Best mushroom coffee

What mushroom coffee actually is

Coffee, or a coffee-like powder, blended with extracts of mushrooms such as lion's mane, chaga, cordyceps and reishi. It is not psychedelic and not intoxicating. The mushrooms are dried and extracted, and most of them taste earthy. That earthiness is the main thing you are signing up for.

What to look at on the label

• How much caffeine. This varies more than anything else, from a full cup to none.
• Which mushrooms. Lion's mane and cordyceps tend to go into morning blends, and reishi into evening ones.
• Ground or instant. Ground coffee goes in the machine you already own. Instant goes in hot water.
• How many servings. Thirty is about a month, long enough to find out whether it sticks.

Keep the coffee

Four Sigmatic Focus Ground Coffee is ground coffee, not instant, with lion's mane and chaga in the bag. It has roughly the caffeine of the coffee it replaces. For people who own a grinder and have an opinion about it.

Four Sigmatic Original Mushroom Coffee is the instant version, and it is the product that made this category. Hot water, thirty seconds, and a cup close enough to coffee that nobody needs convincing.

Half the caffeine

RYZE Original Blend: six mushrooms and about half the caffeine of a cup of coffee. Earthy in a way some people love from the first cup and others need a week to come around to. Milk helps. The Starter Kit has two bags and a frother. One bag tends to run out right about when the habit would have formed.

Everyday Dose Coffee+: lion's mane and chaga with collagen added, roughly half the caffeine, and a texture closer to a latte than to drip.

Mostly not coffee

MUD\WTR rise: masala chai, cacao and about a seventh of the caffeine in a coffee. Closer to a spiced tea than to a substitute, which is why it works for people who never liked coffee to begin with.

No caffeine

Four Sigmatic Calm Elixir: reishi, no caffeine, in a sachet that dissolves in about thirty seconds. For four in the afternoon, when the day is not finished and coffee would be a mistake.

MUD\WTR Rest: reishi and valerian, no caffeine, for the last hour of the day. Better with oat milk.

No cup at all

Supermush Daily Energy gummies: lion's mane and cordyceps in a gummy you can keep next to the coffee maker. Fun Guy Perform Elixir: lion's mane and cordyceps in a dropper. Guarana is in the blend, so it is not caffeine-free.

Where to start

• You like your coffee: Four Sigmatic Focus Ground.
• You want less caffeine: RYZE, with the Starter Kit if you think it will stick.
• You never liked coffee: MUD\WTR rise.
• The afternoon cup is the problem: Calm Elixir.

Who should skip it

If you take medication, are pregnant or breastfeeding, or have a health condition, ask your doctor before adding a mushroom supplement. Valerian, in MUD\WTR Rest, can make you drowsy, so not before driving. Anyone avoiding caffeine should read the label, because most of these have some.

Questions people ask

Does mushroom coffee have caffeine? Most of it does, anywhere from a full cup's worth to a seventh of one. The reishi drinks have none.

Will it get me high? No. These are not psychedelic mushrooms and they are not intoxicating.

What does it taste like? Like coffee with an earthy edge, or for the chai and cacao blends, closer to a spiced tea.

Is it better than regular coffee? We can't promise that. It is a different cup, and for many people it simply has less caffeine.

Are adaptogens evaluated by the FDA? No. They are sold as foods or supplements.

All of it is in Adaptogens. Or skip the formats and pick a feeling.

Nothing here is medical advice. These products have not been evaluated by the FDA. Some links on this page earn us a commission. It never changes what you pay.