I Tried 12 Vanilla Coffee Creamers, and the Best Ones Were Totally Unexpected

A creamer newcomer outshines the others.

Recommending a creamer can be tricky business. A cup of coffee can be a very personal thing and what someone expects from the cream component can vary greatly from person to person. For example, some prioritize having rich milk flavors, while others find flavor to be key.

There's a certain grain of salt that should be taken with reading this ranking. Is the winner the best one? Well, of course, in my opinion, it is. But I say figure out what matters most to you, then pick the one that ranks highest in that category. At the end of the day, most of these creamers are totally fine, but some go beyond that.

What Do I Like in a Coffee Creamer?

This might come as a surprise, but I like my creamer to be, you know, creamy. To achieve a rich and silky result with a smooth sip, real milk and cream are important to me. That said, I have nothing against alternative milk creamers—I like to swap them in with my coffee shop orders from time to time—so there’s no bias here, just as long as they can accomplish the same result. And finally, at least for me, despite it being downright delightful in a cup of coffee, I just can’t get past drinking vegetable oil or palm oil in the morning regularly. Call me strange, but it just isn’t appealing to me.

How I Tested the Coffee Creamers

It took me a while to get the sampling down on this. At first, the idea was to sip each one on its own, then again in coffee, measuring the same amount of creamer for each cup. But I quickly realized that I had to sip all the creamers on their own first, otherwise, my palate would get muddled very quickly. And since creamers all vary in how thick and sweet they are, it doesn't make sense to use the same amount of creamer for each cup of coffee. Creamers also taste incredibly different on their own. In the end, picking a winner comes down to how it tastes with coffee because no one is drinking creamer from the bottle—at least, we hope not.

For the coffee sampling portion, I brewed one pot of dark roast coffee and divided it into 11 cups for this test so it was consistent in strength.

12th place: Nut Pods Almond + Coconut Creamer - French Vanilla

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I was very intrigued by the promise of almond and coconut together in one delightful dairy-free package. Sadly, neither was to be found in the end. The contents of this adorable box-like carton taste so much like water, calling it a creamer is a giant leap of generosity. The point of adding cream to coffee is to impart richness and smoothness. All this accomplishes is thinning out and watering down a mixture that involves a lot of water to begin with. To get a creamy color or taste the product at all, you have to add so much it becomes almost comical.

I’d say there’s a place for Nut Pod’s creamer for people who love black coffee but have been told by their dentist that they better start adding cream if they don’t want a mouth full of brown bone. Just brew your cup extra strong, and throw in a little of this. Trust me, you won’t know it’s there.

11th place: Planet Oat Oatmilk Creamer - French Vanilla

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Recently, I’ve been swapping out a good bit of my coffee consumption with a powdered matcha that I mix with water or oat milk. Planet Oat's oat milk has been one of my go-to brands and it has been delightful. Given my experience, I expected to enjoy this creamer. Unfortunately, I did not.

I was already alarmed by its light chocolate milk color and a funky, “off” smell, but the taste of this was even worse. It was like drinking minty medicine. I had to keep tasting it to try and pinpoint the flavor (unsuccessfully, I might add), which was an appalling process. I just could not get past it.

The good news is that the mint quality goes away once mixed in with coffee, but the bad news is it still makes the whole cup taste off. The only reason this isn’t in last place is because at least there is some flavor, which in the end wins out over no flavor at all.

10th place: Dunkin - French Vanilla

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I am well aware of the unique fandom that comes with Dunkin’. I even know people with Dunkin’ tattoos. Sadly, its creamer isn't anything to get excited about.

With milk as the main ingredient, it has an expectedly creamy texture, but the main sentiment after one sip is “nah.” The mixture is so saccharine it tastes more like simple syrup than anything vanilla. In fact, it has a cherry-like aftertaste. Introducing it to coffee didn’t increase my enjoyment of it and just left me wishing I could add something different. So, it’s a no—or rather a nah—from me.

9th place: Silk Almond - Vanilla

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If you’re a fan of alternative milk creamers, this isn’t a bad way to go. The almond flavor swirling through the coffee is nice and nutty. It’s up here on the list because the taste on its own is quite unpleasant, leaving a musty aftertaste in the back of the mouth. Though we’re not choosing a winner based on the taste of the creamer alone, it does factor in. That, and the fact that I liked eight others better.

(As a side note, l’m all for Silk’s stance on helping almond farmers and their regenerative agricultural practices so my apologies on being fourth to last.)

8th place: Great Value - French Vanilla

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On its own, the house brand from Walmart is incredibly sweet and surprisingly creamy for a product with no actual cream. Great Value subscribes to the Coffee mate or International Delight category of ingredients, where water, sugar, and some type of oil reign supreme. Everything else in this product makes up less than 2% of the mixture, including a milk derivative that is the only thing close to a dairy product on the list. I know, I know, this is pretty standard for a lot of creamers nowadays, which is why you often see little packages of them left sitting out at gas station counters.

On its own, the main flavor is nothing but white sugar. It's like putting down an opaque sugar syrup with an artificial flavor you’d expect to find in candy. But the aftertaste is almost nutty. Thanks to that, it’s perfectly fine in coffee, even enjoyable. Budget-conscious folks, go nuts.

7th place: Coffee Mate - French Vanilla

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Here’s the thing: Coffee mate was my go-to back in the the days when I didn't read labels. But unsurprisingly, there was never a time when I tried it on its own. So this was a very jarring experience—and not a good one.

That said, it’s still good in coffee! Vanilla is a flavor that’s noticeably absent in the raw taste test, offering more cherry than vanilla in the same way the almond in marzipan reads cherry. I even got notes of cotton candy. But it’s a white, otherwise nondescript creamer so, sure, you can call it vanilla, Coffee mate.

Head to head with Great Value, I like it less. But it does better in coffee, so here it sits.

6th place: Natural Bliss - Vanilla

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Once reading labels started to become a real obsession, I switched to Natural Bliss for a while. A pro is that it’s made up of just skim milk, cream, sugar, and natural flavor and a con is that it only comes in vanilla, sweet cream, and caramel (except for a seasonal pumpkin spice and some other alternative milk options).

I didn’t like the plain flavor much as it surprisingly tasted unnatural. That said, as Coffee mate’s more whole-ingredient counterpart, it does nice things in coffee—that is, until the aftertaste kicks in. I likely wouldn’t notice—and didn’t—if I hadn’t tasted all the others at the same time. There’s a slightly stale, musty quality I can’t get past. All in all, if you like the simple stuff, this is a good way to go.

5th place: Starbucks - Inspired by Vanilla Latte

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Something I loved about Starbucks’ attempt at vanilla creamer is that the first ingredient is non-fat milk. Something I hated was that the packaging pinches your fingers when you open it. Even though I learned the first time to move my fingers out of the way, I kept doing it, as I imagine I would every morning when I’m making my coffee in a daze, utilizing one bloodshot eye.

Otherwise, the thicker, creamier texture was a lovely thing to behold. Perhaps the unique texture is a result of the addition of buttermilk—an interesting ingredient for creamer. It’s still very sweet and there is some added extract I don’t love, but pouring some of it into coffee really lets the coffee shine—a fact that makes sense for a coffee shop brand—while simultaneously delivering subtle notes of vanilla. It’s a solid choice overall.

4th place: International Delight - French Vanilla

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With nearly identical ingredients to Great Value and Coffee mate, International Delight should rank among them. Yet, here it sits at number four. This is because it is leaps and bounds better in taste.

Telling these apart just comes down to whatever mystery “natural flavors” the particular brand is using. And whatever International Delight is doing is working. Alone, it tastes of melted high-quality ice cream, and mixed into coffee it simply has a wonderful vanilla flavor. So, even though the ingredients aren’t my personal cup of tea—or coffee, in this case—and I can detect a slight oiliness from it while sipping, the result is pretty lovely and I can’t fault it for anything else.

3rd place: Trader Joe's - French Vanilla

Trader Joe’s has a reputation for quality and a fan base about as devoted—if not more so—as Dunkin’. So when I saw a vanilla creamer in its refrigerator case, I wasn’t about to pass up the chance to try it.

For this one, take what I said about International Delight and add the refreshing taste of cold milk to the forefront. That’s truly what earns it a place one notch higher and how Joe takes your morning joe from mediocre to pretty great.

2nd place: So Delicious Dairy Free - French Vanilla

There's no other way to say it: So Delicious Coconut Milk Creamer is just super delicious, plain and simple. It tastes fresh, with a hint of vanilla and a smooth and dreamy texture. On taste alone, this one wins. However, in a cup of coffee, it’s a bit thin, which knocks it down one slot. It's surprising though, given there is both coconut milk and cream in the product.

1st place: Chobani - Vanilla

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You likely recognize this name from cups of yogurt at the grocery store or even cartons of nog around the holidays. But now, Chobani makes coffee creamer—and a lot of it, too. While it's new to the market, it already boasts nine flavors, plus two zero-sugar varieties. Its cream is a result of the yogurt-making process, which then gets added to milk, cane sugar, natural flavors, and (in this case) vanilla extract to make a perfect companion to coffee.

On its own, it has an interesting flavor. The vanilla is prominent and it isn’t overly sweet, which is nice, but it has a tropical quality to it and almost a suntan lotion note, which isn’t exactly write-your-best-friend-about-it delicious. But in coffee? It’s a clear and luscious winner. When you get the ratio right, it really sings and I love how the vanilla really comes through.