Begone weak, watery K cups. Strong black coffee is where the action is at. Getting the strongest K cup is about taste, flavor, and yes, the jolt of energy we so desperately crave.
Whatever the path may be, the easiest way to start is with the right K cup coffee. That’s where we lay the foundation to get a strong brew in the cup.
Strong And Bold K Cups To Enjoy In 2020
- WILD JO: Organic Dark French Roast Single Serve Coffee
- Death Wish K Cups
- Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold K-Cup Coffee
- Folgers Noir True Dark Dark Roast Coffee
- Valhalla Java Single Serve Coffee Pods
- Napalm Coffee, Extra Dark Roast
- Wake The Hell Up! Dark Roast K-Cups
- REVV Afterburner Keurig Single-Serve K-Cup
- Roastmaster Reserve Dark Roast Coffee Pods
- Black Rifle Coffee Company CAF Single Serve Coffee Rounds
- Shock Coffee Extra Strength K Cups
- Devil Mountain Coffee “Black Label” Single-Serve K-Cup Pods
- Hardcore Coffee Strong Dark Roasted Organic High Caffeine Cup
- Tully’s Coffee, French Roast
- Café Bustelo Espresso Style K Cup Pods
Editor’s Choice: Death Wish K Cups
Death Wish coffee has become synonymous to boldest, high caffeine K cups and coffee. So yeah, where a strong K cup is concerned, these sure do make their presence known.
What makes it the editor’s choice isn’t just the astronomical caffeine content. The coffee from these K cups is remarkably strong and caffeine-rich. Yet, it never quite falls into the trap of going bitter.
15 Strongest Keurig Coffee Pods Reviewed
1. WILD JO: Organic Dark French Roast Single Serve Coffee
Wild Jo Organic Dark French Roast Single Serve Coffee K cups go high on flavor. Beans for this coffee are sourced from all around the world. However, they take care to only select the best beans available. According to the company, only the top 2% of beans make the cut to be used for this coffee.
The intense coffee is 100% arabica in a French roast. The dark roast gives it quite the touch of strong flavor. Yet, the undertones of dark cocoa and dark brown sugar are pleasantly available.
This coffee isn’t packed in a plastic cup, but a soft filter that works better than plastic. Use of this soft filter is increasingly common in K cups, though brands tend to use different names.
These cups are biodegradable, which is a big upgrade over the conventional plastic. Well, to be fair, they’re commercially compostable. Not many places have the setup for composting these, but they’re better than plastic anyway!
Wild Jo coffee is certified USDA organic, Kosher, and Fair Trade.
2. Death Wish K Cups (Death Cups)
Death Wish K cups are our choice for the strongest K cup. The brand is already well-known for its high-quality, high-caffeine coffee and they carry the same to their K cups as well. Staying true to their naming conventions, they’ve named these Death Cups. Death Wish says their coffee is the most potent K cup and has four times more caffeine than regular coffee.
The caffeine claims are somewhat difficult to verify, but given the reputation of the company, I’m inclined to believe them. They use a blend of robusta and arabica coffee to get the high caffeine content. The blend is masterful. Though you “feel” the strong coffee and the caffeine content, the dark roast coffee never feels bitter.
Death Wish has been fairly careful about customer expectations too. The coffee used is certified USDA organic and Fair Trade. The plastic capsule and lid can be recycled and the inner mesh can go to the compost pile.
3. Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold K-Cup Coffee
Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold K-Cup Coffee is well-liked for its strong and bold flavor. The coffee is robust, bold, and everything you look for in a great cup of coffee. While the dark roast is strong and toasty by itself, the Extra Bold K cup also contains a greater amount of coffee than regular K cups.
There’s quite a kick to this coffee and I’d pretty much call it a Keurig classic. This coffee doesn’t just have its strong and bold setting going for it, the double diamond is also pretty delicious. If you like the touch of strong coffee without going overboard, this cup is the answer. Green Mountain Double Black Diamond K cup is certified kosher.
4. Folgers Noir True Dark Dark Roast Coffee
Folgers Noir True Dark is keen to show its dark side. The K cup brews a dark roast with a bold body and rich finish. This dark roast tries to strike a balance by making the brew exceptionally strong and smooth. The good part is that it succeeds fabulously.
The Noir True Dark is made from 100% arabica beans. It is roasted to bring out the best of a dark roast, giving the coffee great body and flavor.
5. Valhalla Java Single Serve Coffee Pods by Death Wish Company
Valhalla Java is the somewhat less caffeinated sibling of the Death Cup we see on this list. That doesn’t mean it’s weak, it’s simply not as strong as the Death Cup. Valhalla still packs quite a punch to credibly be one of the strongest coffees and K cups available.
This medium dark roast coffee is flavorful with a rich body and a high caffeine content. To add to the boldness, the Valhalla K cup contains about 20% more coffee than conventional K cups. So you get a strong coffee, with more coffee added to amp up its boldness.
Enjoy this strong coffee while taking pleasure in the nutty and chocolaty taste notes. The coffee is certified USDA organic and fair trade. Valhalla blend arrives in a recyclable plastic cup and the internal mesh is compostable.
6. Napalm Coffee, Extra Dark Roast
As its description goes, Napalm K cups are extra dark, extra bold, and extra strong. You’ll probably want to run a mile after drinking this coffee. Why? No idea, just go with it, okay?
On a serious note, this K cup coffee brews one of the strongest and satisfying cups. It has a solid kick and a great aroma. And even with the extra dark roast, it manages to push away the twinges of bitterness.
7. Wake The Hell Up! Dark Roast K-Cups
The ultra-caffeinated Wake The Hell Up Dark Roast K-Cups are strong, bold, and make a certain writer want to type very fast. It is exquisite, rich, has a great body, and is very smooth. Yes, we’re still discussing coffee here, I guess.
Wake the Hell Up K cup coffee is an expert blend with a solid kick, aroma, and taste. And yes, there’s a fairly high caffeine content to get you going.
8. REVV Afterburner Keurig Single-Serve K-Cup
REVV Afterburner is a strong coffee. It makes its presence felt as soon as the cup touches your lips. The coffee is the kind of rich and smoky that only comes with a notable dark roast. It’s made with premium coffee beans to hunt for the strongest they could find.
It’s a strong K cup that holds its ground on its own. However, I think the naming is a big part of the attraction. REVV offers two more flavors, Turbocharger and No Surrender. All offerings are high caffeine, strong, and dark roast. The coffee is certified Kosher.
9. Roastmaster Reserve Dark Roast Coffee Pods
Roastmaster Reserve Dark Roast coffee is rich and strong in a way that is smooth and pleasing to the palate. A fair bit of this strong and bold taste comes with the addition of extra coffee in the K cup.
These cups hold 13 grams of delicious coffee as opposed to the conventional 10 grams. This extra touch is good enough to make this coffee taste stronger and better.
The coffee is sourced from high elevation plants grown in the tropical rainforests of Chiapas region of Southern Mexico. High elevation makes the beans denser and sturdier, which adds to the robust taste of this coffee. There are afternotes of sweet brown sugar that go very well with the feel of this coffee’s syrupy body.
10. Black Rifle Coffee Company CAF Single Serve Coffee Rounds
This is a K cup where the branding and marketing seems to be as fun as the coffee itself. Black Rifle Coffee Company offers K cups that are CAF, i.e. Caffeinated As [Redacted]. Okay, let’s try that again — Caffeinated As Ffuu… Ah well, let’s just call it Caffeinated AF.
CAF K cups are a blend of Brazilian and Colombian beans to create a coffee that is strong, bold, and smooth. This is a medium roast, so it doesn’t quite have the same flavor as other strongest K cup contenders. However, make no mistake, this coffee is strong. And caffeine-rich.
The bold K cup has an interesting design. Its lid is printed like a bullet (it is the Black Rifle Coffee Company). The Keurig will pierce it right where the firing pin would have hit, if it were a bullet. Pretty cool, eh?
11. Shock Coffee Extra Strength K Cups
Shock Coffee has a touch of extra caffeine and extra coffee in each K cup. They claim to have 75% more caffeine compared to regular coffee, which should be good enough for a kick. It’s not just the caffeine that makes this coffee. The expertly done dark roast gives it a great body and the smoothness makes the coffee more enjoyable.
12. Devil Mountain Coffee “Black Label” Single-Serve K-Cup Pods
Devil Mountain Black Label claims to have 200% extra caffeine in its K cups. That’s a lot. In just one sip, it will likely wake you up, make you run laps around a track, and take you to work. All without anyone knowing WTF just happened.
This is a seriously high-caffeine coffee. This dark roast is made from premium coffee beans roasted to perfection. A rich flavor and smooth taste accompany this coffee as it makes every possible attempt to escape a bitter taste. It does succeed in that mission, if only by a hair.
Showing some compassion for the environment, the K cups used are recyclable. Though they’re still plastic, so well, there’s only so much that can be done. The coffee is certified USDA Organic.
13. Hardcore Coffee Strong Dark Roasted Organic High Caffeine Cup
Hardcore Coffee is intense, bold, and the kind of roast that you can love. It has a great taste and is pretty enjoyable for those looking to have a smooth cup of coffee. The coffee is certified USDA organic and Orthodox Union Kosher.
They say it has double the caffeine of regular coffee, which is sure to give a great kick. And if that won’t work, the bold and strong cup is sure to get you moving.
14. Tully’s Coffee, French Roast
Tully’s French Roast has been the “go to” strong coffee for a very long time. It still hasn’t lost its touch. It’s coffee like this that shows there’s no need to go around tinkering with caffeine content when you want a strong dose.
The coffee here is slowly roasted to a wonderful, full-bodied cup of joe. It’s intense, satisfying, and is intensely what we crave when strong coffee is the order. The coffee is certified Orthodox Union Kosher.
15. Café Bustelo Espresso Style K Cup Pods
What better way to close this list with the wonderful, practically iconic Café Bustelo. You may think I’m overselling this, and well, I do have a bias. I love this coffee. And it has earned its place by being a very delicious and versatile coffee.
Cafe Bustelo brews a mean cup of cafecito, the Cuban espresso. It’s strong, delicious, and doesn’t get even close to being watery. It stands pretty well to additives like cream and sugar. Overall, this dark roast is a wonderful cup of coffee.
Go ahead and buy this K cup. Better still, get a can and learn how to make Cafe Bustelo. It’s easy, economical, and when you feel like it, you can always use it with a reusable K cup.
The Secret To Brewing The Strongest Keurig Coffee
Get The Right K Cup To Brew Your Coffee
A strong brew in your cup will come from a strong coffee in your K cup. So the first order is of course selecting the strongest Keurig coffee you can find. The cups listed here are the best and have earned their spot in this list through their great flavor and consistent performance. There’s quite a choice available, take your pick of the K cup to brew the strongest Keurig coffee.
Adjust The Temperature To Get The Ball Rolling
The ideal temperature for best extraction from your coffee is in the range of 195-205 Fahrenheit. Keurig single-serve brewers don’t reach even the lower limit of this temperature. They have a good reason, but it’s something worth noting anyway.
If your machine allows temperature adjustment, use it to get the temperature as high as possible. Keurig 2.0 systems and some other machines allow changing the temperature. It’s unlikely the machine will go to 195 Fahrenheit, but you can raise the temperature to as high as possible.
Preheating Can Help Better Brews
Keurig coffee makers are pretty quick to dispense a cup of coffee. Usually, it will take seconds until the coffee starts pouring into your cup. However, there’s a chance the machine heater isn’t quite ready to get the water to the right temperature. Or, the water might be too cold to be heated efficiently.
In such cases, you can consider brewing an “empty” cup. Don’t put any K cup in the machine, and let it “brew” a small cup. The hot water will pour into your cup and you can discard it.
This approach has two benefits. The heater of the machine is in action and better prepared to heat water for the next K cup. Second, your cup is now warm. Coffee pouring into your cup will not lose heat simply by virtue of hitting a cold surface. It’s a quick recipe for a better coffee.
Brew Smaller Cups To Get Strong Coffee From Your Keurig
Does your coffee tend to get watery even when you try to brew the strongest K cup? Well, the solution here is to use smaller brew volume settings. Conventional wisdom says 8 oz is good for your K cup. However, it’s not always the best option for stronger coffee.
Consider taking the brew setting down to 6 oz. As a rule of thumb, the first few ounces of coffee hitting your cup are the strongest. Things tend to get watery as the water continues to flow.
Keep an eye on the coffee falling into your cup. If it looks like things are getting water, remove your cup of coffee. Remember to put an empty cup in its place so there’s no mess because of the pouring water!
Are High Caffeine K Cups The Secret To Stronger Coffee?
Well, there is a relation between K cups with most caffeine and strong K cups. K cups with high caffeine tend to stick around the strong coffee K cups. However, not all strong coffee cups have to have high caffeine. It is not a direct relation.
Plenty of good, strong K cups get by without going astronomical on their caffeine content. We want a kick out of that strong coffee and high caffeine K cups are eager to deliver that jolt. Keep in mind, a bold, strong cup of coffee is as capable of delivering that kick.
On that note, I should also add a warning for caffeine consumption. Caffeine is a very strong drug. Overusing it can cause serious health issues. So don’t be over-reliant on high caffeine coffee or energy drinks.
For most healthy adults, 300 mg – 400 mg of caffeine intake every day should not cause problems. A lot of high caffeine K cups will take you to this limit in just one cup.
FAQs For The Strong K Cup
Which K Cup Coffee Has The Most Caffeine?
Death Wish K cups (or, Death Cups) from the Death Wish company are generally acknowledged to have the highest caffeine content. According to Death Wish, the Death Cups have at least twice the caffeine content of “regular” K cup coffee.
Some estimates suggest that you can get as much as 464 mg caffeine in a standard 8 oz cup of coffee. That’s almost four times the content of a regular, comparable K cup. However, keep in mind, many of these numbers are estimates.
As Death Wish says, the coffee is likely to have 200% more caffeine content. Besides, there are plenty more brands who too claim the mantle of highest caffeine content. Hard numbers can be tough to come by!
How Can I Make My K Cup Coffee Stronger?
Here are quick tips to a better, stronger K cup coffee:
- Get a good, strong K cup with quality coffee to brew a stronger cup
- Preheat the Keurig by letting it run a small cup without placing any pod
- Select a smaller brew size – a larger brew size risks making the drink watery
- Usually, pouring a 6 oz cup should work fine. If the coffee being poured starts to get watery, remove your cup of coffee and put an empty cup in its place
What Is The Most Popular K Cup Coffee?
There is no single right answer, considering the overall popularity of different K cups. However, some of the popular, strong K cups you can consider are:
- Tully’s Coffee, French Roast
- Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold K-Cup
- Death Wish K Cups (Death Cups)
- Black Rifle Coffee Company CAF Single Serve Coffee Rounds
- Café Bustelo Espresso Style K Cup Pods
Why Is My K Cup Coffee Weak?
There can be several reasons for your coffee feeling weak. Thankfully, there’s usually an easy fix. For the first part, we’ll assume there are no hardware problems. In this case:
- Make sure you’re using a quality K cup that brews strong coffee, flavored K cups won’t cut it
- Brew a smaller cup – try to stay at 6 oz and avoid going to 8 oz
Some machine/hardware problems may also cause your coffee to come out weak. The telltale sign usually is that water doesn’t heat to the right temperature. If you feel like the coffee comes out cooler, it might be time to get the machine checked out. A big swing in temperature isn’t necessary to affect the extraction process. There will be a big change even if the maximum temperature goes down 5 to 10 degrees Fahrenheit.
Choosing The Strong Single-Serve K Cup
Strong coffee is the pathway to alertness. We may give reasons like it was necessary or I needed to stay awake. Yet, we know the robust and bold taste is the big draw to strong coffee. Getting the strongest K cup ensures you always have that delicious coffee and flavor at hand.
My suggestion is to not see high caffeine and strong coffee as interchangeable. Sure, strong coffee does have a good dose of caffeine but don’t base your choice explicitly on caffeine content.
My top choices and recommendations are Death Cups by Death Wish Coffee Company, for a strong coffee with high caffeine. Green Mountain Double Black Diamond Extra Bold K-Cup is a great choice as well.