Updated September 2026

With all the coffee Americans buy at coffee shops, you might expect coffee ice cream to rank among the country’s favorite flavors.

About 1.23 billion gallons of ice cream were produced in the U.S. in 2025. While the industry doesn’t break out individual flavors, according to an IDFA (International Dairy Foods Association) consumer survey, coffee ice cream didn’t even make the Top 10 list.

So show your love: Celebrate National Coffee Ice Cream Day with at least a coffee ice cream cone—or something more elaborate from one of the suggestions below.

They also work with most other ice cream flavors!

Below:

> The types of coffee ice cream.

> Beyond the cone: 15 more ways to enjoy coffee ice cream.

> America’s Top 10 ice cream flavors.

> Ice cream trivia.

Elsewhere on The Nibble:

> Affogato: vanilla ice cream with an espresso pour-over.

> The different types of ice cream and frozen desserts: a photo glossary.

> The different types of coffee: a photo glossary.

> The different types of espresso: a photo glossary.

> The history of ice cream.

> The history of coffee.

> The year’s 50+ ice cream holidays.

> The year’s 25 coffee holidays.
 
 
1. HOW MANY TYPES OF COFFEE ICE CREAM ARE THERE?

Look around, and you’ll find enhanced coffee ice cream flavors:

• Cappuccino
• Coffee Almond Fudge
• Coffee Chocolate Chip
• Coffee Toffee Crunch
• Espresso
• Java Chip
• Mocha
• Tiramisu

Here’s an idea: Gather your coffee ice cream-loving friends and relax with a quart of each.

Specialty Coffee Flavors

Create your ideal coffee ice cream. Here’s inspiration to make your own, using mix-ins or from scratch:

• Affogato: vanilla or fior di latte–style ice cream with an espresso profile; can include an espresso-flavored ripple or chocolate-covered espresso beans.
• Café au Lait: coffee-and-milk flavor, generally softer and creamier than plain coffee.
• Café Latte: a milkier (lighter) coffee ice cream.
• Cappuccino Crunch: cappuccino ice cream with a crunchy toffee mix-in and an optional chocolate swirl.
• Caramel Macchiato: espresso ice cream with vanilla and caramel.
• Cold Brew Coffee: riding the current wave of popularity.
• Coffee Cookies and Cream: coffee ice cream with chocolate cookie pieces.
• Coffee Walnut: coffee ice cream with walnuts, a classic old-fashioned pairing.
• Dirty Chai: coffee plus chai spices, such as cinnamon, cardamom, ginger, and clove.
• Frozen Irish Coffee: coffee ice cream and Irish-whiskey (real or a flavoring).
• Mexican Coffee: coffee with cinnamon, clove, star anise, bits of candied orange peel.
• Mud Pie: coffee ice cream with chocolate fudge and cookie crumbs or chocolate chunks.
• Salted Caramel Coffee: coffee ice cream with salted-caramel ribbons.
• Toasted Coconut Coffee: coffee ice cream with toasted coconut.
• Turkish Coffee: intense coffee base with cardamom; optional pistachio nuts.
• Vietnamese Coffee: strong coffee with sweetened condensed milk.
• White Chocolate Mocha: mocha with white chocolate chips or chunks.

[2] Three-ingredient ice cream pie: cookie crust, coffee ice cream, chocolate sauce. Here’s the recipe from Betty Crocker.

[3] Who needs a Black Russian? Simply pour Kahlúa (or bourbon) over coffee ice cream (photo © A Better Happier St. Sebastian).

[4] For purists (photo © McConnell’s Fine Ice Creams).

• Affogato: Place a scoop(s) of ice cream in a cup and pour espresso over it.
• À la mode cake: angel cake, carrot cake, pound cake.
• À la mode pie: chocolate silk pie, pecan pie, Snickers pie, fruit cobbler or crisp (the difference).
• Baked Alaska: coffee ice cream and pound cake or chocolate cake, covered in browned meringue (photo below).
• Boozy float: coffee ice cream with bourbon, Kahlúa or stout; whipped cream optional.
• Coffee and donut: Your favorite donut with a scoop of coffee ice cream in the center.
• Dessert sauce: Just let the pint melt and use it as a sauce on brownies, cakes, pies and puddings.
• Espresso ice cream shooters: A smaller version of affogato. Here’s the recipe.
• Homemade or half-made coffee ice cream (photo #1), with mix-ins or garnishes: chocolate chips, chocolate-covered coffee beans, crushed coffee beans, crushed Oreos.
• Ice cream soda or shake: Here’s the difference.
• Ice cream cake: An easy recipe is to buy pound cake and ice cream, slice the cake horizontally, add softened ice cream, and re-freeze. Serve with warm chocolate sauce.
• Ice cream pie (photo #2): Simply buy a chocolate cookie crust, the ice cream and chocolate sauce.
• Ice cream sandwich with cookies, chocolate pound cake slices or a split brownie.
• Ice cream sundae with caramel or fudge sauce.
• Iced coffee float: Two scoops of ice cream, iced coffee (no sweetener), whipped cream and optional garnish.
• Irish coffee: Make the basic recipe topped with coffee ice cream instead of whipped cream. Consider omitting the sugar.

 

[6] Baked Alaska with coffee ice cream and chocolate cake. Here’s the recipe (photo © Taste Of Home).
 
 
3. THE TOP ICE CREAM FLAVORS IN THE U.S.

The 2026 IDFA list of Americans’ top ice cream flavors, from a survey by International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA) among more than 2,200 U.S. adults, tells us what America likes:

1. Chocolate
2. Butter Pecan
3. Vanilla
4. Cookies and Cream/Oreo
5. Caramel/Salted Caramel
6. Brownie
7. Chocolate Chip
8. Cookie Dough
9. Birthday Cake
10. Mint Chocolate Chip

Yes, coffee is not on the list. But when asked about daring and creative flavors, says Audra Kruse of IDFA, they “received one that’s relevant for National Coffee Ice Cream Day: a Bourbon- and caffeine-spiked concoction called “Exhausted Parent.”

To celebrate National Coffee Ice Cream Day, that Exhausted Parent sounds good to us.
 

[7] Top a thick milkshake (made by adding more ice cream) with your favorite cookies (photo © Pranav Kumar Jain | Unsplash).
 
 
4. ICE CREAM TRIVIA

• The majority of U.S. ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturers have been in business for more than 50 years and many remain family-owned.
• According to IDFA, the U.S. ice cream industry has a $11.6 billion economic impact, supports 26,704 direct jobs, and generates $1.9 billion in direct wages.
• One of the earliest known English recipes for “icy cream” appears in the household manuscript of Lady Ann Fanshawe, dated 1665. It included flavorings such as orange-flower water, mace, or ambergris.
• Following the conquest of the Aztec Empire, Hernán Cortés and the Spanish introduced both cacao and vanilla beans to Europe in the 1520s. Vanilla was initially used as a flavoring agent for drinking chocolate before becoming a prized flavor in its own right. (Unlike potatoes, tomatoes, and other foods brought back from the New World, neither vanilla nor cacao can be grown in Europe.)
• While sorbet had been made since ancient times, Bernardo Buontalenti, a Florentine Medici court artist and banquet designer, is traditionally credited with creating an early gelato-like dessert in the 16th century, although the claim is difficult to document conclusively.
• Vanilla was a costly luxury in Europe and North America for centuries. In 1841, on Réunion Island, Edmond Albius—an enslaved 12-year-old boy—developed a quick, practical method of hand-pollinating the vanilla orchid. Vanilla is not sterile; however, outside its native range it often lacks the specific pollinators needed for natural fruiting.
• Wealthy colonial Americans enjoyed flavors such as coffee, pistachio, strawberry, and vanilla. Savory frozen dishes—including recipes flavored with asparagus, oyster, or Parmesan—were also served as courses rather than desserts. Check out our savory ice cream recipes.

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