Libation Review: Death Wish Coffee

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Brand: Death Wish Coffee
Size: 16oz Bag in Whole Bean
Bean: Mix of Arabica and Robusta Beans
Amount Used: Between Three to Four Tablespoons of Beans
Price: $19.99 from Amazon.com

With the year wrapping up here in the next few weeks and the holidays in full swing, I wanted to do something a little different for this next review. We all have our favorite drink companion for our cigars, be it bourbon or one of my favorite single-malt scotchs. For this review, I wanted to talk about a recent coffee I found.

I discovered Death Wish Coffee via my Twitter stream although I can not remember from whom I can credit for this. In searching and arriving at their webpage, I was greeted with the following proclamation:

The World’s Strongest Coffee

That’s a pretty bold statement to make. Don’t get me wrong; I’m all about strong coffee. Given that I have a new baby that doing very well, he sometimes like to wake up at hours that doesn’t agree with his parents. What I am more interested in regarding the coffee is the taste. So let’s get right to it…

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The whole beans have an oily sheen to them and the aroma can be described in a single word: Strong. We’ve been huge fans of the french press since switching to that method of coffee brewing several years ago. After about five minutes of brewing, I poured myself a cup and added a minimal amount of milk and sugar. For review purposes, I wanted to keep the additives of the coffee to a minimum. Like the beans, the coffee, when drank, has a slightly oily body around the palette but very smooth and easy drinking. In my younger years, I was not shy about enjoying heavily caffeinated beverages (Surge, Jolt, etc.). This is definitely some of the strongest coffee I have had in recent memory but my body didn’t feel like it was vibrating. For those strictly looking for a great-tasting cup of coffee that can wake you up, consider Death Wish Coffee.

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In addition to simply reviewing the coffee, I wanted to see how it would pair with a cigar. With the cup of coffee shown and described above, I chose a Leaf by Oscar Sumatra as I wanted a medium bodied cigar as a baseline. Overall, it paired well but with how the coffee was for the review, the cigar is definitely the complement to the coffee. It simply overpowers the Leaf by Oscar. I would think that with a bit more milk/creamer/cream/sugar in the coffee, it would become an excellent pair and counterpoint to a full bodied cigar. To summarize, Death Wish Coffee makes a great pairing with cigars but be prepared to be wide awake when you are done. I performed this review starting around 9PM a few nights ago and if it weren’t for getting about four hours sleep the night before, I know it would have taken me slightly longer to get to sleep.

As always, thank you very much for reading. I hope everyone reading has a happy and safe Christmas next week.

Jon Siddle

Jon enjoyed his first premium cigar in 2004. Before becoming a founding member of Leaf Enthusiast, he contributed to Cigar Spy before becoming a regular on Tiki Bar Online. When not enjoying a fine cigar, he is working around the midwest and beyond as a freelance musician.

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1 Response

  1. Craig says:

    Coffee and Cigars….cant go wrong. Nice review and glad to hear that the little one is doing well.