10 Store-Bought Pumpkin Coffees, Ranked Worst To Best

Like it or not, autumn is now synonymous with pumpkin spice — and the annual launch of the pumpkin spice latte. The blend of espresso, milk, and pumpkin spice sauce — which often contains actual pumpkin – has a hold over people and shows no sign of decreasing in popularity. The success of the pumpkin spice latte opened the door for other companies to bottle their take on pumpkin spice coffee.

Between the coffee aisle and the refrigerator case, there is a surprising number of ready-to-drink pumpkin coffees. Of course, you can always combine pumpkin syrup with your favorite brand of coffee or homemade latte, but sometimes, you just want something already crafted that requires no more work than shaking and pouring. So, I gathered as many varieties of pumpkin coffee that I could find, from cold brew concentrates to prepared lattes, to see how they compare to one another. 

I'm no stranger to coffee; I started toting my then-favorite instant hazelnut coffee to class in high school. Since then, I have branched out, purchased a variety of coffee brewing pots and machines, and ordered my fair share of pumpkin coffees over the years. As a professional recipe developer, I've created numerous coffee recipes, including for homemade pumpkin spice lattes, so I know what it takes to find the sweet spot where all the elements work together to create a cozy, harmonious drink. That essential balance of taste and aroma is the basis of this ranking.

This cold brew seemed to set itself up for success in this ranking. It only has two ingredients, coffee and natural flavors, and it has a big brand name on the label. But, doubt crept in when I opened the bottle to reveal unexpected perfumed and fruity notes. The coffee itself has the deep roast profile that you'd expect from Starbucks, but it was hard to focus on the coffee because of the overwhelming artificial taste from the added flavoring.

It was challenging to pick out any specific spice flavor, or really any connection to pumpkin at all. The bottle recommends diluting the cold brew with water using a 1-to-1 ratio, but all that did was take the edge off the coffee's bite, rather than soften the flavoring. No matter how it was mixed, it was impossible to find any balance with this coffee. The more I sipped, the more my mouth tasted like a bar of soap. This cold brew fell to the bottom because it was too far away from pumpkin or spice, and it was really hard to drink.

It makes perfect sense that Starbucks would bottle and sell a version of its pumpkin spice latte for all the fans who can't order one from its stores. I've had my fair share of PSLs over the years, and though it's not my go-to order, I enjoy indulging in that craving from time to time. This bottle is not reflective of the pumpkin spiced lattes I've loved. The ingredients read straightforward enough — espresso, sugar, reduced-fat milk, and natural flavors (an all too familiar and generic ingredient seen frequently in this ranking) — but the end result is a syrupy brown drink that tastes like bubble gum, banana, and a scented candle, with a tannic finish that dries your tongue and gives you stale coffee breath. It can't compare to what you'd find at a Starbucks store.

The drink is espresso-based, rather than made with coffee or cold brew, which keeps it from looking too blonde and milky. But the flavor isn't bold or smooth. Instead phantom bitter and overly sweet coffee coats your mouth with each sip. This one falls to the bottom of the list because I had to force down more than two sips in the name of research, though it landed higher than the Starbucks pumpkin cold brew because the added milk and sugar offered a distraction from the artificial flavor.

Similar to other cold brew concentrates on this list, the ingredients in this Dunkin' beverage only include coffee and natural flavor. The directions recommend diluting the concentrate with an equal amount of water. Even if you like a strong coffee, I recommend diluting it. The concentrate is not only intense, but it's also very sour and acidic even after it's diluted. There is a subtle hint of cinnamon — if you squeeze your eyes shut and summon the flavor with willpower –  but it is so faint that it's hard to be sure that it's there. There's not much to distract from the puckering flavor of this coffee. 

This concentrate ranks low because both the cold brew and the spice flavor miss the mark. Adding a splash of milk after diluting it with water does offer some relief from the sharpness of the coffee, but it does nothing to enhance the spice — which is just too mild for a pumpkin coffee.

When you open a bottle of Good & Gather's cold brew coffee, you'll smell more than just coffee. There's an artificial odor akin to butterscotch or caramel flavoring instead of the warm notes of cinnamon and ginger. Luckily, the aroma is stronger than the taste of this cold brew. The coffee itself is very pleasant, smooth, and easy to sip. This is not a concentrate, so it does not need to be diluted, but a splash of milk is a welcomed addition that does not make the drink watery or make the coffee any less intense.

Unfortunately, there is little detectable spice in this brew. If I was blindfolded and asked what flavor the coffee was, I would say caramel, but artificial caramel. The flavor was so different than what was expected that I even double-checked to ensure I had, in fact, purchased pumpkin spice coffee. What kept this cold brew from ranking lower was the coffee itself, which was reasonably priced and tasty enough that I can see myself buying the unflavored version in the future. But, the absence of pumpkin spice flavor was not enough to push it any higher up on this list. 

Bolthouse Farms is not a coffee company. Most of its product line focuses on fruit and vegetable juices or juice-based beverages. However, the company has a few seasonal offerings, including this pumpkin spice coffee beverage. It makes sense, since pumpkin is a vegetable. The ingredient list leads with coffee and includes pumpkin puree, cinnamon, nutmeg, allspice, and clove.

The drink is rich brown in color, not too milky or dark, and is flecked with spice. You get a big hit of the seasoning the minute you taste it; a warming peppery bite dances on your tongue, while the slow burn from the cloves lingers in your mouth. Additionally, this is the only pumpkin coffee where you can actually taste the earthy squash flavor of real pumpkin. It's both delicious and delightful. 

Despite these wonderful qualities, there were some drawbacks. Overall, it drinks pretty sweet and the coffee flavor is extremely mild. It tastes more like a pumpkin pie smoothie than a coffee. The rest of the flavors are so tasty that it makes me want to dump in a few shots of espresso to boost the coffee flavor, or blend it with a frozen banana for a midday treat. Although this drink is supposed to be a coffee beverage, its java flavor wasn't present enough to warrant a higher ranking. 

Pop & Bottle uses almond milk to add creaminess to its dairy-free pumpkin spice latte. It also includes the extracts of five different spices, plus vanilla. You do taste coffee, and there is a good amount of spice in this drink. It is sweetened by coconut nectar — which doesn't add any specific flavor or make the drink syrupy.

Where this drink falls short is in its texture and blend of spices. The drink has cinnamon, nutmeg, ginger, clove, and allspice, but it mostly ends up tasting fleetingly like cinnamon with a mild, unspecific spice and coffee aftertaste. I found myself searching for more flavor complexity that I expect from pumpkin spice, but it wasn't there. Beyond that, the reason this coffee landed in the middle of the ranking was due to its chalky, thin texture. It wasn't intense enough to make it undrinkable, but it was noticeable. It's a texture I have experienced before with various almond milks, which is why it's not my favorite dairy-free option on this list. But, if you aren't a die-hard almond milk fan, you might not notice this texture discrepancy. Though there is room for improvement, the combination of spices and coffee is decent, and this beverage does deliver on the promise of a pumpkin spice latte.

The second almond milk latte in this ranking found more overall success than the first. When you turn the bottle over to shake the drink, you'll notice that the bottom is covered with settled spices that add lovely flecks to the latte once they're mixed back in. The speckles are not just there for looks either; you can easily detect strong cinnamon and nutmeg notes mixed in with the coffee.

The latte is more beige than brown, which foreshadows the creamy, mild coffee taste to come. This beverage leans heavily into latte territory and focuses on the creamy pumpkin aspect of the drink. Though the company website lists cold brew as the base, my bottle only lists coffee. Either way, coffee is not the foremost flavor of the drink, but, the fresh and warm taste of the spices make me overlook this slight deficit. 

The only reason this didn't rank higher was because it had a specific aftertaste that I usually associate with stevia-sweetened drinks; it was slightly bitter and overly sweet. In a second discrepancy, the bottle only lists cane sugar, but the company website lists monk fruit juice concentrate, which could account for the taste. Those not sensitive to the taste of monk fruit may not even notice it, but I found it hard to ignore, especially because it was the last thing I tasted.

La Colombe is a well-known name in the coffee world. It sells everything from beans to ready-to-drink canned beverages made with and without milk, as well as non-dairy varieties. This was the only single serve drink that I sampled. The single-serve cans contain nitrous oxide, which is used in other products like canned whipped cream for aeration. This addition makes the coffee smooth and creamy and creates a foamy layer on top similar to a Guinness. However, this added perk also comes with a higher price tag. A single can costs almost as much as a larger bottle — though it's still less than ordering a pumpkin coffee from a shop.

My pour wasn't as voluminous or thickly-frothed as I hoped it would be, but it was sweet and creamy with a deep coffee flavor. Although the coffee was smooth initially, it left my mouth dry. I also noticed it tasted like coffee grounds. Both of these factors detracted from the gentle spices in the latte. Like many other drinks in this ranking, it didn't quite nail the balance of spice and coffee. You'll smell the spices as you sip, and taste them briefly, before you're met with a peppery aftertaste. Despite some of those shortcomings, this drink still edged out others and landed in the top three because of the bold coffee flavor and the fact that it is spiced, even if it isn't fully balanced.

I am familiar with STōK bottled coffee and enjoy its black cold brew, but I've never sampled a flavored variety before. It initially gives eggnog vibes, thanks to its vanilla and nutmeg-forward aroma, but after the first sip it's obvious that it is first and foremost a coffee drink. The coffee is sweetened with cane sugar and lightened by both skim milk and cream. Combining the lighter milk and richer cream is a smart move because it gives the coffee body and smoothness without making it overly thick or heavy.

The spice flavor is light, but it is there — lingering behind the excellent coffee. The pumpkin flavor leans heavily on the cinnamon and nutmeg without delving deeper into the warming ginger, allspice, or cloves. Including more of these spices would have shifted the balance more towards a true pumpkin spice taste. Still, it's not artificial-tasting as the other brands I sampled and it blends well with the coffee. There is just enough sweetness for balance, which is a treat for those of us who want flavor and not a toothache. Even though the spice could be stronger and help solidify this beverage's identity as a pumpkin coffee, this drink ranks high for its overall well-balanced taste and drinkability.

It's hard to believe that the coffees that grabbed the bottom and top spots in this ranking feature the same two ingredients, coffee and natural flavor, but have such different results. Chameleon cold brew concentrate absolutely nails the flavor and delivers the best pumpkin spiced coffee. The coffee smells like a fresh jar of mixed spices and strong, but not sour, coffee; that aroma carries through to the taste as well.

There are many layers of spice in this drink. You first taste them all as a whole, then can pull apart different hits of ginger and clove, maybe even nutmeg and cardamom, in a complex web that finally fades and leaves some lingering heat behind. The coffee is very dark and needs the suggested dilution. Though, diluting the coffee doesn't make it taste weak or watery. Rather, it helps hone in on the balance between the concentrate and the spices. A touch of milk or sugar is a welcomed addition, but it's not essential; the coffee can stand on its own. This concentrate just happened to be the only one sold in a glass jar, and it was also the most expensive, at around double the cost of the other concentrates. But, it's still more affordable than a daily trip to a coffee shop, considering how far you can stretch the bottle.

I brought home these ready-to-drink pumpkin coffees after my trip to three local grocery stores. I chilled the coffees before tasting them, as I wanted to avoid adding any extra ice and diluting them. I sampled each coffee twice over the course of two days to ensure that each one was getting a fair assessment. 

I also followed the recommend dilution ratios and serving instructions for each bottle. It may not seem fair to compare a black cold brew concentrate to a sweetened bottled latte, so I tasted the black coffees both with and without milk. The main consideration for judging these drinks was the overall balance between coffee and pumpkin spices. Was the coffee smooth? Did the pumpkin flavors taste artificial or like real spices? If you were given a glass without knowing what it was, would you say, "Thanks for the pumpkin coffee?"

Almost every brew, with the exception of the top few coffees, fell victim to either having a nice coffee base or decent spice — but not both. So, as I sipped and evaluated, I called on my skills as a long-time coffee drinker and professional recipe developer to pick each brew apart and weigh the pros and cons to decide on a final ranking.