Every Organic Valley Creamer, Ranked From Worst To Best

Bring some dimension into your next cup of joe with a tasty creamer. There are plenty of creamer brands to choose from, and now Organic Valley offers a line of organic, lactose-free dairy and oat milk-based creamers to add to your arsenal. There are currently six flavors: two lactose-free ones and four oat creamers. I've sampled other products from Organic Valley, including milk and cottage cheese, but I wanted to try all the creamers to see which one was the best. 

They were all pretty good, save for the lowest-ranking one, which I wasn't especially fond of. But my least favorite might be your favorite, and that's alright with me. I tried each creamer alone to get a feel for the base flavor before I sampled it with coffee. I mainly based this ranking on the flavor of each creamer. 

Granted, the amount of flavor you will impart will depend on how much of the creamer you add to your coffee. For this test, I used a 3-to-1 ratio of coffee to creamer, though you may prefer more or less in your own beverage. 

Some recommendations are based on firsthand impressions of promotional materials and products provided by the manufacturer.

Before we can reach the cream of the crop, we have to start at the bottom. Like the other oat-based creamers, this oatmeal cookie one had a slightly darker color than the dairy-based creamers. I don't mind eating oatmeal cookies, but I didn't get that toasty, nutty, spiced flavor that you'd expect from the sweet in this creamer. 

It was my least favorite of the bunch because of its taste and smell. The ingredients mention it contains natural flavors, but it didn't pinpoint the actual flavoring. Oatmeal cookies usually have some mixture of spices, such as cinnamon and cloves, as well as vanilla, sugar, or maple syrup — so this creamer has all the makings to be tasty. But, it was really hard to tell what I was tasting here. I didn't enjoy the oatmeal cookie creamer by itself or in my coffee.

From here on out, all the creamers were tasty. This caramel oat creamer was quite good. The taste of the caramel creamer was sweet and the most cloying out of all the flavors I sampled. A little of it goes a long way. It had that rich caramel creamer taste and a light scent on the nose. I have say it has a "caramel creamer taste" because I find that a lot of creamers, including this one, can't replicate the actual flavor of fresh caramel. But I get it, it's difficult to reproduce the buttery richness of the sweet. This product contains cane sugar and natural flavoring, which likely gives it the flavor I picked up on.  

This creamer added complexity and a nice sweetness to the coffee. You could taste it through the depth of the coffee. It's an ideal choice when you want a stronger, more noticeable flavor in your coffee or beverage. You could even mix a sprinkle of salt into your drink for a salted caramel vibe, such as with an iced non-dairy caramel macchiato.

There are plenty of vanilla oat milk creamers to pick from, and Organic Valley is yet another one to add to the list. The vanilla non-dairy oat creamer is a strong choice — not because it has a potent flavor, but because it's a classic. Vanilla is a time-honored flavor, so this would make a great choice when you don't want the creamer to overpower your coffee or drink. It had a pleasant scent, mild flavor, and brought a bit of richness to the coffee. But because it's made with oats, rather than dairy, it doesn't offer a light color. Just pour it in until you reach your desired flavor level rather than basing it on the color.

The vanilla non-dairy oat creamer would be delicious in a steamer made with frothed milk. It was good in my coffee and I would reach for it again. It's also versatile; you could also use it to sweeten black tea or overnight oats if you don't want to add vanilla to it. The vanilla oat creamer was comforting, but not overbearing, which is why I placed it above the caramel creamer in this ranking.

The cinnamon spice oat creamer's packaging mentions it has cardamom, but the ingredients don't specify what spices it includes. When I tried it alone, it mainly had a cardamom flavor and aroma. I found this interesting because it's a cinnamon spice creamer, but the component I tasted the most was the cardamom.

I love cardamon, so I'm usually able to pick it up its presence — and that's certainly the case here. I find that it can be one of the more potent spices, meaning you don't have too much to make it detectable. If you like cardamom, this is a fantastic creamer. 

The creamer was not particularly striking when I tried it by itself, but it transformed once I added it to the coffee. And you should add cardamom to your morning coffee anyway because it brings richness and a tasty aroma. Despite the small amount of creamer I added, the cinnamon and cardamom brought a warming quality and noticeable flavor to the coffee. This ranked above the vanilla oat creamer purely because I'm a big fan of cardamom, but the next two creamers had even more flavor balance. 

By itself, the sweet cream lactose-free creamer was just as its name suggested  — slightly sweet and creamy. Though, its sweetness was not overwhelming. Because it is made with milk rather than oats, it has a richer mouthfeel, which I enjoyed. On its own, I liked this one a lot, but I found its flavor in my coffee was incredibly mild.

It's certainly a good choice if you don't want something that overpowers the core flavor of your coffee. It offered a lightness and a barely-there sweetness to my coffee, which may be ideal if you want something close to a no-frills half-and-half. I preferred the sweet cream lactose-free creamer in my coffee over the cinnamon spice variety because the flavor was more neutral. I could see myself adding this flavor to coffee and beverages instead of milk.

The creamer may be a staple to keep in the fridge when you want to upgrade your drink just a little. Or, you can try to blend the creamer with a banana to make a thick banana sweet cream coffee drink. This is a fresh way to sip your cup of coffee when you are craving more of a dessert feel. 

I ended up liking the French vanilla lactose-free creamer the most out of all the creamers. This creamer, along with the sweet cream and the cinnamon spice flavors, are all ones that I would stock up on and use depending on what I'm trying to make. I liked the richness of the dairy creamers over the oat ones, so they may be a top pick for when you want a creamier addition for your coffee. 

The French vanilla creamer had a familiar scent, both when I tried it by itself and once I had added it to the coffee. It was not as overwhelming or noticeable as some of the other creamers on this list. Its flavor was comforting, and it brightened my beverage with a classic creaminess that didn't override the natural coffee flavor. This creamer is ideal when you want a tried-and-true flavor. 

When I add creamer to my coffee I tend to use it pretty sparingly due to the sugar content. I tend to add milk and then a splash of creamer to give it a latte vibe. I appreciated that this French vanilla creamer only has 3 grams of sugar per tablespoon, while other brands, like International Delight, have closer to 5. Overall, I liked the flavor, richness, and aroma of this creamer both alone and with my coffee, which is why I  gave it the number one spot on this list.

I tried all the Organic Valley creamers on their own to get an idea of their flavors before trying them with coffee. For some, my thoughts changed after I tasted them in the beverage. The cinnamon spice, for example, elevated my coffee, while the sweet cream was tastier on its own than mixed into my beverage. 

You're probably not sitting there, pouring yourself a glass of creamer, so it's important to factor in how the creamer tastes in a coffee or a beverage versus solo. I tried creamer by itself one day, and then the following day I tried it in the coffee. I measured 3 teaspoons of coffee for 1 teaspoon of creamer, so there was a standardized amount in each cup. One by one, I took a couple of small sips to get the initial flavor of each. Then I did a second sipping round to finish the mini coffees and to finalize my thoughts. Everything was perfectly delicious, save for the oatmeal cookie, but the highest-ranking creamers had the most balanced flavors and really elevated the coffee.