9 Best Coffee Flavors to Try

Here at Art De Vivre Coffee we love the taste of coffee in its purest form; Black. From time to time, however, we like to mix it up (literally). Today we give you what we think are the best flavors for your coffee.

While some coffee purists may scoff at the thought of flavoring coffee, we think it's a great way to spice up your home brew game and impress your friends with your very own creations. Combining the perfect beans with the right coffee flavor can really add another dimension to the resulting beverage.

However, it does have some pitfalls that you would do well to avoid. With that in mind, we'll cover a few tips before moving on to our nine favorite coffee flavorings.

4 TIPS FOR USING COFFEE FLAVORS

01 DO NOT OVERDO IT

Coffee flavorings can be great to bring out the flavor of your favorite beans or add complementary notes, but they should not take over or overpower the flavors of the coffee. It's easy to add so much extra flavor to coffee that the essence of the beans is lost. So we recommend starting with small amounts of flavor and increasing as needed. Using a coffee scale to weigh your quantities can really help ensure consistency.

02 CHOOSE GOOD QUALITY FLAVORS

Many of the additives listed below are common in supermarkets. Sometimes they are sold in their natural form, but often cheaper artificial flavors are used. For best results, we recommend sticking to high quality products. We usually use syrups from the French company Tesseire to add to our coffees and coffee cocktails.

03 DON'T FORGET THE COFFEE

The best recipe and flavors do not make poor quality beans or poorly brewed coffee taste better. This may sound obvious, but be sure to pay attention to the beans and your coffee brewing method.

04 DON'T BE AFRAID TO EXPERIMENT

Taste is subjective and your preference will likely be different than ours. In this post, we give you nine of our favorite flavors to add to coffee, but feel free to add whatever you like. You can even combine some of the following flavors to prepare the best cup for you.

9 OF THE BEST COFFEE FLAVORS TO TRY

There are countless flavors you can add to coffee, and we encourage you to experiment with as many as possible. The following nine are some of our absolute favorites.

01 CARAMEL SYRUP

Some coffees like Kopi Luwak naturally have caramel notes, but if that's not enough for you, add a little caramel flavor to your daily brew.

Caramel syrup can easily be added to hot black coffee, iced coffee and even works well in coffee drinks that contain milk.

As you can imagine, this is for those of you who prefer a little more sweetness, and it's easy to overdo it, so we would recommend starting with just a little caramel syrup and adding more as needed.

02 HONEY

Honey is another one of our favorite coffee flavors. Just a few drops of honey can really take a good black coffee to another dimension. We also use this in some more elaborate drinks like our recipe for Vietnamese coconut coffee .

Again, it is important not to add too much honey so as not to overpower the delicious flavors of your coffee beans. So start small and gradually add more until you literally find the sweet spot.

03 BUTTERSCOTCH

Butterscotch or butterscotch contains brown sugar and butter. In small amounts, it pairs incredibly well with a strong black coffee to add a little sweetness without overpowering the flavor of the coffee.

You can probably buy it pre-made at your local supermarket, but if you're interested in making it yourself, check out this recipe.

04 CONDENSED MILK

While not usually considered a flavor, there's no doubt that sweetened condensed milk deserves a spot on this list. It's certainly one of our favorite things to add to our coffee.

It's less commonly used in North America and Europe than some of the flavors on this list, but here in Vietnam it's a staple for coffee.

Condensed milk goes especially well with strong black coffee. In Vietnam, where Robusta beans are commonly used, this is the perfect addition.

Almost all Vietnamese coffee drinks contain condensed milk, as you may have seen in our recipe posts for Vietnamese iced coffee with condensed milk , Vietnamese iced latte, Vietnamese egg coffee and Vietnamese coconut coffee .

05 COCONUT CREAM OR COCONUT SYRUP

Coconut cream is another Vietnamese coffee inspired addition to this list. As you may have read, we use it in our recipe for Vietnamese coconut coffee along with honey and condensed milk.

While Vietnamese coconut coffee is absolutely delicious, it's a somewhat time-consuming process. If you want to keep it simple, just add a touch of coconut cream to your daily iced coffee.

Coconut cream dilutes your coffee significantly. If you're looking for a more intense coconut flavor for your coffee or coffee cocktail, consider using a coconut syrup like this one from Tesseire .

06 CHOCOLATE

Chocolate is another very popular coffee flavoring used around the world. Chocolate syrup, above all, is the ingredient that gives a mocha its unique deliciousness.

Of course, you don't have to go through the trouble of frothing milk to get that chocolate flavor into your morning brew. Just a dash of chocolate syrup can be a great compliment to your hot black coffee.

For a less intense chocolate flavor, you can simply add some chocolate shavings to your coffee, which go especially well with milk drinks like cappuccino or latte.

07 HAZELNUT

Hazelnut is sweet and nutty and is one of the most popular coffee flavors in the world. so much so that many companies are making hazelnut coffees. However, we recommend getting some hazelnut extract so you can add as much or as little as you like.

In our experience, hazelnut extract pairs well with earthier coffees like Kopi Luwak as opposed to fruitier coffees like Geisha. It also goes well with milk-based drinks. We like to add it to iced coffees and sometimes even in some of our coffee cocktails.

08 VANILLE

French Vanilla, arguably the most popular coffee flavor in the world, is available in almost every coffee shop chain in Europe and North America. Like hazelnut, companies often add French vanilla flavoring to their blends, while coffee shop giants like Starbucks add vanilla extract to your coffee on demand.

While French vanilla extract can pair well with almost any coffee, we like to add it to earthy medium roast coffees like our Vietnamese Kopi Luwak . It adds a slight sweetness and a soft vanilla aftertaste that complements the smoothness, nutty notes and caramel sweetness of the beans.

09 Baileys Irish Cream

While most probably wouldn't classify this as a coffee flavor, we thought the list wouldn't be complete without Baileys Irish Cream. It is one of our most popular alcoholic beverages with coffee.

Similar to hazelnut, we prefer to combine this with coffees with nutty or earthy characteristics. We would advise against very sour coffees here.

The combination of intense, freshly ground coffee (brewed with an espresso machine, Aeropress or Vietnamese Phin filter ) and Baileys Irish Cream is truly unique. If you're a regular reader, you may have read our espresso martini recipe that includes Baileys. For a simpler but delicious coffee cocktail, you can simply add a shot of Baileys to your regular black coffee and drink it over ice.

IN CONCLUSION – 9 OF THE BEST COFFEE FLAVORS TO TRY

We love coffee in its purest form, but sometimes it can be interesting to experiment with the nearly endless list of flavors available today. The above nine flavors are among our all-time favorites.

When using flavors, we recommend starting with a small amount. It can be easy to add too much and mask the natural goodness of the coffee beans. It is also advisable to choose high quality products rather than cheaper alternatives. Finally, don't be afraid to try many flavors and even mix and match to find the right one for you.

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