Costco's Kirkland Coffee Blends, Ranked From Worst To Best

Costco doesn't just shill for nationally known coffee makers like Folgers and Starbucks; the warehouse wunderkind also creates its own blends to make sure its shoppers have a rich range of beans and grounds to choose from. In fact, some of Costco's coffee is known to be roasted by Starbucks itself, which may create a familiar touch among shoppers who've noticed similarities. Among the selections available is a host of Kirkland Signature whole-bean blends that capture the spirit of coffee house creativity, providing a more thoughtful experience for home coffee makers who like tinkering with grind consistency to prepare high-quality brews.

I used to think as long as coffee was flavorful and made my house smell nice, it was good coffee. I've become a little pickier as my palate has expanded through the years. Of course, I also really love a coffee bean bargain, so I was intrigued when I found out these blends were part of the warehouse's wonder catalog of groovy beans. So I did the ol' Costco coast-in and made my way to the coffee aisle for the bags my location carries on a regular basis, and put in online orders from Amazon and Costco for the ones they don't. Then I blitzed up my own grounds from these 100% Arabica beans, fired up my percolator, and taste-tested these mixes to find out how they compare to one another. And my house? It smells like a roastery now.

Offering a decaf blend of its propriety house bean mix means Costco is keeping an eye on its lower-octane coffee-loving customers. The label explains the chemical-free, Swiss water decaffeination technique used to remove the buzz from the beans, a bonus in the world of dodgy decaffeination processes that expose drinkers to unhealthy solvents. For that reason alone, it's gone to the top of my decaf list, which became a real thing once I learned about water versus chemical decaf. But consumer safety aside, there's nothing wildly exciting about the finished coffee to endorse it as a must-have bag.

Most notable: These beans smelled like barbecue after they were turned into grounds, an essence that hints of brown sugar and molasses. There was also a fruit-like sweetness that lightened the aroma, though it felt out of place for this medium-dark coffee. It was present in the brewed coffee, too, which made the tasting blander than the other blends. The fruit and the sugars seem to cancel one another out, leaving my cup filled with semi-sweet sorrow. Even almond milk, cinnamon, and brown sugar couldn't lift the mug out of its weak-flavor rut. 

Kirkland Signature House Blend is such a generic term for a coffee mix, it could mean pretty much anything. What it means for Kirkland is a middle-ground roast that doesn't try to be fancy or hoity-toity; it's a workhorse of a blend that gives unfussy coffee drinkers something straightforward and pleasant to wrap their taste buds around. Having tried it, I consider it something like office coffee: A pot that's nice enough to get you through the morning, though you may not be dazzled enough to let it replace your usual drive-thru order.

An unpleasant acrid aroma hit me when the bag burst open, despite the mostly medium-leading medium dark balance promised on the label. The brewing aroma was a more pleasant experience, as was the raw coffee taste test, with smoky caramel and chocolate elements coming through the coffee like a bakery treat poured into a mug. Those aspects ramped up when I added brown sugar, cinnamon, and almond milk, resulting in a full-bodied cup of coffee that would make me perfectly happy if I weren't paying close attention. But with my microscope dialed in so tightly for the taste test, I couldn't help notice how ordinary it was. That's not a bad thing, but it also doesn't win you any prizes at the coffee carnival.

The feel-good vibes of Kirkland Signature Organic Whole Bean Blend give coffee fans a purer, more planet-healthy way to enjoy their jolt juice. It's a medium dark roast, hitting squarely in the middle of the spectrum to give rich flavor without trying too hard. This one released the most level fragrance of all the beans when I opened the bag; there was no bitterness or sharp acrid overtones that happens sometimes when the roasted scent finally make it out. It was one of those "Ahhhhh..." moments that come about from the most representative coffees (real coffee lovers know what I'm talking about).

The flavor was spot-on, too. Smooth and incredibly balanced, these beans let their nutty essence shine through just as advertised on the description. With nothing added, the raw brew gives the impression of tea as much as coffee. A little brown sugar, cinnamon, and almond milk turned it into a soothing coffee house concoction. The aroma was bolder than the flavor, which filled my kitchen with wake-up scent. With moderate tasting notes and a low-acid finish that speaks of the careful attention paid by the Kirkland coffee crafters, these are cool beans, indeed.

When jet fuel isn't strong enough to power you through the day, a bag of beans like Kirkland Signature Espresso Blend is just the thing to add extra fire to your tank. Since this type of coffee is the basis of all your favorite coffee house creations, you have the DNA for lattes and frappes in your at-home coffee station. Thanks to Costco's wholesale pricing, you can fill your cup for a few months for the same price as three days' worth of the Starbucks stuff. This was the one I was most excited about, and I was even more abuzz when I found out it lives up to my self-created hype.

The aroma of the beans is exactly what I love finding in a bag of coffee: big and bold, promising a supreme coffee experience. The brew was a little less fragrant than I was expecting, and the flavor of the raw finished java was mellow, showing off its burnt sugar sweetness and a bit of nuttiness. The flavor itself was straight down the middle, just like coffee should taste without deviating into either artisanal snootiness or bargain-bin bitterness. Almond milk, brown sugar, and cinnamon shaved off the edges of the straight-ahead brew and turned it into a blissful mug of something wonderful. I would happily use this to make creative coffee drinks that call for powerful flavor. If that isn't a description of a top-ranked Kirkland coffee, I don't know what is.

After picking up the two blends — House Blend and Decaf — available at my Costco location, and receiving the other two — Organic and Espresso — via online order, I set them all out on my counter and turned my kitchen into a coffee tasting station. I put a handful of beans in my bullet blender to get them ground to brewing consistency, then made a pot of each, one brew at a time, savoring the scent of both the ground beans and the steam from my brewer. Once each pot was ready, I tested the completed coffee without any accoutrements, a state that I call "raw." I was able to smell the bouquet and get a sense of the bare coffee essence this way.

Once I had a handle on the fundamental spirit of the coffee, I did a little doctoring by adding almond milk, sugar, and cinnamon to see how well the base flavor shone through some simple decoration. This let me gauge the real-world enjoyment I'd get from preparing these coffees in the same way I would prepare my usual grounds. Since three of the four blends were full-bore high-caffeine creations, I limited myself to one cup of each, which is about what I drink in a regular day.