The Rise Of Mushroom Coffee: Hype, Health Claims, And Honest Tasting – CoffeeTalk

Last updated Jun 17, 2025

Mushroom coffee has become a buzzword in the world of wellness beverages. Promising everything from improved focus to enhanced immunity, these drinks are popping up on store shelves and in Instagram feeds everywhere. But what’s really in mushroom coffee? Do the health claims hold up? And, perhaps most importantly, does it actually taste good?

Let’s take a deep dive into the world of mushroom coffee, exploring its origins, the science behind the claims, and a candid taste test of some of the most popular brands on the market.

What Is Mushroom Coffee?

Mushroom coffee is exactly what it sounds like: a blend of coffee and powdered medicinal mushrooms. Unlike the button mushrooms you might toss in a salad, these blends typically feature so-called “functional” mushrooms like chaga, lion’s mane, cordyceps, and reishi. These mushrooms have a long history in traditional medicine, especially in Asia, where they’ve been used for centuries for their purported health benefits.

The modern mushroom coffee movement was popularized by brands like Four Sigmatic, whose Finnish founder wrote a book extolling the virtues of mushrooms and set out to get more people drinking them for health. Today, the market is crowded with options, each promising a unique blend of mushrooms, adaptogens, and sometimes other superfoods.

What’s Actually in Mushroom Coffee?

Common Ingredients

A typical mushroom coffee blend contains:

Instant coffee: Usually about half the blend.
Mushroom extracts: Chaga, lion’s mane, cordyceps, maitake, and reishi are common.
Other adaptogens: Some blends add maca, ashwagandha, or holy basil.
Sweeteners and flavorings: Coconut milk powder, coconut sugar, cacao, cinnamon, and cardamom are often included.

Dosage Matters

One of the first things to note is the actual amount of mushroom extract in each serving. Most sachets contain less than 1.5 grams of mushroom extract—sometimes much less. For example, a Dirtea sachet is just 2.5 grams total, with over half being coffee. That leaves a tiny amount for all the other ingredients combined.

This is important because, as we’ll see, the dosage used in scientific studies is often much higher than what you’ll find in a single cup of mushroom coffee.

The Science Behind the Claims

What Are the Health Claims?

Mushroom coffee brands make a variety of claims, including:

Boosted energy and focus
Enhanced immunity
Improved gut health
Reduced stress and anxiety

Some products are careful to include disclaimers like “This has not been evaluated by the FDA” or “This is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.” Still, the marketing is heavy on the promise of functional benefits.

What Does the Research Say?

The Gold Standard: Human Randomized Controlled Trials

When evaluating health claims, the gold standard is the human randomized controlled trial (RCT). These studies are designed to eliminate bias and provide the most reliable evidence.

For many of the mushrooms used in these coffees—like cordyceps and chaga—there are few, if any, high-quality human RCTs. Most of the research is either animal-based, in vitro (test tube), or based on traditional use rather than modern clinical evidence.

Dosage in Studies vs. Products

Where human studies do exist, the doses used are often much higher than what’s found in a typical cup of mushroom coffee. Many studies use 5–6 grams of mushroom extract per day, while most commercial products contain less than 1 gram per serving.

To reach the doses used in studies, you’d need to drink four, five, or even six cups of mushroom coffee per day—potentially consuming more caffeine than is recommended for most people.

Coffee’s Own Health Benefits

It’s worth noting that coffee itself is a functional beverage. Caffeine is a well-studied compound with known effects on alertness and performance. Coffee also contains phenolic compounds that may benefit gut health and is associated with a decreased risk of mortality in some studies. However, most mushroom coffee blends use instant coffee, which may not offer the same benefits as freshly brewed coffee.

A Tour of Popular Mushroom Coffee Brands

Let’s take a closer look at some of the most popular mushroom coffee products on the market, their ingredients, and how they stack up in terms of taste and value.

Four Sigmatic Protect

Blend: Instant coffee, organic chaga extract, organic cordyceps extract
Background: One of the original and most well-known mushroom coffee brands, founded in Finland.
Taste: Savory, with a brothy, dried porcini aroma. The coffee flavor is present but not complex, and the overall experience is reminiscent of a mushroom-infused risotto with a hint of instant coffee.

Dirtea

Blend: Instant coffee, lion’s mane extract, maca root powder, ashwagandha, vitamin B complex, sprouted mung bean, lemon peel, holy basil leaf
Packaging: Fancy, but only seven sachets per box.
Taste: Strong mushroom aroma, reminiscent of a powdered mushroom soup mix. The coffee is present but not dominant, resulting in a beverage that’s more savory than sweet.

Mushrooms For Life (Cordyceps)

Blend: Instant coffee, cordyceps extract, vanilla powder, cardamom powder
Taste: Overwhelming cardamom flavor, with a brothy, earthy undertone. The mushroom flavor is subtle, and the cardamom dominates the palate.

Everyday Dose

Blend: Instant coffee, mushroom extracts (details vary), other adaptogens
Marketing: Heavy on the “mushrooms, man” vibe, with claims of boosting energy, mood, gut health, and focus.
Taste: Tastes mostly like instant coffee, with subtle mushroom notes that are barely detectable. If you didn’t know it contained mushrooms, you might not notice.

Laird Superfood

Blend: Coconut milk powder, coconut sugar, freeze-dried coffee, lion’s mane, chaga, cordyceps, maitake
Format: Instant latte, just add hot water.
Taste: Extremely coconut-forward, with a thick, syrupy texture. The coffee flavor is present but takes a back seat to the coconut. If you love coconut, this might be for you; if you’re looking for a strong coffee or mushroom flavor, you may be disappointed.

Laird Superfood Creamer

Blend: Similar to the latte, but designed to be added to regular coffee.
Taste: Adds a coconutty, slightly sweet flavor to coffee, but can clash with lighter roasts and create a strange texture.

Chagaccino (Renude)

Blend: Chaga mushrooms, Ceylon cinnamon, cacao, monk fruit sweetener, erythritol
Format: Add to espresso or drip coffee with milk.
Taste: Very sweet, with a distinct monk fruit/erythritol aftertaste. The mushroom flavor is mild, and the overall experience is more about the sweetener than the coffee or mushrooms.

Other Flavors: Reishi Cacao & Chaga Matcha

Reishi Cacao: A hot chocolate-style drink, very sweet with a cheap chocolate flavor and little mushroom presence.
Chaga Matcha: A sweetened matcha drink with minimal mushroom flavor, likely to appeal to those who prefer matcha desserts over traditional, unsweetened matcha.

The Taste Test: Savory, Sweet, and Everything In Between

Savory vs. Sweet

One of the most surprising aspects of mushroom coffee is its flavor profile. Many blends are more savory than sweet, with brothy, earthy notes that evoke mushroom soup more than a traditional cup of joe. Others, especially those with added coconut or sweeteners, veer into dessert territory.

Quality of Coffee

Across the board, the coffee used in these blends is instant and not particularly high-quality. None of the products tasted like specialty coffee, and the coffee flavor was often generic or overshadowed by other ingredients.

Value for Money

Mushroom coffee is not cheap. Single-serve sachets are more expensive than a comparable cup of good coffee, and even buying in bulk doesn’t bring the price down to everyday coffee levels. Given the low doses of mushroom extract, you’d need to drink several servings per day to approach the amounts used in clinical studies—making it an expensive habit.

Should You Drink Mushroom Coffee?

For the Health Benefits

If you’re buying mushroom coffee for its purported health benefits, it’s important to be skeptical. The doses of mushroom extract in most products are far below those used in studies, and the evidence for many claims is limited or based on animal research. Unless you’re prepared to drink multiple servings per day (and handle the extra caffeine), you’re unlikely to see the effects described in the marketing.

For the Taste

Taste is subjective, and some people genuinely enjoy the savory, earthy flavors of mushroom coffee. If you like the idea of a brothy, umami-rich beverage with a hint of coffee, you might find a blend you enjoy. If you prefer your coffee sweet and coconutty, there are options for you as well.

For the Experience

There’s nothing wrong with enjoying a placebo effect or simply trying something new. If mushroom coffee makes your morning routine feel special or gives you a sense of well-being, that’s a valid reason to drink it.

The Marketing Machine

Mushroom coffee is a classic example of a wellness trend driven by marketing. The potential benefits of functional mushrooms are real, but the leap from promising research to mass-market beverage is often more about branding than science. Many products make bold claims without providing the doses or evidence needed to back them up.

That said, the category is still evolving. As more research emerges and consumer demand grows, we may see higher-quality products and more transparent labeling in the future.

Source: Coffee Talk