The Absolute Best Method For Making Homemade Coffee Creamer

Some people enjoy drinking coffee black, but creamer is a great way to soften the harsh bite of your morning brew. That said, not everyone enjoys what's on offer in the store. One way to take back control of your coffee routine is to make your own coffee creamer at home. To find out how to do it, we reached out to Andrea Allen, co-founder of Onyx Coffee Lab, 2020 U.S. Barista champ, and 2021 World Barista runner-up.

"The whole goal of creamer is to add the delicious flavor of milk and potentially sweetener or flavor into your coffee," Allen told Tasting Table. "Making it at home allows the opportunity to customize flavors, fat content, and milk preference." This is what separates creamer from half-and-half, which tends to have a more neutral flavor profile. The actual process of making coffee creamer is quite simple — it's the flavors in your creamer that you'll want to get creative with.

"I would suggest starting with one cup heavy cream and one cup whole milk in addition to a teaspoon of preferred sweetener and a half teaspoon of preferred flavoring extract," said Allen. "I would then taste it on its own to see if it needs more sweetener or flavor." Store-bought coffee creamers can often be incredibly sweet. For those of us who want to play with flavors in our coffee but don't want a mountain of sugar involved, whipping up some homemade coffee creamer is a great way to achieve both goals.

Allen had great advice for anyone who may feel nervous about trying out new flavors. "The best method is to think about what you want your creamer to be like," she said. "Do you want it sweeter? Heavier milk fat content? What kinds of flavors?"

It might help to think of other ingredients people like to add to coffee besides creamer, like chocolate or vanilla. "If it tastes good without coffee it'll probably taste good in coffee," Allen continued. "Adjust sweetener, flavor, or add less whole milk if you want it to be thicker, etc." Keep in mind while you're concocting that there are other creative ways to use coffee creamer besides adding it to coffee. Your preference for what the creamer tastes like may be slightly different with that in mind, and it's good to know that you don't need to be a daily coffee drinker to use all of what you make. You'll need to check the expiration date of the ingredients you use to determine how long your homemade coffee creamer will last in the fridge, but it likely won't stay as fresh as a store-bought coffee creamer since those are often packed with preservatives. Having an alternate use-case for your coffee creamer can help you feel better about taking the time to make it in the first place since you know it won't go to waste.