What Coffee Has The Most Caffeine? – Get The Details Here!

What coffee has the most caffeine is a frequently asked question that many coffee lovers ask either out of curiosity, needing a serious caffeine boost or as challenge to try the most powerful and highly caffeinated cup of coffee possible.

For the caffeine addict, the coffee that has the most caffeine is Devil Mountain Black Label coffee. It’s wild, it’s insane and, this is not any kind of reverse psychology on my part, I absolutely do not recommend that you try it.

Coffees like Devil Mountain, and there are many, should come with a health warning! That is not a joke!

Keep reading to find out how much caffeine is in Devil Mountain’s Black label coffee and what makes a highly caffeinated coffee and make your own healthier caffeine boost that is not excessively high in caffeine.

What Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?

Singularly speaking, Devil Mountain Black Label coffee has the most caffeine as it has an astounding caffeine content of 1,555 milligrams of caffeine per 8 ounce (240 ml) serving.

Putting this into perspective to get a clear understanding of how much caffeine this is, it is the equivalent of more than 20 shots of espresso at Starbucks and only 45 mg short of being 4 times the daily maximum recommended amount of caffeine per day as set out by the Food and Drug Administration.

Three 16 oz (480 mg) servings of Devil Mountain Black Label Coffee can have you hitting the fatal dose of caffeine, which starts at 9,000 mg of caffeine, and varies from person to person. The fatal dose, based on studies, is 150 mg to 200 mg of caffeine per kilo of body weight.

Clearly, this is not a coffee to be sipped and enjoyed, it’s a challenge coffee for caffeine addicts, in the same way that you see people eating challenge foods like highly spicy raw chilies.

How they get so much caffeine in their coffee is unknown. I suspect that it is a particular process that they use or a specific manner of cultivation to breed coffee plants that produce beans that have several times as much caffeine as other coffee beans, or a mix of both.

Clearly, I am not suggesting or recommending that you try this coffee at all. It’s not something that you will likely enjoy, especially with the shakes, tremors, upset stomach, anxiety and panic attacks, heart palpitations that you may experience.

No matter how delicious it may be, it’s not worth it. There is no antidote for caffeine, you need to suffer until it is out of your system. Caffeine has a half life of 6 hours! You’ll be waiting a long time!

Staying hydrated, going for a walk, eating fiber-rich foods and foods that are high in potassium and magnesium may help. Time and waiting it out is really all you can do.

Read: Most caffeinated Starbucks drink

Which Coffee Has More Caffeine Arabica Or Robusta?

Between the two popular coffee beans of Arabica and Robusta it is the Robusta coffee beans that have greater levels of caffeine per bean and thus produce a cup of coffee with a greater caffeine content.

The amount of caffeine that is in a robusta coffee bean ranges from 2.2% to 2.7% while an Arabica coffee bean has from 1.2% to 1.5%. On average, a Robusta bean has 1.8 to 2.25 times as much caffeine as their Arabica counterparts.

Robusta is well known in the coffee industry for having a greater caffeine content than Arabica beans and are often used in blends to boost the caffeine content.

What Coffee Roast Has The Most Caffeine?

This may seem like a very simple question, but it is a lot more complicated and complex and thus requires a bit of explaining. The quick and short answer is that it depends.

There is a very common myth among coffee lovers and coffee fans that a deeper, darker roast with an intense flavor means the cup of coffee and thus the beans and roast have more caffeine. 

There is no connection at all between a stronger flavor and the caffeine content. This doesn’t automatically mean that a cup of coffee made with a light roast or blonde roast has more caffeine. 

Both are virtually the same. Caffeine is a very stable molecule and is very resistant to high temperatures both during roasting and brewing. Coffee is roasted at 473F (245C), caffeine would need a temperature of 600F (315C) to be affected by the roasting process or brewing. 

Clearly roasting has no effect on the amount of caffeine in the beans no matter what roast level they are taken to. 

It doesn’t end here – It’s not that easy, like I said, it’s as complex and complicated. You must consider the caffeine content by weight and by volume.

Read: Starbucks drink with most caffeine

Comparing The Caffeine Content Of Coffee Roasts By Weight And Volume

This far we have established that the amount of caffeine in coffee beans changes very little (if any) during the roasting process. 

But, 

coffee beans caffeine per weight and volume is altered. This is due to the coffee beans changing in size and weight and not due to the caffeine altered in any way. The higher the roasting temperature and the longer the beans are roasted, their color changes and become darker, slightly larger due to expansion and lighter in weight due to the evaporation of the water content. 

Structurally, and physically, the coffee beans change, but the caffeine remains as it was due to have a great resistance to heat. 

This is where and why the differences in caffeine content occur between different roasts. 

When you brew coffee, or sell it by the package, it is done by weight not volume. Since water is lost during roasting to darker roasts, the beans are lighter. This means that the caffeine content when measured by weight goes up, while the caffeine content when measuring by volume goes down. 

(I did warn that this is complicated, complex). 

What does this mean in practice?

When we measure our coffee by volume using a scoop, due to the expansion you will have less coffee in the scoop which results in less caffeine when measuring a dark roast coffee since the light roast or blonde roast has not increased in size as much as a dark roast has.

This is where the darker roasts have less caffeine and lighter roasts have more come from. And yes, they are, by all means, technically correct when measuring this way. 

However, if you measure by weight, dark-roasted coffees use more coffee beans due to each bean being lighter due to a greater amount of water evaporating from them than light roasts. More coffee beans being used results in a higher caffeine content when compared to a lighter roast when weighing your coffee. 

If you have your doubts, you can weigh your coffee beans, try weighing 100 grams or 50 grams of dark roasted beans and then weigh the same amount (by weight) of a light roast. Then count each bean. You’ll find that you have more dark roasted coffee beans than light roasted, which proves the point that when weighing your coffee, you are using more coffee beans due to them being lighter and thus, using more, you have a greater caffeine content. 

That, right there, is not the sit on the fence answer, but the most accurate one. It absolutely depends on how you measure your coffee, by scoop or by weight. 

 What Coffee Drink Has The Most Caffeine?

To rephrase this question, which brewing method has the most caffeine?

One of the keys to extracting the most caffeine from coffee is to use a hot brewing method as heat extracts more caffeine from coffee than cold brewing coffee. There is no exemption this rule. Even cold brew coffee.

Cold brew coffee is highly caffeinated due to the amount of coffee used in relation to the amount of water with a 1:8 ratio of coffee to water.

The coffee that has the most caffeine per volume will be and is the one that has the greatest amount of coffee in relation to the water, and thus a ratio of 1:1 and equal amount of coffee and water used to brew the coffee will result in a high concentration of caffeine.

This particular coffee drink that uses a coffee to water ratio of 1:1 is a ristretto which, due to the amount of caffeine, is a very small 20 ml (2/3 Oz) and typically has 65 mg of caffeine or 97.5 mg per ounce (per 30 ml) and an astonishing 325 mg per 100 ml.

Note: Many shots of espresso and ristretto and lungo have less total caffeine than a regular coffee. The volume, liquid volume plays a large role in total caffeine content. But in terms of the concentration, the highest three are ristretto, espresso and a lungo.

Frequently Asked Questions About What Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?

What Form Of Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?

The type of coffee that has the most caffeine is coffee that is made with robusta coffee beans. Robusta coffee beans have 1.8 to 2.25x more caffeine than Arabica coffee beans. For high caffeine coffee drinks, make the most caffeinated coffee on a per-ounce basis, which is a ristretto.

What Coffee Gives Most Energy?

The type of coffee beans that give you the most energy are robusta beans. Their caffeine content is more than double what you get from arabica coffee beans. Without a doubt a coffee made with robusta will give you a greater energy boost than one made with Arabica beans.

Making a shot of ristretto, a more focused espresso with more caffeine per ounce will give you the caffeine punch that you are seeking.

Is Americano Stronger Than Latte?

An Americano is stronger in flavor than a latte. A latte is dominated by the milk content, which makes a drink that creamy with mild coffee flavors breaking through the milk.

In terms of caffeine, an Americano has more caffeine than a latte for all drink sizes except the short 8 Oz (240 ml) drink size.

Read: Which coffee has the most caffeine?

What Drink Is High In Caffeine?

There are many drinks that are high in caffeine. Anything that has more than 400 mg of caffeine is excessively high as the maximum amount of caffeine per day is 400 mg for healthy adults and 200 per day for pregnant ladies.

Does Caffeine Actually Give You Energy?

 Caffeine has the effect of giving you an energy boost due to stimulating the production of adrenaline and blocking receptors in your brain related to the sensation of fatigue. And thus when the caffeine wears out you will feel fatigued again.

Which Coffee Is Best To Stay Awake?

The best coffee drink for keeping you awake is a Cordusio mocha in a Venti 20 Oz (600 ml) drink size. While it has 320 milligrams of caffeine and less than other highly caffeinated beverages, the effect of the chocolate content will have a calming effect on any anxiety that may arise.

Additional compounds and nutrients in the chocolate will help your focus and concentration, making it a better choice than highly caffeinated coffee drinks without chocolate.

Final Thoughts – What Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?

Having read this far, you know what coffee has the most caffeine in terms of the brand and which of their beans, and as an alternative you know what roast and what type of coffee bean has more caffeine and which drink has the greatest concentration of caffeine.

Just don’t go about making an espresso or a ristretto with Devil Mountain Black Label coffee; I fear the concentration of caffeine may be enough to kill you! I mean, if 8 Oz of brewed coffee has 1,550 mg of caffeine, how much is there in an espresso?

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Derek Marshall

Derek Marshall, a certified barista by the Specialty Coffee Association possesses over two decades of experience in specialty coffee shops. He holds professional certifications for coffee brewing and barista skills. Derek is also an author with authoritative books covering various coffee topics including specialty coffee, sustainability and coffee, coffee brewing, coffee recipes, coffee cocktails and books focusing on Brazilian coffee, Vietnamese coffee, Indonesian coffee and Malaysian coffee. As a barista for over two decades, Derek Marshall has worked in specialty coffee shops across the United Kingdom, Spain, Thailand, Malaysia, Cambodia, Indonesia, and Vietnam. His expertise extends to the distinct coffee cultures, specialty beverages, and brewing techniques of each nation. Functioning as a coffee consultant, Derek charges US$50 per hour. To learn more about Derek Marshall and Latte Love Brew, visit his About Me Page. For coffee inquiries, contact him at +34-639-410-375 or Derek@LatteLoveBrew.com, mentioning your name and location