We Tried 16 Coffee Creamers — And the $4 Winner Is What We’ll Use Every Single Morning

It’s not on our mind constantly, but we’ve definitely felt the pressure to brew a coffee that rivals one from a café. Spending $7 (or more!) on a single drink is enough to make us cringe, and we’ll take any excuse to linger in the comfort of our kitchens. We can’t be alone. 

Whether you use just a drop or several spoonfuls, the key to perfecting an at-home cup of joe is finding a great coffee creamer. To find the ones that have the ideal cream-to-sweetness ratio, we spent an afternoon cosplaying as baristas and tasting as many coffee creamers as we could — 16 in total! (Don’t worry, we drank decaf.)

If you’ve been to the creamer section at your local grocery lately, then you know it’s exponentially grown across multiple shelves filled with all kinds of flavored and dairy-free options. There’s pretty much a flavor for everyone out there (even a recently launched Kit Kat flavor by Coffee Mate!) these days. 

For this test, we focused on two of the most popular flavors today — vanilla and caramel — sourced a variety of name- and store-brand coffee creamers (both dairy and dairy-free versions) based on availability and price. We also requested input from our editorial team to round out the list of 16 competitors. The brands ranged in price (from $5 all the way up to $9, though most were around $6 at the time of this tasting).

With a gigantic pot of (decaffeinated) coffee, our team of five tasters spent the afternoon tasting as many coffee creamers as we could. In the end, one coffee creamer from each category stood out; their distinct concentrated creamy-sweetness amplified our black coffee, and we’re genuinely excited to keep them on hand in our fridges. 

With just four ingredients — skim milk, cream, sugar, and natural flavors (though, natural flavors can still include chemicals) — the natural bliss Vanilla Flavored Coffee Creamer won high praise from nearly all of our tasters, including Ali, our associate groceries editor, who compared its decadent creaminess to “melted ice cream” on its own. It had a “surprising lightness when added to coffee.” 

She went on to mark it as her top pick overall (out of all four categories!) for its “milky flavor” that tasted “gourmet-like.” Hollis, our email manager, also ranked it her “favorite,” echoing Ali’s adoration of its “light, sweet cream taste.”

What’s So Great

• “Gourmet-like”
• Short ingredient list
• Sweet and creamy

Good to Know

• N/A

Buy: Coffee Mate Natural Bliss Vanilla Flavored Coffee Creamer, $3.99 for 16 ounces at Instacart

Just a few drips from taking the top spot, the majority of our tasters also loved the International Delight French Vanilla Coffee Creamer. When the results were revealed this wasn’t all too surprising — International Delight is a classic, if not the classic (it’s been on shelves since the 1980s!). All that to say is that our team thoroughly enjoyed this creamer, with Ali noting its “strong vanilla flavor.” 

So how come it didn’t win? Ali, who did really enjoy this one, found it to be a bit “too sweet and rich,” especially for an everyday coffee. Margaret, our video producer, felt the same way: “if you like things really sweet, this is a great option.” Despite this, it’s still an excellent alternate that we highly recommend (and will keep drinking). 

What’s So Great

• Strong vanilla flavor
• Creamy

Good to Know

• Sweeter than other options

Buy: International Delight French Vanilla Coffee Creamer, $6.49 for 32 ounces at Instacart

When we picture a rich, sweet coffee creamer, the Silk Vanilla Almond Creamer is exactly what we had in mind and we had no idea that it was made with almond milk! This dairy-free coffee creamer checked all the boxes in terms of flavor, texture, and look. Tameka ranked this among her top overall picks for its “smooth” finish and general sweetness that you’d expect in a dairy coffee creamer. Ali felt the same and particularly loved how she could taste “real vanilla” that made her coffee taste like a fancy, specialty artisanal one from a local café. 

Between Tameka, Ali, and a few of our other tasters, this dairy-free coffee creamer checked all the boxes in terms of flavor, texture, and look, and is our top vanilla pick.  

What’s So Great

• Vanilla-bean flavor and “Real vanilla” taste
• Smooth

Good to Know

• Made with almond milk

Buy: Silk Vanilla Almond Creamer, $6.99 for 32 ounces at Instacart

The plant-based Califia Farms Vanilla Oat Creamer earned high marks among our testers. Upon first look, Ali was wowed by its “strong vanilla scent and white, creamy look.” (She had no idea it was dairy-free!). Once she added the oat creamer to coffee, AIi said it tasted like, and we’Il quote, the “quintessential coffee creamer.” So how come it didn’t resonate as highly with other testers? Well some of our staff, like Margaret, felt like its vanilla flavor was lacking, which reminds us just how subjective taste is. 

And even though this is all about taste, when the brands were revealed, we were also happy to report that this oat creamer is hydrogenated oil and artificial ingredient-free. 

What’s So Great

• “Quintessential coffee creamer”
• Strong vanilla scent

Good to Know

• Some felt it lacked vanilla flavor
• Made with oat milk

Buy: Califia Farms Vanilla Oat Creamer, $5.99 for 25.4 ounces at Instacart

International Delight may have come in second place for vanilla, but its Caramel Macchiato Coffee Creamer hit all of the high marks (thick, creamy consistency, and great caramel flavor) in our caramel category. Tameka, our editorial assistant, raved about its “smooth,” “deep caramel” taste, adding that it’s the type of coffee creamer she’d be proud to serve for “friends and family” at a breakfast or brunch (which, to us, is incredibly high praise). 

Ali was also a huge fan and surprised by how much she could “actually taste the caramel notes.” Margaret, who prefers a more subtle sweetness, even said that the sugar “isn’t overpowering.” Aka, if you’re looking for a well-rounded flavored coffee creamer to keep on hand for little doses of luxury throughout the day, let it be this caramel coffee creamer. 

What’s So Great

• “Deep caramel” flavor
• Smooth and subtly sweet

Good to Know

• N/A

Buy: International Delight Caramel Macchiato Coffee Creamer, $6.39 for 32 ounces at Instacart

Looking to bring the barista experience home? Well, Starbucks sells its Caramel Flavored Creamer in grocery stores, and our tasters found it to be surprisingly pretty great. In fact, Ali (who admittingly isn’t the company’s biggest fan) noted its “delightful caramel flavor that tastes like I’m drinking dessert.” She did add, though, “that it isn’t make-your-teeth-sore sweet.” 

Despite this high praise, other testers like Kayla, our special projects senior manager, found it to be “watery” and generally thinner than she’d prefer for a coffee creamer, which is what kept it from claiming the top spot.

What’s So Great

• “Tastes like dessert”
• Yet, not too sweet

Good to Know

• Thinner than other creamers

Buy: Starbucks Caramel Flavored Creamer, $7.99 for 28 ounces at Instacart

Looking to boost your morning latte? Do it with the Planet Oat Caramel Oatmilk Creamer. We loved so much about this dairy-free creamer. or starters, Ali swooned over the way it “decadently blended into [her] coffee,” emphasizing its creamy thickness (despite that it lacks cream!). Some folks, like Kayla, found this thickness to be a bit too much, but the rest of us thought of it as its strong suit. 

Ali also picked up on its “subtle caramel notes” that were strong enough to really taste without being overpowering. She also noted how excited she is to “add this to her caffeine routine,” and we think you’ll feel the same. 

What’s So Great

• Rich
• Creamy without dairy
• Light caramel flavor

Good to Know

• Made with oat milk

Buy: Planet Oat Caramel Oatmilk Creamer, $5.79 for 32 ounces at Instacart 

If you’re looking for a splurge option, consider the Elmhurst Caramel Macchiato Oat Creamer. At $5.99 for a 16-ounce carton (compared to the typical 32-ounce sizes), this creamer was one of the more expensive options on our list but earned a ton of praise that (we think) justifies its slightly higher price tag. In fact, Tameka “would absolutely buy and use [this oat creamer] daily” thanks to its great caramel flavor and smooth texture that blends great into coffee. 

Hollis found it “really flavorful,” and Margaret also picked up on its “caramel flavor from the first sip.” Where it fell short, though, was also its caramel flavoring — it tasted slightly artificial to some, more in line with a caramel candy than homemade caramel. 

What’s So Great

• Incredibly flavorful
• Blends great into coffee

Good to Know

• More $$$ than others

Buy: Elmhurst Caramel Macchiato Oat Creamer, $5.99 for 16 ounces at Instacart 

We recruited five staff members to randomly taste 16 different coffee creamers sold at grocery retailers today. We chilled each coffee creamer and served it with a freshly brewed pot of (decaffeinated) coffee. 

Maya, our studio assistant assigned each creamer a letter — from A through P — to conceal the brands’ identities.  

Tasters were given small cups and encouraged to sample the creamers with coffee in random order (to avoid giving any particular coffee creamer an advantage) before writing down their thoughts. Because coffee creamer is subject to each person, we instructed tasters to pour as much creamer as they want in their cup, as if they were enjoying it at home. 

Tasters rated each coffee creamer on a scale of 1 to 5 (1 = No, thanks; 2 = Meh; 3 = Pretty good; 4 = Really like; 5 = Yes, please!) across four criteria — look, smell, texture, and flavor. They included any specific observations, tasting notes, and general opinions worth mentioning. Respondents were also asked to answer, arguably, the most important question of all: Would you buy this coffee creamer?

To decide which coffee creamers are worth buying, we recruited five volunteer testers who work at Apartment Therapy Media (our parent company) to evaluate 16 different store-bought coffee creamers based on texture, look, smell, desire to repurchase, and of course, flavor. 

Tasters were unaware of the brands involved and sampled each one randomly. Each taster independently filled out a score sheet, scoring and ranking each creamer without larger discussion or influence from the group throughout the entirety of the test. It was only after all evaluations were completed that we tallied the scores to determine the winners.

Did your favorite coffee creamer brand make the list? Tell us about it in the comments below.

This post originally appeared on The Kitchn. See it there: We Tried 16 Coffee Creamers — And the $4 Winner Is What We’ll Use Every Single Morning