Coffee With a Boost: Protein and Functional Mushrooms Find a Place on Café Menus

Today’s coffee drinkers are looking for more than caffeine, and cafés are stepping up to deliver.

BY EMILY JOY MENESES
ONLINE EDITOR

Featured photo courtesy of Nature Zen

When I first started working in coffee around ten years ago, the only “add-ons” you could get in your latte were your typical run-of-the-mill syrups: vanilla, chocolate, and perhaps lavender (if the café was feeling fancy). Nowadays, though, it seems like there’s an endless array of things you can add to your daily brew—many of which add more than just flavor.

Starbucks, for instance, recently added protein cold foam to their menu, and they’re not the only ones to have done so. Over the past year, tons of locally-owned shops have made similar moves, infusing their lattes with protein, functional mushrooms, collagen, and more.

But is the desire for “coffee with a boost” a fleeting trend, or a movement here to stay? Today, we explore the issue.

Through health add-ons, cafés find their niche

The team at Café Milo, a coffee shop based in Ames, Iowa, explains that they’re treating “coffee with a boost” not as a trend, but as their forte. “Our shop specializes in protein smoothies, and protein and collagen chai and lattes,” the café’s team wrote to Barista Magazine.

They also share that their current top-selling drink is a salted caramel chai, using salted caramel-flavored protein and collagen powder from Vital Proteins.

Located in Boca Raton, Florida, VI Coffee Bar has turned protein coffee into a fun collaboration, partnering this past summer with a local podcast for a chocolate and peanut butter protein latte, and with a running club for their “Boca Run Club Protein Latte,” which is flavored with chocolate and blueberry. On their permanent menu, they also offer a frozen coffee smoothie: a blend of espresso, milk, protein, banana, and almond butter, sweetened with honey.

These menu items serve as an apt response to what’s being called the “protein craze”: a piqued interest in protein-rich foods that the food and beverage industry has seen in recent years. In a 2024 food and health survey of 3,000 U.S. adults, 71% of participants reported that they were trying to consume more protein—up from 59% in 2022.

With so many customers actively seeking protein and other functional add-ins, cafés are finding that these offerings aren’t just novelties—they’re an answer to a growing need.

Coffee with a function

Cafés aren’t the only ones embracing the fusion of coffee and functional boosts: A growing number of non-coffee companies are seizing the moment by adding coffee to their repertoires.

North Spore, for example—a mushroom cultivator and supplier based in Maine—recently launched their first mushroom coffee blend, which is infused with five “functional mushrooms”: Lion’s Mane, Chaga, Reishi, Cordyceps, and Turkey Tail. The mushrooms are said to add brain-boosting and calming properties to the coffee.

North Spore co-founder Matt McInnis explains that his company’s venture into coffee came as a natural way to make their product more accessible.

“North Spore began as a fresh mushroom farm and has supported customers in their mushroom cultivation journeys for over a decade,” he told Barista Magazine. “Mushroom coffee felt like a logical next step for us. We know there’s a broad interest in mushrooms for health, but that growing or foraging for your own medicinal mushroom is more of a ‘niche’ hobby. (Mushroom coffee) makes it a little easier for people to get those benefits.”

He shares that North Spore’s coffee is roasted by local roastery New Hampshire Roasting Co. From there, North Spore infuses each bag of coffee with 12,000 mg of mushroom fruiting body extracts.

“By combining (mushrooms) with coffee, we create a beverage that people are already comfortable with—and it turns a morning ritual into something that’s not only enjoyable, but also supportive of health and wellness,” Matt says. “Coffee itself has its own benefits. It’s a natural source of antioxidants, and for many, it helps with alertness and mental clarity, so it complements the mushrooms nicely.”

Proving that wellness doesn’t have to be a trend

As both business owners and consumers embrace protein and functional mushrooms, it’s clear that these aren’t passing fads, but lasting ways in which people are transforming their daily habits. A cup of coffee is evolving from a simple pick-me-up into a health-conscious choice—a movement that doesn’t seem to be going anywhere anytime soon.

Subscribe and More!

As always, you can read Barista Magazine in paper by subscribing or ordering an issue.

Read the August + September 2025 Issue for free with our digital edition. 

For free access to more than five years’ worth of issues, visit our digital edition archives here.