What Is Mushroom Coffee And Why Is It So Popular?

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It's not everywhere yet, but in recent years, you may have noticed a growing — and peculiar — presence on coffee shop menus: mushroom coffee. Once a niche product, it has been surging in popularity, growing from a $460 million worldwide market in 2020, according to Grand View Research, to over $3 billion by the end of 2024, per Precedence Research. And while growth is never assured, forecasts expect that number to grow to around $5 billion by early next decade. So, even if you don't have any coffee shops around you selling it right now, you likely will soon. 

Of course, this will lead you to ask the first question almost everyone has when they see mushroom coffee on a menu for the first time: "What?" Mushroom coffee is actually a relatively simple concept, usually being a mixture of ground mushrooms and coffee. However, you will also find some mushroom coffee brands that forgo the coffee half entirely and are just a blend of different powdered mushrooms, sometimes with flavorings like chicory root added to more closely mimic the flavor of real coffee. 

Either way, it's brewed much the same way as regular coffee, by steeping in hot water. As you might expect, the mushrooms lend the coffee a more earthy flavor, which can actually help balance out the normal bitterness. Because some coffee is being subbed out for mushroom powder, it also typically has less caffeine, while coffee-free varieties will be completely caffeine-free. That's all pretty clear, but why are people drinking this?

There is an understandable appeal to coffee with a more mild caffeine kick, especially if you like the flavor of mushroom, but the reason behind mushroom coffee's uptick in popularity is the list of supposed health benefits. The blend of mushrooms in mushroom coffee usually consists of medicinal varieties such as lion's mane, chaga, cordyceps, and reishi. Proponents — and companies — selling mushroom coffee claim that it has many health benefits, from improving energy and sleep to helping with stress and inflammation.

There is a history of mushrooms being used for health purposes in traditional medicine, and there is some proof that they do have benefits for your body. But, like many health trends, it's best to take claims with a grain of salt. Being made from ground mushrooms, mushroom coffee does have some of the same vitamins and minerals, and contains compounds that have been shown to be antioxidants and have anti-inflammatory properties. However, actual scientific research into many of these benefits is extremely limited, and some claims — such as that it helps with weight loss — have no established factual basis. 

If mushroom coffee does have a benefit, it will most likely be in reducing your caffeine consumption. While some of the claims have grounding, if you want the full nutritional benefits of mushrooms, you are better off eating them whole. There is no reason to avoid mushroom coffee if you like the taste, but don't go expecting any medical miracles, either. If you want to try it, you can order a 12-ounce bag of Four Sigmatic organic mushroom coffee on Amazon.