The Best Protein Coffee, If You Want Coffee Flavor

For years there have been plenty of ways people minding their macros have added protein to coffee or coffee-fied their protein drinks. But in 2025, Starbucks which, like it or not, is pretty much the biggest name in the US coffee market, added protein coffee drinks to its menu including protein lattes and protein cold foam.

However, there are plenty of people who don’t get their morning pick-me-up from Starbucks, or any coffee shop for that matter, and would rather buy beans or ground coffee or concentrate to make their drinks at home. The same, oddly enough, is true for protein drinks which can come from spendy smoothie shops or from bottles and powdered mixes you shake up yourself. And if you’re somewhere in the middle, looking for the convenience of a pre-made coffee with the bulking benefits of a protein shake, then you’re the target consumer for the ready-to-drink and just-add-water protein coffee products I tried below.

Our top picks

• The best bottled protein coffee: Slate High Protein Iced Coffee
• The best powdered protein coffee: Chike Protein Iced Coffee
• The best plant-based protein coffee: OWYN Double Shot Vanilla

Protein coffee is a trend that aims to significantly increase the protein content in a cup of coffee, often with the goal of turning that drink into a more complete “meal” or recovery beverage for the fitness-focused. Ordinary black coffee, of course, has no protein at all.

It’s probably not possible to pinpoint exactly when someone first put a scoop of protein powder in their java, but prior to America’s more recent protein obsession, multiple cultures have added ingredients, including eggs, to coffee drinks. That said, if you want to get nitpicky about it, anyone who adds dairy to their coffee is technically giving it a protein boost.

For the purposes of this taste test, we’re focused on products that are some combination of whey or plant protein combined with actual coffee or protein products that taste (and caffeinate) like coffee.

Slate High Protein Iced Coffee

$36

Amazon

$36

Slate

What I liked: Slate Milk, which makes a variety of protein shakes and powders (and even cookies) seems to have hit the sweet spot when it comes to, well, not being too sweet. Each can offers a significant 20 grams of protein (twice what you’d get with just plain milk) while also being low in sugar and carbohydrates and free from any artificial colors, flavors, and sweeteners. (They’re also lactose-free.) “Brewed coffee” is the first ingredient, and you can taste it in every sip, even in the most heavily flavored options.

The texture is pleasant and, alongside the coffee notes in each can, could definitely fool me into thinking I wasn’t drinking a protein shake at all. Slate drinks are easy to finish and fold into your routine, whether straight from the can or poured over ice (which I found enhanced the coffee taste). As an added bonus, these shakes come in aluminum cans so they’re durable and totable, easy to store, recyclable, and plastic-free.

What I’d leave: The hardest aspect of drinking all these protein coffees for me was dealing with the often overbearing sweetness. And while overall, Slate’s set of flavors was less than its competitors, there was variation that I didn’t always love. Mocha landed on the more cloying end and the Salted Caramel much more reminiscent of asking your barista to add just one or two flavor shots. And oddly, the least “flavored” option, Sweet Cream Latte, was the least coffee-ish. That said, when these flavors are compared one-to-one to similar flavors from other brands, Slate’s tasted much less sweet across the board.

Chike High Protein Iced Coffee

$35 $33 (6% off)

Amazon

What I liked: If I had to pit powdered protein coffee versus bottled or canned, I would always pick the latter. But protein powder is often more economical, not to mention ecological, than pre-mixed drinks. And Chike’s Original Espresso and Cream and Triple Espresso offered the closest experiences I had to a true iced latte experience, with an added 20 grams of protein. Chike’s flavors are good too. One standout: The seasonal Pumpkin Spice flavor which was on par with, say, a bottled Sbux latte. In the end, for a powdered protein coffee, Chike checks more boxes for what most drinkers with protein goals are looking for: variety of flavors, sippable texture, high protein, and low carbs.

Despite being a powdered product, the final mix never felt sloggy or thick, though I would definitely recommend adding ice before drinking. While their dozen plus flavors sport the same caffeine as two shots of espresso (about 150mg), Chike also offers a reduced caffeine option. Plus there are a couple of plant-based coffees and protein iced tea, too. Decision fatigue? They also sell multi-flavor sample packs of single-serving pouches.

What I’d leave: The “coffee flavor” mileage varied from flavor to flavor. It ranged from more intense in the Triple Shot Espresso & Cream to hardly noticeable in the Caramel. Also, if I didn’t take time to thoroughly stir, I did get some clumping on the sides of my glass.

The best plant-based protein coffee: OWYN Double Shot Vanilla

OWYN Double Shot Protein Coffee Shake

$49 $47 (4% off)

Amazon

$42

Owyn

While I said I wouldn’t judge protein coffees based on where their protein came from, I do understand that not everyone consumes animal products. I also understand that whey/milk protein and pea/plant proteins taste totally different from one another. OWYN (an anagram of Only What You Need) specializes in plant-based protein derived from peas and seeds, and offers a wide range of shakes including four caffeinated coffee flavors, three of which are in their Double Shot series and one of which is a “Cold Brew Coffee” shake flavor. And all of which contain 20g of vegan-friendly protein.

What I liked: Because they use pea protein OWYN products can have a rather legume-y taste to them. Within the lineup of flavored coffees though, OWYN’s vanilla came out with the most robust coffee flavor (though a hint of pea is inescapable).

What I’d leave: Besides vanilla, the other two flavors in OWYN’s Double Shot coffee set had some flavor issues. The mocha was cloying, the caramel not salty enough, and both had an all-too-present tinge of monk fruit. OWYN’s regular line of bottled non-dairy protein drinks includes a less-caffeinated cold brew coffee flavor, however I didn’t find the coffee present enough or the texture as enjoyable as the Double Shots.

Ascent Iced Coffee Protein Powder

$35

Amazon

Ascent’s plain Iced Coffee protein powder is pleasant enough to drink with its coffee-forward flavor and smooth, sippable texture. The sweetness from stevia was more than I wanted though. In addition to the original coffee flavor I tried Ascent’s pumpkin spice offering, which was very gourd-forward and not coffee-flavored enough for my taste.

Bulletproof Enhanced Protein Iced Coffee

$34

Bulletproof

You may recall Bulletproof for the brands addition of butter to its coffee (sometimes called “keto coffee”). I tried Bulletproof’s powdered iced coffee mix with added whey protein and MCT oil, the latter of which was the less-buzzworthy part of the formula in that whole butter thing. The “Original” and “Mocha” flavors were sippable enough, ranking in the middle for sweetness. However, it’s that MCT oil, derived from coconuts, that seemed to give both of these drinks an overtone of coconut and, more importantly, an oily texture on the palate that kept reminding me this wasn’t just coffee.

Javvy Protein Coffee

$40

Javvy

Javvy’s Original protein coffee flavor is its most coffee-like with bitter notes and a milky, latte texture. In lieu of any artificial sweeteners, Javvy uses Sukre which, like Stevia, is a natural alternative. However, like Stevia, it was too cloyingly sweet. Javvy’s flavored coffees were weaker than I wanted and, oddly, were actually less palatable with ice. However, perhaps my biggest issue with Javvy’s protein coffee is that the single serving only contains 10g of protein, very much on the low end and barely breaking above the protein in a coffee shop latte. However, Javvy does suggest using either water or milk, the latter of which would boost that protein number.

Laird Superfood Protein Instant Latte

$20

Laird

Like many of its enhanced products, Laird’s protein coffee also contains functional mushrooms (if you want to go deep on mushroom coffee, I tasted lots of those too), and it’s meant to be served as hot coffee. Yes, even the instructions for iced coffee on the package advise using a bit of hot water to dissolve the powder, then adding ice and cold water. By comparison, this is a higher-calorie, lower protein coffee, but it is completely vegan (and gluten-free) with plant-based proteins, coconut milk powder for creaminess, and those added lion’s mane, chaga, maitake, and cordyceps mushrooms. There is so much going on here I’d say the protein isn’t really the point. As for whether it’s a good substitute for coffee, the overt coconut flavor when hot and gritty texture when poured over ice couldn’t land it at the top of my list.

Naked Mocha Latte Protein Coffee

$40

Amazon

Naked Nutrition prides itself on having “nothing to hide” and certainly its Mocha Latte flavored protein coffee doesn’t shy away from both rich chocolate and coffee flavors, the latter coming from Columbian coffee. A lot of these products pack a larger caffeine punch, so if that concerns you then Naked Protein’s comparatively tame 95mg might be more your speed. Unique in a field of so many “no added sugar” claims, Naked gets its sweetness from coconut sugar and fermented cane sugar, ditching the low- and no-calorie sweeteners common in other protein products. Despite this, I still found it too sweet for my taste as a coffee drinker, erring more on the side of drinking chocolate.

Other bottled protein coffee products we tried:

Joyburst Protein Coffee

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Joyburst

Joyburst’s black packaging proclaims that it has dark roast flavor and zero sugar. Unfortunately, I was met with an unpleasantly sweet and thick protein shake that wasn’t easy to finish. Texturally, it fared better when poured over ice and, in fairness, was one of the most coffee-forward drinks I tried, so if you’re truly looking for a flavor-free protein coffee shake but you’re also the kind of person who orders their coffee “light and sweet,” you might like this.

Koia Cold Brew Protein Coffee

$43

Amazon

At the risk of over-generalizing, as the protein content of a drink rises, its deliciousness diminishes. That’s the case with the Koia’s Elite Coffee drink, which is very much a pea protein shake, with little semblance to an iced coffee.

However, the less intense Cold Brew Coffee shake was an easy-to-drink breakfast boost. It’s also vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, and dairy-free. So if you have any of those dietary preferences you might enjoy it. Just know that this product is refrigerated, so it doesn't travel as easily as some of the other shelf-stable options on this list.

Premier Protein Shake Protein Latte

$33

Amazon

Premier is a big player in the protein shake world, so it should be no surprise that the brand’s Café Latte is less coffee-meets-protein and more of a flavored coffee protein shake. And like many mass market products, its sweetness is dialed up high to meet consumer demand. However, despite the heavy sweetener and familiarly thick protein shake texture, this one actually does taste like coffee.

Premier Protein Almondmilk Plant Based Protein Coffee Shake

$32 $30 (6% off)

Amazon

I’ve separated Premier’s almond-milk-based protein shakes into its own category because it tastes wholly different from its whey protein counterpart. And it also doesn’t really taste like coffee. A decrease in coffee flavoring coupled with all of that almond milk makes a pleasingly nutty protein shake flavor, though. I would drink a whole bottle but I wouldn't be fooled into thinking it came from someone’s coffee run..

This is primarily a taste test to determine which protein coffee products were the most coffee-like and would actually enjoy drinking every day.

It should be noted that pretty much all of these products are protein shakes or supplements first, and “coffee” second. Coffee is in quotes because some of the beverages below include actual instant coffee, while others are flavored to taste like coffee and have added caffeine to, you know, feel like coffee. Almost all of them are “iced,” as in they’re meant to be served cold, and “lattes,” as in they’re opaque and creamy. And they’re all sweetened, usually with stevia, monk fruit, sucralose, or a similar low/no calorie sweetener.

In fact, flavored and sweet coffee drinks are pretty much all you have to choose from in the pre-packaged protein coffee market. With that in mind here’s how I graded the protein coffee drinks I tried:

Coffee-adjacence: How much did the drink taste like actual coffee? If a brand offered a “plain” or “original” coffee flavor, I sampled that first and used it as my main bar of measurement for any additional flavors offered by that same brand. Some brands only offer flavors like mocha, caramel, and vanilla latte, so those were graded with a bit of added “how much do they still taste like coffee” scrutiny, along with an eye for “slightly sweet” versus “too sweet.” (Caffeine content and its similarity to regular coffee was also noted, as an average eight-ounce cup of coffee contains about 95mg of caffeine, though this can vary widely depending on the coffee beans, roast, and brewing method.)

Palatability: Did I want to finish the entire serving? As a regular protein drink consumer, I have my brand and that brand is not thick, chalky, or overly legume-y. I can easily down one bottle without feeling like I’m choking down something concocted to cure an ulcer. The protein coffee products I tried were measured against this relatively high bar for texture and overall pleasantness to drink, especially when compared to, say, an iced latte. I sampled all of the powdered mixes using a handheld milk frother to dissolve them in water for thirty seconds, then tasted them over ice. (Not every protein powder consumer uses a shaker bottle, and since most of us wouldn't normally drink a real iced coffee from a shaker bottle, I didn’t either.) If bottled or canned, the product was chilled in the fridge beforehand and tasted directly from the container as well as poured over ice.

Protein content: The point of drinking protein coffee is the protein, right? But considering most of these protein coffee products are some variation of a latte, and considering that eight ounces of whole milk contains eight grams of protein by itself, these so-called “protein” coffee products should, ideally, pack more than that into one serving. Otherwise, you could just order a post-workout latte.

Aspects I didn’t pass any judgement on were the protein source or use of ingredients like soy and seed oils. I am not a medical professional and I’m not going to weigh in on which supplements and additives are superior.

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