8 Nutpods Coffee Creamers, Ranked

Nutpods is a popular brand of non-dairy coffee creamer that can be found in most major grocery stores. The brand has a variety of flavors available, and I decided to grab as many as I could for a taste test. To taste the creamers, I first sipped each of them on its own. I wanted to get a sense of the flavor completely on its own. 

Then, I brewed a few cups of medium-dark roast coffee made with 100% Arabica beans. That coffee had a very mild nutty flavor, which I thought was perfect for trying different coffee creamers with. I then measured out the coffee and creamer meticulously for each flavor and put the creamers to the test. I ended up finding eight different Nutpods flavors to find out which one is the best and which one I wouldn't waste my money on again.

When I think of something that is caramel-flavored, I automatically think of something super sugary and candy-like. I've personally never tasted something caramel-flavored that wasn't sweet. The caramel-flavored Nutpods creamer, however, is unsweetened, which I found very interesting. When I first sipped the creamer alone, I thought that overall it was fairly bland. Since the base of the creamer is coconut and almond, the caramel taste didn't quite override those base flavors. There was, however, a taste of caramel that stuck around as an aftertaste after each sip.

As for the caramel creamer in a cup of coffee, I thought that the caramel flavoring was much more noticeable, popping through with some toasty butteriness that caramel tends to have. Ultimately, though, I found it very odd to taste a caramel flavor with zero amount of sweetness added to it. For me, I just couldn't get past that, and I didn't really enjoy this as a coffee creamer flavor.

The only way I could imagine a vanilla flavoring without sweetness was thinking about the time that I accidentally tasted vanilla extract on its own. Personally, I think that vanilla should always be accompanied by some amount of sweetness. Tasting the creamer completely by itself, I thought that it tasted just like the original Nutpods flavor, with just a dash of vanilla flavoring on top.

Once in the coffee, I thought that the creaminess of the creamer added a nice addition to the coffee, and then the vanilla flavor sort of landed on top like a little hat. It was definitely pleasant, but it still made me feel similar to how the unsweetened caramel creamer made me feel — I couldn't get past the fact that there wasn't any sort of sweetness matched with the flavor. Ultimately, though, I think this would be a solid choice for people who don't like sweet coffee but want a tad of flavor added to their mug.

Vanilla creamer is such a classic, especially when it's sweetened. By just tasting the vanilla creamer by itself, I was a little shocked at how sweet it was. Instead of tasting like a mixture of cream, sugar, and vanilla bean or extract, it tasted like melted vanilla ice cream. I'm not saying that's necessarily a bad thing, but it was surprising.

Once the vanilla creamer was added to the coffee, the experience of the taste changed a ton. It didn't make the coffee taste extremely sweet, and instead, I thought it ended up being the perfect amount of sweetness. I was still able to get a little bit of the bitterness from the coffee on my palate, and ultimately thought the vanilla flavor popped through in an enjoyably light way. While I like this flavor, it didn't stand out to me in any way to want to grab it off the shelves again.

Hazelnut is one of my go-to coffee creamer flavors, so I was excited to give this one a try. It's unsweetened, which intrigued me quite a bit. When I took an initial sip of the creamer itself, I was surprised by how much this one burst with flavor. Immediately, I thought it tasted incredibly nutty. I was able to differentiate the flavors of the coconut and almond as the base, and the hazelnut on top as the actual flavor. It was like the hazelnut was the icing on a coconut almond cake.

Inside a cup of coffee, the hazelnut creamer was good. I thought that it created a nutty, full-bodied taste for the coffee, without masking it with any sweetness or flavors that didn't work together with what was already there. The hazelnut flavor creamer ultimately enhances the experience for people who want to appreciate the flavors and notes of their coffee. Plus, the added benefit of a touch of creaminess always helps.

While the holiday nog flavor from Nutpods is definitely meant to be seasonal, I still found it on the shelves of many different grocery stores in January and had to give it a try. As a lover of eggnog in all shapes and forms — especially boozy eggnog — this was an exciting taste test for me. Alone, I thought that the creamer tasted like a creamy cinnamon beverage with an aftertaste of eggnog that settled once the sip was swallowed. It wasn't incredibly sweet, but sweet enough to taste like a little treat. I could have sipped this completely by itself.

In the coffee, I thought that the holiday nog was perfect. It added a light flavor that didn't overpower the coffee taste in any way, and instead, it just moved alongside it like a complementary companion. This flavor also had the creamiest aftertaste when compared to all of the other flavors, which I heavily enjoyed.

The original Nutpods creamer is supposed to mimic half-and-half, which is generally made with cow milk and cream. The Nutpods version, however, is made with almond and coconut milk, making it completely plant-based. I must say, tasting it alone, I thought it was quite delicious. It was incredibly creamy — as creamy as an average half-and-half brand, I'd say. It was clear that the creamer was made from nuts, as the nutty taste was forward and apparent; however, I thought it was very tasty.

The original unsweetened creamer in the coffee tasted almost identical to what it tastes like to put half-and-half in coffee. When I first sipped it, I thought that it didn't taste as creamy as a half-and-half coffee does, but then, somehow, a creamy aftertaste burst through once I swallowed the coffee. The coconut and almond flavors also dissipated a bit more once mixed in with the coffee, making it a well-balanced pairing. If you're looking for a non-dairy version of half-and-half, I'd consider the Nutpods original unsweetened creamer a great contender.

Halloween was way in the past by the time that this article was written, but the candy corn flavor Nutpods creamer was still holding real estate on the grocery store shelves. Now, I'm not really a fan of candy corn itself, so I was hesitant to try this flavor, but I thought I should give it a fair shot anyway. Tasting it alone, I thought that it was slightly too sweet. I actually couldn't taste the almond and coconut base at all, and instead, it tasted like it could have been a cow milk creamer — which I thought worked well for this flavor. At the end, a strong flavor of candy corn popped through, and I actually thought that it was delicious.

In the coffee, I was even more shocked by how much I liked it. The sweetness dissipated once mixed in, and the candy corn flavor shone through even more. This flavor is so good because it was matched with a thick creamy texture, making it a different experience from just eating candy corn itself. I was also surprised to see that the creamer ended up enhancing the flavor of the coffee itself, instead of working against it. It was quite enjoyable, and I'd definitely buy it again.

I absolutely love sweet cream, especially in an iced coffee. When I took a sip of the creamer itself, directly out of the refrigerator, I thought that it tasted just like the sweet cream cold foam from Starbucks. It was creamy, filled with sweetness, but not so much so that it made it taste like pure sugar.

Once mixed in with coffee, I thought that the sweet cream was nearly flawless. It subtly enhanced the coffee with the pleasant creamy sweetness, but didn't add a flavor on top that masked the taste of the coffee. Instead, it allowed me to savor the actual taste of the coffee that I was drinking. This creamer would be a great choice for people who are serious about their coffee beans and choose specific roasts or coffee bean brands that are high quality.

In order to taste the coffee creamer properly inside a cup of coffee, I made sure to measure each cup the same. I brewed a large pot of coffee, and then I poured the coffee into a mug for each tasting. I measured ½-cup of coffee into each mug, and then I measured 1 tablespoon of creamer for each mug as well. This way, they all had the same measurements, so they were able to be compared equally.

Once I actually tasted the creamers, I focused on noting the amount of creaminess, flavor balance with the coffee, enjoyment of the flavor itself, and the aftertaste. Once I noted each of these qualities, it was clear to me the coffee creamers I preferred and the creamers that I wouldn't personally want to buy again.