I’ll be honest. When somebody says “mushroom coffee,” my first thought is not necessarily, “That sounds delicious.”

Healthy? Probably.

Interesting? Definitely.

But delicious?

I figured there had to be at least a hint of that grimy, straight-from-the-earth mushroom taste hiding somewhere in the cup. Maybe not enough to ruin it, but enough to remind you that you were drinking coffee infused with seven different kinds of mushrooms.

I was wrong.

I recently stopped by Aquality Farms in Anniston, talked with, good friend,  Samuel Sawyer and bought a bag of their new Blend Functional Mushroom Coffee. I brewed my first cup this morning while getting ready to write this article, which seemed like the appropriate way to approach the assignment.

The first surprise was how good it tasted. Not “good for mushroom coffee.” Just good coffee.

It was smooth, rich and tasted like an actual cup of coffee you would look forward to drinking in the morning. There was no strange aftertaste and none of the earthy mushroom flavor I had prepared myself for.

As I sit here writing this with the cup beside me, I can also say it seems to have put a little extra pep in my step today. Maybe that is the caffeine. Maybe it is the mushroom blend. Maybe it is a little of both. I have only just started drinking it, so I am looking forward to seeing what I notice over time.

Either way, they got the most important part right. It tastes great.

What Is in Blend Functional Mushroom Coffee?

Aquality Farms’ Blend coffee combines traditionally roasted coffee with extracts from seven functional mushrooms:

• Lion’s Mane
• Cordyceps
• Chaga
• Turkey Tail
• Shiitake
• Reishi
• King Trumpet

The mushrooms are processed using what Aquality Farms describes as an ultrasonic dual-extraction method. In simple terms, the process is designed to break down the mushrooms’ cell walls and make their naturally occurring compounds more accessible.

Samuel describes the goal behind Blend as creating a coffee that delivers high levels of naturally occurring mushroom compounds without sacrificing the taste of a good morning cup. According to Aquality Farms, the process produces an extract rich in mushroom bioactives, nootropics, antioxidants and flavonoids.

The result is meant to be pure, potent and ready to become part of an everyday wellness routine, without ruining the coffee people already enjoy every morning.

That last part matters because you can pack all the potentially beneficial compounds in the world into something, but if it tastes terrible, most people are not going to keep drinking it.

This coffee does not have that problem.

I am not a doctor, and I am not making any medical promises about what mushroom coffee will do for someone else. I can only tell you about my own experience.

Before trying Blend, I had used some of Aquality Farms’ mushroom tinctures and genuinely felt a difference in my inflammation and energy while taking them. That experience was one reason I was interested in trying the coffee.

Now, instead of remembering to take a separate tincture, I can enjoy those mushroom extracts in something I already drink every morning.

That makes a lot of sense to me.

They Started With Real Coffee

One thing that separates Blend from many wellness coffees is that Aquality Farms did not treat the coffee itself like an afterthought.

They partnered with family farms and experienced regional coffee roasters to develop coffee that could stand on its own before the mushroom extracts were added.

One option begins with certified USDA organic and FairTSA-certified beans from Adelmo Lopez’s Finca Terrerito farm in Honduras. The fully washed beans are dark roasted by Called Coffee in Anniston and feature notes of hazelnut and chocolate.

FairTSA stands for the Fair Trade Sustainability Alliance, a certification program supporting fair-trade relationships, responsible working conditions and community development within agricultural communities.

A second option uses fully washed Excelso beans from Colombia’s well-known Coffee Triangle. Those beans are sourced through Omar Herrera with Cafe Imports and roasted by Red Bike Coffee Company in Irondale. The medium-bodied roast features notes of caramel, milk chocolate and citrus.

So this is not instant powder pretending to be coffee. It begins with quality beans, experienced roasters and flavor profiles designed to make a genuinely enjoyable cup.

Then Aquality Farms adds its seven-mushroom extract.

That combination is probably why the finished product surprised me as much as it did.

More Than a Mushroom Company

The coffee may be the newest reason to visit, but it is only one part of what brothers Samuel and John Mark Sawyer are building at Aquality Farms.

The family-owned urban farm operates from a converted warehouse at 1414 Wilmer Avenue in Anniston. The building once housed their family’s produce business. Today, it has been transformed into a year-round growing operation that combines local agriculture with some pretty impressive technology.

Inside, Aquality Farms uses vertical hydroponic systems to produce lettuce, microgreens and other fresh foods without pesticides or herbicides. Another portion of the facility is devoted to gourmet and functional mushrooms, including Lion’s Mane, Oyster, Chestnut and Reishi.

According to the farm, its growing systems can produce nearly 24,000 heads of lettuce during a six-week cycle and as much as 300 pounds of mushrooms per week.

Think about that for a second. This is happening inside a warehouse in downtown Anniston.

Aquality Farms also produces mushroom tinctures, ultrasonic extracts, mushroom grow kits, microgreen products and seasonal Harvest Boxes featuring items from Aquality Farms and other local producers.

Their approach is centered on what Samuel calls being “sustainably healthy.” It is not only about producing something that may be good for the person buying it. It is also about supporting the community, reducing waste, conserving resources and finding better ways to grow food close to the people who will eat it.

Aquality Farms has worked with the Alabama Farm to School Program to provide locally grown, pesticide-free produce to thousands of students across the region. The farm also finds new uses for spent mushroom-growing material by turning it into compost for local growers instead of simply throwing it away.

It is an interesting mixture of old-fashioned local agriculture and technology that looks like it belongs in the future.

A Local Product Built Through Local Partnerships

There is another part of this coffee story that I like.

Aquality Farms grows and extracts the mushrooms. Family farms supply the coffee beans. Alabama roasters handle the roasting. All of those pieces come together in a bag sold by a locally owned Anniston business.

That is the kind of collaboration we need more of.

Samuel and John Mark are not simply putting another product on a shelf. They are building relationships between growers, roasters and customers while trying to make wellness products more approachable.

With Blend, they took something that can be a difficult sell to the average coffee drinker and made it familiar.

You do not have to replace your morning coffee with a strange-tasting wellness drink. Your morning coffee becomes the wellness drink.

My Verdict After the First Cup

I am still at the beginning of trying Blend Functional Mushroom Coffee, so I am not going to pretend one cup has transformed my life.

What I can say is that it tasted considerably better than I expected, gave me a good start to the morning and left me wanting another cup tomorrow.

That is a pretty strong first impression.

For people who have been curious about mushroom coffee but hesitant because of the possible taste, this may be the one that changes your mind. It still tastes like the morning cup you know and enjoy. It just has a lot more going on behind the scenes.

Aquality Farms’ slogan for Blend is, “Don’t Trip, Just Sip.”

After trying it for myself, that sounds like pretty good advice.

Aquality Farms is located at 1414 Wilmer Avenue in Anniston, Alabama. Learn more about its functional mushroom coffee, ultrasonic extracts, fresh produce and other products at aqualityfarms.com or follow Aquality Farms on Facebook.