Chock Full o’ Nuts
Recognizable by its signature colors of black, green and yellow, this coffee from the Massimo Zanetti Beverage Group is available in tins, bricks and single-serve packages. Chock Full o’ Nuts keeps things simple with blends like their original along with Columbian and French roast. Gutsy coffee drinkers may want to try the “Energy” blend, a variety that boasts 20 percent more caffeine than the others. Dark blends are also available to appeal to more discerning palates.
Millstone
J.M. Smucker strikes again with Millstone, averaging three million bags sold per year as of 2012. The simple tan packaging downplays the truly interesting variety of flavors available under the Millstone name. Go beyond basic blends and decaf to sample delights such as chocolate velvet, hazelnut cream and caramel truffle. Try these flavors to brighten up your morning or make them a special dessert treat after a hearty dinner.
Eight O’Clock
The bright red bag of Eight O’Clock coffee’s original blend is the most eye-catching, but its distributor, Tata Global Beverages, offers much more than that. The brand earns its “gourmet” billing with blends that appeal to discerning coffee lovers. Offerings are split into three categories: “Beginnings,” encompassing blends of regular, espresso and decaf coffees; “Explorations,” which brings together coffees from many parts of the world and “Expressions,” including flavors such as chocolate mint and dark chocolate cherry.
Newman’s Own
The Newman’s Own Organics line has expanded in recent years to include everything from salsa and salad dressing to pizza and cookies. They also sell coffee, which ranked at number 9 in a poll reported by AOL Daily Finance. You can pick up regular and decaf varieties of Newman’s Own as grounds or whole beans. You’ll also find distinctive sweeter flavors including café almond biscotti and vanilla caramel to mix up your coffee drinking experience.
Caribou
This popular coffee originates from the Caribou Coffee Company and averaged sales of over two million bags per year in 2012. Unlike some other top-selling coffee brands, Caribou is known more so for its line of specialty blends. Whether you like your coffee very light, robust and dark or somewhere in between, there’s a Caribou variety for you. Offerings range from “Starlight” to “Eclipse” with the Caribou website showing where each falls on the taste spectrum. The brand also prides itself on being able to obtain coffees from global sources that aren’t always available to smaller or larger roasters.
In addition to these top brands, private label coffees—those sold under brands that aren’t nationally recognized—grabbed 10.8 percent of the market share in 2013. Polls of coffee lovers show that the price per bag doesn’t seem to be a factor so much as personal preferences in taste, quality and caffeine content. Brand recognition likely also plays a role. Whatever the case, it’s clear that America is a land of dedicated coffee drinkers.
