Ass Kicker Coffee Is So Strong That It Comes with a Warning
There are two kinds of coffee drinkers out there: those who enjoy the flavor alchemy behind a good cup, and those who are looking to get lifted on that beautiful stimulant we call caffeine. But now it looks like one coffee shop in Adelaide, Australia is looking to appease both camps with the Asskicker coffee—a drink that contains four espresso shots, four ice cubes made from cold brew that has steeped for 48 hours, roughly four ounces of cold brew that has steeped for ten days, and is topped off with four more 48-hour-steeped cold brew ice cubes. I had enough trouble writing that out just now with a cup of regular coffee, let alone an Asskicker coffee.
The origin story behind the Asskicker coffee is pretty unique. Viscous Coffee, a coffee joint near the beach in Adelaide, began serving the coffee after an ER nurse asked the shop's owner, Steve Benington, for a beverage that could help keep her awake during a night shift she got called for last-minute. In response, Benington whipped up a drink that kept the nurse awake for nearly three days as she sipped the concoction over a two-day span. The Asskicker is a little weaker now, but not too much different.
Still, Benington isn't taking any chances that an unwitting customer might buy the Asskicker coffee without realizing just how turnt they're going to end up as a result. He stresses that the drink has 80 percent more caffeine than a regular old cup of coffee. He also cautions that the drink is meant to be consumed over a three- to four-hour span, resulting in 12 hours of a good, solid buzz.
But this much caffeine obviously comes with potential health risks. Asskicker coffee contains half a lethal dose of caffeine, meaning that there will be no 2-for-1 options for the drink at Viscous Coffee any time soon. The average espresso shot contains 60 milligrams of caffeine; the Asskicker coffee has 5 grams. For those of who following along at home, that's about 5,000 milligrams. So yeah... the name of this beverage is pretty apt.
“Some people love it and some are broken by it but it’s all in the name of fun,” Benington told the Adelaide Advertiser.
The health risks behind the Asskicker are certainly real. Tanya Lewis, an Australian dietitian, put the beverage on blast, claiming that it is a “very high risk drink,” considering caffeine is a drug.
“There have been a number of documented cases of hospital admissions and also death with caffeine intakes less than half of what is contained in this beverage,” Lewis told the Advertiser.
So whether or not you want to put your life at risk for a fantastic caffeine high is up to you. But considering Australia's cocaine bust this week was the largest in the country's history, your alternatives might be more limited for a few weeks.
