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

Cannibal Corpse, GWAR and more metal bands are getting into the coffee business, including August Burns Red and Ministry. Here's a look at the trend.

And it’s part of a new branding formula in heavy music: touring stars from GWAR(“espresso destructo”) to August Burns Red(“revival roast”) aligning themselves with gourmet blends, copious caffeine, black bags and scary artwork. “If I do a collaboration, as long as I cover my costs, they get to have the profit,” says Carl Fricker, owner of 24-hour Brisbane, Australia, espresso house Death Before Decaf, which sells blends by rising metalcore stars August Burns Red and Sydney metal band Northlane. As for flavor, most metal stars leave aesthetic coffee details to the experts: “I’ve got three options that are pretty extreme in the caffeine count, and that seems to be a huge selling point for a lot of bands,” says Chad Petit, Grindcore’s owner.

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