The easiest way to use mushroom coffee is to stop treating it like a supplement. Brew it like coffee, then build the drink you actually want.
Urban Calm has four roast profiles, so the recipe can follow the coffee. Onward is light, Centered is medium, Dreamer is dark and Lioness is espresso. Each one works differently with milk, ice, chocolate, maple and food.
Before you start
For bagged Urban Calm coffee, start around 3 tbsp (14 g) per 8 oz (240 mL) of water and adjust to taste. For iced drinks, brew a little stronger so melting ice does not flatten the coffee. For K-Cups, an 8 oz brew is a useful starting point, with a smaller setting when you want more intensity.
1. Iced Maple Mushroom Coffee
Best with: Lioness Espresso
Use chilled Lioness, real maple syrup, citrus and a silky vanilla-maple foam for the Golden Maple Glow Up. It is the most layered drink in this collection, but the method is still simple.
2. Vanilla Lion's Mane Latte
Best with: Lioness Espresso
Vanilla and milk soften Lioness without hiding the espresso roast. The full recipe is in our Vanilla Lion's Mane Latte.
3. Iced Chaga Coffee
Best with: Onward Light Roast
Chill a strong Onward brew, pour it over ice and add a small amount of maple and milk if you like. See the full Iced Chaga Mushroom Coffee recipe.
4. Vanilla Cold Foam Mushroom Coffee
Best with: Centered Medium Roast
Cold foam turns a normal iced coffee into a café-style drink without making the recipe complicated. Our vanilla cold foam recipe uses Centered as the coffee base.
5. Mushroom Coffee Espresso Tonic
Best with: Lioness Espresso
Cold tonic water, ice, citrus and a strong Lioness brew create a crisp alternative to a milky iced coffee. Use the mushroom coffee espresso tonic recipe.
6. Mushroom Coffee Affogato
Best with: Lioness or a concentrated Dreamer brew
Pour hot coffee over vanilla ice cream and eat it immediately. That is basically the whole recipe. See our three-ingredient mushroom coffee affogato.
7. Coffee-Banana Protein Smoothie
Best with: Lioness or Onward
Use cooled coffee, frozen banana, milk, nut butter and your normal protein source if you use one. The dedicated mushroom coffee protein smoothie is built for flavour first, not a performance promise.
8. Maple Vanilla Overnight Oats
Best with: Centered Medium Roast
A small amount of cooled coffee gives overnight oats a mocha-adjacent flavour without turning breakfast into dessert. See Maple Vanilla Mushroom Coffee Overnight Oats.
9. Dark Roast Mushroom Coffee Mocha
Best with: Dreamer Dark Roast
Cocoa, maple, milk and Dreamer make an easy mocha. The dedicated dark roast mushroom coffee mocha includes a campfire variation with toasted marshmallow.
10. French Vanilla Centered
Best with: Centered Medium Roast
Warm milk with vanilla and a small amount of maple or brown sugar, froth lightly and pour it over Centered. It is the simplest café-style recipe in the group.
11. Onward Iced Coffee
Best with: Onward Light Roast
Brew Onward a little stronger than normal, chill it and pour over ice. Add milk or maple only if you want it. This is the recipe to use when you want the coffee itself to stay in charge.
12. Dreamer Maple Latte
Best with: Dreamer Dark Roast
Stir 1 to 2 teaspoons of pure maple syrup into a strong Dreamer brew, then add warm frothed milk and a pinch of cinnamon.
Can you use K-Cups for these recipes?
Yes. K-Cups are especially useful for lattes, iced drinks and quick breakfast recipes because the serving is consistent. Use the 8 oz setting as a starting point and a smaller brew size when a recipe needs a stronger coffee base.
Pair the recipe with the roast, not the mushroom name
This is the same advice we give when someone is choosing their first bag. Start with the coffee style you already like. A vanilla latte makes more sense with Lioness if you like espresso. A lighter iced coffee makes more sense with Onward. A mocha usually wants Dreamer.
If you want food instead of another drink, see what to eat with mushroom coffee. If you want the brewing basics first, use our mushroom coffee brewing guide.
