Time to say goodbye to tins of bland Folgers coffee because this new era of coffee drinkers demands delicious, exceptional, premium flavors in our coffee roasts. As the world becomes increasingly interested in specialty coffee, roasters have taken note and have placed more and more emphasis on the underlying flavor notes of their specialty coffee.
Of the more popular notes, fruity coffee roasts are becoming more and more popular in coffee drinks for their flavorful taste. If you’re someone who prefers fruity notes in their coffee but doesn’t know where to buy it, look no further. We’ve got the best fruity coffee here for you.
At a Glance: Best Fruity Coffee
Quick Summary: Best Fruity Coffee
Our Top Pick Stumptown - Citrus |
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Verve - The Sermon Espresso |
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Thou Mayest - Wild Child |
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Counter Culture - Hologram |
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Wake The Hell Up! - Blueberry Flavor |
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Stumptown – Citrus
If you’re cued into the coffee world, you must have come across Stumptown by now. They’ve pretty much dominated the coffee culture, especially on the West Coast, which makes sense since they’re originally from Oregon.
But it has nothing to do with their origin, it has to do with their flavor, and Stumptown packs a punch. Their hints of citrus and chocolate produce a vibrant, sweet flavor and a balanced cup of coffee.
This premium blend coffee is grown in Central and South America, East Africa, and Indonesia to give you the best beans possible.
What We Like
- Great balanced flavor
- The great amount of caffeine
What We Don’t Like
- Problems with manufacturing
- Some say beans aren’t fresh
Verve – The Sermon Espresso
This light, fruity espresso roast is a favorite amongst Verve fans. Based in the sleepy surf town of Santa Cruz, California, Verve has swept the coffee world off of its feet as its gained immense popularity throughout the years.
Perhaps a big reason why the Sermon Espresso blend tastes so excellent is that it’s only sourced from the best villages in Brazil, Colombia, and Ethiopia.
Its rich flavor provides a well-balanced taste with sweetness and acidity. If you like an emphasis on fruit flavor with a bold body and a less bitter taste, Sermon Blend is the coffee for you.
Always fresh, never stale, Verve delivers an exceptional flavor and bold, fruity coffee taste that packs a serious punch in your morning coffee.
Things We Like
- Great fruity taste
- Perfectly balanced
Things We Don’t Like
- Poor bag design
Thou Mayest – Wild Child
Looking for something a little out of the ordinary? Try Thou Mayest Wild Child, which takes heavy inspiration from both fruit and flowers to craft an excellent cup of coffee minus the bitter flavor.
The beans are grown by an assortment of expert producers in the Sidamo region of Ethiopia. What they produce is nothing short of extraordinary.
Wild Child is an exciting concoction of floral, fruit, and chocolate in this rich, darker blend with bright, crisp, and vibrant flavors. No matter your palate, this specialty blend is almost guaranteed to put a spring in your step any day of the week.
Things We Like
- Silky smooth
- Great combination of fruit and floral
Things We Don’t Like
- Some people wish the chocolate taste were a little more pronounced than the fruit taste
Counter Culture – Hologram
With notes of delicious fruit paired with rich chocolate, Counter Culture’s Hologram roast is one of their most popular roasts available. Hologram stands out with a fruity, delicious, and heavily caffeinated body with an incredibly complex depth of flavor.
If you haven’t tried Counter Culture by now, you’re missing out. This roaster is one of the best boutique roasting companies in the United States. With over 25 years of providing premium coffee, Counter Culture is one of the best roasters around.
Plus, the company has deep roots in sustainability and ethically sourcing their coffee. They routinely post a coffee transparency report that shares the amount they pay for coffee and their impact on the coffee value stream.
With exceptional flavor and bold, fruity flavors, you can’t go wrong with Counter Culture’s Hologram.
What We Like
- Great flavors
- Fresh roasts
- Commitment to the environment and sustainability
What We Don’t Like
- Issues with manufacturing (some customers found holes in the bag)
Wake The Hell Up! Blueberry
Wake The Hell Up! Coffee provides a high amount of caffeine to power you through those long days at work without compromising the stellar taste.
Unlike other fruity coffee blends, this roast isn’t mixed with any different flavors, so you get one big hit of blueberry. The flavors are rich and intoxicating. With zero acidity, it’s smooth, never bitter, and has serious notes of blueberries; this is one for the books.
Plus, the company has excellent policies in terms of quality control and refunds. A 100% guarantee protects your coffee purchase, so if you don’t like it, they’ll work hard on making it right.
Plus, the beans are always freshly roasted, so you always get the best tasting cup of coffee possible.
What We like
- Fresh beans
- Rich blueberry flavors
- 100% money guarantee
What We Don’t Like
- A little on the expensive side
What Makes Coffee “Fruity”
What exactly makes coffee taste fruity? Do they roast the beans with actual fruit? Do they spray on the flavoring after?
On the contrary, fruit flavoring has nothing to do with the oils. It has to do with how the beans are grown and the roasting process afterward.
It’s taken us a while to get here, though. Roasters began flavoring coffee beans as far back as the 1960s when coffee rose in popularity. Back then, the roasters would spray beans with artificial flavoring oil to make their coffee taste better than the beans’ actual quality.
Toasters would spray the beans with raspberry sprays, cinnamon sprays, or any other flavoring they thought would be a top seller.
As you might imagine, the end product presented an unsavory flavor that was pretty horrible. We’ve come a long way in terms of coffee quality, and we’ve harnessed the ability to flavor coffee through other, natural techniques.
The first method has to do with the soil composition. It’s no secret that soil composition impacts flavoring and acidity.
Take Colombian coffees; the soil in Columbia tends to have higher concentrations of sulfur compounds, which gives off an earthier aroma, while the ground in places like Ethiopia has higher concentrations of monoterpenes, which produce more citrus-like aromas.
Just as soil composition influences acidity, it also impacts flavor. When coffee trees grow in nutrient-rich soil, they produce more flavorful coffee than in nutrient-poor soil.
The more nutrients a coffee plant can get, the healthier it becomes, and the more flavor the coffee cherries give to the beans within.
That’s why it’s so essential to purchase beans from certified boutique sellers, as the flavor quality begins with the quality of the soil.
The climate also impacts what sort of flavors the coffee beans will have. According to studies, cooler temperatures allow the coffee to ripen more slowly, which increases sweetness to bring out a more fruity flavor.
Strangely enough, altitude also impacts the number of fruity notes found in coffee. In fact, altitude plays one of the most significant roles in the coffee taste and directly affects aroma, body, acidity, flavor, and preference.
When coffee is grown in higher altitudes, they typically have higher levels of acidity, and that acidic taste often leaves a fruity aftertaste in the bean.
When the coffee fruit is picked also affects its sweetness. Coffee fruit picked at its peak time using the tried-and-true hand-picking method will provide more fruit flavor than unripe cherries.
The length of the processing times after harvest also affects the bean. That fruity flavor soaks into the bean as it waits to be pulled out, dried, and roasted.
Another significant element is, of course, the roasting process. When coffees are roasted to a medium or light roast, those fruity-tasting flavors are pulled out.
Best Fruity Coffee
Out of all the roasts, we have to say that Wake The Hell Up! produces an excellent roast of coffee. If you’re looking for pure fruit flavors, this is the roast for you. Their deeply intoxicating, lush blueberry will put you under a coffee spell and will have you coming back cup after cup.
However, all of the brands listed are phenomenal roasts. If you enjoy premium coffee with bold fruity notes, try a cup from each of these roasters to see which is the right roast for you.
FAQ
Here are the answers to some frequently asked questions about fruity coffee.
What does fruity flavor mean?
Fruity flavored coffee means that it resembles the taste of fruit. While coffee will always primarily taste like coffee, sometimes the aftertaste can have a sweet, fruity flavor.
Many people also report experiencing these delicate flavors through smell. Try taking a couple of deep breaths before you sip your coffee and see if you can identify the subtle flavors in your cup.
Is my coffee sour or fruity?
If your coffee is tasting sour, then that means there was a problem during the roasting process. Usually, this means the beans are under-roasted.
However, if you purchase your beans from a quality roaster (instead of roasting them yourself), the chances are that your beans are okay, and you may just need to adjust how you prepare your coffee.
If you want to really bring out the fruity and citrus flavors, try your coffee black and use an Aeropress for more flavor extraction.
How Does Coffee Taste Like Fruit?
When coffee says that it tastes like fruit, it was grown in the correct soil, weather, and altitude conditions to extract a fruity flavor.
Final Thoughts
Whether you like coffee with heavy citrus, sweet berries, or bold combinations of common fruit flavors, these five roasters pack a punch with their fruity coffee blends. Make sure to try all five roasts to figure out which one you like the best!
Happy Caffeinating!