Battle of the Coffee Brands - Which is Best for You?
We researched, tested and reviewed all of your favorite coffee brands to figure out which one is truly the best. Being the best goes beyond taste (although that was still our #1 consideration as coffee lovers!), it means striking a balance between flavor, function and health benefits.
We tested Folgers, Maxwell, Starbucks, Nescafe and Cuppa. Only one boasted a laundry list of functional ingredients and health benefits. You’re probably thinking that doesn’t sound appetizing BUT it also won in our blind taste test amongst all 5 participants!
#1 Cuppa
Cuppa is quietly becoming our favorite coffee brand and here’s why…
The taste! They use 100% arabica coffee beans which are favored by coffee connoisseurs and baristas everywhere. The have a slightly sweeter, more satisfying flavor profile with hints of chocolate and distinctly less bitterness than the more common robusta bean. If the taste is familiar to you that’s because this is the bean that produce Starbucks signature coffee flavor.
Now for the even bigger surprise - the ingredient list. Their blend is jam packed with healthy adaptogens and superfoods including mushrooms, ashwagandha and l-theanine. We’ve talked about how badly we want to like mushroom coffee before, but we just can’t get on board with the huge sacrifice on taste. From bland brown water that taste like mud to very earthy, gritty blends that leave half of the expensive serving as sediment at the bottom of your mug - it’s not worth it! But with Cuppa, you don’t taste the mushrooms - AT ALL.
We also love that they offer K-cups which is very rare outside of the much bigger brands like The Donut Shop, Peets and Dunkin. We just wish they would experiment with more flavors and types of roasts.
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The most talked about brand on this list - you either love it or hate it! This was our first time trying any of their home brew options so we were super excited. They use our preferred arabica beans and we liked the tin it came in, great for keeping the coffee fresh and easy for recycling.
The good news… it mixed well and the aroma was what we hoped for from a premium blend.
The bad news… the taste was sort of weak? Not the rich, robust flavor we expected and certainly not the nutty, chocolate notes that were advertised.
We compared to Cuppa on back-to-back weekdays and we noticed an afternoon crash with Starbucks. It was near impossible to curb cravings for a second cup.
#3 Maxwell House
A household brand that many of us grew up on! I have a lot of nostalgia and love for Maxwell House - mostly thanks to their famous jingle: “Good to the Last Drop!”. However, this is a very plain coffee. We couldn’t really decipher any flavor profile through taste or smell here. It just doesn’t give off that fresh coffee smell we all chase after. Combine that with the rather ‘flat’ taste and it’s unfortunately a miss for us.
No extra ingredients here, health and wellness is not a market Maxwell is focused on… yet! The energy kick wasn’t huge but a few of us noted that might have been because we drank it slowly thanks to the dull-ish flavor.
#4 Nescafe
We were pleasantly surprised with the aroma of this one! Forward notes of chocolate and a comforting toasted scent from the granules. The taste wasn’t as impressive. A decent dark roast and strong but not a robust flavor profile like we got from the aroma. This gave us a pretty good energy boost but we all felt jittery and this isn’t something we feel like we could drink every day.
#5 Folgers
Folgers is a household name and a popular choice amongst cost-conscious customers. We opted for the Classic Roast here which was their bestselling blend on Amazon. Overall the taste was a big miss for us - light-bodied with a distinctly bitter aftertaste. We assume this as a result of using Robusta beans, at the lowest priced coffee brand on the list it makes sense that they have to opt for these cheaper beans. We do appreciate the value but the trade off in terms of taste is frankly not worth it to us.
Folgers falls short on the nutrition front with no additional ingredients, it doesn’t offer much in terms of nutritional value or health benefits.
In the end this was our least favorite, so if you’re not on a super strict budget… skip it!
The Final Verdict
Cuppa by a landslide! Cuppa stands out amongst the rest for delivering on flavor in our blind taste test of all 5 brands AND offering a wide array of health benefits which the bigger brands are lacking.
Getting nootropics and adaptogens into your diet can be a real struggle - and expensive! Cuppa makes it easy and delicious with their delicious and healthy coffee. We think these household brands will start experimenting with these healthy boosted ingredients eventually but for now Cuppa is the way to go!