We Ranked 7 Celebrity Coffee Brands And This One Was The Best
When celebrities aren't getting glammed up for star-studded events or being their talented selves, they're often endorsing something. Celebrity coffee brands are aplenty these days, and it's more than just actors getting into the mix. We were intrigued, so we tried a few and ranked them from worst to best.
Coffee requires a level of sophistication and know-how to do it justice. Understanding which regions grow the best beans and sourcing them ethically is step one. Then there's the roasting process, test marketing, packaging, and so on. Cheap coffee has its time and place (and we're not mad at it!), but when a celebrity puts their name on a coffee product, we'd like to think they've done their research.
With all this in mind, we compiled a list of celebrity coffees and went to town. Celebs like Ralph Lauren have been in the coffee game for years, whereas Millie Bobby Brown's line just launched in 2023. We drank each coffee black and opted for medium or dark roasts. In every taste test, we judged the coffee's aroma, depth of flavor, acidity, and aftertaste. Coffees that smell great, have body, and finish smooth are going to be the top players on our list. Packaging and overall branding count for something, too. We'll get into the nitty gritty of our methodology at the end of this article, but for now, let's find out which celebrity coffees are worth the buzz.
7. Chamberlain Coffee - Emma Chamberlain
Emma Chamberlain is fairly new to the celebrity game since she started her career as a teenage YouTuber and is a bonafide social media influencer with over 15 million Instagram followers. She has since become a regular at high fashion events, hosts a podcast, and yes, owns her own coffee company, Chamberlain Coffee. Chamberlain has spoken publicly about the challenges of breaking into the coffee industry, and unfortunately, we can taste the struggle.
We gave the Night Owl Blend a try because, well, we're night owls who love bold coffee. Plus, the Chamberlain coffee website mentions that this is Emma's favorite blend. Aside from an espresso blend, this is Chamberlain's only dark roast and it's not available in whole bean. The packaging is adorable and indicates that the coffee inside is creamy and rich — but it wasn't. Once brewed, the coffee had an earthy aroma more on par with medium coffee, so the dark roast designation felt like a misnomer. Taking a sip, we noticed a flat finish and some bitterness in the aftertaste. Adding a dash of light cream to the coffee helped smooth things out.
Dark coffees are expected to be robust and carry some complexity in flavor and body. The Night Owl Blend didn't fulfill the brief, instead, it came off as bland. The aftertaste that lingers with every sip is a near-constant reminder that this coffee is missing depth — perhaps something that gets lost with pre-ground beans.
6. Hanx For Our Troops - Tom Hanks
We've never met anyone who didn't like Tom Hanks. The fact that he created Hanx For Our Troops, a coffee company that donates 100% of its net profits to supporting American soldiers and their families, bolsters our belief that he is a good man. Hanx For Our Troops supports organizations such as the Bob Woodruff Foundation, The Headstrong Project, Hire Heroes U.S.A., and Student Veterans of America. Enjoying a cup of coffee in the name of a good cause is a win-win for us — even if the coffee was a bit underwhelming.
Hanx For Our Troops offers one medium roast and one dark roast, so we went with the First Class Joe Dark option. Whole beans are not offered. We brewed the First Class Joe in a percolator, just as the website suggested. The aroma didn't bring much enticement to the table, and the same could be said for the taste, which was one note. We weren't getting the full-bodied experience we'd hoped for — especially since the package described the coffee as strong and smooth. Hanx For Our Troops isn't bad-tasting coffee by any means, but it teeters toward the unremarkable.
The upside was its clean aftertaste. Nothing lingered unpleasantly, which made First Class Joe easy to drink. Once we added a touch of light cream, the smoothness came through. Still, we were left wanting more flavor from this coffee and wished we could have tried a whole-bean version.
5. Oakland Coffee - Green Day
California rockers Green Day are a ridiculously successful band that still regularly tours the world. In 2015, the trio forayed into the coffee scene with their brand Oakland Coffee Works. Oakland Coffee makes three caffeinated blends ranging from medium to dark roasts. We met in the middle and tried Atomic Garden, the medium dark roast. All Oakland Coffee is USDA Organic and comes in compostable bags. We like the sustainability aspect, but were let down by pre-ground coffee being the only option.
The aroma of the freshly brewed coffee wasn't all that exciting, but it tasted strong. We appreciated not having to search for the robust part of this medium dark roast. The round flavor and neutral aftertaste were enjoyable, but that full-bodied flavor profile was a little too subtle. We anticipated an acidity typical of medium blends, but it didn't really come through. Higher acidity levels in coffee add brightness to the finish, but too much makes the coffee taste bitter and leaves a sharp aftertaste.
We normally take our coffee with a little bit of light cream, so we added some after the first few sips to see how it affected the taste. The light cream got Oakland Coffee's Atomic Blend where it needed to go by emphasizing the boldness of the roast and the mellowness of its finish. This was a respectable outing from Green Day, but we were left wondering if a bag of whole beans would've amped up the flavor.
4. Florence by Mills Coffee - Millie Bobby Brown
Millie Bobby Brown isn't a kid anymore — she's a young woman with a promising lifestyle brand. Her line, Florence by Mills will include clothing and already offers skincare, makeup, pet supplies, and of course, coffee. An impressive range of products is available from Florence by Mills Coffee. There's coffee concentrate, flavored syrups, hot chocolate mix, and coffee beans. We opted for a medium dark roast called Mindful Moments and were delighted to see that whole bean and ground bags are carried.
The coffee's packaging is nicely done, the bagged beans sit in a pretty pale purple box with pastel yellow accents. All the style choices, from the color palette to the typeface and graphics, mirror those used on the Florence by Mills website. The Mindful Moments blend is made from 100% arabica beans sourced from Brazil and Guatemala, two countries known for producing medium-bodied coffee with a rich, balanced flavor. The brewed coffee had an earthy aroma and was mahogany in color when held up to the light, two characteristics that made us suspect this blend would drink like a true medium roast. It did.
Although Mindful Moments wasn't as dark or rich as we would have liked, it had a clean taste. Its moderate acidity didn't overpower the nutty flavor notes we picked up on. Since the coffee had a pleasant aftertaste, it didn't require light cream to be enjoyed — but it sure tasted lovely when we poured a little in.
3. Ralph's Coffee - Ralph Lauren
Ralph Lauren is a king of classic American fashion and designs a sought-after housewares line, but he didn't get into the coffee business until 2014. Lauren is the purveyor of Ralph's Coffee, an operation that includes seven brick-and-mortar cafés in the U.S. and even a coffee truck, which is parked at Rockefeller Center in New York City.
We know that Lauren is a pro at running a profitable business, but how does his coffee taste? We sampled Ralph's Roast — a medium dark variety — and it was pretty good. The coffee's aroma was decidedly unspecial, but the taste was exceptionally clean. This made for easy drinking but also spoke to a hardly noticeable body and a lack of flavor complexity.
Lauren partners with La Colombe coffee roasters and we can taste the care with which Ralph's Coffee is roasted, but the "bold and delicious" description on the package is overshooting the boldness. We appreciate Lauren's commitment to keeping whole bean bags in stock, and we'd happily drink this coffee again — with or without cream — but there isn't much to Ralph's Roast that makes us want to go out of our way for it. Ralph's Roast makes for a nice cup of coffee, but it wasn't able to blow us away.
2. Bigface - Jimmy Butler
NBA All-Star and Miami Heat hotshot Jimmy Butler flexes his entrepreneurial muscle with Bigface, a virtual marketplace for high-end coffee and high-end casual clothing. During the NBA's COVID-era bubble season, Butler brewed coffee in his hotel room and sold cups of it to fellow players for $20. In late 2021, Bigface launched. Butler is involved in every step of his business and wants you to know he takes making coffee seriously.
Bigface sells three multi-origin coffees and two of isolated origin. We picked multi-origin Doublestar, described as fruity and bold. On the packaging — a gorgeous flip-top box with embossed detailing — Butler warns this coffee "may cause involuntary happiness"; that to drink it is to experience the uncommon in the common. We had to know.
The moment we opened the bag, the aroma knocked us in the face. The beans, light-washed and dense, smelled wonderful — strong and floral. We expected a darker roast from Doublestar, but the coffee's lighter brown color didn't mean it was weak ... at all. Doublestar was shamelessly robust. There was plenty of acidity, but the floral notes were the dominating flavor by far.
Bigface's branding gets an A++. We also admire that where other celebs played it safe, Butler went big. We weren't enamored with the flavor, but at least it was there. Still, other celebrity coffees range from $11 to $20. Butler's are $30 to $40. Something double the price should be twice as good, and we aren't sure this is.
1. Laughing Man Coffee Company - Hugh Jackman
We've come to the conclusion that Hugh Jackman is a total renaissance man and we're very okay with it. On a 2009 trip to an Ethiopian village, Jackman and his wife befriended a local coffee farmer, and worked alongside him while sharing meals and coffee with the farmer's family. This experience served as the inspiration for Laughing Man Coffee Company, which Jackman established in 2011. All proceeds from Laughing Man Coffee Company go to foundations aiding in community development all over the world.
Instead of solely relying on an online business, Jackman opened The Laughing Man Cafe in 2011, in Manhattan's Tribeca neighborhood. We paid Laughing Man Cafe a visit for an in-house coffee tasting. The café was inviting, clean, and spacious. We grabbed a cup of black Hugh's Blend and parked at a table.
The medium dark roast was impeccably smooth with a slight acidity, exactly what we hope for in a medium dark roast like Hugh's Blend. Nothing about the acidity overpowered the coffee's flavor or had us reaching for a splash of cream. Dark roasts can sometimes finish muddy, but Hugh's Blend was well-balanced with a crisp, clean finish. We planned to add a little dairy on our way out the door, but found ourselves drinking the entire cup black and enjoying every sip. Hats off to Hugh, not just for a killer café and delicious coffee, but for honoring the hard-working proprietors of a product many of us take for granted.
Methodology
Our writer and celebrity coffee taste tester is a certified barista who hasn't started her day without a cup of coffee since the mid-2000s. We selected medium dark or dark roasts for all entries on the list. Every coffee that was brewed in a home kitchen was prepared in a classic percolator (also known as a moka pot). Coffee beans involved in our ranking that did not come pre-ground were ground using an electric-powered coffee grinder. We gave preference to whole bean coffees, which are known to retain their freshness longer than coffee grounds.
We acknowledged product packages that were thoughtful or exceptionally stylish but did not dock any of the celebrity coffees that favored simple, straightforward packaging. All taste tests began by smelling the fresh-brewed coffee and then sipping it black. We judged each coffee's level of acidity, mouthfeel, body, and aftertaste. Home taste tests concluded with the addition of a small amount of light cream, to see how this affected the coffee's overall taste. Coffees that exhibited bold, complex flavor, well-balanced acidity, and a smooth aftertaste ranked higher on our list. Coffees that drank flat, had overly bitter notes, or had an unpleasant aftertaste were placed lower.