How easy is it to make mushroom coffee at home? Actually much easier than I thought – here's why you don't need a coffee machine to master it
All of the various means and methods to making mushroom coffee
Most trends (Dubai chocolate, anyone?) last a few weeks and are forgotten by the end of the year. Mushroom coffee, however, has stuck around for more than a decade.
For the uninitiated, mushroom coffee is coffee combined with a variety of so-called 'functional' mushrooms. These mushrooms are said to provide all sorts of benefits, from increased energy and focus to stress relief and a stronger immune system.
But much of the marketing for these coffees is couched in wellness jargon that obscures the simplicity of the drink. This is everything you need to know about how to make mushroom coffee at home – spoiler alert: you don't need one of the best coffee machines to do it.
How does mushroom coffee work?
Mushroom coffee, as its name suggests, combines coffee with medicinal mushrooms. Coffee, usually instant coffee, is mixed with powdered mushrooms, most typically Lion's Mane mushrooms, as in the Dirtea Coffee with Lion's Mane, available at Amazon for £31.49, a blend I've been trying at home.
The idea is that this blend reduces the drink's caffeine content, preventing jitters, stomach upsets, and poor sleep. At the same time, the inclusion of nootropic mushrooms can have host of benefits. Lion's Mane mushrooms are believed to increase focus, Reishi mushrooms are said to relieve stress, and Chaga mushrooms boost immunity.
Because mushroom coffee uses finely-ground coffee and mushrooms, it's incredibly easy to prepare. Mushroom coffees are almost always instant coffee, so all you need to do it add boiling water – no specialist equipment in sight.
This highly-rated mushroom coffee is a winner if you want to stock up for a few months. There's also a matcha version.
Can you make mushroom coffee in a coffee machine?
However, if you're put off by use of instant coffee in some mushroom coffees, there are other - albeit less common - ways to make mushroom coffee at home.
Brands like Four Sigmatic make ground mushroom coffee (£18 via Amazon), so you can brew it as you would any other ground coffee. You can make it like pour over in a Hario V60 cone, for instance, or in an Aeropress – I recently tried a whole host of those out if they're new to you. This will let you play with brew times to adjust the strength and flavour of your mushroom coffee.
If you have a pod coffee machine, you can also find mushroom coffee pods. The brand GoMush makes pods compatible with the original Nespresso machines (via Amazon for £13.99). Instant mushroom coffee is a faster method, but if you want a crema on your cofffe this might take the brew up a level.
You could, hypothetically, make this sort of mushroom coffee in a filter coffee machine like the Ninja Prestige Dualbrew System, which I recently reviewed. However, mushroom coffee is often expensive, and you need a lot of it to brew filter coffee this way. In most cases, you're best option is to stick to instant mushroom coffee.
Can I make mushroom coffee at home?
The truly health-and-coffee-obsessed can make mushroom coffee for themselves at home, but can be a bit of a faff. That said, if you have a preferred coffee roast that you think could do with a little boost from mushrooms, homemade could be the way to make a more personal blend.
The most simple way to make your own mushroom blend at home is to take some ground coffee - either ready-ground for a supermarket, or ground at home - and mix it with mushroom powder. Mushroom powder can be found at most whole food and health shops, or online. Most people mix it in a 1:1 ratio of coffee to mushroom powder, but if you want to limit the mushroom taste you could try a 2:1 mix; the benefit of making it yourself is that you can tailor the mix to your needs.
If you're really obsessive, you can make your own mushroom powder at home. Slice your chosen mushrooms, then lay them out in a dehydrator or one of the best air fryers with a dehydrate function. Dehydrate them for around 8 hours until they're brittle. Then, transfer them to a coffee or spice grinder, and grind them into your desired texture.
For most people, this is overkill, but it will let you dial in the exact taste, texture, and benefits you desire if you want to get involved in this particular trend.
