12 Coffee Creamer Brands, Ranked

Coffee is instrumental in the everyday lives of the majority of Americans, and that's not hyperbole. According to the National Coffee Association's 2024 figures, a full two-thirds of United States adults had coffee in the past day (more than the number who had water!), while three-quarters said they had drank the dark beverage in the past week. From this we conclude two things: 1) Coffee is in, and 2) people really need to hydrate (but mostly the first thing). When it comes to a cup of joe, no question is too granular. With that in mind, it's time to talk coffee creamer.

Beyond the fact that you can always rely on it to give your morning coffee a flavor boost, there's a lot to know about creamer. For instance, it's a little-known hack that you can pop the seals on many types of creamer using the lid. You can add coffee creamer to matcha as well as coffee, and you can even use it while making pudding. If you're kind of "exploding head emoji" right now, you're not alone. Coffee creamer is a magical ingredient.

That being said, which brand is best? This is the question I recently set out to answer. Accordingly, my daughter and I purchased and trialed 12 of the most popular creamers on the market to let you know which ones are worth your wallet, your stomach space, and your time spent foraging.

I've heard of using all kinds of milk in coffee, including some notably less traditional varieties. As it turns out, you can even use pistachio milk to cream your morning brew. With that in mind, you'd think an innocent combination such as almond and coconut wouldn't be that bad — but you'd be wrong. Honestly, they should recall this coffee creamer just for being terrible.

Now, it would be unfair to claim I didn't have a few biases going into Nutpods French Vanilla Almond & Coconut Creamer. Right off the bat, I object to the design of the carton. Although one could argue it's meant to look unique or au courant, I think what it's really meant to accomplish is to shave volume off the product — all while maintaining height that is competitive with other brands, meaning you're paying more for less. At $6.49, this feels outrageous.

However, that wasn't the only issue. The creamer made the coffee taste almost burnt. It wasn't sweet enough and it left a bitter aftertaste in my mouth. Part of the problem was the coconut, as I've yet to meet a coconut product that successfully de-coconutted the flavor enough so that it didn't taste like a denatured piña colada. This definitely did, minus all sweetness, tang, and taste, despite the long ingredient list. Do not buy.

At $4.67, Forager Project Organic Sweet & Creamy Dairy Free Creamer was better than I expected, though not by much. Anything described as "sweet and creamy" as though it's an actual flavor seems a little odd to me, and my suspicion proved well-founded.

Ultimately, this coffee creamer wasn't terrible like the one above — it just didn't really taste like coffee creamer. It's a little hard to describe, but Forager has an almost meaty umami flavor. This successfully removes the naturally bitter component from the coffee, which is important to some people, but it's bland to the point of boring. Plus, with the faint hint of chicken broth in the background, it was weird to the point that I couldn't ignore it.

Moreover, it was kind of thin, failing to earn its "creamy" claim. Once you put the creamer in and mix it around, you can't really tell it's there. It also wasn't sweet, so that's two strikes against the promises on its label. On the plus side, with a cashew-oat-coconut milk blend and a short ingredient list, it does have merits. It would probably work well for someone who like just a hint of something in their morning brew, but not for anyone who wants real coffee creamer.

I had higher hopes for this one. Indeed, Oatly Caramel Oatmilk Creamer was the one I was most excited to try. While I'm not particularly a fan of the caramel latte, I did think caramel and oat milk sounded like a good combo and I was jonesing to try it. We saved it for last to balance out the potential bias as much as possible, and boy was that a mistake. Not only were we full of coffee and creamer by then, but it did not taste very good by any metric.

Yes, it was smooth and creamy, but then, pretty much all of these were, with the notable exception of Forager (which is why it won out over No. 11). The main issue was flavor. There was something hard to define and totally off about the aftertaste, almost chemical in nature. Although the creamer did bring a caramel tinge to proceedings, it was not worth it, especially not for $6.59. Add in a long ingredient list, and it's squarely in my no-fly zone.

Here we have another coconut and almond combo that misses the mark. Admittedly, the $1.99 Trader Joe's version is much better than Nutpods, which I may have nightmares about because the flavor still has not entirely departed my mouth.

This was distinctly not as bad, but it was still far too coconutty with a slightly bitter aftertaste that one assumes comes from the almonds. I just don't think almonds and coconut — two distinctive flavors — go well together. There was also the issue of slight greasiness and tastebud taint. I simply kept tasting it long after I was done swallowing, which is not a desirable trait to me in any food or beverage. Add in a long ingredient list, and we weren't very impressed.

However, it had all the other important elements of a creamer: sweetness, smoothness, and blendability. If it was all you had on hand and you hadn't recently tried several other, better versions, then you would most likely choose it over nothing — I would.

Coffee Mate French Vanilla Creamer manages to jam a lot more polysyllabic ingredients onto its list than you'd assume were necessary. It also uses a ton of plastic, which I do not love. At $5.99, it's certainly not a super-cheap option, so I had decent hopes for it. Alas, it mostly failed to meet them.

For one thing, I'm irritated by its label. It claims to be "2x richer than milk," and although I don't know what futuristic quantum mechanical device they might be using to qualify this, I completely disagree. It's got an okay flavor with a decent level of sweetness, and it's creamy enough. However, it pales in comparison to the milk-based products and many of the alternative ones on this list.

Given the number of ingredients I can't pronounce paired with a ho-hum flavor, I would choose actual milk over this coffee creamer. It's not the worst, of course, and like the Trader Joe's Vanilla Coconut & Almond Creamer, I would choose it over nothing (That is probably true for every time on this list except No. 12). Still, give it a pass if you can.

I was definitely side-eying So Delicious French Vanilla Coconut Creamer from the get-go. First of all, it has a long ingredient list. Second of all, $9.99 is just offensive. Coconut milk is not that expensive. Sugar's not that expensive. Where is this royally outrageous price coming from: the pea protein? The potassium citrate? Come on, people. It's a money grab, and I just couldn't countenance it for coffee creamer, even if that was the last element we took into account in this taste test (See Methodology at the end).

However, it was better than I thought by far. Especially having tasted the other coconut products — Nutpods French Vanilla Almond & Coconut Creamer and Trader Joe's Vanilla Coconut & Almond Creamer — right beforehand, I was prepared to hate Coconut Everything on sight. Once again, I was forced to confront my bias and admit that, in fact, coconut milk can make for a tasty creamer. It was nice and sweet, milky and thick, smooth and easily blended into the coffee. While it was coconut-forward like its Nutpods cousin, it wasn't in an offensive way. Perhaps the lack of almond milk made the difference, I don't know. I just know that if coconut is your thing, you're perfectly fine to choose this one, as long as you're willing to pay the (literal) price.

I'm a fan of Califia Farms. It has a non-dairy pumpkin spice creamer that I first tried way up north in the Yukon territory, and I've never forgotten how good it was. I buy it every year, so I had high hopes for Califia Farms Organic Vanilla Almond Creamer, which at only $5.49 is a good price for a decent jug of coffee creamer.

It did not disappoint with rich flavor and a smooth, creamy pour. It was sweet and delivered on its vanilla promises without being cloying. It wasn't greasy or oily tasting, but it did coat the tongue in kind of a weird way, so that was a bit of a strike against it and my only real complaint. After tasting as many coffee additions as I did, though, I learned that almond can be kind of a bittering agent, so any almond creamer that doesn't come off that way is fine by me. Plus, it had a short and totally readable ingredient list. All around, I'd say you can feel perfectly safe bringing this one home to meet the parents.

This might be a good time to admit that, though I love them when I get them, I try not to buy nut milk or creamer. We have an Almond Cow Nut Milk Maker Machine, so we make our own when we want it. However, when I do buy nut milk at the store, Silk is the brand I trust. Its products are reliably tasty and ubiquitous — indeed, they were the only alternative milk brand we could find when we lived in Belize.

This is to say I expected a lot from Silk Vanilla Non-Dairy Soy Creamer, and even at a relatively high $6.99, I wasn't disappointed. It has a smooth, sweet, rich, and creamy appeal, lightens your mug of coffee nicely, and doesn't leave a strange lingering taste on the tongue. If you like the flavor of soy as I do, I won't hesitate to say you'll love it.

Granted, no alternative milk is ever going to really taste like it comes from a cow (although the Trader Joe's Non-Dairy Brown Sugar Oat Creamer, below, gives that assertion a run for its money). Still, this is a good coffee creamer to buy if you have non-dairy folk visiting because it's palatable to the dairy-devoted set as well.

I put a lot of stock in the 365 brand. Although Whole Foods is not our regular grocery store, both due to price and to proximity, I find that this line consistently delivers decent food items for an affordable price. For $3.79, it was also a good deal compared to some of the other coffee creamer options. It's competitive with Trader Joe's if you double the size of the latter's cartons, so the price is right. Plus, it has a short ingredient list ... because when you use real dairy, as this one does, you don't need to go long. The cow's-milk-plus-cream combo pretty much takes care of it for you.

Thus, I expected the 365 By Whole Foods Market Vanilla Creamer to rank highly, and I was not wrong. It was creamy and sweet with a pleasant vanilla flavor that permeated the coffee without becoming overwhelming, even when you add a lot. I should note that there was a little bit of a fake saccharine aftertaste, but in general, this coffee creamer complemented the bitterness of the coffee well. It was like drinking cream with your coffee, only with the right amount of sweetness and flavor. If I have one complaint, though, it's that there was a lot of plastic.

For $6.49, the Organic Valley French Vanilla Creamer was not the cheapest on our list, but it sure was delicious. As was the case with the 365 brand, much of that is down to the fact that they use real milk and cream. I mean, coffee creamer that's made from actual cream almost seems like cheating, because even plain cow's milk would have given it a serious leg up over much of the competition here. As such, this product is sweet, mild, and very ... you guessed it ... creamy, and blends beautifully with your coffee without much stirring.

Also like 365, it has a short ingredient list compared to creamers that use alternative milks. Because it is lactose-free, those with a dairy sensitivity might not react to it, giving you a non-nut milk option if you're looking for one.

At $1.99, I didn't expect much from this coffee creamer, but I sure was wrong. It was very affordable — although half the size of the others, the carton is still equivalent to less than $4 for 32 ounces, whereas others in the taste test are more like $6 or $7 for equivalent or less. However, that affordability was not reflected in taste.

The Trader Joe's Non-Dairy Brown Sugar Oat Creamer had a lovely and delicate brown sugar flavor. Honestly, it tastes like a drink from the coffee shop but for way less. It's also vegan and dairy-free for those who care about such things, and it is definitely the most convincing dairy substitute on our list. Although it's made of oats, it doesn't have that cereal-like flavor that some grain milk products take on. Instead, it just tastes like smooth, delicious, sweetened creamer — though people who are sensitive to sweetness might find it a bit cloying. I don't have a sugar limit, personally, and neither does my daughter, so keep that in mind.

It does have a long ingredient list, however. Still, the fact that it beats out multiple creamers made of actual cow dairy is impressive indeed. I only have one complaint, which is that it required a bit more stirring to incorporate than most of the others on this list, but hey: I have spoons. I'll live.

With much fanfare, we'd like to introduce you to the absolute best coffee companion we've ever had the pleasure to try: Chobani Vanilla Creamer. You won't need to wonder how long you can keep this after opening it because it will be gone before you turn around. Granted, at $7.29, I'm a little offended it doesn't contain gold leaf, but it has the next best thing: a perfect blend of creaminess, richness, sweetness, and mild vanilla flavor. It is, I don't hesitate to say, the ultimate coffee creamer.

While it does have a long ingredient list, it is absolutely delicious, so I'm willing to overlook it. Again, a lot of this boils down to the fact that it's made from actual cow's milk, which is a decided advantage when you're competing against plant-based products. Considering we chose it over several other dairy-based products, I think we can give it a little credit for being awesome in its own right. Plus, a little goes a long way. If I had to buy one product to use every day for the rest of my life, it would be this one.

In trying to determine the ultimate coffee creamer, we had to first decide which types to buy. Obviously, there are many choices, so we tried to get products of a similar profile: sweetened and without strong flavors. We avoided chai, hazelnut, and other less common variations, sticking to vanilla or, in a few cases, brown sugar and caramel.

Speaking as someone who loves creamer, it was tempting to simply glug them all down, but it didn't feel like it met the spirit of the assignment. Instead, we brewed a large pot of coffee and added an appropriate amount — I like my cuppa joe a light tan; no cream skimping over here. We then tasted and asked a few important questions. Is it smooth and creamy? Is it greasy or oily? Is the sweetness and flavoring overpowering? As none of these creamers formed those weird tiny lumps and all blended together easily by swirling the mug, we safely ruled these factors out during ranking. We also took into account the number of ingredients, operating on the general belief that fewer ingredients means you're consuming fewer lab-created chemicals.

While cost is a factor worth considering, and we've noted prices throughout if you care, it's not the main one. Dietary restrictions, the number of ingredients, and specific flavor needs all matter more than cost to most people who can afford to buy creamer in the first place. Lastly, the cartons were roughly the same size except where noted.