Four Sigma Foods has released two types of mushroom coffee. I’ve been drinking their cordyceps & chaga blend. There is also a lion’s mane based mushroom coffee.  Their product has 40mg of instant coffee which immediately brought me back to my college days. The taste of instant coffee is quite distinct.

This product claims to have no jitters or crashes. The wild harvested chaga and cordyceps mushrooms are low acid which is supposed to prevent stomach burn and support the adrenals. It contains 500mg of mushrooms per serving.

My experience was quite positive with their coffee mushroom mix. It is ideal for traveling or camping.  The travel size packs need only to be hydrated in 7oz of hot water. A cup of mushroom coffee can quickly be prepared and drunk with minimal fuss. I took some packets on a multi-day mountain run had lots of fun getting other people racing to try it. There is a novelty factor with mushroom coffee that is irresistible.

The taste is not bitter, but it is earthy. The box suggests combining their mushroom mix with cacao powder, butter or coconut oil. I tried a mix of those ingredients and it improved the taste.

The downsides to this product are the per packet price and quantity of caffeine. A Starbucks Via (instant packet) costs half as much ($0.75 versus $1.50). The Via’s also offer 3x the caffeine at 120mg versus 40mg in the mushroom blends.

The “Fat-Burning Man Show” a podcast by Abel James recently released an interview with the founder of Four Sigmatic Tero Isokauppila.