Mushroom Drinks: Why Mushrooms Are Trending in Functional Beverages

From mushroom coffee to modern functional drinks

Mushrooms have a long history in various nutritional traditions. Today, varieties of Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Cordyceps, Chaga and Shiitake are being discovered as ingredients for new food and beverage concepts. The category of these so called "functional mushrooms" is still a niche, but its development is dynamic. According to Mintel, the number of product launches containing mushrooms increased globally by 89%, from 105 in 2021 to 198 in 2025. Source: Mintel, GNPD, 2021-2026

Coffee has been an important entry point for functional mushrooms. In the US, 31% of surveyed consumers have already tried Lion’s Mane in food or drink, while a further 37% say they are interested in it. Mushroom-infused coffee is emerging in North America within the functional space, with products combining coffee with ingredients including lion's mane, reishi and cordyceps. Source: Mintel, A Year of Innovation in Coffee, 2026 

Mushrooms are moving beyond coffee

Hot beverages and nutritional drinks together represented more than 75% of mushroom beverage launches during 2021–2023. By 2026, it is now clearly extending beyond coffee. The development of carbonated soft drinks is particularly striking: their share of the analysed mushroom beverage launches increased from virtually no presence in 2021 to 11.8% in 2026. Sports & energy drinks and juice drinks have also gained importance. 
This development shows that mushrooms are increasingly being combined with beverage formats consumers are already familiar with, ranging from coffee and sparkling drinks to fruity refreshments. Source: Mintel, GNPD, 2026

The development differs from market to market. According to Mintel, the US has become an important centre for mushroom beverage innovation, while the UK market is also showing strong growth. In addition, new products can be observed in countries including Germany, France, Belgium and the Netherlands. The category therefore remains relatively young, particularly in Europe, but its geographic footprint is widening. Source: Mintel, GNPD, 2026

Lion’s Mane meets fruit and botanicals

Lion’s Mane, also known as Hericium erinaceus, is emerging as a particularly visible ingredient. Using Lion’s Mane extract leads to an important challenge for product developers: a trending ingredient alone is not enough to make a successful beverage. Taste, refreshment and drinkability also need to deliver.

Market examples therefore increasingly combine Lion’s Mane with familiar flavours and functional ingredients. Also at AUSTRIA JUICE, experts are developing functional drinks with Lion’s Mane extract. The variants combine Lion’s Mane extract with magnesium in a low-calorie, carbonated beverage. The addition of magnesium provides an established nutritional basis for the concept. Due to its magnesium content, the AUSTRIA JUICE Lion’s Mane enriched drink qualifies as a source of magnesium. Magnesium contributes to the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, to the normal functioning of the nervous system and to normal psychological function.

These kinds of product concepts illustrate how functional mushrooms can be translated into modern refreshing beverages without the unusual ingredient taking centre stage in terms of taste.

Reishi meets non-alcoholic cider

Reishi also opens up interesting possibilities. The ingredient can already be found in sparkling drinks and other non-alcoholic concepts and is frequently used in the market in beverages positioned around wellness and emotional wellbeing. Source: Mintel, GNPD, 2026

AUSTRIA JUICE interprets this development with soft drinks, but also by presenting an innovative non-alcoholic cider with Reishi. The share of new product launches of non-alcoholic variants of beer and cider rose from 9% to 15% within the last four years in Europe. Germany is one of the pioneers of this trend. The AUSTRIA JUICE product concept combines dealcoholized apple wine with Reishi mushroom extract and demonstrates how mushroom ingredients can also be used beyond conventional wellness drinks. Source: Mintel, GNPD, 2021-2025

Non-alcoholic alternatives in particular offer room for such approaches: taste, an adult character and new ingredient worlds can be combined to create new possibilities for differentiated beverage concepts.

Taste remains the key

Perhaps the most important aspect of the mushroom trend is therefore not the mushrooms themselves. It is how they are integrated into a beverage. AUSTRIA JUICE combines extracts from mushrooms such as Lion’s Mane, Reishi or Shiitake with appealing fruity or botanical flavour profiles and ingredients such as magnesium to develop contemporary, functional  beverage concepts with functional benefits.

Mushrooms are now appearing in a growing range of everyday beverages, including coffee, cacao, matcha and refreshing drinks. This fits into a broader development in the beverage market: consumers expect functional beverages to offer more than an additional benefit. The sensory experience remains equally important.

What comes next?

Market data shows that Lion’s Mane, Reishi, Shiitake, Cordyceps and other mushrooms are gradually moving beyond their original niche. Particularly interesting is their increasing combination with familiar beverage categories, fruity flavours and botanical profiles. For beverage development, this creates new possibilities, ranging from coffee to sparkling sodas and non-alcoholic variants of beer and cider. AUSTRIA JUICE is picking up on this trend with its Lion’s Mane and Shiitake enriched drinks as well as non-alcoholic cider with Reishi, and translating mushrooms into modern beverage concepts where functionality and taste are considered together.