We share a ton of coffee drink recipes that are easy to make at home.
And one of the ways to change it up and add a different flavor to one of our coffee recipes is by using flavored coffee.
Here, we set out to find some of the best flavored coffee. On the list you’ll find a few regulars you might expect like vanilla and hazelnut.
But we’ve also added some unique ones (strawberry cheesecake?!) to try.
Some links found in this post are affiliate links, meaning we may receive a commission if you decide to make a purchase, at no additional cost to you.
Also check out some FAQs you may have about flavored coffee.
Best Flavored Coffee
- French vanilla
- Caramel
- Chocolate coconut
- Chocolate raspberry
- Strawberry cheesecake
- Hazelnut
- Blueberry
- Butterscotch
- Pumpkin
- Cinnamon
1. French Vanilla: New England Coffee
Ah a classic French vanilla flavored coffee. New England Coffee’s French Vanilla is made with their signature blend of South and Central American 100% Arabica coffee beans.
The beans are roasted using the same technique that the company has been using since it started in 1916. After roasting, the beans are flavored using natural and artificial flavors of essential oils and plant derivatives.
New England Coffee is not new to the coffee world. Their story began when brothers Menelaos and George Kaloyanides immigrated to the United States and ran a restaurant in Boston.
In 1916, the brothers started their own business, New England Coffee to serve commercial customers. By 1999, their coffee was introduced to supermarkets and is still available today at major supermarkets and online.
2. Caramel: Folgers Simply Gourmet
This caramel flavored coffee from Folgers is part of their Simply Gourmet line. The flavors in this collection are naturally flavored.
So this caramel coffee doesn’t taste like chemicals, just a naturally flavored buttery, caramelized sugar flavor. The flavored 100% Arabica coffee is roasted in New Orleans.
Folgers began in 1850, when James Folger traveled to San Francisco at the age of 14 and worked at The Pioneer Steam Coffee and Spice Mills.
When the business went bankrupt, he purchased it and renamed it J.A. Folger & Co. Their first instant coffee that they are known for was first released in 1953. By 1963, Folgers was known as America’s number one coffee brand.
3. Chocolate Coconut: Eight O’Clock Coffee
If you love the taste of coconut and chocolate, Eight O’Clock Chocolate Coconut Macaroon is for you. It tastes like a cookie without actually eating a cookie.
Eight O’Clock was founded in 1859. Their 100% Arabica coffee is roasted in Maryland. The name comes from a fact that the company learned in 1919 that 8 am and 8 pm are the most popular times for drinking coffee, so therefore, Eight O’Clock Coffee.
4. Chocolate Raspberry: Stone Street Coffee
If berries blended with chocolate is more of your thing, try a Chocolate Raspberry flavored coffee from Stone Street Coffee. It’s a flavorful Colombian coffee with hints of both raspberry and chocolate together.
Coffee from Stone Street Coffee is roasted in Brooklyn, NYC. This artisanal coffee roaster has been roasting coffee since 2009.
5. Strawberry Cheesecake: Bones Coffee Company
Bones Coffee Company’s Strawberry Cheesecake is a unique flavored coffee. Though it may taste like strawberry cheesecake with its hints of fresh strawberries paired with savory cheesecake, there is no sugar added to any of their coffees.
Bones Coffee Company roasts their coffee in small batches for fresh beans when you order. They are known for their wide range of flavored coffee (some classics and others like peanut butter and jelly, maple bacon and chocolate orange!), a double caffeine blend and clever names for each of their flavors.
6. Hazelnut: Seattle’s Best
Using 100% Arabica beans from Latin America and roasted in a peanut roaster, this hazelnut flavored Toasted Hazelnut Flavored Coffee from Seattle’s Best is a nutty and smooth tasting coffee. It is very aromatic and smells divine as you brew it.
Seattle’s Best, first known as Stewart Brothers Coffee started in the 70s in Seattle. Since the beginning, the company has been roasting their coffee in a peanut roaster.
When Stewart Brothers Coffee won the name of best cup of coffee in Seattle, they changed their name to Seattle’s Best Coffee to reflect their status.
7. Blueberry: New England Coffee
Blueberry Cobbler is one of New England Coffee’s most popular coffee. Natural and artificial flavoring of sweet blueberries and a selection of spices mixed in with 100% Arabica coffee, result in a subtle taste of the blueberry cobbler dessert in every sip.
New England Coffee’s flavored coffee uses natural and artificial flavors of essential oils and plant derivatives.
8. Butterscotch: Cameron’s Coffee
Cameron’s Coffee Highlander Grog is a delicious blend of rum and butterscotch flavors with notes of caramel and vanilla too. This blend and all of Cameron’s Coffee blends are created by their Roastmaster using 100% Arabica specialty grade beans.
This coffee company started in 1978 by Janie and Jim Cameron in Hayward, Wisconsin. They started a coffee shop to sell the coffee and later to supermarkets. It was acquired by another owner, who expanded Cameron’s Coffee’s roasterie to Minnesota.
Today, they are constantly innovating and are the creators of EcoPods for pod coffee makers (like a Keurig) made with plant based materials instead of plastic. (The Highlander Grog is also available in these EcoPods.)
9. Pumpkin: San Diego Coffee Company
When the weather changes and fall approaches, it’s time to start brewing San Diego Coffee Company Pumpkin Spice coffee.
It’s a medium roast with bold spicy pumpkin notes. The coffee is naturally flavored and another plus is unlike many flavored coffees out there, this one is available in whole bean. And it’s also available year round.
San Diego Coffee Company started over 40 years ago. Today, they have a wide range of organic, flavored and single origin blends.
10. Cinnamon: Bones Coffee Company
This cinnamon flavored coffee is another coffee from Bones Coffee Company is called Sinn-O-Bun, crafted to taste like an iced cinnamon roll, but without the sugar or calories.
These medium roast, 100% Arabica coffee beans are available ground or in whole beans and are roasted and packed in the US.
Now that you’ve decided to try a flavor, here are some questions you may have:
How is flavored coffee made?
The process may vary slightly by the roaster, but for example, according to the Roasterie, flavoring coffee beans first starts with selecting a blend of beans that will pair well with the chosen flavoring.
Once the bean and flavor are established, whole beans are roasted. These warm whole beans are placed in a mixer directly from the roaster.
A highly concentrated syrup is infused into coffee beans, adding 3% of the weight of the beans in syrup. While in the mixer, the beans absorb the syrup and aroma. And that’s how flavored coffee is made.
Can you make flavored coffee at home?
If you don’t like the artificial tastes that some flavored coffees have, or would prefer using natural ingredients, you can similarly try flavoring coffee at home by adding about 1/8 teaspoon of a spice like ground cinnamon, pumpkin pie spice, or extracts like vanilla extract or raspberry extract to coffee grounds before brewing.
Is flavored coffee bad for you?
For flavored coffees like vanilla or cinnamon, natural flavors like vanilla extract can be used. But when it comes to flavors like smores and strawberry cheesecake, there isn’t exactly a smores or cheesecake extract. So this flavor needs to be created usually using synthetic flavoring.
According to Cooking Light, to get the right flavor, coffee companies (not all, but some) use chemicals, including propylene glycol. This is common in other packaged foods and is safe to consume in small amounts.
But the thought of having any sort of chemicals in the first thing you drink every morning isn’t exactly a great thought.
It is also revealed that the coffee beans used to flavor coffee (again, not all for all flavored coffee) aren’t usually fresh considering the time the beans have been roasted, flavored, ground, packaged and then shipped to your local grocery store. With the flavoring masking the taste of the coffee, you wouldn’t be able to tell.
If you’re worried about synthetic ingredients, which usually aren’t listed on the packaging, you would be better off sticking to more natural flavored coffees.
Consider flavors like vanilla or hazelnut and from companies that state that they only use natural flavors, like in Folgers’ line of Simply Gourmet flavored coffee.
Is there sugar in flavored ground coffee?
No, none of the flavored coffees listed have sugar.
How to brew flavored coffee?
If you’re not a frequent coffee drinker, start with 1 tablespoon of coffee to 6 ounces of water. And if you find you prefer a stronger coffee, add 2 tablespoons to 6 ounces of water.
If using a Keurig, you can use reusable pods and fill the cup with about 1 ½ tablespoons of the ground flavored coffee and brew it as you would a regular k cup.
For a very concentrated coffee, you can also put the ground coffee in a moka pot to make an espresso.
You can even make it cold brew style. Just try to get whole beans so you can grind the beans coarsely yourself before brewing.
Read More: How to Make Cold Brew Coffee (3 Easy Ways!)
How to keep flavored coffee fresh?
You can keep the flavored coffee in the bag that it came with and make sure to seal it tight. However, make sure to use it up within a week for maximum freshness.
If you can’t finish the whole bag in a week and want to prolong the freshness, you can transfer it into an airtight container. If you have mason jars lying around, you can use these and store the coffee in a cool, dark space like in your kitchen cabinet.
Alternatively, get a canister specifically made for storing and keeping coffee beans fresh. Check out this one from CoffeeGator, available in several finishes and sizes.
