a single cup.

Most of the figures below come from Caffeine Informer, a secondary database. Its numbers depend on how the coffee is brewed, and the page does not fully explain how each figure was measured. Read them as listed claims, not as lab results we checked ourselves. Figures are as listed when we checked in October 2026.

Sources: Caffeine Informer; Contact Coffee (repeating Caffeine Informer); Homegrounds (reporting Caffeine Informer). Comparisons with 400 mg are our own arithmetic.

Which 4 coffee brands have too much caffeine?

The four brands most lists name are Devil Mountain Black Label, Great British Trading Very Strong Coffee, Contact Coffee Red On! and Biohazard. They lead Caffeine Informer's strongest coffee brands list, which ranks coffees by caffeine per 12 fl oz brewed.

"Too much" here means more than the FDA's daily guidance in one cup. That is a statement about dose, not about quality. These coffees are made to be strong, and some people want exactly that.

Some detail on each:

• Devil Mountain Black Label is listed at 1,555 mg per 12 fl oz. The bean type is not given.
• Great British Trading Very Strong Coffee is listed at 1,350 mg and is 100% robusta, a coffee species with more caffeine than arabica.
• Contact Coffee Red On! is listed at 1,293 mg. Contact Coffee, a UK brand, says on its own blog that the coffee is lab tested.
• Biohazard is listed at 928 mg per 12 oz. Homegrounds reports that Caffeine Informer lab tested a sample.

If you want a wider list of grocery-store brands, we cover that in our top 10 highest-caffeine grocery brands post.

How much caffeine is in Death Wish Coffee?

Death Wish Coffee is listed at 728 mg per 12 fl oz by Caffeine Informer, and Consumer Reports measured 472 mg per 8 oz cup. Those two figures are close. Scaled up, 472 mg per 8 oz works out to about 708 mg per 12 oz.

Consumer Reports also notes that many people's "cup" is really 12 to 20 oz. So a big mug can hold much more than the 8 oz figure.

Caffeine Informer says the number changes with how you brew it and suggests following the brand's own brew ratio. Its page also says the brand's original lab figure has been disputed.

How much caffeine is too much in a day?

For most healthy adults, the FDA cites 400 mg a day as an amount not generally linked to negative effects. The FDA puts that at about two to three 12-fl-oz cups of coffee.

Other sources count the cups differently. Mayo Clinic says up to 400 mg seems safe for most adults and calls it about four cups of brewed coffee, using a smaller cup. The cup size is what matters.

For a baseline, the FDA puts an 8 oz cup of regular coffee at roughly 80 to 100 mg, and decaf at about 2 to 15 mg. One 12 oz cup of the strongest brands above can match four or more ordinary cups.

Our post on caffeine by cup size has the full chart.

What happens if you have too much caffeine?

The common effects of too much coffee are poor sleep, jitters, a racing or pounding heartbeat that is usually harmless, worse reflux, an upset stomach and needing to urinate more often. That list comes from a physician interview published by Mayo Clinic Press.

The FDA says people vary a lot in how sensitive they are. Body weight, medications, some medical conditions and your own sensitivity all change what "too much" means for you. So 400 mg is a general guide, not a target.

We go further into side effects in How Much Coffee Is Too Much?

Who should watch their caffeine intake?

People who are pregnant, trying to get pregnant or breastfeeding should talk with a health care provider about caffeine, according to the FDA. The same goes for anyone worried about a health condition or a medication.

• Pregnancy: Mayo Clinic says to keep it under 200 mg a day if your provider advises it, and notes the effects on the baby are not clear.
• Medications: Mayo Clinic notes some drugs interact with caffeine.
• Children and teens: the FDA says medical experts advise against energy drinks for them, and Cleveland Clinic says the same.
• Anyone sensitive to caffeine: if one ordinary cup keeps you up, a high-caffeine brand will hit much harder.

If you are pregnant, have a medical condition or take medication, ask your doctor how much caffeine is right for you.

Is any coffee banned for its caffeine content?

We found no record of any coffee being banned in the US for its caffeine level, and no legal caffeine cap for brewed coffee. One food regulation site, Food Research Lab, says the FDA sets no maximum caffeine level for all energy drinks or functional beverages.

The FDA also notes that listing caffeine on the label is voluntary for many packaged products. It advises care with a new packaged product when the caffeine isn't declared.

Is there a Caffeine Informer April 2025 list of deadliest coffee brands?

We could not confirm an April 2025 edition. The Caffeine Informer "Deadliest (Strongest) Coffee Brands" page showed no update date when we checked in October 2026. The figures in our table are the ones listed there now.

"Deadliest" is a catchy headline word. The page ranks caffeine per cup and does not mean any of the coffees has been shown to kill anyone.

Why are some coffees so much stronger?

Most of the difference comes from the bean species, how much coffee goes into the cup and how it is brewed. Robusta beans carry about 1.7 to 2 times the caffeine of arabica, according to coffeehow.co. Several very strong brands use robusta for that reason.

How you brew changes things too:

• More grounds per cup means more caffeine. A ratio of about 1:16 (1 gram of coffee to 16 grams of water) is a common middle ground.
• Longer contact time, like a 4-minute French press or a long cold brew, pulls out more.
• Bigger mugs are the easiest thing to miss. A 20 oz travel mug is 2.5 standard 8 oz cups.

See our posts on the strongest brew types and arabica vs robusta for more.

How Kirenge Gold fits in

Our coffee is not built for record caffeine. It is 100% Kenyan Arabica from one family farm, Kirenge Farm in Kiambu County, where our family has grown coffee since the 1950s. Its caffeine is in the normal range for 100% arabica coffee.

What we care about is flavor. Our SL-28 and SL-34 cherries are picked by hand at 1,500 to 1,800 meters (about 4,900 to 5,900 feet) on red volcanic soil. The result is a smooth, low-acid cup. The light and medium roasts have a bright, fruity flavor, and the dark roast is full-bodied with dark chocolate. We roast in small batches every week in Atlanta and ship within 48 hours.

Try a smooth cup of 100% Kenyan Arabica

Choose light, medium or dark roast of our single-origin, low-acid 100% Arabica coffee, roasted in small batches every week in Atlanta and shipped within 48 hours. Shop Kirenge Gold Kenyan coffee as whole bean, ground or pods, with free shipping on subscriptions and on orders over $55.

Frequently asked questions

Are the strongest coffee brands sold in the US?

Some are, but Great British Trading and Contact Coffee are UK brands and Killer Coffee is Australian. Check the seller and the label before you buy.

Can I make regular coffee less strong?

Yes. Use fewer grounds, such as 1:17 or 1:18, or drink a smaller cup. Half-caff, a mix of regular and decaf, also works; see our half-caff guide.

Does dark roast have more caffeine?

Not in any meaningful way. The bean species, the amount of coffee you use and the cup size matter far more than the roast level.

Does 400 mg include tea, soda and energy drinks?

Yes. The FDA guidance covers caffeine from all sources, so add them all up.