A friend asked me the other day:
“Why aren’t you selling mushroom coffee?”
Because I like coffee.
That was basically my answer.
Now, granted, instant coffee has got much, much better over the years. Some of it is perfectly drinkable now. But even if we put that aside and pretend I love instant coffee, there is still another problem.
Mushrooms are not soluble.
Not properly.
If you are using a full fruiting body mushroom powder, there is actual mushroom material in there. Fibre. Insoluble bits. The stuff does not just disappear because you have stirred it into hot water.
Which means mushroom coffee can get gritty.
And I do not know about you, but I do not especially enjoy getting to the bottom of a cup of coffee and finding half the product sitting there like wet sand.
That is not really the point.
If I am using a mushroom product, I want to actually consume the mushroom product. Not leave a load of it stuck to the bottom of the mug.
This is also why I never got especially excited about the idea of mixing mushroom powder into ground coffee.
I like good coffee.
I like grinding the beans fresh. I like the ritual of it. I like the smell, the process, the fact that you are making something properly rather than opening a jar and spooning brown dust into a cup.
You can thank the Lord, the gods, the universe, whatever you like, for the fact that this little roasted bean exists and somehow makes the morning slightly more civilised.
Anyway, I digress.
If you mix mushroom powder into ground coffee and then put it through a cafetière, filter, Clever Dripper, percolator, aero press or whatever else you use, a lot of the solid mushroom material ends up exactly where the coffee grounds end up.
In the filter.
Or the bottom of the gadget.
Which raises the obvious question.
What was the point of putting it in there?
The extraction work has already been done.
Our mushroom extracts are made properly before they ever get near your kitchen. The dried fruiting body is extracted into liquid, rather than relying on the few minutes your coffee happens to be brewing to somehow do the same job.
So how do I drink mushroom coffee?
Very simply.
I make proper coffee.
I grind the beans.
I make the coffee however I happen to be making it that week.
Then I add the mushroom extract.
That way I get good coffee and I get the mushroom extract.
No gritty sludge at the bottom. No mushroom powder trapped in a filter. No pretending a cup of instant coffee has somehow become a wellness ritual because somebody put a mushroom on the packet. Not only does it taste alright, but the extracts are strong enough that you can taste them, and they work surprisingly well in coffee.
We may sell coffee one day. If we do, it will be because the coffee is good and not because mushroom coffee happens to be fashionable. Until then, I am quite happy keeping the two things separate.
Make good coffee, then add the extract. Proper Mushroom Coffee.
May the spores be with you.
Run a shop or put together hampers? Grym is available to trade.