While Four Sigmatic sneakily injects adaptogens directly into coffee grounds, many adaptogen drinks market themselves as an alternative, often with lower caffeine content. UK-based Spacegoods Rainbow DustIt’s hard to miss in its bright pink and purple packaging, and it contains 80 milligrams—less than most coffees. Its ingredients list boasts lion’s mane, cordyceps, and chaga mushrooms, along with other plant-based adaptogens like ashwagandha, maca root, and rhodiola rosea. That’s a lot to pack into a spoonful of powder, which comes in flavors like chocolate, coffee, strawberry, cinnamon vanilla, and a decaffeinated raw cocoa.
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E-commerce entrepreneur Matthew Kelly launched the brand in 2022 after the failure of his previous business, an online neon sign retailer that went bankrupt in 2021. Kelly stumbled upon functional mushrooms while struggling to figure out what to do next.
Kelly’s e-commerce background is evident in Spacegoods’ online presence. Like many direct-to-consumer functional beverage brands, the company heavily promotes its subscription model, and after purchasing some Rainbow Dust, I found myself bombarded with Instagram ads and marketing emails promising all sorts of benefits.
Kelly admits that adaptive drink advertising requires walking a fine line. Manufacturers want to shout about the potential benefits of their products, but the UK’s Advertising Standards Authority prohibits claims that food products can prevent, treat or cure human disease; many brands have had to pull ad refers to health conditions such as anxiety, dementia or ADHD.
I tried the original chocolate flavor of Rainbow Dust and found it sickeningly sweet. It doesn’t taste like mushrooms, really, but it doesn’t really strike me as a health drink. Kelly admits that marketing a chocolate-flavored drink as an enhancement to coffee might confuse some shoppers; he prefers the coffee flavor, which was introduced this year.
Those with more mature palates may want to try the US brand. MUD\WTR—founder Shane Heath says he was inspired by his coworkers’ reactions to his homemade prototypes and ended up “naturally viral.” A former caffeine addict, Heath switched to alternative coffees after noticing negative effects on his sleep and mood. His tagline: “I’m not mad at coffee, just frustrated.”
Whisk Review
The original version of MUD\WTR only has 35 milligrams of caffeine, along with lion’s mane, cordyceps, chaga, and reishi mushrooms, among other ingredients. Its real winning formula, however, lies in its cacao and masala chai flavors. The natural earthiness of the spices cleverly masks any unpleasant mushroomy notes. Brewed with hot water or milk, it’s not quite like coffee, but it still has a subtlety (though I did find a fair amount of sediment settling at the bottom of the cup).
At first I scoffed at the company’s insistence on selling its powder in a starter kit with a mini electric frother, but as I brewed a cup, I recalled Spector’s observation about the role of ritual in amplifying perceived benefits and wondered if this extra step of preparation was really a wise decision. It forced a pause, which in itself inspired focus—Okay, I’ll mix this drink and then sit down to write this story. I’m pretty sure my subsequent productive writing session was largely the result of the placebo effect, but I’ll take it.
