# A Week on Mushroom Coffee, One Cup at a Time > WIRED's reviewer swapped his morning brew for fungus powder for months, and ranked every last gritty cup. - Title: A Week on Mushroom Coffee, One Cup at a Time · WIRED - Summary: WIRED's reviewer swapped his morning brew for fungus powder for months, and ranked every last gritty cup. Mushroom coffee splits into real ground coffee with… - Keywords: mushroom coffee, coffee, wellness, reviews, caffeine, Week, Mushroom, One, Cup, Time, WIRED - Source: WIRED — https://wired.com/gallery/best-mushroom-coffee - Author: Pete Cottell - Published: 2025-04-02T11:38:00+00:00 - Read time: 3 min - Topics: mushroom coffee, coffee, wellness, reviews, caffeine ## Coffee's unsettled science Decades in, nobody agrees whether coffee helps or hurts you. That stalemate created a whole cottage industry of alternatives selling a fix for a problem that may not exist. ## Same base, different lore Nearly every brand builds on dried lion's mane, chaga and cordyceps, then piles on probiotics and nootropics as the differentiator. ## One week per brand The reviewer replaced his morning coffee with each brand's recommended dose in hot water. Sweeteners and milk were only allowed after day five. > I laughed, I cried, I got the runs. ## Most need help going down Some cups tasted like mild coffee, some were actual coffee, and some were concoctions no normal person would crave. Afternoon couch crashes were routine. ## Atlas takes the crown Atlas Coffee Club's Latte Superblend, $26, wins overall. It comes from a real coffee subscription service, not a supplement brand, and skips the manosphere marketing. ## Toasted coconut in a mug The Atlas latte powder emulsifies without a frother, leaves almost no residue, and drinks like coconut up front with an espresso tang on the swallow. > It's an absolute delight to drink. ## The probiotic tax The caffeine buzz was smooth and jitter-free at 45 mg, but by days six and seven the probiotics wrecked his stomach. Skip the fatty breakfast pairing. ## Bones fools your palate Bones Better Brain is labeled medium roast but drinks like a good light one, with lemongrass, citrus and port wine instead of smoke and bitterness. $18. ## Four hours of meetings A 12-ounce cup of Bones had him tap-dancing under his desk through back-to-back meetings, and a smaller afternoon cup made a 3.5-hour tutorial actually stick. ## Roasters finally show up Heady Cup's Bloom Shroomery Blend is real ground coffee, not instant powder. Grapefruit pith, Burgundy wine, a savory mushroom finish, and a joy to drink black. $33. ## Bulletproof hides the fungus The Mood Booster instant latte pairs mushroom extracts with ashwagandha, and tastes of toasted sugar with a stevia snap. You would never guess mushrooms were in it. ## Latte is a stretch It contains dairy, but the engineered milk extracts only gesture at creaminess. Still, at $18 on shelves everywhere, it beats Atlas on access. ## Shroomi keeps it simple Unfussy '90s packaging and a Mexico Chiapas light roast with red wine and citrus. Three sips killed a post-lunch pizza slump. 80 mg of caffeine, $37. ## Sachets for the road Wunderground's Brain Wash packs 60 mg into a portable sachet that works in water, milk or coffee. Cocoa and vanilla up front, easy for people who hate drip coffee. ## An upper and a downer Vahdam puts ashwagandha front and center and counters it with 75 mg of caffeine. The buzz hits fast, then melts into about an hour of calm. > Something like a low-stakes speedball for aspiring health nuts. ## Lucid's nootropic stack Alpha-GPC, L-theanine, creatine and ginkgo in a deep-black cup with toasted sesame notes. The effect was subtle: a strange enthusiasm for cleaning the attic. ## Laird's naughty creamer A decent Peruvian medium roast, but the protein creamer is the draw. One third of a cup is 200 calories and half your daily saturated fat, and it tastes like vanilla and coconut. ## Caffeine maxing returns Neubrain ditches hippie branding for lab aesthetics and 105 mg of caffeine. Tastes like a fuzzy memory of watery mushroom soup, but kills the 3 pm nap craving. ## Quince for the evening Cardamom and cinnamon, gentle acidity, and only 48 mg of caffeine. Too weak for mornings, ideal as a post-dinner cup on a cold night. $30, waitlist only. ## The one to avoid MUD/WTR never emulsifies, leaves chunky lacing on the mug, and the bottom quarter is an undrinkable gunky mess. Ryze also flopped, leaving him cranky and sad. > A placebo high is better than nothing, right? ## Key takeaway Mushroom coffee splits into real ground coffee with mushrooms added and instant powders pretending to be coffee. The ground stuff wins on taste almost every time.