Help! I’m torn between Mushroom Coffee and Mushroom Tea

You are sitting in your kitchen planning out breakfast for the coming week, and suddenly find yourself as stumped as the Sunday Wordle because you can’t choose your morning beverage: will it be mushroom coffee or mushroom tea? What a great dilemma to be in! Only a handful of years ago, there were no commercial options for either and now there are several to choose from. And there’s great news to follow up this great dilemma: you can have both! Let’s discuss.

What is mushroom coffee? 

The coffee industry was ripe for a shake up due to studies showing the damaging side effects of caffeine[1]. Enter mushrooms. Mushroom coffee is a coffee-like beverage made of functional mushrooms using their properties for energy and stimulation without the negative side effects of straight coffee. There are more than a handful of options for mushroom coffee brands on the market today and all are slightly different.

Is mushroom coffee good for you?

From the perspective of incorporating mushrooms in your diet, there are a number of benefits boasted by these beverages. 

• Increased Focus 
• Immune Support 
• Digestion

The current state of mushroom coffee is at times dubious:

• Imported powders from unknown sources
• Heavily processed mushroom powders
• “Mushroom” products made from mycelium or of unspecified origin
• The Westernization of Eastern medicine

Not all coffee alternatives are created equal. Ironically, some of these “Mushroom coffee” options actually contain tea, not coffee. Some contain different amounts of coffee, or different types of coffee so you may not know what you are actually getting with these. Don’t buy on the hype alone!

• Clear and traceable sources
• American grown family farms
• Derived from fruiting bodies
• Our Chaga is foraged

Tamim Tea is a good mushroom coffee alternative because you may not want to be buzzing late into the night, and you also may want to refrain from the acidity of coffee, especially if your gut is sensitive. As covered in another blog about Unlocking the Benefits of Mushrooms, the best mushrooms teas are made from the fruiting bodies.

Which should I choose, mushroom coffee or mushroom tea?

GREAT NEWS: It’s not Mushroom Coffee vs Mushroom tea, you can have both! You can have your tea cake and eat your coffee cake too. The key to unlocking the benefits of medicinal mushrooms comes down to cumulative consumption. More important than “mushroom coffee vs mushroom tea” is mycelium vs fruiting bodies. Mushrooms are the fruiting bodies from the underground mycelial network. They are the reproductive organs of the fungus that spring forth when conditions are ripe for sporulation and propagation of the species. The fruiting bodies have the highest concentration of the benefits we seek so whichever you choose, make sure there is transparency to what you are getting and aim for the mushroom’s fruiting body rather than mycelium.

Mushrooms are enjoying so much time in the spotlight right now because of the medicinal properties that make them very attractive to consumers. Increased focus. Boosted immunity. Cancer suppression. Libido enhancement.[2] The list goes on for all the ways mushrooms can improve our lives if we can include enough of them into our diet, and we may see additional benefits if we continue to use these supplements over longer periods of time[3].

In the practice of Traditional Chinese Medicine, people are sometimes aiming to consume 8-10 grams daily of these mushrooms which can be a big challenge to load that much up in simple culinary practice. To augment what you eat, in the morning, you can kick start your day with a mushroom coffee and wind the day down with a mushroom tea. You can also get crafty with your concoctions by adding a shot of espresso to give your mushroom tea a little extra giddyup.

For example: If you don’t want to skip your daily coffee ritual, you don’t have to. Follow the recipe below to enjoy your cup of mushroom tea as well as your comforting cup of morning caffeine routine. Prepare the chaga in batches over the weekend and reheat throughout the week.

DIRTY CHAGA CHAI

Steep the chaga chai for 30 minutes or more at 185-210 F (just below a rolling boil). Combine 8oz tea, 2oz steamed milk, and 2oz (1 shot) espresso to make a 12oz Dirty Chaga Chai Tea Latte. 

[1] Temple JL, Bernard C, Lipshultz SE, Czachor JD, Westphal JA, Mestre MA. The Safety of Ingested Caffeine: A Comprehensive Review. Front Psychiatry. 2017 May 26;8:80.

[2] Hobbs, Christopher. Medicinal Mushrooms, Book Pub., Summertown, TN, 2003, p. 67-.70

[3] J Diet Suppl. 2017 Jan 2;14(1): 42-53 Published online 2016 Jul 13.