The Best Starbucks Creamers, Ranked

You’ve probably seen those sleek forest green Starbucks coffee creamers lined up in the dairy aisle and wondered, “Is Starbucks creamer just as bad as Starbucks black coffee?” No? Just me? Well, curiosity got the best of me—and perhaps you, too, if you’re reading this—and I went ahead and bought ‘em all to try. Yep. We’re ranking the best Starbucks creamers today, folks. 

How we tried the Starbucks creamers

Contrary to what I just said, I actually don’t hate Starbucks. I drink it pretty regularly, and I typically try their new seasonal beverages in the name of research. But even the most loyal Starbucks customer will tell you that Starbucks coffee is overroasted and not very good on its own—and that’s why, true to the Starbucks experience, we felt comfortable using a handful of cheap, mid-tier K-Cups to brew a lot of coffee for this taste test. After rigorously shaking the Starbucks creamers (we’ve been yelled at in the past for skipping this step), we distributed an even amount (2 tbs) into each coffee cup and tried them side by side. Don’t just take my word for it! We filmed the whole taste test. Scroll down a smidge to watch it. Or just skip to the good part and let me tell you the six best Starbucks coffee creamers to buy.

What we looked for in the best Starbucks creamers

On the whole, store-bought Starbucks creamers are pretty muted in flavor—and I don’t think that’s a terrible thing. The drive-thru drinks always come heavily sweetened (unless you specify otherwise), but they’ve definitely pared back on the sweetness in these store-bought creamers. I’m actually surprised to say that the best Starbucks creamers are actually a nice reprieve from the thick, super sweet, flavor-concentrated brands like International Delight and Coffee Mate. And most of them use several varieties of real cream, so they aren’t totally loaded with oils and gums. 

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Best Starbucks Creamers!

White Chocolate Mocha

Walmart

Target

Sipping this creamer is very nostalgic for me. As a kid, years before I ever regularly drank coffee, my parents would always buy me a white chocolate mocha from Starbucks around the holidays—especially during our last-minute gift shopping. Something about this buttery-sweet hot beverage in a red snowflake Starbucks cup turned the capitalist hellscape of the Tampa mall into a cozy experience. Out of all the flavors we tried, this Starbucks creamer is probably the closest to its namesake beverage you can get. This simple, fudge-like, vanilla-adjacent white chocolate creamer might be the best Starbucks creamer for anyone (children included) who doesn’t love the bitter taste of coffee. 

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

7.5/10

Sporks

Best Starbucks Creamers!

Sugar Cookie Creamer

Walmart

Target

Okay, I’ve never had the sugar cookie latte from Starbucks, so I can’t make a one-to-one comparison here, but I have to say the flavor is definitely unique. As someone who loves dipping buttery shortbread cookies in coffee, this is right up my alley—but it’s not an everyday coffee creamer by any means. I appreciate that it’s a non-dairy blend of both oat milk and almond milk, but you’re barely really getting an alternative milk flavor, and it’s still pretty creamy overall. (Don’t be freaks like us and drink this creamer straight-up, though. The aftertaste is weird—but pretty fully masked by coffee.) 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Starbucks Creamers!

Irish Cream

Walmart

Target

Hey, I’ll say it: I don’t think this is the best Irish Cream creamer I’ve ever tried, but my fellow taste testers did like it enough to rank it second place when they were filming, and I do understand why. This uses nonfat milk and heavy cream to achieve a neat baseline creaminess that isn’t too thick. With a hint of dark chocolate and a subtle sharp finish that definitely reminds you of alcohol, it definitely checks all the right boxes for Irish Cream. Try topping this with some dark chocolate or peppermint sprinkles to enhance the flavors a bit more, and you’re in business. (Honestly, I’m just more partial to the maltier International Delight Irish Cream, which is why I demoted this to fourth place. Sorry!!) 

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

8/10

Sporks

Best Starbucks Creamers!

Cinnamon Dolce Latte

Ralphs

Target

This Starbucks creamer is the brand’s attempt at replicating the iconic Cinnamon Dolce Latte, and I think it does a decent job. It’s very simple, cinnamon-forward, and surprisingly not very sweet, but the cinnamon-sugar blend here is superior to what you would get if you added both of those ingredients separately on your own, in my opinion. This is one of the best Starbucks creamers to keep around for more frequent use; even if you just add a little, it gives your coffee more depth.

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

8.5/10

Sporks

Best Starbucks Creamers!

Caramel Macchiato

Walmart

Target

If you watch our unedited taste test, you’ll notice Caramel Macchiato doesn’t get a ton of love. It’s the very first creamer we tried, and it was a little underwhelming—but since I have final say here and I love letting power get to my head, I’m promoting this to second place. The caramel flavor is on the subtle side, but because this uses real milk, heavy cream, and buttermilk, I personally love how fresh and creamy it tastes. (Yes, there is vegetable oil and gellan gum in the ingredients, but you really can’t tell.) The buttermilk gives a subtle tang that blends nicely with the caramel. It’s a great everyday creamer, if you can handle dairy. My colleague Jordan Myrick says this would be delicious in a London Fog, and I agree! 

Credit: Merc / Walmart

Rating:

9/10

Sporks

Best of the Best

Brown Sugar Shaken Espresso

Target

Someone stop me, because my inner “15-minutes-late-with-Starbucks” white girl is coming out right now, y’all. I have a lot of thoughts about this creamer, which is, of course, based on the iconic Starbucks brown sugar shaken espresso. First things first: This is a pretty close approximation of the real drive-thru drink, but it isn’t nearly as sweet. And I love that for me, specifically, because while the concept of a brown sugar shaken espresso sounds incredible, I’ve never been able to handle the sheer sugar of it all. Until now. You still get that unique toffee sweetness, but it’s not nearly as cloying. This uses oat milk instead of dairy, but besides a slight textural difference, you can barely tell. You better believe I’m buying this for my own homemade “shaken” iced coffees from now on. Not to cosplay a barista here, but I recommend a bolder dark roast or strong espresso blend to achieve a nice bitter-sweet balance. Anyways, this is the best Starbucks coffee creamer to buy, so buy it!! 

Credit: Merc / Target

Rating:

10/10

Sporks

Other Starbucks creamers we tried:

Caramel macchiato Zero Sugar, Horchata Shaken Espresso, Non Dairy Hazelnut Latte, Lavender Latte