What Are the Most Popular Coffee Flavors? (Solved & Explained!)

French vanilla takes the number one spot as the most popular coffee flavor, along with hazelnut, pumpkin spice, butterscotch, and mocha.

This article will go in-depth on all of the top coffee flavors, why they’re popular, and their taste.

What is French Vanilla Coffee?

French vanilla is widespread, and you will be able to find it year-round in almost any coffee shop. It’s a creamy blend of vanilla and coffee cream, making it a perfect flavor for those who want to change up their coffee game.

French vanilla syrup or an extract is added to your coffee to sweeten it.

What Does French Vanilla Taste Like?

Most coffee shops make their french vanilla brighter and fruitier in taste than traditional coffee. It still tastes like coffee but has a strong note of vanilla in the palate and finish since french vanilla is brewed from a lighter roast. It is similar to black coffee but has a sweet aroma.

Sometimes french vanilla syrups are added to coffee to give it that signature flavor, or a mix of hazelnut and vanilla for a nuttier flavor.

What is Hazelnut Coffee? 

Hazelnut is brewed in two ways, either flavored beans or an extract added to the brewed coffee. It is a popular, nutty choice for coffee lovers and common at coffee shops.

Natural hazelnut extract is always the way to go when it comes to your hazelnut coffee. It’s natural and organic, with a powerful aroma once added to coffee, but the taste will become more pronounced if cream and sugar are added to the coffee.

There are also artificial flavorings of hazelnut coffee, which do offer a different taste.

What Does Hazelnut Coffee Taste Like?

Hazelnut flavoring complements the bitter taste of coffee incredibly well, being both aromatic and sweet. It can be described as decadent, complex, and fragrant nuttiness, with notes of sweetness and indulgence.

What is Pumpkin Spice Coffee?

A seasonal drink seen during the fall, pumpkin spice is just as popular as it is nostalgic as crunched autumn leaves. It’s made by flavoring coffee grounds or directly adding syrup or oil to the coffee brew.

The most straightforward approach to making pumpkin spice coffee is adding flavoring to coffee grounds with a blend of spices such as cloves, ginger, cinnamon, and nutmeg. This sweet spice blend is then added to coffee grounds, put in a filter, and brewed to create pumpkin spice coffee.

Another approach to pumpkin spice coffee is with the help of flavored oils and syrups soaked in a high concentration of fragrant oils. This process is typically done just after coffee beans have been roasted.

They are then added to a mixing machine. This mixer turns the beans over, coating them in sweet syrups that will be infused to create that sweet, spicy taste.

What Does Pumpkin Spice Coffee Taste Like?

The palette of pumpkin spice coffee is rich with notes of cinnamon, nutmeg, and clove. You’ll feel like you’re right at home in a cozy sweater, enjoying the change of the season with this concoction.

What is Butterscotch Coffee?

Butterscotch is made up of brown sugar and butter, sometimes with the addition of corn syrup, vanilla, cream, and salt. In earlier versions of the recipe, molasses was also used. Butterscotch is a warm coffee typically topped with whipped cream and garnished with butterscotch chips, the coffee itself infused with butterscotch.

Some shops also achieve a butterscotch coffee by adding butterscotch essence right to the coffee. 

What Does Butterscotch Coffee Taste Like?

Butterscotch coffee is smooth and buttery, with an aroma of butter and sweetness and a palette of intense, creamy butter, golden butterscotch, milky cream, and hints of toffee. The body is smooth and sweet, with an aftertaste of coffee and sweetness.

What is Mocha Coffee?

Mocha coffee is also known as a mocha latte or a cafe mocha and is an all-around crowd-pleaser. It’s like a latte, except chocolate drizzle is added in the form of syrup to the latte. Mochas tend to be highly customizable, making them an even more of a coffee classic.

Mocha coffees typically come with two to four shots of espresso, one to four shots of chocolate syrup, a bit of steamed milk, and milk foam to top it off. A bonus if there is a cinnamon or cocoa powder dusting.

What Does Mocha Coffee Taste Like?

It’s fair to say that mocha coffee tastes like chocolate coffee, but there’s more to be said about how perfectly the flavor of an expresso shot and chocolate combine, offering up this sweet, rich, mouth-full taste. It’s velvet smooth and coats your mouth, with a heaviness similar to hot chocolate.

What is Amaretto Coffee?

Amaretto coffee is an Italian coffee meant for dessert or after dinner. It is a hot coffee with a shot of Amaretto liqueur added in, topped with heavy whipped cream.

In one cup of coffee, you’re typically going to have 1 ounce of Amaretto with a topping of whipped cream and the optional dusting of cinnamon for presentation.

For this coffee, the whipped cream is prepared first, opting for freshly whipped and natural cream as it is always the better option. Then, the coffee is made by however method the house chooses, such as pour-over or Aeropress. Then, a shot of Amaretto is added to the coffee, mixed, and then topped with cream.

What Does Amaretto Coffee Taste Like?

Amaretto offers notes of almond and cherry, and when it is mixed with coffee, the flavoring is sweet and bitter that’s combined in such a way that it’s hard to forget.

What is Peppermint Coffee?

Peppermint coffee, usually in the form of a mocha, is typically seen and enjoyed during the holidays. Its typical ingredients are milk, espresso, peppermint syrup, and whipped cream with chocolate syrup and cocoa dusting or chocolate flakes.

What Does Peppermint Coffee Taste Like?

Peppermint coffee has the distinct and perfect balance of mint and warm chocolate with the tone of coffee.