About Civilized Coffee
Civilized Coffee is based in Sequim, Washington, in the Pacific Northwest, where it builds a line of instant coffee and tea powders and specialty baking ingredients around what it calls The Art of Instant -- premium, thoughtfully sourced ingredients formulated to dissolve completely for fast preparation. Its catalog runs from the espresso powder Clara Bennett tested here to instant cold brew, instant mochas, Assam tea powders, and dried citrus zests, all shipped in recyclable packaging made in the USA.
The brand's Espresso Powder for Baking & Desserts was independently named Best Espresso Powder by America's Test Kitchen, whose tasters praised it for giving buttercream a complex, "freshly brewed" espresso character and for lending brownies a more pronounced chocolate flavor than the other powders in their test. Its Instant Cold Brew Coffee separately earned an Editors' Pick nod in Food & Beverage's 2024 Summer Products roundup, giving the brand third-party recognition across two different product lines rather than a single one-off mention.
Brand website: civilizedcoffee.com
What Civilized Coffee makes
Civilized Coffee's range runs wider than the products we review. The lines we know best from our own testing are marked with a star:
Espresso Powder for Baking & Desserts
single-origin Colombian, finely milled for brownies, cakes, and buttercream -- the product we tested, named Best Espresso Powder by America's Test Kitchen — featured on Brew Gazette
Instant Cold Brew Coffee
shelf-stable cold brew powder, an Editors' Pick in Food & Beverage's 2024 Summer Products roundup
Instant Mochas
Traditional, Caramel, Mint, and Vanilla varieties launched for the 2025 holiday season
Assam Tea Powders
instant black tea powders sold alongside the coffee line
Dried Citrus Zests
lemon, lime, and orange zest for baking and drinks
Gift Sets & Sugar Sticks
bundled instant-coffee gift sets and flavored sugar sticks
Why we recognized Civilized Coffee
The Brew Gazette Top Brand recognition isn't paid for and can't be applied for. We award it to the brands whose products consistently stand out in our hands-on category reviews. Civilized Coffee earned it on the strength of the products below, evaluated the same way every product on this site is: bought, brewed with daily, and judged on what lands in the cup.
Civilized Coffee products we rated highly
Civilized Coffee Espresso Powder for Baking, 1.75 oz
A finely ground, single-origin Colombian espresso powder built specifically for baking, and the product America's Test Kitchen independently named its Best Espresso Powder, praised for giving buttercream a complex, "freshly brewed" espresso character and brownies a more pronounced chocolate flavor. In our own roundup it carries more than 2,600 verified ratings, the second-deepest review record among the dedicated baking powders we tested, and at a standard recipe dose it deepens chocolate without leaving the finished bake tasting of coffee. Worth planning around: some jars arrive clumped or set firm in shipping, a texture quirk that shows up repeatedly in its review history and breaks up easily with a spoon.
Read the Best Instant Espresso Powder of 2026 guide →What earned Civilized Coffee the recognition
- Civilized Coffee's Espresso Powder for Baking & Desserts was independently named Best Espresso Powder by America's Test Kitchen, which credited it with giving buttercream a complex, "freshly brewed" espresso character and brownies a more pronounced chocolate flavor.
- In our own testing for Best Instant Espresso Powder of 2026, it carried more than 2,600 verified ratings, the second-deepest review record among the dedicated baking powders in the roundup.
- It is single-origin Colombian rather than a generic blend, giving it a cleaner, less ashy character than the dark Latin-style powders it competes against, which suits lighter bakes such as coffee buttercream or tiramisu cream.
- The brand's recognition extends beyond this one product: its Instant Cold Brew Coffee separately earned an Editors' Pick nod in Food & Beverage's 2024 Summer Products roundup.
- Civilized Coffee ships its products in recyclable jars and boxes made in the USA, and formulates its espresso powder non-GMO and allergen-free.