DIY mushroom coffee is trending for many good reasons, which this article outlines.
That first cup of coffee in the morning can help set the tenor of the day, nudging the mind and body to slip into gear for the challenges ahead. Increasingly, many people are brewing mushroom coffee blends as their daily ritual, as the health benefits of functional mushrooms gain traction.
Mushroom coffee can offer an added natural health boost, provided the mushroom powder you’re using contains unprocessed ingredients. Many supplement companies make big promises about the benefits of functional mushrooms while marketing a product that may not contain any mushrooms at all.
This is just one reason why it’s better to make your own. Understanding the product, how it’s made, and what it can do for you is key to the ideal DIY mushroom coffee brew.
Learning how to make mushroom coffee is as simple as adding another step to brewing your ground coffee. Simply put, mushroom coffee is black coffee paired with functional mushrooms, typically mixed in as an extract powder. [1]
Be sure to skip the freeze-dried coffee and brew your own for enhanced flavor and quality. After adding the extracts, you can continue preparing your beverage to your own liking, for example, with milk and sugar or nothing at all.
The most popular mushroom extract powders are cordyceps, chaga and lion's mane, but others include shiitake, maitake, turkey tail and reishi. Usually, one or more of the different kinds are mixed with instant coffee and often sold in single serving packets.
While convenient, mushroom powders in single-use plastic packets are not friendly to the environment and can be more costly over time than buying in bulk at a trusted source, like Real Mushrooms.
Coffee lovers who are newcomers to this trend may wonder how their treasured hot beverage will taste when they add mushroom powder. When served for drinking or cooking, fungi are typically earthy and muted, complementing that fresh cup of Joe.
By making your own mushroom coffee, you can customize the flavor (and its nutritional and potential health benefits by adding mushrooms of your choice). If you prefer the bitterness of coffee, you can add reishi. On the other hand, if you would rather mute that bitterness, you can add lion’s mane mushroom powder.
For DIY inspiration, here are links to a few of our favorite recipes for both mushroom coffee blends and non-coffee beverages. We can help you make all kinds of drinks, from mushroom lattes to dalgona mushroom coffees.
When you brew mushroom coffee, you can experience unique nutritional benefits, including increased antioxidants, a healthy inflammation response, and a boosted immune system*. [2]
However, using a pure, organic mushroom extract is critical to making your own coffee. Doing so helps ensure you consume a high-quality product.
When it comes to safety, it is good to follow the standard rule of moderation. You can adjust the quantity exactly to your needs with DIY mushroom coffee. You then have more control than if using pre-made supplement powder packets.
In Asia, mushrooms have been used as food and teas for thousands of years by adding mushroom powder, cooked mushrooms, and dried mushrooms to dishes and beverages. [3] The safety of these mushrooms has been well documented in the scientific literature, especially when only consuming a few grams of mushroom extract powder.
Safety First: As with all dietary supplements, it is best to first consult with your physician, particularly if you are taking prescription medication or if you are pregnant or breastfeeding.
As noted earlier, mushroom powders can complement the flavor of your brew and, depending on which extracts are added, provide various nutritional benefits.
Maitake mushrooms, for example, may help regular blood sugar levels, and chaga mushrooms could counteract the acidity often found with coffee* [4]. Meanwhile, reishi has been used in traditional Chinese medicine to increase vitality and strengthen the heart*.
Mushroom coffee could also provide a longer-lasting energy boost than a regular cup of Joe that has its caffeine peaks and valleys.
These are just a sampling of what functional mushrooms can do. There are many ways fungi can benefit your health and stave off illness.
When used as a functional food or supplement, functional mushrooms can increase resilience in the body by creating positive shifts in physiology and psychology.
Functional mushrooms can modulate the immune system, improve gut health and increase redox (anti-oxidant) status. Functional mushrooms are commonly referred to as adaptogens, they can increase mental clarity and energy levels by their impact on different body systems (immune, gut, cellular health)*.
The most important active compounds in real mushrooms include beta-d-glucans, triterpenoids, diverse polysaccharides, ergosterol, and ergothioneine. When used functionally, each of these can have dynamic effects on the human body.
For example, Ergothioneine, a powerful antioxidant, is present in organs that can be subject to high levels of stress and helps to mitigate its effects, while triterpenoids have been shown to be helpful for liver function*.
With so many potential benefits, it should come as no surprise that these remarkable fungi are catching the attention of brands that have been jumping at the opportunity to include them in their products. But they can be far from beneficial.
In fact, many supplements in the United State’s market touting the benefits of their mushroom ingredients do not actually contain any mushrooms at all.
Most products marketed as mushrooms are actually myceliated grain, a precursor to the mushroom (fruiting body), and the rice or grain on which the mycelium is grown.
A high percentage of myceliated grain contains between 35-60% starch instead of beneficial fungal matter. The starch serves as nothing more than a filler. You can learn more about how myceliated grain is grown.
Several studies conclude that absent the fruiting body, what is commonly and simply known as the ‘mushroom', the functional compounds, which provide much of the benefits, may be severely diminished. This is because the highest concentrations of beta-glucans are found in the fruiting body as opposed to the mycelium.
Real Mushrooms ensures that our mushroom extracts are pure, organic and 100% mushroom. Our product line is free from grains or gluten and has no fillers.
We only use the mushroom (the fruiting body) to provide the most beneficial functional compounds. Our mushroom extract supplements are also meticulously tested for quality.
The practice of providing purity in products stems from Nammex, which was founded by Jeff Chilton, the father of Real Mushrooms’ owner, Skye. Jeff has been growing mushrooms for more than 40 years. As a result, we leverage the legacy of this growing experience, coupled with the wisdom from thousands of years of functional mushroom use and growing practices, to underscore the rich history that Real Mushrooms draws from to cultivate and produce products of the highest quality and efficacy.
Real Mushrooms contains some of the highest concentrations of active functional compounds in the market, offering a more powerful and concentrated matrix of therapeutic properties of the mushroom as compared to mycelium-based products.
Upgrade Your Regular Coffee: Make your mushroom latte with our 100% organic mushroom powders. Our wide selection of bulk powders includes powdered extracts from lion’s mane, cordyceps, turkey tail, and more.
Ultimately, adding Real Mushrooms’ extracts to your freshly brewed coffee will be better in flavor and nutritional quality than adding premade dietary mushroom packets to an instant coffee mix.
With full control over your beverage, you can adjust the quantity of extract and know exactly what you are getting. You can then guarantee you are getting a supplement that is NOT diluted with fillers.
Finally, buying in bulk tends to be more cost-effective and friendlier to the environment.
There are five distinct advantages to DIY mushroom coffee:
So – what do you think? Did we miss anything on this list? Leave us your comments below!
.Disclaimer: The information or products mentioned in this article are provided as information resources only, and are not to be used or relied on to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. This information does not create any patient-doctor relationship, and should not be used as a substitute for professional diagnosis and treatment. The information is intended for health care professionals only. The statements made in this article have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. Any products mentioned are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. The information in this article is intended for educational purposes. The information is not intended to replace medical advice offered by licensed medical physicians. Please consult your doctor or health practitioner for any medical advice.
