mushroom coffee has quickly become a rising trend in recent years. Made of ground or instant coffee mixed with functional mushrooms and botanical ingredients to improve cognitive function, boost energy, and promote wellness, mushroom coffee can come in all varieties including actual coffee (albeit less than your standard cup), base teas/hot chocolate blends, add-in mixes that you add into beverages you already drink, as well as add-in mixes that you stir into existing beverages. With such wide ranging options there’s likely one suitable for almost any taste – be it vegan/gluten free or even kosher!

The best mushroom coffees offer an irresistibly creamy, full-bodied flavor and are easy to consume, while providing essential mood and sleep support with L-theanine and ashwagandha as well as prebiotics to feed your gut microbiome. If caffeine sensitivity is an issue for you, look for lower caffeine blends on their labels to see which are suitable.

As part of our selection process, we sampled mushroom coffees created by companies specializing in functional beverages. Each brand uses its own combination of mushrooms to achieve its intended effects – we found some to be more effective than others; Four Sigmatic’s Focus dark roast mushroom coffee boasts an organic blend that contains lion’s mane for improving focus and memory enhancement and chaga for mental performance, while its Relaxed Focus variety contains reishi for soothing anxiety and increasing sleep quality.

We assessed each blend’s type and amount of mushroom extracts used. Most mushroom coffees feature chaga, an antioxidant-rich mushroom known to increase stamina. Others may feature turkey tail, maitake or shiitake adaptogens that improve immunity; we prefer coffee blends that utilize fruiting bodies rather than just their mycelium as they have greater potency than both options.

As far as pricing goes, some mushroom brews can be more costly than others. You’ll likely pay a higher premium for brands using organic ingredients or being vegan and kosher-certified; to save money we advise looking for bulk purchases of lower dose blends that offer higher dose ingredients.

Some brands of mushroom coffee contain additional functional ingredients, like ashwagandha to reduce stress or kombucha for probiotics. We suggest reviewing each product’s Supplement Facts panel to ensure a good balance of active and inactive ingredients; additionally, if you take medication to treat medical conditions or are taking prescriptions that might interact with this mushroom coffee product.

Finally, we considered how easily each product could be prepared and whether they used ethically sourced coffee beans. Velty was our winner based on its convenient preparation method and use of ethically sourced ground coffee from Nicaragua grown by women farmers combined with lion’s mane for added energy boost and vitamin B12. Unlike some instant mixes we tested, Velty doesn’t require brewing equipment and can be prepared using either water or milk alone – ideal for anyone trying to cut back on caffeine intake or experiencing digestive issues.