Death, Skulls & Caffeine: Inside the Booming Business of Metal-Branded Coffee

When not obsessing over the double bass patterns on “A Skull Full of Maggots” and “Hammer Smashed Face,” Cannibal Corpse Paul Mazurkiewicz Jr. contemplates coffee. “I always thought, in the back of my mind, 'It would be nice to have a Cannibal Corpse coffee,'” he says. So when? Mike Tonsetic, founder of Concept Cafes, reached out to the death-metal drummer on Instagram and suggested the Brazilian mixtape Beheading & Brewing, the band's name, Mazurkiewicz replied: “Sounds like what I've been thinking about for years. Why not;”

Unveiled on Halloween 2022 and emblazoned with cover artist Vince Locke's image of a disembowelled zombie drinking from a decapitated head, the Cannibal Corpse coffee bags have been “selling very well” on tour and online, according to Mazurkiewicz. And it's part of a new branding formula in heavy music: touring stars from GWAR (“espresso destructo”) to August Burns Red (“revival roast”) aligned with gourmet mixes, copious amounts of caffeine, black bags and spooky artwork.

“We thought we'd be gunned down by hellhounds and beer drinkers and say, 'Coffee is stupid,'” says Tonsetic, whose Orlando-based company has also worked with Chris Garza of Ministry, Soulfly and Suicide Silence. “But metal fans in their 40s, a lot of them are sober and don't just drink beer. They're getting into other things, whether it's coffee or tea.”

Rockers have been working with coffee companies for years. Iggy Pop adapted a blend with Portland's Stumptown coffee in 2019, and KISS (of course), Dropkick Murphys and members of Green Day released their own brands. While hard-rock bands have historically focused on branding bourbon and other alcoholic products, in recent years, the estimated at $458 billion The coffee industry has come for the metal, often through roasters with “death” in their names and skulls in their logos. “Like everything, once a couple happens, everyone starts doing it,” he says Corey Brennan, founder of 5B Artist Management, whose clients Slipknot and Babymetal don't have their own mixes. “The brown metal world is saturated, but there are some great ones out there.”

Metal badge coffee offerings vary. Several sources say they split the revenue 50-50 between artist and coffee maker, but another source adds that costs for a high-quality brew can be as high as $12.50 per bag, so for a price of $20-$25, the coffee maker it can give a well-known band about $8, or $5 for a lesser-known artist. “If I do a partnership, as long as I cover my expenses, they get the profit,” he says Carl Fricker, owner of the 24-hour Brisbane, Australia espresso house Death Before Decaf, which sells blends from rising metalcore stars August Burns Red and Sydney band Northlane. “A lot of bands, as they get older, they don't go out and crash anymore. When they walk into the cafe, they walk straight into the cafe.”

“He's doing really well,” says August Burns Red guitarist Brent Rambler. “We are big coffee drinkers. At worst, I'll get a great coffee out of it.” Adds lead singer Keith Wampler, whose band The Convalescence sells his Brazilian hazelnut through Grindcore Coffee Co.: “If you pop it and put some skulls in it, it's a little bit cooler than your average bag of coffee at the store ». (The word “death” may be full of coffee companies in the US when Death by Decaf tried to expand here, trying to expand its Australian brand with US Patent and Trademark Office-based Death Wish Coffee Co (New York. Death by Decaf's infringement suit was settled last December, and the owner says he spent $200,000 in legal fees.)

As for taste, most metal stars leave the aesthetic details of coffee to the experts: “I have three options that are pretty extreme on the caffeine count, and that seems to be a huge selling point for a lot of bands,” he says. Chad Petitowner of Grindcore.

But for GWAR's Grindcore coffee bag, which featured a cartoon of the band wielding a saw and a giant hammer, the shock-metal veterans insisted on elaborate tastings and commentary. 'This Is A Band That Kills People On Stage And Cuts People's Heads Off,' Says GWAR Co-Manager Liam Pesce. “Obviously, they're going to want the darkest roast and flavor imaginable.” He adds John Bambinoanother GWAR co-manager: “I think there was a mention of nutmeg in there.”