I tried 4 vanilla coffee creamers to find the best one, and there was a clear winner

I’m a big coffee drinker. Although I love a hot cup of black coffee in the morning, by afternoon, I tend to crave an icy, vanilla-flavored coffee as a pick-me-up.

Since I make most of my coffee at home, getting the right vanilla flavoring means relying on syrups or creamers — and I usually just buy whatever’s on sale.

However, I was curious if some add-ins might be worth paying extra for. So, I put some popular vanilla-flavored coffee creamers from the grocery store to the test to find my favorite.

I tasted them by adding 1 ½ ounces of each creamer to cold-brew coffee measured to the same marked spot in each glass, with no ice to avoid watering down any drinks.

Here’s how the creamers stacked up.

Chobani’s “real cream” creamer came in a cardboard carton.

Chobani’s creamers stand out on the store shelves because they come in rectangular, cardboard bottles rather than curvy plastic ones.

It also stands out because it’s typically one of the more expensive creamers on this list.

At full price, it’s usually $0.28 an ounce at my grocery store. However, when shopping for this taste test, it was on sale and priced at $0.21 an ounce.

The creamy texture was great, even if the vanilla flavor was a bit strong.

I liked that the Chobani creamer’s ingredient list was super simple: milk, cream, cane sugar, natural flavors, and vanilla extract.

It had a smooth, creamy texture that wasn’t too thin. It also really delivered on vanilla flavor (likely due to the extract) and wasn’t too sweet.

All in all, I just wish the vanilla flavor were a little bit less strong.

I wasn’t thrilled about the ingredients in the Coffeemate vanilla creamer.

I remember drinking Coffeemate creamers with my coffee in high school, so I expected nostalgia to win out here.

That said, the creamer wasn’t off to a great start when I checked the ingredient list. This creamer’s primary ingredient is water and I wasn’t thrilled to see several added ingredients, like gels, gums, and soybean oil.

However, for $0.14 per fluid ounce, this was by far the most affordable creamer I bought.

Although the price was right, this Coffeemate creamer didn’t win me over.

I wasn’t pleased with the texture or taste of this creamer, even for the price point.

The vanilla flavor was barely noticeable compared to the other three creamers I tried, and I felt the taste was fairly bland.

The creamer also had a super thin consistency, which felt like a harsh reminder that its main ingredient is water.

I liked the packaging of the International Delight creamer.

It may be trivial, but I appreciated the bottle design on the creamer I tried from International Delight. The spout lid was easy to pour without making a mess.

I liked that International Delight was one of only a couple of brands at the grocery store that sold creamers in both a large container and a half-size 16-ounce bottle.

Like the Coffeemate creamer, this one has a fairly lengthy ingredient list with water named first. I also didn’t love that this creamer contains palm oil, a natural preservative I tend to leave out of my diet for environmental reasons.

This creamer came to $0.23 an ounce. (That said, the cost per ounce would likely be slightly cheaper had I purchased a larger bottle.)

The International Delight creamer was by far the sweetest I tried.

Unfortunately, the International Delight creamer seemed to separate a bit when I poured it into my coffee. It eventually mixed in and didn’t impact the texture of my drink, but it wasn’t the most appetizing thing to watch.

This creamer was by far the sweetest of the bunch.

The aftertaste wasn’t too artificial despite some of the artificial flavors in the ingredients, but the creamer felt a bit too overwhelmingly sweet to me.

I was excited to try the Natural Bliss creamer.

I didn’t realize when picking this up that Natural Bliss is part of a more stripped-down line of creamers from Coffeemate.

Like the International Delight creamer, this was sold in both a large and a smaller bottle. I bought the latter, which is convenient for those like me who aren’t sharing their creamer and might not go through it before it expires.

The 16-ounce bottle cost me $0.24 an ounce. (Again, a larger bottle would likely have lowered that cost per ounce.)

It was smooth and creamy with a subtle, but tasty, flavor.

With only four ingredients (skim milk, cream, sugar, and natural flavors), the Natural Bliss creamer was pretty simple, yet it delivered on taste and texture.

I liked the lightly sweet, subtle vanilla flavor and the thicker, creamier texture of this product compared to the others I tested.

Overall, the Natural Bliss creamer was my top pick — but there were some close contenders.

I liked the subtle flavor of the vanilla creamer from Coffeemate’s Natural Bliss brand the most.

It didn’t leave behind an artificial aftertaste in my mouth, and the vanilla wasn’t overpowering. I also liked that this one wasn’t too sweet, so I could still enjoy the taste of my coffee.

Although it wasn’t the cheapest, the cost was worth it for me. Sales vary, and most of these creamers had fairly similar price points anyway.

Plus, buying cold brew and a creamer that’ll last me days is still cheaper than ordering flavored coffee at a café every morning.

Chobani’s vanilla creamer was a close second for me. It wasn’t too sweet, plus it had a creamy texture and a strong vanilla flavor.

Although it wasn’t to my taste, I would recommend the International Delight vanilla creamer for those who really want their coffee sweet.

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