Mushroom Coffee: Does It Work? Benefits, Caffeine and Side Effects

What is mushroom coffee?

Mushroom coffee is a blend of coffee and dried, powdered or extracted functional mushrooms. The most common are lion’s mane, chaga, reishi and cordyceps, with turkey tail or shiitake in some blends. It isn’t made with culinary mushrooms like button mushrooms, and it doesn’t contain “magic” mushrooms, which are a Class A drug in the UK. Mushroom coffee made from functional mushrooms is legal to buy and drink here.

You can buy it as an instant powder, as ground coffee for a cafetière or filter, or in pods, or you can stir a mushroom powder into your own coffee. Most blends taste like a slightly earthier, milder coffee rather than mushrooms. For a tour of the mushrooms themselves, see our adaptogenic mushrooms guide and our side-by-side of lion’s mane vs reishi vs cordyceps.

Is mushroom coffee good for you?

For most healthy adults, mushroom coffee is a reasonable swap rather than a health upgrade. Here is the honest balance.

Our view: if you enjoy it and it helps you drink less caffeine, that is a genuine plus. Don’t buy it expecting the effects promised on some labels. Any “focus” lift you feel is most likely the caffeine.

How much caffeine is in mushroom coffee?

It depends on how much coffee is in the blend. If half of a serving is coffee and half is mushroom, you get roughly half the caffeine. A GP-reviewed Patient.info article puts a typical mushroom coffee at about 50mg, against about 100mg in an average cup of coffee. Brands vary a lot, and some don’t list caffeine at all, so look for mg per serving on the label.

The coffee, tea and cocoa figures come from the NHS and from lab analyses of cocoa products (see Sources). EFSA says up to 400mg of caffeine a day, and single doses up to 200mg, are safe for most healthy adults. The NHS advises no more than 200mg a day in pregnancy, and EFSA gives the same figure for breastfeeding. Lower caffeine is a real benefit if regular coffee makes you shaky or anxious; see does caffeine cause anxiety? If you are switching down from strong coffee, cut down gradually to avoid caffeine withdrawal headaches.

Mushroom coffee benefits: the evidence by mushroom

Most “mushroom coffee benefits” come from research on the mushrooms on their own, at set doses, not from coffee blends. Here is what the human research actually involved.

What about mushroom coffee itself? The research we could find on the blends is lab work. A 2024 Polish study measured what happens to minerals and plant compounds when lion’s mane or cordyceps fruiting bodies are added to coffee, but it didn’t test any effect on people. We found no published human trials of mushroom coffee as a drink.

Dose is the other gap. If a serving lists, say, 500mg of lion’s mane, that is a fraction of the 1.8 to 3g used in the trials above. Many blends simply say “mushroom blend” with no amounts at all. None of these mushrooms has an authorised health claim in the UK, which is why responsible brands describe the research rather than promise results.

Mushroom coffee vs regular coffee

If lower caffeine is the main draw, a half-caf or decaf coffee does the same job, often for less. For other swaps, compare 12 coffee alternatives by caffeine and taste, including matcha.

Weight loss, gut health and jitters

Does mushroom coffee help you lose weight?

There is no good evidence that it does. No trials have tested mushroom coffee for weight loss. If it replaces a sugary, milky coffee-shop drink, you will take in fewer calories, but that is the swap, not the mushrooms.

Is mushroom coffee good for your gut?

Mushrooms contain fibre-like beta-glucans, but there are no trials of mushroom coffee and gut health, and the amounts in a cup are small. Some people find it gentler than strong coffee; others get bloating or loose stools at first. If it upsets your stomach, stop. Our guide to coffee on an empty stomach covers the coffee side.

Does it stop the coffee crash?

Less caffeine can mean a smaller dip later, simply because there is less of a lift to come down from. There is no evidence the mushrooms themselves smooth out caffeine. See coffee crash for what helps.

Side effects and who should be careful

Most people who drink mushroom coffee have no problems, but these are worth knowing.

• Stomach upset, bloating or loose stools, especially at first.
• Caffeine effects: even half the caffeine can cause jitters, a racing heart or poor sleep if you are sensitive or drink several cups.
• Mushroom allergy: avoid. A 2026 case report described shiitake dermatitis, an itchy whip-like rash, linked to drinking a mushroom coffee. More in our shiitake guide.
• Chaga and your kidneys: chaga is very high in oxalates. Case reports describe serious kidney damage in people who took several teaspoons of chaga powder a day for months, which is far more than a cup of coffee contains. Avoid chaga blends if you have kidney disease or have had kidney stones.
• Reishi and your liver: rare cases of liver injury have been reported with reishi powder taken for one to two months. If you have liver disease or drink heavily, speak to your GP first.
• Medicines: reishi may increase bleeding risk, so check with a pharmacist if you take blood thinners such as warfarin. Ask too if you take immunosuppressants, diabetes or blood pressure medicines.
• Pregnancy and breastfeeding: avoid mushroom supplements, and keep caffeine to 200mg a day or less. We don’t recommend our products during pregnancy or breastfeeding.
• Children: mushroom coffee and mushroom supplements are for adults.
• Buy from reputable brands: in 2024, US authorities investigated illnesses linked to “mushroom” chocolates and gummies that contained undeclared substances.

How to choose a good mushroom coffee in the UK

Skip the best-of lists and read the label. A good mushroom coffee tells you:

• Each mushroom species and the mg per serving, not just “mushroom blend”.
• Fruiting body or mycelium. Fruiting body extracts are the mushroom itself. Mycelium is often grown on grain, and the grain’s starch can end up in the powder. Lab methods exist that measure beta-glucan separately from starch, so a stated beta-glucan figure tells you more than a “polysaccharides” figure.
• Beta-glucan content as a percentage, ideally with the test method named.
• Caffeine per serving.
• Independent lab testing for heavy metals and microbes, with reports you can see.
• No disease claims. Brands claiming their coffee treats or prevents anything are breaking UK rules.
• Price per serving, so you can compare it fairly with regular coffee.

The same checks apply to capsules and powders; see best mushroom supplements UK for what to look for.

How to make mushroom coffee at home

Making your own lets you choose the mushroom and the dose, and decide how much coffee goes in.

1. Choose a mushroom powder or extract, ideally from the fruiting body, with the amount per serving on the label.
2. Brew your coffee as usual, or use instant. For less caffeine, use half your usual amount, or half decaf.
3. Stir in the mushroom powder, following the label dose. Extracts dissolve better than ground whole mushroom.
4. Add milk or a plant milk to soften the earthy taste; a little cinnamon or cacao works well.

Prefer no coffee at all? Simmer a mushroom tea. Adding CBD instead? See CBD coffee.

Best time to drink it

Treat it like coffee: morning or early afternoon, at least six hours before you plan to sleep, because even reduced caffeine can affect sleep. Our guide on how long caffeine lasts explains why. For a warm drink in the evening, choose something with much less caffeine, such as a mushroom tea or a reishi hot chocolate.

Mushroom coffee vs mushroom tea vs mushroom hot chocolate

This is where our Reishi Mushroom Adaptogenic Complex fits. It is a reishi hot chocolate rather than a coffee: reishi mushroom with cocoa, maca, coconut sugar, made in the UK and vegan. The label suggests 1 to 2 teaspoons (4 to 8g) in warm milk or water.

It is not caffeine-free. Cocoa powder contains about 0.21% caffeine, so even if a full 8g serving were pure cocoa it would hold under 17mg, and our blend is only part cacao. That makes it a much lower-caffeine choice than mushroom coffee for the afternoon or evening. Reishi has no authorised health claims, so we describe it as a ritual, not a remedy. It is for adults only, and we don’t recommend it during pregnancy or breastfeeding. Read more in reishi cacao benefits, our healthy hot chocolate guide and ceremonial cacao.

What about ashwagandha coffee?

Ashwagandha coffee is ground or instant coffee with ashwagandha root powder or extract blended in, sometimes alongside mushrooms. It still has the caffeine of the coffee, unless it’s made with decaf.

Ashwagandha trials have mostly used standardised root extracts in capsules, often 300 to 600mg a day for 6 to 8 weeks, looking at stress and sleep. The studies are small and short, and the results are mixed. No trials have tested ashwagandha coffee itself, many blends don’t say how much ashwagandha is in a cup, and ashwagandha has no authorised health claims in the UK. Treat it as a coffee you enjoy rather than a dose.

Ashwagandha isn’t right for everyone, and it’s for adults only. Avoid it if you’re pregnant, breastfeeding or have a liver condition. Speak to your GP or pharmacist first if you have a thyroid or autoimmune condition, have surgery coming up, or take any regular medicine, including thyroid, diabetes, blood pressure, immunosuppressant or sedative medicines. Stop and see your GP if you notice yellow skin or eyes, dark urine or itching. More in our guides to ashwagandha side effects and when to take ashwagandha.

Related guides

• 12 coffee alternatives compared by caffeine and taste.
• Mushroom tea: how to make it and the best types.
• Adaptogenic mushrooms: the 7 functional mushrooms and their evidence.
• Decaf coffee: how much caffeine is left in it.
• Dark chocolate benefits, and how much caffeine it contains.
• Best mushroom supplements UK, and what to look for on the label.

Related guides

• Which mushrooms have any evidence for anxiety.
• Prefer something you can chew? See mushroom gummies for how gummies compare with coffee, powders and capsules.
• For what research shows on reishi, lion’s mane and chaga, see mushrooms for inflammation: what the evidence shows.
• What’s in Spacegoods Rainbow Dust, including its mushrooms and caffeine by flavour.
• What’s in DIRTEA mushroom coffee, including the caffeine per serving the brand states.
• Rheal Shroom Coffee: ingredients and caffeine.
• For one brand’s label facts, see Four Sigmatic mushroom coffee: ingredients and caffeine.
• For one high street shop’s range, see mushroom coffee and lion’s mane at Holland and Barrett.
• Prefer reishi without the coffee? Our reishi powder guide compares powders, tinctures and capsules.
• Want reishi without the caffeine? Plain reishi tea made only with reishi and water is caffeine-free.
• Prefer something with far less caffeine in the evening? See our mushroom hot chocolate guide, which compares UK mixes label by label.
• Many mushroom coffees are marketed as nootropics. See which nootropics have real evidence before you pay extra for a blend.
• For an evening mug instead, our hot chocolate recipes include brownie, slow cooker and cherry versions.
• Mushroom coffee suits the morning; for the evening, see when to take reishi and why caffeine matters.