If you’ve ever taken an overnight flight, aka a red eye flight, you know those are just the worst.
Unless you’re blessed with the ability to sleep soundly on a plane for the entire duration of an overnight flight, you’re usually left feeling tired when you land. And that tiredness usually extends to the entire day and perhaps longer due to jet lag.
That’s why there’s red eye coffee.
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What is a red eye coffee?
A red eye coffee is drip coffee with a shot of espresso. That’s it. Simply pour a shot of espresso into a cup of drip coffee and you have a red eye coffee.
Here’s a little more about the two parts that make up a red eye coffee:
- Drip coffee: Made using an electric drip coffee maker. It’s easy to operate, reliable, fast and gets the job done. Drip coffee is made when water drips through coffee grounds to make coffee. Push a button and the coffee brews for you. A Keurig coffee maker (which we used to make our red eye coffee) is an example of this. Add in the convenience of ground coffee in a k cup and it’s the perfect combination to brew a cup when you’re in a rush.
- Espresso: Making an espresso involves using an espresso machine where water is pressurized through finely ground coffee beans to create a shot of espresso. The result is a concentrated coffee and a foam called crema. If you don’t have an espresso machine at home, use a stovetop espresso pot aka a moka pot and it only takes a few minutes to brew.
Red eye coffee puts these two together.
But what’s even the purpose of it?
Well, according to Caribou Coffee, it’s “Because sometimes coffee isn’t quite enough. We spike a black coffee with a shot of espresso for an extra pick-me-up.” You can enjoy their version of a red eye, trademarked and called depth charge at one of their cafes.
It’s the coffee drink of choice when you need an extra pick me up and a recharge as Caribou Coffee’s name suggests, for when you just got off a red eye flight or need to burn the midnight oil and reach a pressing deadline.
We can even take it a step further. If you put in two shots of espresso to the cup of drip coffee, it’s called a black eye and three shots is a dead eye or green eye.
It’s also apparently a secret menu item at Starbucks. Some baristas may know what you mean when you ask for a red eye but if not, all you need to do is tell your barista to add a shot of espresso to a cup of brewed coffee like Blonde Roast or Pike Place Roast.
How much caffeine is in red eye coffee?
If we go by Mayo Clinic’s calculations, an 8 ounce cup of brewed coffee contains 96 milligrams of caffeine. A shot of espresso, which is one ounce contains 64 milligrams of caffeine. So a red eye coffee with 8 ounces of brewed coffee plus one shot of espresso would be approximately 160 milligrams of caffeine.
Meanwhile, a black eye (2 shots) would be around 96 + 64 + 64 = 224 milligrams and a green/black eye (3 shots) would be approximately 96 + 64 + 64 + 64 = 288 milligrams of caffeine.
Also as a note, according to Mayo Clinic, 400 milligrams is considered the safe amount of caffeine for an adult.
Read More: Is Coffee Good For You? 25 Benefits (and Disadvantages) of Drinking Coffee
What does red eye coffee taste like?
This would depend on which type of coffee beans you choose.
You can use the same beans for both the drip coffee and espresso but you can also try two different ones to see which combinations you like best.
How to Make Red Eye Coffee
Since this is the kind of coffee you’d need while cramming in some studying or trying to reach a deadline, you want to make this in the fastest way possible to get that boost as quickly as possible. Especially if the point of red eye coffee is for more caffeine, you shouldn’t need to spend any extra energy to make it.
So for our red eye coffee, we used a Keurig for the brewed coffee and moka pot for the espresso. For the espresso shot, we used mushroom coffee to benefit from some of its many health benefits.
What You Need to Make Red Eye Coffee
- Keurig Single Serve Coffee Maker
- Espresso Machine or Moka Pot
- 1 ounce espresso (we used Laird Superfood mushroom coffee)
- 8 ounces drip coffee (we used Dunkin’ Original Blend)
- Laird Superfood Original Creamer (optional)
Step 1
Brew espresso in a moka pot.
Step 2
Brew coffee in the Keurig or other drip coffee maker.
Step 3
Pour the shot of espresso into the cup of drip coffee. Add optional creamer.
Read More: Best Non Dairy Coffee Creamers
Coffee Beans With High Caffeine
If you don’t want to take these steps to make a red eye coffee and would just prefer to brew one cup of coffee with a really high caffeine content, check out these brands:
- Biohazard Coffee: Contains 928 milligrams of caffeine for a 12 ounce cup. Single origin robusta beans. Available in ground and whole beans.
- Death Wish Coffee: Their beans aren’t just highly caffeinated, but are also organic and fair trade. Available in convenient k cups.
- Cannonball Coffee: They make the strongest coffee in the UK called Maximum Charge. Available in whole beans.
- Black Insomnia Coffee: One cup contains 1105 milligrams of caffeine per 12 ounces. Medium roasted with a robust flavor. Available in Nespresso compatible pods.
