The Mud That’s Waging War on Your Coffee
WE'RE NOT MAD AT COFEE, WE'RE JUST DISAPPOINTED
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WE'RE NOT MAD AT COFEE, WE'RE JUST DISAPPOINTED -
Is MudWtr Actually Good?
MUD\WTR has the internet split. Blending today’s shroom-boom with a healthy marketing budget has made MUD\WTR incredibly popular on social media. It markets itself as a coffee alternative to keep you alert with far less caffeine than a cup of joe. At the time of writing, the MUD\WTR website claims over 1 million people served and a 4.5-star rating across 37K+ reviews.
But they’re not getting love all around - especially in the dark, dingy pits of the internet (yes, Reddit), where their products and marketing tactics are raising some brows.
We take a look to see if it’s worth the hype.
F*CK YOUR COFFEE
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F*CK YOUR COFFEE -
What is MudWtr?
As with any movements, MUD\WTR’s pro-mushroom and anti-coffee campaign has become radicalized.
Things went from a light, parental tone (”We’re not mat at coffee, we’re just dissapointed”) to full-on flipping-the-bird, leather-jacket-and-driving gloves-wearing-rebel (“F*ck your coffee”) real quick.
At More is More, we love a good cause as much as we love mushrooms.
MUD\WTR was created in Venice. Its founder, Shane Heath, was looking to bring down his coffee consumption while keeping some of the benefits we associate with the drink - alertness, energy, mental focus.
After experimenting with spices and mushroom ratios, he developed what is now known as MUD\WTR. Heath took flavor inspiration from his time living in India and drinking chai tea.
This chocolatey brown beverage mix has about 1⁄3 of the caffeine as a cup of coffee and features good-for-you ingredients. As MUD\WTR advertises on its website, this drink is “what coffee always aspired to be and tastes like something you can build a ritual around.”
Ingredients
MUD\WTR contains a pretty long list of functional ingredients that have been associated with health benefits - cacao, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, cardamom, black pepper, nutmeg, cloves.
But the main act here is the mushroom blend.
This is a blend of chaga, reishi, lion’s mane, and cordyceps, finished off with black tea powder and Himalayan pink salt. All ingredients are all 100% USDA-certified organic, sugar-free, non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan, kosher, and Whole30 approved.
A 1 tablespoon serving contains 20 calories, 0.5g fat, 10 mg sodium, 4g carbohydrates, 1g fiber, 11o mg potassium, 0.4g iron, and 562 mg of mushrooms.
Benefits of MudWtr
The mushrooms in MUD\WTR have been chosen for the potential health benefits associated with chaga, reishi, lion’s mane, and cordyceps.
Chaga is mainly used for its antioxidant properties, immune system support, and anti-inflammatory effects. Reishi has a similar role around supporting the immune system, with the added claims of reducing stress and improving sleep.
Cordyceps and Lion’s Mane are closer associated to the things I personally rely on coffee for. Lion's Mane is associated with cognitive benefits - improved memory and focus, potential nerve regeneration, and mood enhancement. Cordyceps is in there for energy, endurance, and improved athletic performance.
As with many of these ingredients, more research is needed for definitive proof of these effects in humans. But the biggest benefit of drinking MUD\WTR is reducing your caffeine consumption. A typical cup of coffee has between 90-100 mg of caffeine while one serving of MUD\WTR contains only 35 mg. A reduction in caffeine means goodbye to jitters and staying up at night and hello to a calm alertness.
Does it Really Replace Coffee?
I love coffee.
I’m a four-cups-a-day kind of person. I’ve nerded out on coffee equipment, I’ve spent too much on specialty beans, and I love it when an article comes out “confirming” the health benefits of coffee. Or wine. Or beer, but they’re harder to find (won’t stop me from looking).
But I KNOW I don’t need that 4th cup and probably don’t need the 3rd one either. And I’m not alone - more people are looking for coffee alternatives than ever before.
Replacing one of my daily coffees with a new type of sludge that holds back the caffeine-jitters and replaces them with ingredients that have a less immediate and spiky-effect has been good. I don’t know that it’ll ever fully replace my stimulant of choice, but it doesn’t have to.
When reviewing the reviews, I definitely agree more with the people saying its “ a nice switch up or substitute for times you may want less caffeine” and “a nice replacement in lieu of a 2nd cup of coffee” than the “F*ck your coffee” crowd.
What about the Naysayers?
Since reviews like this can be gamed nowadays, we actively went looking for the bad stuff. And the best place for that? Reddit.
We went to find the most common complaints about the mud in the depths of Reddit. The most common response is that any company that advertises like MUD\WTR should be a red flag - too much, too annoying. We’re not qualified to comment on the annoyingness of the ads, so we’ll leave that to reddit, but let's dig into the other stuff:
Price
The price - $40 for a 30-day supply - is steeper that if you mixed the ingredients yourself:
“Has anyone tried making their own version yet? I love this stuff but it is pricey. I’ve seen/read about people putting together their own.”
It turns out, quire a few people have tried making their own version (in fact, here’s a recipe for DIY MUD\WTR). It's definitely doable for anyone that has the time and patients.
Taste & Texture
It’s not everyone’s cuppa tea and it does leave some mud at the bottom of the mug. We’ll cover what we think about the taste further down, but for now here’s how a redditor put it:
“My friend let me try it. It tastes like sh*t. The powder clumps up bad.”
We didn’t get a huge amount of clumps in ours, but we used the MUD\WTR frother to “whip” it all up. Does the trick.
Quality of the Ingredients
Here’s the big one. Many people raised the issue of being mycelium-based and a whole mushroom powder, as opposed to a fruiting body extract, so we wanted to take a closer look:
“They aren't quality mushrooms, they use the mycelium biomass or whatever which is the oats they grow it on. It isn't the fruiting body.”
Mycelium (the part of the mushroom that is underground) and powders have become associated with a lack of potency, based on the belief that any effects come from the fruiting body (the stem and cap).
This isn’t quite the case. It is true for low-grade mycelium powders that contain too much of the grain or starch they were grown on and not enough of the mycelium itself, which often because they are cultivated before they have digested the full amount. But as long as your “mycelium” is actually mycelium, the effect is there.
Are they right about quality?
In MUD\WTR’s case, the Whole 30 Approved label is an indication that the mushrooms have been allowed to grow their full lifecycle and digested the full substrate they’re grown in. They also work with whole mushroom powders, continuing both fruiting body and mycelium - so if you’re still in the anti-mycelium camp, there ya go.
Finally, they also claim to DNA test their mushrooms to make sure they “are what they say they are”. Not as good as a third party test, so for the skeptics out there, this won’t squash the suspicion…
OK, so what Does MudWtr Taste Like?
MUD\WTR’s website describes the beverage’s taste as “like masala chai and cacao made a baby.” It definitely smells a lot like chai and tastes a bit like chai but there are some other things going on.
It’s not bad tasting. Earthy and a tiny bit shroom-y. A bit like… mud. The cocoa flavor comes out a bit and it has a slightly bitter after-taste. The website says to use 1 tablespoon of mix, but you can use half this amount for a milder flavor.
I drank it the way I usually have my coffee - oat milk on top - and tried adding some honey to soften it up. Milk, whatever kind you’re into, helps to bring some thickness to it and make it less bitter.
In all honesty, it is probably an acquired taste. A taste you live with because you want the benefits of the other ingredients in your mug of mud.
But you know what else is an acquired taste?
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😳 Coffee…
The Bottom Line
This was the full review of MudWtr based on what it is, the ingredients, possible health benefits, how it compares to coffee, and the taste. Based on these facts and the thousands of 5-star reviews, it is worth trying. Consider buying MudWtr if you like chai and chocolate and are looking for a way to reduce your coffee and caffeine intake.
Make sure to have it with milk, sugar, and creamer for a better taste. Bonus points if you want antioxidant, anti-inflammatory, and immune system-supporting ingredients.
More is More
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