Goodbye Regular Flat White. Functional Coffees Are Taking Over the High Street

The Rise of Functional Coffee: A New Trend in the Cup

Zak Haddad has been starting his day with a cup of coffee infused with lion's mane—a type of mushroom—for the past three years. He claims it gives him a "really clear, focused feeling," without the "spike and crash you can sometimes get from strong coffee." This unique approach to coffee is part of a growing trend known as "functional coffees," which aim to provide consumers with benefits beyond the typical caffeine boost.

Functional coffees have been around for years, commonly found in health food stores, but they are now making their way into high street coffee shops. When Zak opened his own coffee shop, Sipp in Chorlton, Greater Manchester, in late 2023, he was eager to include mushroom coffees on the menu. His shop offers four different types of mushroom powder, each with its own set of benefits. Customers can pay an extra £1 to add a mushroom powder or a supplement like collagen to their drinks, whether it's a latte or a cappuccino.

From Niche Wellness to Mainstream Appeal

Coffee made with mushrooms, such as lion's mane, reishi, and chaga, is believed to offer better focus "without the jitters of regular coffee," according to nutritionist Eli Brecher. However, she notes that research on these benefits is still ongoing. Over the past year, the demand for mushroom coffees has increased significantly. Health food chain Holland and Barrett has almost doubled its range of mushroom coffees, while Starbucks has started selling barista-made protein coffee in its US stores, offering high-protein milk and cold foam. In the UK, pre-made protein coffee is available in supermarkets alongside other brands like Jimmy's and Emmi.

Food research company Tastewise lists functional coffee as one of its top trends for 2026. It found that the number of mushroom coffees on UK coffee shop menus has grown by 30% over the past year. "Functional coffees are shifting from niche wellness corners into the mainstream," says Ms. Brecher, who herself drinks mushroom coffee. She explains that people are becoming more interested in wellbeing, stress support, and energy stability, and that adding extra ingredients to a cup of coffee "feels like an easy upgrade, rather than an overhaul."

The Business Side of Functional Coffee

The Black Sheep Coffee chain has been offering scoops of protein powder and CBD as add-ons to its drinks for some time, but earlier this year, it launched its "functional health" latte range. One of the lattes contains prebiotic fibres aimed at improving gut health, while another with collagen is meant to help with skin health. However, it's the lion's mane latte that is Black Sheep's bestseller, according to Ben Fenton, their chief operating officer. Customer response to the drink has been "far beyond" what the company expected.

Customers add functional add-ons to about 15% of all coffee, matcha, and smoothie orders from Black Sheep, he says. Prices vary by location, but at Black Sheep Coffee in Birmingham, adding a shot of lion's mane to your coffee costs 99p, and a shot of collagen costs £1.09. So if you buy a functional coffee every day, rather than your regular one, over the course of a month you'll spend about £30 more. Meanwhile, in the US, Starbucks customers are paying $1 (76p) to add high-protein milk or $2 (£1.52) to add high-protein cold foam to their coffee.

Consumer Perspectives on Functional Coffee

At Liverpool Street Station in London, not everyone seems enticed by the idea of paying extra for a functional coffee. Many say they haven't come across the concept of coffees made with ingredients like mushrooms and ashwagandha—herbs some people think help with stress—before. However, someone well-aware of the trend is Mariam Begum, a 31-year-old who drinks coffee with a shot of collagen daily. Sometimes she adds protein powder too. As a self-described caffeine addict, she drinks three or four coffees a day, either making them at home with collagen she's bought online or grabbing an iced coffee or flat white with collagen or protein from a coffee shop near her home in London.

Lauren Devlin, a former competitive power-lifter, has never bought a functional coffee from a cafe but says she would if she ever saw them on a menu—even if she had to pay more. For years, she's been drinking both coffee and protein shakes every day, but about five years ago, she started combining the two. She now buys instant coffee containing collagen and protein powder online to make at home, which she says makes her "feel fuller" than a regular coffee.

The Taste and Perception of Functional Coffee

So how does functional coffee actually taste? I ordered a lion's mane coffee with oat milk from Black Sheep, dubbed its "brain blend," alongside a regular oat-milk latte. Andrew Salter, cofounder of mushroom drinks brand Dirtea, says lion's mane in particular has a subtle taste, and I found there was next to no difference between my functional coffee and the regular one. The mushroom latte was possibly slightly more bitter, but my perception may have been affected because I was expecting it to taste different. The texture and appearance of both coffees seemed identical.

There's still a lot of confusion about the purpose of functional coffee—Mr. Salter says when he set up his brand "99.9% of people asked if they were going to get high." But the mushrooms used in coffees, like lion's mane, are a different species to magic mushrooms and aren't psychoactive.

Benefits and Research on Functional Coffee

Some who regularly drink functional coffees speak highly of their benefits. Ana Richardson, who lives in Cardiff, says lion's mane coffee made her feel like her brain "just started working" and it was easier to focus on one thing at a time after drinking it. But the 29-year-old, who ordered lion's mane online to add to coffees at home, found it expensive and switched to drinking lion's mane tincture mixed into water instead. Recently, Ana has also tried coffee with ashwagandha. "I'm awake, but I'm not jittery," she says of the drink. "I'm not anxious."

However, the health benefits of functional coffees vary quite a lot, and for most people, they're not essential, says Bini Suresh from the British Dietetics Association. Often the doses of functional ingredients in coffees "are too low to replicate the effects reported in research trials," she adds. "At present, there's no robust evidence that lion's mane in typical coffee doses can meaningfully improve memory, focus, or brain health."

But the research is "still emerging," says nutritionist Eli Brecher. "So if it makes you feel good and you have the budget for it, then go ahead and enjoy," she says. "But the key is to remember that it's an add-on—not a magic fix."

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