Whether we brew our own coffee or grab a cup at our corner café, we end up dropping a pretty penny on our caffeine addiction. That’s why we turned to Aldi, where a 12-ounce bag of beans retails for about $4 on average. We methodically brewed and tasted our way through the 15 different varieties available at Aldi year-round to bring you the crème de la crème.
We Tried Every Aldi Coffee and Found the 5 Best (Oh, and They’re All Under $6)
Best Single Origin: Barissimo Fair Trade Single Origin Organic Whole Bean Coffee – Peru
Compared with its counterparts from Honduras, Guatemala and Sumatra, which verged on too acidic for us, this brew was light, lemony and balanced. We kept sipping for the pleasingly bright berry notes.
Best Flavored Brew: Barissimo Ground Coffee – French Vanilla
Subtle is the name of the game when it comes to flavored coffees. Luckily, the hints of pure vanilla extract in this pick are just that. Add a dash of milk to your glass to bring out the full flavor.
Best Light Roast: Specially Selected Fair Trade German Premium Roasted Ground Coffee – Mild
This winner blew away all of the other medium roasts from the moment we opened the bag: It filled the room with fragrance. We can't believe this aromatic, balanced and delicate grocery-store brew will set us back only $5.
Best Medium Roast: Barissimo Fair Trade Ground Coffee – Medium Roast
While the other offerings tasted weak, watery and even over-roasted, this champ warmed us through with caramel and raspberry.
Best Dark Roast: Barissimo Ground Coffee – French Roast
Our usual complaints about mediocre dark roast coffee? It tastes burnt and lingers in your mouth forever. This robust sipper tastes fully roasted but has absolutely nothing in common with burnt toast. Best of all, it stood up well to both whole milk and half and half.
Additional reporting by Phoebe Bloom, Matt Bogart, Katherine Gillen and Lindsay Champion