Mushroom coffee vs instant coffee: what you are actually paying more for
Instant coffee is the drink mushroom coffee is most often compared with, because both are a powder and a kettle. It is also the comparison where the price gap is biggest: supermarket instant is 15 to 30 cents a cup and Mello is about $1.67. That gap deserves a plain answer rather than a marketing one, so this is what is actually different and when the difference is worth paying for.
What instant coffee is
Brewed coffee that has been dried to a soluble powder or granule, by spray drying or freeze drying. Most supermarket instant is made from robusta beans, which are cheaper, higher in caffeine and harsher than arabica. Freeze dried and premium instants use more arabica and taste noticeably better. A teaspoon of instant is typically 60 to 80mg of caffeine, and a heaped one is more.
What mushroom coffee is
Mello is a blend: arabica coffee, six mushroom extracts listed as one blend on the pack, coconut milk powder and MCT oil, with no added sugar. It dissolves the same way instant does, with a paste first step to avoid sediment. A serve is about 48mg of caffeine. It is a different product that happens to share a format with instant, not a premium instant.
Taste
Basic instant tastes thin and slightly burnt, which is the robusta and the drying process. Premium instant is closer to a decent filter coffee. Mello tastes like a medium dark roast with body, because the coconut milk powder gives it the mouthfeel of a coffee with a splash of milk even when made with water. It is not an espresso and does not pretend to be. Made with milk, the gap between a good instant and Mello narrows on taste; made with water, Mello is the rounder cup.
Caffeine
Instant at 60 to 80mg a cup versus Mello at about 48mg. Not a huge gap for one cup, but people who drink instant tend to drink several, and three instants is 200mg or more while three Mellos is about 145mg. If lower caffeine is the goal, the mushroom coffee wins by a modest margin per cup and a larger one over a day. Our caffeine guide has the full table.
Price, honestly
A 200g jar of supermarket instant is $8 to $15 and makes about 100 cups, so 10 to 15 cents each. Premium freeze dried is 30 to 50 cents. Mello is $1.67 one off, $1.33 on a three pack, about $1.37 on subscription. That is five to ten times the price of a good instant. Our cost per cup article shows how to compare any pouch. What you are paying for is the arabica base, the coconut milk powder and MCT oil, the mushroom blend, and a caffeine number that is printed and consistent. Whether that is worth it depends entirely on why you are buying.
The ingredient list, side by side
A jar of plain instant has one ingredient: coffee. Flavoured and three in one instants add sugar, creamer, vegetable oils and flavourings, and a single sachet can carry 10 to 15g of sugar. Mello has arabica coffee, six mushroom extracts, coconut milk powder and MCT oil, and no added sugar. So if you are comparing a plain instant with Mello, the difference is the blend and the base; if you are comparing a sweetened sachet with Mello, the difference is also the sugar, and the mushroom coffee is the plainer product of the two despite the longer list.
When instant is the right choice
If you want a cheap, fast, caffeinated hot drink and you are not fussed about taste or the mushroom blend, buy a good freeze dried instant and do not feel bad about it. It is a perfectly reasonable coffee. If you drink four or five cups a day, the price difference at Mello's rate is $6 or more a day, which is real money, and a lower caffeine instant habit would be the cheaper way to cut the dose.
When mushroom coffee is the right choice
If you are replacing a cafe coffee, not an instant, the price comparison flips: Mello is a third of a flat white. If you want the taste of a coffee with milk while drinking it black. If you want a lower, predictable caffeine dose without switching to decaf. And if you want the six mushroom blend, which instant does not have and which is the reason the category exists. Our is it worth it article goes through the decision at length.
What the mushrooms add, stated plainly
Six mushrooms in one listed blend, with early and small human research behind them, none of it done with a coffee. We do not claim the blend does anything in particular. What each mushroom has been studied for is on our research pages, so you can read the methods rather than the marketing and decide for yourself whether that part of the price is worth it to you.
A fair middle option
Some people keep both: an instant for the second and third cups of the day, Mello for the first. It cuts the daily cost and keeps the mushroom blend in the routine. There is nothing wrong with that and we would rather say so than pretend every cup has to be ours.
The caveat
Anyone with a mushroom allergy should avoid both Mello blends. The coffee contains coconut milk and MCT oil; a coconut allergy means the matcha or neither. Anyone pregnant, breastfeeding, on medication or managing a medical condition should check with a GP or pharmacist before adding a mushroom extract. Both pouches are 30 serves, ship free Australia wide and carry a 30 day money back guarantee.