9 Caribou At-Home Coffees, Ranked Worst To Best

How you like your cup of coffee is a very personal. There is a specific way we all take our coffee, down to the creamer, sugar, sweetener, and brand. It is a part of morning rituals and afternoon pick-me-ups. And once you know and have perfected your perfect cup, it can be very difficult to pull you away from it and convince you to try something different.  

Caribou Coffee is a favorite among many; it boasts an impressive number of brick-and-mortar locations across 19 Western states. However, its at-home coffee is available at retailers nationwide. Although I, like many others, have my own definition of a perfect cup of coffee, I was more than happy to try Caribou's products and give them a shot. Armed with my trusty coffee scoop, French press (which I believe brings out the best flavor profiles in coffee), and my usual brewing routine, I prepared each one of Caribou's at-home ground coffee selections. I looked for a coffee that was simple, could be consumed black, and had a balanced taste, strength, and aroma. 

The Caribou blend is labeled as a medium roast and touted to be "the crowd pleaser," thanks to its milky body and caramel sweetness. However, this coffee was not at all what I expected.

The pre-ground coffee was very aromatic. It filled the air with a rich, pleasurable coffee scent. However, when I added the water to my French press, I was immediately surprised by how dark it was, especially for a medium roast. When I pushed the plunger down, I saw that the foam was also intensely dark and clung to the sides of the glass.

Although I was skeptical about this coffee after I had watched it brewed, my palate was still shocked by the punch of the roast. I would compare it to being served a regular soda when I had ordered a diet. It was completely different than what I expected, so much so that I had to set the cup aside and reread the bag to confirm I didn't miss anything. The Caribou blend medium roast indeed had the flavor of a very dark roast. It was overly earthy to the point of tasting dirty. The black pepper notes were pungent and strong, and I found that it even had a unique, chewy quality.

If the bag was honest about the coffee inside, I wouldn't have felt put off by it. While I wouldn't drink this strong of a coffee every day, I will have a small cup on occasion when the mood is right and my palate is prepared. For those who like a strong coffee, this would probably be very pleasing. But it will catch an unsuspecting sipper off guard. 

I will attest right off the bat that I am not a big fan of flavored coffee. But if it's my only option, I will drink it. I could tell, even without opening the bag, that the vanilla hazelnut coffee had a strong aroma. Once I had unsealed the bag, I found strange, almost peppery notes, which I found a little odd.

It brewed up nicely and gave off a strong vanilla smell. When I tasted it, I found the vanilla did come through as well as the hazelnut; it was not too strong, but it sure was obvious. It had a much fuller body than I expected, and it was slightly smoky. The flavor evolves into a bittersweetness that lingered longer that I would have liked. That peppery scent I had initially noticed also came through sharply. I couldn't quite put my finger on the exact taste, but it was unnecessary and unpleasingly disruptive. Had that one note not been there, it might have been a pleasant vanilla hazelnut coffee.

The Daybreak blend is described as having a red wine acidity and a malty sweetness. While it brewed up darker than I expected for a light roast, the body was indeed very light and almost tea-like. It was both toasty and a little earthy. And while the roast was smooth and flavorful in that regard, I didn't taste anything malty or sweet. 

It does offer a very low level of acidity. And while the coffee does give off a nice rich aroma, the taste is extremely flimsy on the palate. It doesn't hold any flavor for very long and came across much weaker than what I prefer. The taste profile actually toes the line of being tea-like in flavor. It's much lighter than the light roasts I've had in the past. I generally expect something stronger than what the Daybreak was available to give. Regardless of roast, a coffee should be invigorating, which this one is not. 

The Mahogany blend is one of Caribou's most popular coffees.And I can understand why this could be a favorite among dark roast coffee fans. It carries an herby and woody aroma. And the brew is the definition of a smooth-bodied dark roast. It does have a very full flavor, and the body is delicate with a slight acidity. 

This blend is not harsh on the palate, but it does carry a lingering and strange carbon aftertaste. While it's not super unpleasant, it is something I would have to try and dilute by adding creamer and sugar. This cup of coffee would need a lot of tinkering with in order to cover up the carbon flavor. While it would be one that I could see myself drinking again — it would only be if there weren't other options available. And I would definitely need sweetener and possibly a flavored creamer to be able to enjoy it. It is just that one strange taste that put this coffee further down on the list. Were it not to have been there, I could see this coffee ranking much higher. 

A tart cocoa aroma erupted immediately from the bag of s'mores coffee when I opened it, which gave the impression that the flavor would be too strong. When I brewed it, I found it developed a lovely foam and released a marshmallow fragrance. Despite the strong bouquet released into the air, the flavor is actually very smooth and somewhat light on the palate.

The coffee carries a rich creamy marshmallow forefront. Hints of sugar, nougat, and caramel become present and intermingle on the tongue. There is just a slight taste of chocolate, and the graham cracker does come through on the back end. Although I was apprehensive going into it, I was surprised by how balanced and structured the blend of flavors here were. However, I could not see myself drinking this every day. It may be something nice to keep on hand for a brunch or a pick-me-up on a cold winter's afternoon. But when shopping for a bag of coffee, I'm generally not looking for a special occasion brew, which I feel like this is. 

The Lakeshore blend is on the lighter side of a medium roast, so I felt a little let down by it. The immediate aroma of the coffee carries a rich earthy scent that is pleasant and not overpowering. It has a nice, round body that is smoky with notes of spice. However, the label notes that it should have notes of caramelized sugar, which I again found to be misleading. 

Instead of the caramelized sugar, I found a more pronounced savory flavor with a hint of soy. It was surprising on the tongue, but pleasant. The lingering flavor is like a blunt cocoa, though it subsides rather quickly. To me, this is more of what I would expect from a definitive light roast. For those who prefer a lighter roast for their everyday coffee, I believe this would do the trick. Though, I prefer a coffee that was stronger than this one, which is why it didn't crack the top three. While there were lovely flavors present, the strength of the roast was not ideal. 

Caribou's caramel coffee has an explosive buttery aroma. When I brewed it, I was met with a strong, sugary sweet aroma. The first sip had those rich buttery notes; they remained first and foremost in the profile. This coffee is as silky and smooth as described, and is very easy to drink. It is delicate on the tongue and clean on the palate. And, that overly punctuated sugar that was in the air is not something I found overpowering in the coffee. The caramel, meanwhile, is present without being bold. 

I was surprised that there were some savory notes in this coffee, which help to subdue the sweetness. It's a match that I haven't found before in flavored coffees. Though I'm still not a flavored coffee fan, this is one that I could drink more than a cup's worth of. I can see this being an everyday roast for fans of flavored coffee. However, I have to again put this in the category of a special occasion coffee and not one I would want every day. While it's extremely pleasing as a flavored brew, I prefer to add my own flavorings and customize my cup. But this one does gets top marks for being as advertised in terms of its strength, aroma, and flavor. 

French roast coffee is not one that I keep around. I only drink it when I'm in the mood for a dark roast. However, Caribou has changed my mind on dark coffees. As you would expect, this roast has a full, dark body. What I didn't expect was how smooth, to the point of velvety, this French roast was.

The coffee is strong and complex; its flavor builds slowly, though it didn't deliver the strong punch that I had prepared myself for. This roast is extremely well-balanced and structured, with nutty notes that add an additional layer of flavor. It lingers softly on the palate — only long enough for the next sip. It is definitely stronger than I prefer my everyday coffee to be. So while it is very close to being the top contender, I think it would only hit the spot for folks who prefer to have a darker and more hard-hitting start to their mornings. However, I will say that if I were to purchase a French roast coffee in the future, this would be the one I would pluck from the shelf.

Opening the bag of the Fireside blend coffee called to mind old Folgers commercials. I reflexively closed my eyes and took in a long deep breath of the abundantly rich aroma that filled my kitchen. There was a jolt of energy as if I had already had my first cup. This coffee, aptly called "the cozy one," enveloped my senses.

Tasting the brew was just as satisfying was smelling it. It has a full body and hints of dark chocolate and burnt sugar. The flavor is slightly smoky and a little toasty in the most pleasingly balanced way. The flavors were subtly complex and juicy, and lingered on the palate with a warm and inviting comfort. The Fireside blend could easily win over anyone who drinks it, and I, for one, would be happy to have it greet me every morning. It is easy to drink black, would be simple to make stronger with just an extra scoop, and it doesn't need much, if any work, to make it a deliciously tasting and enticingly-scented cup of coffee. This was definitely the little black dress of brews I had been waiting to discover. 

Coffee can have such a wide range of flavor profiles. So, to give the Caribou coffees a fair tasting, I chose prepare them in my trusty French press and drink them black. I read the flavors, profiles, and all the cute nicknames before opening the bags to see if I could identify those same elements in the finished cups. 

The acidity level in the Caribou coffees were all very similar, low to neutral, and they did not make any of the brews taste unpleasant. Though, coffees that did not taste as advertised tasted lower. And, some of my lower-ranking choices also had flavors that were unexpected or unwanted. Those that ranked higher were brews that were more true to what was listed on the packaging. 

Buying a bag of coffee is not just a one-off. It is something that you will keep in your pantry and will use for days, possibly weeks. So, to bring something home that you immediately are dissatisfied with is not only annoying, but it can also be rather costly. That being said, those that ranked at the top of the list are truly coffees I would spend money on, share with those around my table, and enjoy on special occasions — if not every day.