I’ve always been astounded by the different types of vanilla ice cream with some brands. It doesn’t begin and end with vanilla. A quick look at Dreyer’s site tells me it has French Vanilla, Vanilla Bean, and a regular Vanilla. Breyers has Extra Creamy Vanilla, Natural Vanilla, Homemade Vanilla, and French Vanilla.
For many years, the two biggest coffee creamer brands haven’t expanded their vanilla portfolios beyond French Vanilla. But that has changed for Coffee mate with the rollout of its new Vanilla Bean variety. I’ll admit, it’s not as glamorous as the Rice Krispies Treats and Golden Grahams creamers that the brand introduced at the same time, but it’s nice to have another basic vanilla flavor.
If you’re wondering, unlike the ice cream, no vanilla bean specks are floating in this. I mean, I didn’t expect there would be because who wants something that looks like coffee grinds to be floating in their coffee.
The creamer smells like vanilla frosting and, straight out of the bottle and into my mouth, it tastes like a combination of frosting and ice cream. I’m not going to say it’s specifically vanilla bean ice cream, though.
I find it a bit more vanilla-y than Coffee mate’s French Vanilla. However, in coffee, its flavor doesn’t stand out as much as the older vanilla creamer does, which causes me to add more than I usually do to hide the coffee’s taste adequately, and in turn, I go through a bottle quicker.
That’s not a complete deal-breaker because this is still a perfectly okay tasting creamer. But when I’m half awake and don’t even know what day it is, I don’t think I’d like to be reminded every morning that I need to add more creamer than usual by taking my first sip of the day and then muttering “dammit” because I can still strongly taste the cheap McCafe ground coffee I use.
I had high hopes for this variety because last year’s Coffee mate Caramel was surprisingly great for a basic flavor. It had a potent, natural-ish taste when mixed in my coffee. Also, I was hoping for something I could occasionally switch with French Vanilla since I’ve had it way too many times, thanks to it being two bottles of a Coffee mate refrigerated creamer 3-pack that Costco sells. But it appears I’ll still be sticking with it and the Cold Stone Creamery Sweet Cream flavor that the other big creamer brand sells.
Maybe Coffee mate will add another vanilla variety someday. Might I recommend Extra Creamy Vanilla, Natural Vanilla, or Homemade Vanilla?
DISCLOSURE: I received a free product sample from Coffee mate. Doing so did not influence my review.
Purchased Price: FREE
Size: 32 fl oz bottle
Purchased at: Received from Coffee mate
Rating: 6 out of 10
Nutrition Facts: (1 tbsp) 35 calories, 1.5 grams of fat, 0 grams of saturated fat, 0 milligrams of cholesterol, 10 milligrams of sodium, 5 grams of carbohydrates, 0 grams of fiber, 5 grams of sugar (including 5 grams of added sugar), and 0 grams of protein.
This review is too funny! I think the same thing when I see all those “vanilla” products!
bummer, i’ll still pick it up to try if i see it, but i’m hoping for a strong vanilla bean taste. i’ve been seeing vanilla sugar all over the place lately, i wonder if a brand might try to pin point that flavor.
It tastes dreadful. It has a bowl of ice cream on the label, and so does Coffee Mates’ #1 competitor….International Delight Sweet ream flavor; which also has a bowl of Ice Cteam om the label. So the I/D was sold out today; so I tried the C/M. I am dissapointed. It tastes like fake vanilla and it overpowers evrything. I have a friend who is having a party tomorrow so I am going to unload the unopened bottle on them. To my taste buds, International Delight Sweer Cream with the bowl of ice cream on the label got it right the first time. Nestle makes great stuff, but this “Vanilla creamy coffee mate needs some “additional product development”. I am being polite. I saved the receipt on it so I will swap the opened bottle with the I/D Sweet Cream.
Its so overly fake vanilla I dont know how it ever made it through the taste test part of product development.
-cski
Any brand that is offering a vanilla creamer is basically already capturing the flavour of vanilla sugar.
The Coffee-Mate Crème Brûlée is the best flavor hands down!
Does this taste like the funfetti flavor they had but discontinued? I’m so upset because that really tasted like vanilla and I’m hoping this is just rebranded as vanilla bean flavor. I used to actually put the funfetti creamer into mug cakes to give it a strong vanilla taste. They were delicious.
I personally love vanilla. Today is the first I’ve heard of this flavor but I live in New England and we have all of three flavors to choose. I just checked in VA where my daughter goes to college. Guess what she’s bringing home for me when she comes home for the summer next month?