The 6 Best Mushroom Coffee and Shroom Coffee Substitutes

In this post find the best mushroom coffee brands, and how to decide which brands are best for your individual health goals.

Mushroom coffee is exploding on the market these days.

Without a doubt, mushroom coffee is a boon to health because they are full of medicinal mushrooms. They also have less caffeine than regular coffee, and often contain other beneficial ingredients. So it helps to do some research to find the best mushroom coffee for your unique desires.

Mushrooms like Lion’s Mane mushrooms and Cordyceps mushrooms are well-known to support focus and healthy energy, so adding these functional mushrooms to your daytime routine can give your brain the extra edge.

Additionally, mushrooms don’t have the stimulant effects like coffee that will keep you up at night.

Some great mushroom coffee substitutes and mushroom mix-ins are discussed here too.

Table of Contents

5 Best Mushroom Coffee Categories

Whether you are looking for the best overall mushroom coffee, a mushroom coffee substitute, a good bargain, mushroom powders you can mix into your existing coffee, or a chocolate mushroom mix-in that you can make a “mocha mushroom coffee” with, you are covered here.

Tip: the best way to maximize the number of mushrooms in your coffee is to get mushroom mix-ins.

Contains affiliate links. Visit the disclosure page for more information.

Best Overall Mushroom Coffee

Freshcap Mushroom Coffee

Freshcap Mushroom Coffee is a mushroom coffee blend that comes in a convenient instant coffee packet and is the best organic mushroom coffee.

This is because it contains the fruiting body of the mushroom, which contains the most active compounds for health. Other mushroom coffees often contain the grain and the mycelium, both of which are basically filler ingredients.

USDA-certified organic ingredients include coffee, Lion’s Mane, Chaga, and Ashwagandha. Meeting GMP certification standards, FreshCap is tested for both quality and purity at each step.

Chaga and Lion’s mane mushrooms contain beta-glucans, triterpenes, and other unique compounds that benefit health, and may even help the brain focus. FreshCap brand uses an extraction process that increases the bioavailability of the mushrooms too.

Downside: the amount of mushrooms isn’t listed on the label.

Check Price

Best Mushroom Coffee Substitute

Coffee Break by Medicinal Foods

Coffee BreakEnergizing Coffee Substitute

Shop Now

Medicinal Foods Coffee Break Energizing Coffee Substitute

Truly my go-to beverage for both relaxation and focus, Coffee Break is full of healthy USDA organic ingredients, including roasted Chicory, Dandelion, and Gluten-Free Barley and Rye extracts.

Contains a boost of superfoods, including organic Chaga Mushroom, organic Reishi Mushroom, and organic Maca Root. Truly unrivaled on the market today, no other mushroom coffee substitute is quite like this one. This is because it comes so close to the taste of real coffee.

And, this surprisingly mixes well and is delicious when sweetened with a little honey and cream.

Bonus: this is delicious both as a hot beverage and as an “iced coffee” alternative. Maca and Reishi help give natural energy with no stimulant effects like caffeine. In other words, no caffeine jitters.

Downside: the amount of mushrooms is not listed on the label. Give it a stir throughout the sipping so the mushrooms don’t settle out.

Check Price

Best Bargain Mushroom Coffee

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Ground Coffee

Four Sigmatic Mushroom Ground Coffee with Lion’s Mane Mushrooms is a mushroom ground coffee that is the best value, especially if you are looking for benefits for focus and nerve health (these are the benefits that Lion’s mane are known for).

Use code HEALTHYRD and also get an extra 10% off your order.

This will give you about 16 cups of coffee per bag, assuming that you use 4 tablespoons of coffee per cup. You really can’t beat its price.

This is also a good brand for people who prefer brewed coffee or espresso over instant coffee. Highly rated for taste and performance too.

Downside: the company doesn’t disclose what extraction method that they use for their mushrooms and the amount of mushrooms isn’t listed on the label.

Check Price

3 Best Mushroom Mix-Ins

Micro Shrooms Blend by Medicinal Foods

Micro Shrooms BlendMicronized Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga, Lion’s Mane

Shop Now

Microshrooms Medicinal Mushrooms blend by Medicinal Foods contains certified organic Reishi mushrooms, Cordyceps mushrooms, Chaga mushrooms, and Lion’s Mane mushrooms. All of these mushrooms are in equal proportions in this mix.

With two of my favorite focus mushrooms, Cordyceps and Lion’s mane, this blend is top-rated for brain function too.

You get 250 mg of each kind of mushroom in just 1/4 teaspoon, making this a really good value.

Also, Medicinal Foods uses the fruiting body only, meaning it is 95% free of fillers and grains too. Contains 60-75% mushroom polysaccharides, which are the active compounds in mushrooms.

This mushroom blend mixes in very easily because it is micronized to be easily dissolved in your coffee. Using steam extraction methods and sustainably grown and harvested, you can be assured that you are getting the best quality mushrooms with Medicinal Foods brand.

Downside: this is a small package, but highly concentrated: contains 30 servings per bag.

Check Price

Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders

Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders for Immune Strength: If you really want to give your coffee a boost, a smart way to go about it is to add this mushroom powder to your existing coffee regimen.

This way, you can add as much or as little as you want. Real Mushrooms is one of the best mushroom powder blends out there because it contains all-organic Reishi, Shiitake, Maitake, Turkey Tail, and Chaga mushrooms.

It also contains 1000 mg of medicinal mushrooms in each 1/2 teaspoon and 45 servings per package. This makes it much more concentrated than pre-made mushroom coffees out there. *If you factor in this high concentration, it is actually a great value.

Contains Turkey Tail mushrooms, which are used all over the world to support immune health and are even used as part of cancer treatment protocols in some areas.

Carefully extracted to increase absorption and contains the fruiting body mushroom with no fillers or grains. It is also, gluten-free and contains 20% beta-glucans. GMP certified, which means it is tested by a 3rd party lab for quality and purity.

Use code Healthyrd and save 15% off your order too.

Downside: the mushrooms may need to be stirred as you sip your coffee to keep them from settling to the bottom.

Check Price

Freshcap Thrive 6 Mushroom Powder

Freshcap Thrive 6 Mushroom Powder contains the most diverse blend of mushrooms including organic Chaga Extract, Organic Cordyceps Extract, Organic Lion’s Mane Extract, Organic Maitake Extract, Organic Turkey Tail Extract, and Organic Reishi Extract.

This means that the effects on health are going to be diverse too. *No other brand contains this variety of mushrooms and is also organic with 100% purity. And, it costs less than $0.40 cents per serving, making this a great deal.

A GMP certified company, this product is inspected for quality and purity too. Thrive 6 contains 100% mushroom, and no fillers or mycelium. This means that it contains more active compounds for health than a lot of popular brands.

You literally can add this to anything: it goes great in coffee, tea, soup, dressings, and anything you can think of.

Downside: you may need to stir this with a spoon while you sip your coffee to keep the mushrooms from settling.

Check Price

2 Best Chocolate Mushroom Coffee Mix-Ins

Mushroom Hot Chocolate by Real Mushrooms

Mushroom Hot Chocolate Mix with 5 Defenders by Real Mushrooms: contains 5 types of medicinal mushrooms and all are organic to boot. This includes organic Turkey Tail, Maitake mushrooms, Shiitake mushrooms, Chaga mushrooms, with organic cacao powder, coconut sugar, vanilla, and a pinch of Himalayan salt.

Contains 500 mg of 5 Defenders mushrooms in each serving.

Although this does have a speck of sugar, it’s coconut sugar, which is healthier than typical sugar.

Additionally, a mocha serving (1 tablespoon) will give you just 3 grams of sugar compared to your typical mocha, which will contain at least 30 grams of sugar.

Check price

Cacao Elixir by Medicinal Foods

>Medicinal Foods Cacao Elixir is a chocolate superfoods blend with Cacao, Chaga, and adaptogens including Maca, Mucuna Pruriens, Ashwagandha, Chlorella, and Hemp Protein. This is a versatile and unsweetened cacao powder that can be whisked into your coffee to make a tasty mushroom coffee mocha.

With USDA-certified organic ingredients and healthy superfoods, this mushroom elixir is sure to give you a pep in your step. Also third-party inspected for quality and purity.

Containing Mucuna, this product also has L-dopa, which is a known mood booster too.

Downside: you will need to periodically stir this as you sip on your coffee and most people will probably want to sweeten the mixture a bit.

Check price

How to Choose Your Mushroom Coffee and Alternatives

When deciding which type of mushroom coffee to buy, there are a number of personal decisions to take into consideration. Here are some of the possibilities that are going through your head right now.

Are you trying to cut caffeine? Choose the Best Overall Mushroom Coffee Substitute
Do you want the best mushroom quality? You are in luck! Choose any tab.
Is the drive for mushroom coffee because you want better focus? Choose Lion’s mane or Cordyceps mushrooms.
Perhaps you want more from your morning drink for your immune system? Choose a mushroom mix-in.
Do you want to simply have a mushroom powder you can easily mix into your normal coffee? Also, choose a mushroom mix-in.
Price is your most important factor. Choose the Bargain mushrooms.

If you are asking yourself these questions, I give you each category above separated by tabs above to help you find the best product for you.

For example, if you are trying to cut caffeine out of your diet, the best mushroom coffee substitute out there is Medicinal Foods Coffee Break. While not technically coffee, this would meet the bargain category too if it was. It is just over $0.60 cents per serving.

While this brand is a smaller company, this can often mean you are getting a higher-quality product. Unlike many other big brands out there, they are very clear that they grow their mushrooms in the United States, have third-party testing, and also use all organic ingredients.

They also disclose extraction methods, which are purely done by hot water methods to enhance absorption and quality.

The same goes for Real Mushrooms and Freshcap mushrooms brands, which are all brands I trust.

A quick hint: Freshcap Thrive 6 powder has all of the functional mushrooms if you are trying to get the biggest variety of mushrooms into coffee and your diet.

Functional mushrooms and which coffee brands have them

What makes mushroom coffee healthy? Mushrooms have functions in our bodies that go beyond the nutrients that they have.

Reishi

Some reasons you may want to seek out a Reishi mushroom coffee is that Reishi may simultaneously help you relax and have energy too.

This is because Reishi is a well-known adaptogen mushroom. You can find Reishi mushrooms in Medicinal Foods Coffee Break Energizing Coffee Substitute, Microshrooms Medicinal Mushrooms, Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders, and Freshcap Thrive 6 powder for Immune Strength.

Lion’s Mane

Lion’s Mane’s big health benefits claims include the fact that they may help people focus better. This is because Lion’s mane help increase improve nerve growth factor in the body.

You can find Lion’s Mane mushrooms in Freshcap Mushroom Coffee, Four Sigmatic Mushroom Ground Coffee with Lion’s Mane Mushrooms, Microshrooms Medicinal Mushrooms, and Freshcap Thrive 6 powder.

Cordyceps

Cordyceps mushrooms are a type of functional mushroom used for energy. In fact, research shows that cordyceps increases energy by boosting ATP levels. This also means that they help with brain function too.

You can find cordyceps in Microshrooms Medicinal Mushrooms blend by Medicinal Foods and Freshcap Thrive 6 powder.

Chaga mushrooms

Chaga mushrooms are often used for gut health because they have anti-inflammatory compounds. These fascinating mushrooms also may help regulate blood sugar according to early research. Overall, Chaga is a great mushroom to have in your diet because of its rich antioxidant profile.

You can find Chaga mushrooms in Freshcap Mushroom Coffee, Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders for Immune Strength, Medicinal Foods Coffee Break Energizing Coffee Substitute, Microshrooms Medicinal Mushrooms blend by Medicinal Foods, Freshcap Thrive 6 powder, and Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders for Immune Strength.

Turkey tail

If you are looking to improve immune system health, you may want to turn to Turkey Tail mushrooms. These functional mushrooms help to improve the gut microbiome and are even used alongside other immune therapies for conventional cancer treatment.

You can find turkey tail mushrooms in Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders for Immune Strength, Freshcap Thrive 6 powder, and Mushroom Hot Chocolate Mix with 5 Defenders by Real Mushrooms.

Maitake

Maitake mushrooms are tasty, edible mushrooms that help improve cholesterol levels due to their fiber content. They also are known to benefit immune health too.

You can find Maitake mushrooms in the coffee mix add-in called Real Mushrooms 5 Defenders for Immune Strength and Freshcap Thrive 6 powder.

Healthy RD

Heidi Moretti, MS, RD is The Healthy RD. A registered dietitian for 23 years as well as a book author of The Whole Body Guide to Gut Health, Heidi has a passion for functional nutrition and natural medicine. She has researched supplements and natural medicine throughout her career. One of her biggest loves is helping people gain function and vitality by tackling the root causes of illness.