Vanilla flavor is the third of nine ingredients on the Joe's Blend box, printed as 'Vanilla flavor (Vanilla planifolia)'. It is listed ahead of the Arabica instant coffee, and labels list ingredients heaviest first, so by the label's order a sachet holds more vanilla flavor than coffee. The box prints no weights, so that is an inference from the order, not a measurement.
Updated 29 September 2026. Checked against the printed box and Eurofins report AR-25-E9-005753-01.
Sources for this section: the printed Joe's Blend box, batches 140525JCA3 and 140525JCA7; Codex Alimentarius labelling standard CODEX STAN 1-1985, FAO and WHO.
In every 21 g sachetThe box says vanilla flavor and names the vanilla orchid, Vanilla planifolia, in brackets. It does not say 'extract', and it does not say how the flavor was made. Earlier versions of this page called it vanilla extract; we have corrected that to match the box.
Vanillin is the compound at the centre of vanilla's taste: it is the key constituent of the natural flavour of cured vanilla pods, and one of roughly 200 compounds found in the beans. The label does not say whether this flavor comes from pods or from vanillin made another way, so we claim neither.
Sources for this section: the printed Joe's Blend box, batches 140525JCA3 and 140525JCA7; Gallage and colleagues, Nature communications, 2014, PMID 24941968; Anuradha and colleagues, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 2013, PMID 24090143.
Ingredients are listed from heaviest to lightest at manufacture. On the Joe's Blend box the order runs cane sugar, non-dairy creamer, vanilla flavor, then Arabica instant coffee. That order is the label's ranking of each ingredient by weight at manufacture, not a weighing by us or a lab, and it says nothing about how strongly the vanilla comes through in the cup; the box prints no gram figure for it.
Sources for this section: Codex Alimentarius labelling standard CODEX STAN 1-1985, FAO and WHO; the printed Joe's Blend box, batches 140525JCA3 and 140525JCA7.
Sensory scientists have measured one effect directly: vanilla aroma can make a food taste sweeter than the same food without it. In a Danish panel study, sugar solutions with vanilla, honey or banana aroma were rated significantly sweeter than those with elderflower or raspberry aroma at all three sugar levels tested. In a Finnish study of plant-based yogurts, trained tasters ranked sweetness unflavoured lowest, then lemon, then vanilla highest.
Neither study used coffee, and we have not run a tasting panel on Joe's Blend. So this page reports what the research measured and leaves the verdict on the cup to you.
Sources for this section: Bertelsen and colleagues, Chemical senses, 2020, PMID 32112074; Greis and colleagues, Foods, 2022, PMID 35885273.
Sources for this section: the printed Joe's Blend box, batches 140525JCA3 and 140525JCA7; Eurofins nutrient report AR-25-E9-005753-01.
The box prints 'Vanilla flavor (Vanilla planifolia)', not vanilla extract. It does not say how the flavor was made.
Ingredients are listed from heaviest to lightest. Vanilla flavor is third on the Joe's Blend box and Arabica instant coffee is fourth, so by the label's order a sachet holds more vanilla flavor than coffee. The box prints no weights, so that is an inference from the order, not a measurement.
In sensory studies, vanilla aroma made sugar solutions and plant-based yogurts taste sweeter. Neither study tested coffee, and Joe's Blend has not been tested by a tasting panel.
The label does not say. The lab measured total sugars for the whole sachet, 10 g, without splitting it by ingredient.
Vanillin is the key constituent of the natural flavour of cured vanilla pods, and one of roughly 200 compounds found in vanilla beans.
Two papers on where vanilla's flavour comes from, and two on how vanilla aroma changes perceived sweetness.
Showed that a single enzyme in the vanilla pod, named vanillin synthase, turns ferulic acid into vanillin, and located it in the inner part of the pod.
PubMed 24941968 →Reviews how vanilla is grown, pollinated and cured, and its chemistry. Traditional curing takes 150 to 180 days; an improved process it describes takes 32 days.
PubMed 24090143 →Screened five aromas across three sugar levels in water with two sensory methods. In descriptive analysis, vanilla, honey and banana aromas were rated sweeter than elderflower or raspberry.
PubMed 32112074 →Trained tasters scored plant-based yogurts flavoured with vanilla or lemon aroma, with and without a nose clip. Vanilla ranked highest for sweetness, and the aromas did not change mouthfeel.
PubMed 35885273 →Education, not advice. Joe's Blend is coffee, not medicine, and carries no approved therapeutic claims. If you have a condition or take medication, talk to your doctor before adding anything new to your day.
Sources for this section: Gallage and colleagues, Nature communications, 2014, PMID 24941968; Anuradha and colleagues, Critical reviews in food science and nutrition, 2013, PMID 24090143; Bertelsen and colleagues, Chemical senses, 2020, PMID 32112074; Greis and colleagues, Foods, 2022, PMID 35885273.
Arabica with L-theanine, L-glutathione and L-carnitine, in a 21 g sachet. Hot or iced, 30 seconds.
