Lion's Mane Coffee: What It Is and How to Drink It

3 min read By Mataye

In brief

Lion's mane coffee is coffee blended with Hericium erinaceus, a white, shaggy edible mushroom. What it is, what research says so far and how to choose one.

Lion's Mane Coffee: What It Is and How to Drink It

Lion's mane coffee is coffee blended with powdered lion's mane mushroom (Hericium erinaceus). Some products are lion's mane only; others, like ours, mix it with other mushrooms. It tastes like coffee, not like mushroom, and it contains caffeine from the coffee.

What is lion's mane?

Lion's mane is a white, shaggy mushroom that grows on hardwood trees. It looks a bit like a pom-pom or, as the name says, a lion's mane. It is eaten as a food in China and Japan, where it is called hou tou gu and yamabushitake, and it has been used in traditional Chinese medicine for a long time. In cooking it has a mild, slightly seafood-like flavour; dried and powdered in coffee you will not notice it.

Is lion's mane legal in the UK?

Yes. Lion's mane is sold in the UK as a food and food supplement. It is not a magic mushroom, it contains no psilocybin and it is not a controlled substance.

What does the research say?

Lion's mane contains compounds called hericenones and erinacines. In lab studies these have been looked at for their effect on nerve growth factor, a protein involved in the health of nerve cells, and that is where most of the interest comes from. In people the evidence is thin: a handful of small trials, the best known with around 30 older adults in Japan, with mixed results. Nothing is proven yet, and no health claims are authorised for lion's mane in the UK.

So treat lion's mane coffee as a coffee with an interesting ingredient, not as a treatment.

How much lion's mane is in a cup?

It varies a lot, and many brands do not say. Studies have used anything from a few hundred milligrams of extract to around 3 g of dried mushroom a day, so doses are hard to compare. Mataye Mushroom Coffee has 700 mg of lion's mane fruiting body per 6 g serving, alongside 700 mg each of reishi, cordyceps, chaga and shiitake.

Side effects and who should avoid it

  • Lion's mane is generally well tolerated as a food. Mild stomach upset has been reported.
  • Avoid it if you are allergic to mushrooms.
  • If you are pregnant or breastfeeding, there is not enough safety data; ask your GP or midwife.
  • If you take medicine for diabetes or blood clotting, check with a pharmacist, as lab studies suggest lion's mane may affect blood sugar and clotting.
  • Remember the coffee: lion's mane coffee has caffeine, so it is not for children.

How to drink lion's mane coffee

Exactly like instant coffee. Stir one serving into 200 to 250 ml of hot water or milk. Most people have it in the morning because of the caffeine. For an iced version, dissolve it in a little hot water first, then add cold milk and ice.

How to choose a lion's mane coffee in the UK

  • Dose per serving: pick a brand that states the milligrams of lion's mane per cup.
  • Fruiting body: the mushroom itself, rather than mycelium grown on grain.
  • Caffeine: if you want less, look for a blend with less coffee per serving or a decaf version.
  • Price per cup: divide the price by the number of servings.

Mataye Mushroom Coffee works out at about 87p a cup (£25.99 for 30 servings), with free UK delivery. New to the category? Start with what is mushroom coffee.

Keep reading: lion's mane benefits, study by study, what mushroom coffee can and cannot do and our complete mushroom coffee guide.

Read next: how to make mushroom coffee.

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