Grabbing a bottle of the best cold brew coffee is like giving a gift to your future self. One day you’re going to wake up hungover (from alcohol or just being alive) and be so grateful to your past self for that refreshing bottled caffeine right there in the fridge, saving you a walk to the coffee shop (not to mention a little money). You’ll love yourself even more if you sprang for one of the best cold brew coffee brands.
Over the course of two separate taste tests, we tasted our way through the best cold brew coffee brands on the market. We tasted and re-tasted and came to some different conclusions the second time around. Personally, I think coffee tastes better hot than cold (like, way better), but I set my misgivings aside to get this right. Since it’s not brewed with scalding water, which brings out the bitterness in coffee beans, the best cold brew coffee should be smooth and mellow with a touch of tangy acidity. Here are the six that perked up our taste buds.
- Califia Farms Cold Brew Black Coffee Medium Roast
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When I think of perceived sweetness or the suggestion of sweetness, I usually think of flavored sparkling waters. They have zero sugar, no alternative sweeteners, but still communicate to your brain that you’re drinking something that could or should have a natural fruitiness or sugaryness. That’s what we got from the unsweetened cold brew from Califia Farms. “There’s a little bit of tannic fruitiness up front, but it settles down, it doesn’t taste old,” Sporked editor-in-chief Justine Sterling said, comparing the brew’s fruity flavor to cacao nibs. I was pleasantly surprised by the nice, complex flavor of this coffee. One taster even thought it tasted “a little woody.”
Credit: Liv Averett / Target
- Chobani Cold Brew Pure Black
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Chobani makes good stuff. Great yogurt. Amazing coffee creamer (Sweet Cream is our favorite). And now a really smooth, pleasant, chocolatey cold brew in a convenient, low-waste carton. “It’s not bitter at all,” one taster said. “It’s very light and sits on the tip of your tongue.” It might not be the choice for people looking for a more aggressive cold brew experience, but it’s the best cold brew coffee if you like it mellow.
Credit: Liv Averett / Amazon
- Trader Joe’s Cold Brew Coffee
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Arabica coffee beans tend to have a sweet, chocolatey flavor, and that comes through in this convenient, 32-ounce bottle of cold brew from Trader Joe’s. Justine liked how gentle this one was compared to some of the more acidic brews we tried. “If you like iced coffee rather than cold brew, this is for you,” she said, praising its “nice, mild” scent. This isn’t a latte, but it straight-up tasted like chocolate milk to me. Delicious, refreshing, and nostalgic, but with a grown-up kick of caffeine.
Credit: Liv Averett
- Stok Espresso Blend
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At home, I’m an espresso drinker. My morning coffee is an Americano spiked with a little Chobani Sweet Cream (I told you, it’s good). If you also enjoy the bold flavor but relatively low acidity of espresso, this is the best cold brew coffee you can buy. I personally think it eclipses Stok Unsweet Black, but I think it’s enough of a departure from what most coffee drinkers expect from cold brew that this is the right placement for it on this list. If you love espresso or are espresso curious, pick up a bottle of this stuff.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Stok Unsweet Black
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Cold brew coffee isn’t supposed to be bitter. That’s the point of brewing with cold water instead of brewing regular coffee and sticking it in the fridge to cool, or shocking it by immediately pouring it over ice. Does that mean that all cold brew isn’t bitter? No. A lot of it is bitter as hell, if you ask me. But not this brew from Stok. Despite being unsweetened, it has a nice, sweet coffee smell and a mellow flavor that reminded me of a good chocolate stout. Even with the low-key taste, you get the feeling it packs a punch. (Seriously, my hands were shaky by the time we wrapped up this taste test.)
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
- Stumptown Original Cold Brew Coffee
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During our second cold brew taste test, I really warmed up to Stumptown (pun intended). If you like expensive, third wave coffee, this is the stuff. It’s bottled and you can buy it at the grocery store, but it’s every bit as good as a $6 cold brew from your local coffee shop. I think that makes it the best cold brew coffee on the market. God only knows when pre-bottled coffee is actually brewed, but if you poured me a cup of this Stumptown and told me it was brewed the day before, I’d totally believe you. Maybe it’s the glass bottle (which is cool and makes you feel like you’re drinking a beer). Maybe it’s the high-quality beans. Either way, we really loved the way this one managed to preserve its fresh flavor and intensity. “It’s a real sipper,” Justine said of its nice, bold flavor. She also liked its fruitiness. Buy this. Try this.
Credit: Liv Averett / Instacart
Best Fruity
Best Mellow
Best Chocolatey
Best for Espresso Lovers
Best Smooth
Best of the Best
Other products we tried: Starbucks Nitro Cold Brew, Starbucks Black Unsweet Cold Brew, Simple Truth Organic Cold Brew Coffee, La Colombe Medium / Dark Roast Cold Brew Coffee, Trident Coffee Nitro Cold Brew, Kirkland Signature Cold Brew, Chameleon Cold Brew Concentrate
Share your favorite cold brew coffee with us using #SporkedTasteTest for a chance to be featured on our social pages!
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