The Worst Fresh Market Brand Coffee That Overpromises And Underdelivers

Fresh Market is a health-conscious grocery chain with a similar mission and products as Whole Foods, but at significantly lower prices. Tasting Table has found plenty of delicious products there, like the highly ranked Fresh Market rotisserie chicken, that have convinced us it's a worthy contender to Whole Foods' throne. We recently explored its diverse lineup of coffee blends and, while we found some definite keepers, not all of them were winners. Tasting Table tried and ranked 9 Fresh Market brand coffee flavors according to aroma, taste and body, all while naturally expecting these flavors to live up to their premium label. Brown sugar landed in dead last place, overpromising with a flowery description that underdelivers on practically every one of our ranking criteria. 

While the label promises a rich and malty light roast with delicious-sounding notes of flaky pastry, the taste of the coffee missed the mark entirely. To begin with, there was no aroma whatsoever, so we went into the tasting nose blind (never ideal with coffee). Upon the first sip, we noted a malty richness right upfront and a surprisingly full body for a light roast coffee. However the deep, complex sweetness of brown sugar was completely absent. Instead, we got kicked in the mouth with a weirdly peppery finish. While malt is generally sweet, it isn't nearly as nuanced and complex as brown sugar. Plus, the malty sweetness was much too faint to temper that off-putting peppery finish. You're better off buying a light roast blend to flavor yourself with a spoonful of brown sugar.

While there were many other flavored coffee beans available from Fresh Market, we only tried one other variety: Cinnamon. And luckily, it fully lived up to its name, ranking in an impressive second place overall. If you're looking for a good light roast from Fresh Market, we would highly recommend the Sunrise blend for its balance of acidity, sweetness, and earthiness. That said, Fresh Market shines the brightest with the darker roasts like our top choice, the Colombian blend. In fact the bold, chocolatey, and smoky notes characteristic of a dark roast are actually more suited to the caramelized taste of brown sugar too.

Stirring brown sugar into a hot cup of dark roast coffee will be like swirling caramel into bitter chocolate, a delectable and indulgent pairing. If you choose to add brown sugar to your coffee, dark brown sugar is a better choice, with a stronger molasses flavor that'll stand up to the boldness of dark roast coffee. If you're looking for a flavored coffee, simply skip the hefty price tag of Fresh Market blends and opt for a flavored instant coffee brand instead. We ranked Dunkin' and Starbucks caramel flavored instant coffees as our top picks. And caramel-flavor coffee is as close to brown sugar flavor as you're going to get.