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Bones Coffee may have the coolest packaging art of any coffee brand. They also have some of the most fun flavor names. But it’s what’s on the inside that counts, especially with a bag of coffee.
Are you ready to find out how Bones Coffee stacks up against other flavored coffees and other premium coffee brands? Great! In this Bones coffee review, we’re going to look at the variety, quality, ethics, and value of Bones coffee.
My ultimate goal is simple: Discover whether Bones coffee is worth buying.
Variety — 9/10
The Bones Coffee Company definitely focuses on their flavored coffees, but they also have options for fans of unflavored coffees, including single-origin coffees and high-caffeine coffee. Several of their varieties are low-acid coffees, too.
All of their coffees are available as either whole beans or ground coffee. As always, I recommend that you get the whole bean coffee for freshness, but only if you have a coffee grinder.
Overall, Bones has a pretty wide variety of coffee options. They’re lacking in unflavored coffee blends (think breakfast blend), but there’s still plenty to try out. I particularly like their sampler packs, which give you an easy chance to try out all of their varieties or give their coffee as a gift.
Flavored coffees
No, you won’t find hazelnut-flavored Bones Coffee. If you want that kind of traditional coffee flavor, you should look elsewhere. Bones’ flavors are much more exotic, like Maple Bacon or Bananas Foster.
If you want to start off simple, go with Highland Grog. It’s a favorite amongst flavored coffee lovers, featuring butterscotch, rum, and vanilla. Sinn-O-Bunn and Jamaican Me Crazy are also easy intro coffee flavors if you don’t want to dive into the deep end right away.
Oh, and they do have French Vanilla. I mean, come on, classics are classics.
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Bones Coffee Company Maple Bacon Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Flavored Coffee Gifts | Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Salted Caramel Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Flavored Coffee Gifts | Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Holy Cannoli Whole Coffee Beans Cannoli Flavor | 12 oz Low Acid Medium Roast Coffee Beverages Flavored Arabica Coffee Gifts (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Mint Invaders Whole Coffee Beans Mint Chocolate Chip Flavor | 12 oz Flavored Coffee Gifts | Low Acid Medium Roast Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Strawberry Cheesecake Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Gourmet Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Sinn 'O' Bun Whole Coffee Beans Cinnamon Roll Flavor | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company S'morey Time Ground Coffee Beans S'mores and Graham Crackers Flavor | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Highland Grog Flavored Whole Coffee Beans Butterscotch Caramel & Rum Flavor | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee Arabica Beans | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Jamaican Me Crazy Whole Coffee Beans Vanilla Caramel, and Coffee Liqueur Flavor | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
Single origin coffees
Bones has introduced a surprising number of single-origin coffees. They’ve got super-popular picks like Colombian coffee beans as well as the earthy Sumatran coffee beans that are favored by Starbucks fans.
More interestingly, though, they’ve added a few countries that will immediately grab the attention of any single-origin coffee aficionado. That includes Costa Rican coffee — the country where non-Arabica coffee beans are illegal — and Guatemalan coffee beans, a rising star in the premium coffee world.
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Bones Coffee Company Costa Rica Single-Origin Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee Arabica Beans | Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Kenya Single-Origin Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Colombia Single-Origin Flavored Whole Coffee Beans New Packaging | 12 oz Medium Roast Low Acid Coffee | Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Sumatra Single-Origin Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Guatamela Single-Origin Flavored Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee | Flavored Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
Sample packs
The Favorite Flavors pack is a great way to try out each unusual coffee flavor without committing to a full bag. Each bag in the pack is 4 ounces, which is enough to make about one full pot of coffee.
If you don’t like flavored coffee, they also have the World Tour pack, which is a fun way to try out a few coffees from around the world.
As with their other coffees, each Bones sample pack is available as either ground coffee and whole bean.
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Bones Coffee Company Favorite Flavors Sample Pack Flavored Whole Bean Coffee Sampler | Gift Box Set Pack of 5 Assorted Flavored Coffee Beans | Low Acid Medium Roast Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company World Tour Sample Pack | Whole Coffee Beans Sampler Gift Box Set | Pack of 5 Assorted Single-Origin Gourmet Coffee | Medium Roast Coffee Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
High caffeine coffee
When it comes to making strong coffee, you want to start with high-caffeine beans. High Voltage is a 2x coffee, which means it has about twice the caffeine of typical beans. That’s nowhere near the highest caffeine coffee, but it’s still a nice step up from typical beans.
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Bones Coffee Company High Voltage Whole Coffee Beans | 12 oz Highly Caffeinated Coffee | Low Acid Medium Roast Gourmet Coffee | Coffee Gifts & Beverages (Whole Bean) | Check price |
K-cups
Keurig fans are always looking for the newest, best coffee k-cups. Bones apparently noticed — because they’ve made k-cup versions of several of their coffee varieties. That is, of course, if you want flavored coffees. I wouldn’t expect their single-origin coffees to be available as k-cups anytime soon.
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups Highland Grog Butterscotch Caramel | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible with Keurig 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups Strawberry Cheesecake | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible with Keurig 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups French Toast | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible With 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Sweet Buttery Flavor Aroma | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups Salty Siren Caramel Chocolate | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible with Keurig 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups Sinn-O-Bunn Cinnamon Bun Flavor | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible with Keurig 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Check price |
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Bones Coffee Company Flavored Coffee Bones Cups S'morey Time S'mores and Graham Crackers | 12ct Single-Serve Coffee Pods Compatible with Keurig 1.0 & 2.0 Keurig Coffee Maker | Check price |
Quality — 6.5/10
Most flavored coffees have terrible quality standards. When you buy grocery store hazelnut grounds, there’s a good chance you are getting subpar, stale coffee that is covered up by a heavy dose of artificial flavorings.
Bones Coffee is undoubtedly better than your grocery store beans, but it’s not quite up to the standards of brands like Volcanica coffee or Peet’s coffee.
That’s not exactly a fair comparison for Bones’ flavored coffees, though. When you compare it to other flavored beans, the quality is above average. That’s true of the flavorings, too. They use both natural and artificial flavorings with no added sugars.
One of my favorite things about Bones Coffee is that they use small-batch roasting. This has two advantages: consistency and freshness.
First, small-batch roasting helps to ensure consistency. Nobody likes getting a bad batch of coffee from their favorite brand. Every cup of coffee should be equally delicious.
Second, smaller batches make it easier to enjoy the freshest coffee possible. Ideally, coffee beans should be consumed within a few weeks from the roasting date. When beans are roasted in large batches, portions of the batch often end up shipping out far past the prime freshness dates.
Ethics and Sustainability — 6.5/10
There’s not a lot of info about Bones Coffee’s sustainability efforts. Some of their beans are Fair Trade and ethically sourced, but that is not true of all of their products.
Their own discussion of single-origin coffee indicates that they view it as a way to aid small farmers and be more environmentally friendly. However, I’d prefer some verification instead of vague discussions.
Value for Money — 5.5/10
Bones Coffee is more expensive than some comparable flavored coffee brands. I don’t recommend grocery store coffee as an alternative, but you can get brands like New England Coffee for cheaper than Bones.
That said, Bones has some very unique flavors. If there’s one that especially appeals to you, it may be worth the price bump.
Should You Buy Bones Coffee?
Bones Coffee’s biggest advantage is their unique flavors. If those appeal to you, I say give it a shot. Great flavored coffee is hard to find, and this is far better than what you’ll find in a grocery store.
But if you’re looking for the best black coffee that tastes like coffee instead of rum or cinnamon, you should probably look somewhere like at a brand like Illy or Lavazza instead. Bones coffee is for fans of exotic flavored coffees not general coffee lovers.
