The Best Coffee Brands, From Budget to High-End Roasts

Best Overall: Stumptown Coffee Roasters

Stumptown is synonymous with the third wave of coffee—a 21st-century rise in small boutique roasters. The Portland-born company crafts several delicious whole-bean varieties, as well as individual bottles of cold brew. Hair Bender is the most popular blend (and the first one Stumptown ever made); its flavor is intricate and unique, teeming with notes of sweet cherry and rich fudge. Other popular options include Holler Mountain, House Blend, and the decaffeinated Trapper Creek.

Stumptown is more expensive than many brands found in the grocery store, but the cost isn't outrageous. Plus, the quality and care put into the coffee are evident in every cup you drink. One issue to watch out for is that some customers who received batches from third-party vendors said the Stumptown coffee was either nearing or past its expiration date. This was not the majority's buying experience, however, and coffee ordered from the brand website remains as fresh and tasty as ever.

Price at time of publish: $16

Founded: 1999 | Headquarters: Portland, Oregon | Coffee Shops: Yes | Direct Trade: Yes | Subscriptions: Yes

Runner-Up, Best Overall: Intelligentsia Coffee

Intelligentsia has won numerous awards for its coffee, as well as the quality of its nationwide cafés (there are currently 15 locations). The company prides itself on direct-trade practices and highlights the countries and farms from which it sources coffee beans. The connections span the globe, leading to Intelligentsia's vast array of flavors. One of the most popular picks is the Frequency Blend, a medium roast that combines notes of chocolate and dried fruit.

Intelligentsia also showcases its single-origin coffees, a collection that offers flavor gateways into specific regions like Bolivia, Burundi, and more. You can purchase both whole bean and ground varieties, and there are delicious options for espresso, instant, and decaf coffee, too.

Price at time of publish: $21

Founded: 1995 | Headquarters: Chicago | Coffee Shops: Yes | Direct Trade: Yes | Subscriptions: Yes

Best for Dog Lovers: Grounds & Hounds

Coffee and dogs—two of the most important things in life. Grounds & Hounds, currently celebrating its ninth anniversary, offers a large selection of 100 percent Arabica light, medium, dark, espresso, and decaf coffee via grounds, whole beans, single-serve pods, and cold brew pouches. Standout flavors include chocolate peanut butter, glazed donut, and Madagascar vanilla, while others feature dog-themed titles, such as Good Boy, Belly Rub, Sit & Stay, and Morning Walk.

The company kindly sent us a bag of its Birthday Blend (French vanilla, Funfetti cake, and buttercream) as well as its Anniversary Blend (brown sugar, toasted walnut, and honey), which are both medium roasts, and we're happy to report that they were both really, really good. Mornings typically call for cold brew here, but these two blends made us dust off the old French press, and we don't plan on putting it away again any time soon.

OK, so the coffee is delicious, which is great, but here's the best part: 20 percent of all Grounds & Hounds profits go to rescue organizations working to give pups in the U.S. and South Korea a second chance and into a loving home. So far, the brand has supplied more than 18,500 toys and 3.3 million meals to shelter dogs, 16,250 vaccines for dogs in need, 885 spay/neuter surgeries, and 3,400 microchips.

If you buy the $16 Rescue Roast Blend specifically (a medium-roast whole-bean or ground coffee with notes of caramel, dark chocolate, toasted pecan, and red currant), 100 percent of proceeds are donated to a new organization every month. For example, at the time of this writing, it goes to Marley's Mutts and will help rescue more dogs, provide professional training for them, and offer therapeutic services to the community. 

Once you're all stocked up on coffee, don't forget to check out the merch. There's apparel (including baby onesies!), brewing gear, and super-cute drinkware featuring all sorts of sayings and breed designs spanning mugs, travel tumblers, and a particularly adorable cold brew glass (here's another equally adorable version). There is, of course, also stuff for your four-legged friend, including coffee-themed toys, travel water bowls and bottles, collars, bandanas, and more. This is a really fun brand with great coffee that you can feel good about supporting.

Price at time of publish: $12-$19 depending on flavor

Founded: 2014 | Headquarters: Los Angeles | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes | Rescue Organizations Supported: Beagle Freedom Project, The Sato Project, Animal Friends, Austin Pets Alive, Nashville Humane Association, Heartland Animal Shelter, and many more

Best Vietnamese: Copper Cow

Vietnamese coffee—typically made with beans grown in volcanic soil in the Central Highlands of Vietnam—is a strong but sweet dark coffee brewed using a slow-drip pour-over maker and served with sweetened condensed milk. Copper Cow, a fair-trade certified and women-owned brand, sources its supply from the region's town of Dalat and pays the farmers two times the market rate.

Each blend features 70 percent Robusta and 30 percent Arabica beans that pack an astonishing 238 to 272 milligrams of caffeine per 8-ounce cup. The decaf, however, has just 5 milligrams. The brand only uses all-natural ingredients, too, so you won't find any artificial flavorings or sweeteners. Just ground herbs and spices. The universal grind size is good for all methods of brewing, too—even cold brew (just steep the grounds for 12 hours).

While Copper Cow is a bit more expensive than some of the other coffees on the list costing $17 per bag for ground coffee and $16 for a box of eight single-serve pour-over bags (no additional equipment needed!), the delicious taste brings barista-quality coffee right into your home. Flavor options include salted caramel, vanilla, and lavender, while creamers offer delectable choices of hazelnut, mocha, and milk and sugar. The brand also offers options for tea—Thai, chai, and matcha—as well as latte kits and sampler bundles.

Price at time of publish: $17 per bag of ground coffee, $16 for 8-count pour-over single-serve bags, $8 for 8 creamers ($20 for 25-pack of creamers)

Founded: 2017 | Headquarters: Los Angeles | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best for Instant: Mount Hagen

Mount Hagen is far and away the most popular brand for high-end instant coffee. Typically sold in 3.5-ounce glass jars, it's more expensive than competitors like Folgers, Nescafé, and Café Bustelo, but the price is reasonable; each jar yields about 50 cups of coffee, which, when broken down, is about 20 cents per cup. Mount Hagen also makes decaffeinated instant coffee. Both varieties can be found in single-serve sticks, great for camping and traveling.

Price at time of publish: $37

Founded: 1986 | Headquarters: Hamburg, Germany | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscriptions: No

Best for Light Roast: La Colombe Coffee Roasters

With an artisanal touch and direct-trade sourcing, La Colombe is another name associated with the third wave of coffee. You might know the brand for its ubiquitous selection of cold brew and draft lattes, but coffee beans have always been at the company's heart.

It offers a rotating list of light roast options with entirely unique flavor palettes. The Inga Red Honey blend has notes of nougat, ginger snap, and blackberry tea, while the San Roque blend is a wild concoction of clementines, cherry soda, and chocolate.

La Colombe is on the more expensive end and typically sold in one size (12 ounces), but if you order off the brand website, you can buy beans pre-ground to the ideal size for your coffee maker, including moka pots, French presses, and more.

Price at time of publish: $19 for Colombia - San Roque

Founded: 1994 | Headquarters: Philadelphia | Coffee Shops: Yes | Direct Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best for Dark Roast: Death Wish Coffee Company

Known as the world's strongest coffee, Death Wish is an intensely dark (and highly caffeinated) blend beloved by many. But the reason it's a best seller has more to do with taste than caffeine. The coffee is shockingly smooth and flavorful, filled with notes of dark chocolate and cherry.

Death Wish Coffee Company then added a second dark roast to its arsenal: Valhalla Java, an option that's slightly cheaper and less caffeinated but just as tasty. Both blends are available in whole bean, ground, and K-Cup varieties. The company's skull-and-bones insignia also makes for killer merchandise, from coffee mugs to t-shirts.

Price at time of publish: $20

Founded: 2012 | Headquarters: Saratoga Springs, New York | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best Budget: Seattle's Best Coffee

Budget coffee isn't hard to find. Plenty of dependable low-priced brands line the grocery store aisles. But Seattle's Best strikes a balance between cost and flavor. The company is a little more expensive than names like Folgers and Maxwell House, partially because these brands sell bulk-sized canisters, but customers generally find Seattle's Best to be tastier.

The company makes 10 different ground coffee blends and six different K-Cups for Keurig coffee makers, all of which are easy to find both in-store and online. One of the most popular options

Price at time of publish: $13

Founded: 1970 | Headquarters: Seattle | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: No

Best for Espresso: Lavazza

The century-old Italian roaster offers everything from coffee for drip machines to K-Cups, and its assortment of espresso blends is one of the best you can find. The Caffe Espresso (also called "Espresso Italiano" on some sites) is a great place to start; it's available in both whole bean and ground, and the mid-level intensity allows fruity and floral notes to shine beneath the traditional coffee taste. Dark roast lovers should check out the more robust Crema e Gusto blend.

Lavazza sells its coffee in bags and tins of several different sizes. Whether you go with an 8-ounce tin or a 2.2-pound bag, however, you can expect Lavazza to come at an extremely affordable price.

Price at time of publish: $18

Founded: 1895 | Headquarters: Turin, Italy | Coffee Shops: Yes | Fair Trade: No | Subscription: Yes

Best Flavor: Peerless Coffee & Tea

While taste is always subjective, there are multiple reasons why Peerless Coffee can be relied upon for a delicious cup of joe. Above all, it's about the care put into each and every bag of beans. The Bay Area company was named Roast Magazine's 2019 Roaster of the Year—a distinction shared in previous years by many of the nation's top boutique coffee brands, including Stumptown, Intelligentsia, Gimme! Coffee, and more.

Peerless Coffee also has a wide selection of flavors, so every set of taste buds can find something to enjoy. The Hawaiian Golden Kona Blend is an excellent option for light roast lovers. Dark Chocolate Truffle will satisfy those with a sweet tooth. And you can find classic varieties like French Roast and Italian Roast. The coffee is sold in bags of 1 pound and 5 pounds. If you order off the brand website, you can get the beans ground to suit your home coffee maker.

Price at time of publish: $34

Founded: 1924 | Headquarters: Oakland, California | Coffee Shops: Yes (one location) | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best Variety: New England Coffee

New England Coffee has a blend for everyone. There are traditional varieties like Italian Roast and Colombian Supremo. There are decaf options, K-Cups, and a list of flavored coffees. You can find everything from the dessert-like (most popular being Blueberry Cobbler) to the outlandish (e.g., Maple Cinnamon French Toast).

The company has been around for over 100 years, and it's refreshingly affordable. Depending on the blend, a 12-ounce bag of ground coffee can cost as little as $5.

Price at time of publish: $10

Founded: 1916 | Headquarters: Malden, Massachusetts | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Five fair trade varieties | Subscription: Yes

Best for Single Origin: Red Bay Coffee

The definition of single-origin coffee varies. In some cases, it denotes coffee sourced from a single farm. In others, the coffee beans can come from multiple farms within the same region or country. Either way, the goal is the same: to retain the wonderful flavors specific to certain parts of the world, rather than mixing flavors with a blend from different areas. As a result, single-origin coffee tends to have a stronger, more concentrated taste and come from a more ethical means of production.

"With coffee, I think people lean toward single-origin beans because if they are familiar with the flavor profile of that region then they will get that profile in the cup. It doesn’t always equate to better taste, though," says Nigel Price, the founder and owner of Drip Coffee Makers in New York City. "I like single-origin because you can trace your coffee back to specific farms and know the farmers are being paid a living wage."

An unbeatable place to go for single-origin is Red Bay Coffee. Founded in 2014, the Bay Area-roaster sells eight signature varieties, six of which are single-origin. (The two that are not single-origin are espresso blends that still have rave online reviews and are worth checking out for espresso drinkers.)

One of the company’s most popular single-origin varieties is East Fourteenth, a dark roast harvested in Tanzania that contains notes of blackberries, dark chocolate, and dates. Other top options include Brazilian Cake Lady, which mixes things up with notes of citrus and golden raisin, and King’s Prize, a medium roast grown in the heralded and historic district of Yirgacheffe, Ethiopia. Red Bay products are only sold in whole bean, and each bag is conveniently labeled with the coffee’s roast level, flavor notes, and sourcing region. 

Price at time of publish: $19

Founded: 2014 | Headquarters: Oakland, California | Coffee Shops: Yes | Direct Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best Sustainable: Counter Culture Coffee

Counter Culture was the inaugural winner of Roast Magazine's Roaster of the Year Award, all the way back in 2005. The company has sustained excellence ever since, but it's not just the taste of the coffee that it puts care into. Counter Culture is widely regarded as one of the most ethical coffee brands because of its direct-trade standards and eco-friendly farming. You can even find annual sustainability reports on the company website. Choose from a variety of ethically sourced blends in sizes ranging from 12 ounces to a whopping 5 pounds.

Price at time of publish: $18

Founded: 1995 | Headquarters: Durham, North Carolina | Coffee Shops: No | Direct Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes

Best for K-Cups: Green Mountain Coffee Roasters

With affordable prices and over 25 K-Cup varieties, Green Mountain Coffee Roasters is the go-to pod for many Keurig owners. In fact, this was the very first brand to sell its coffee in K-Cup form. You can find timeless favorites like Breakfast Blend and French Roast, as well as a number of flavored options, including Southern Pecan and Wild Mountain Blueberry.

Love coffee but hate the jitters? The company also makes several decaf and half-caf pods. Green Mountain Coffee is easy to find in-store and online, starting at six-count boxes and going all the way up to 100.

Price at time of publish: $18

Founded: 1981 | Headquarters: Waterbury, Vermont | Coffee Shops: No | Fair Trade: Yes | Subscription: Yes