Why We Don't Add "Natural Flavors" to Our Coffee (and What We Recommend Instead)
When you read the ingredient list on most flavored coffees — vanilla, hazelnut, caramel, "birthday cake," "pumpkin spice" — the active flavoring ingredient is listed as "natural flavors." The label is technically correct but practically opaque. Natural flavors can mean a wide range of things, and the difference between a natural flavor and a synthetic flavor is mostly regulatory, not compositional.
We don't add natural flavors to our coffee. We've considered it. We've turned down multiple opportunities to sell flavored coffee because the demand is real and the margin is better. We've still decided not to. This post is about why.
This isn't a moral position. Some great coffee companies do sell flavored coffee. Stance Coffee sells a popular vanilla. Blue Bottle has a famously good hazelnut. Commodity flavored coffee has its place. The honest answer for us is that flavored coffee is a different category than what we want to make, and we're not interested in making both well.
For the parallel take on why we don't roast flavored coffee (which is the related but distinct category of infusing flavoring oils into green beans before roasting), our why we don't roast flavored coffee post covers that side. For the broader piece on what "single origin" actually means when we're talking about unflavored coffee, our single origin, explained post has the breakdown.
What "natural flavors" actually means
In US food regulation, "natural flavors" is a legally defined term that covers any flavoring substance derived from a natural source (plants, animals, microbes) rather than synthesized from petrochemical or other non-natural precursors. The FDA requires that the source material be disclosed on request, but the manufacturer can use the umbrella term "natural flavors" on the label.
What this means in practice:
Vanilla "natural flavor" is usually made by extracting vanillin from fermented clove oil, fermented rice, or wood pulp (specifically, lignin from pine bark). The vanillin molecule is the same one that occurs naturally in vanilla beans. But the extraction process is industrial, the source material is commodity, and the resulting flavoring is concentrated and standardized.
Hazelnut "natural flavor" is often made from filberts (hazelnuts), but it can also be made from soybeans, corn, or other plant materials treated with enzymes to produce pyrazines — the molecules that smell like hazelnut. The label just says "natural flavors."
Caramel "natural flavor" is usually a mix of compounds (diacetyl, furaneol, maltol) that can be derived from a wide range of natural sources. The label just says "natural flavors."
"Birthday cake" or "pumpkin spice" flavors are proprietary blends of natural and synthetic compounds designed to evoke a specific flavor profile rather than to taste like any specific ingredient. The label just says "natural flavors."
The point is that "natural flavors" is more of a regulatory classification than a description of what's actually in the flavoring. The compounds are isolated, processed, standardized, and combined in industrial facilities. The result is consistent, scalable, and shelf-stable — which is exactly what flavoring manufacturers want.
Why flavored coffee is a different category
Flavored coffee is coffee with flavoring added. The flavoring can be added in two main ways:
Pre-roast flavoring: Green coffee beans are tumbled with flavored oil (typically a carrier oil like MCT or coconut oil, infused with the flavoring compounds) before roasting. The flavor binds to the bean during roasting. This is the most common method for shelf-stable flavored coffee. After roasting, the beans taste like the added flavor first, with the coffee as a backdrop.
Post-roast flavoring: Roasted beans are sprayed with or tumbled in flavoring liquid after roasting. This is less common for retail because the flavor doesn't penetrate the bean as deeply and can degrade faster.
In both cases, the flavoring is added to the coffee. The coffee itself — the bean's origin, the roast level, the brewing characteristics — is secondary to the flavoring. A heavily-flavored coffee can use commodity beans (Brazilian commodity, for example) and still sell, because the consumer is tasting the flavoring, not the coffee.
This is why flavored coffee is a different category. The consumer is buying a vanilla-flavored experience, not a coffee experience. The beans are mostly a delivery mechanism.
Why we've decided not to make flavored coffee
A few reasons, in order of weight:
1. We don't think we can do it well while doing unflavored coffee well. Flavored coffee requires different green coffee sourcing (commodity beans work fine), different roasting protocols (the flavoring interacts with the roast), and different inventory management (flavored beans have a shorter shelf life). We have a small enough operation that adding a parallel category would dilute what we're already doing.
2. We don't think we'd be honest about it. "Vanilla coffee" made with commodity beans and natural flavoring would be marketed with language like "made with real vanilla" or "naturally flavored." The reality is that the vanilla is a manufactured extract, the coffee is commodity, and the consumer is paying a premium for the flavoring. We don't want to write that copy.
3. The flavored coffee market rewards consistency over quality. The consumer buying vanilla coffee wants it to taste like vanilla coffee — not like a specific origin or a specific roast level. The flavor is the brand. The coffee is interchangeable. This is fine as a category, but it's not the category we want to be in.
4. We have other ways to introduce flavor into coffee. Spices, cocoa, citrus zest, fresh mint, and other whole ingredients can be added to coffee at the brewing stage or as a finishing touch. This is "flavored" coffee in the literal sense, but it's transparent, controllable, and the coffee is the lead, not the flavoring.
What we recommend instead
If you want flavored coffee, a few approaches that we think work better than buying pre-flavored beans:
Add whole spices to the brew. A cinnamon stick, a few cardamom pods, a star anise, a vanilla bean split lengthwise. Add to the grounds before brewing. The brewed coffee absorbs the spice flavor naturally and you can adjust the strength by adding more or less.
Use flavored syrups. Coffee syrups (Torani, Monin, and similar) are shelf-stable, consistent, and made with sugar as the carrier. You can add them to brewed coffee at the cup. The ingredient list is more transparent than "natural flavors."
Use whole milk or cream with whole ingredients. A cinnamon-vanilla milk (cinnamon stick + vanilla bean simmered in milk, strained, used as the creamer) is more work but the result is genuinely better than commercial flavored coffee.
Buy from a roaster who publishes their flavoring source. Some roasters disclose where their flavoring comes from (specific flavor houses, specific compounds). This is more honest than the "natural flavors" umbrella but still requires trust.
Try unflavored single-origin coffee. A high-quality natural-process Ethiopian or Kenyan will have notes of blueberry, citrus, or stone fruit without any added flavoring. Many people who think they don't like coffee have only had commodity coffee. A naturally-fruity single origin can be the "flavored" experience without any added flavoring.
For a deeper walkthrough on naturally-fruity coffees and how they get their flavor, our coffee acidity explained post covers the science. For the parallel take on flavored coffee specifically (the pre-roast flavoring approach), our why we don't roast flavored coffee post has the full reasoning.
What about "naturally flavored" vs "artificially flavored"?
A common marketing claim is "naturally flavored" coffee, which sounds like the flavoring comes from real fruit or real vanilla. The reality is more nuanced.
Naturally flavored means the flavoring compounds are derived from natural sources (plants, animals, microbes) using traditional food preparation methods (heating, fermentation, enzymatic processes). The resulting molecule is the same one that occurs in nature, just isolated and concentrated.
Artificially flavored means the flavoring compounds are synthesized from non-natural precursors, typically petrochemicals. The resulting molecule is also the same one that occurs in nature, just made in a lab instead of extracted.
For most flavoring compounds, the consumer can't tell the difference. Vanillin made from clove oil (natural) and vanillin made from guaiacol (artificial) are chemically identical. The molecule is the same. The source is different.
The regulatory distinction between "natural" and "artificial" is mostly about consumer perception, not chemistry. Both are safe at the levels used in coffee. Both are essentially identical at the molecular level.
The honest part
We don't add natural flavors to our coffee because we don't think we can do it well while doing the rest of the catalog well. Flavored coffee is a different category than what we make, and we'd rather make one category at high quality than two categories at medium quality.
If you want flavored coffee, there are great options out there. Buy a vanilla coffee from a roaster you trust, or add whole spices to your brew, or use a syrup, or try a naturally-fruity single-origin coffee that doesn't need any flavoring.
The decision isn't a moral one. It's a craft one. We'd rather make one kind of coffee really well than two kinds of coffee adequately well.
For the broader take on what "single origin" means when we're talking about unflavored coffee, our single origin, explained post has the breakdown. For the parallel reasoning on why we don't roast flavored coffee, our why we don't roast flavored coffee post covers the related but distinct side.
Brew slow. Sip slow. ☕