Learn
About the mushrooms
Plain explanations of what we mill and why it matters what is in the container. Start with the label question if you are comparing products, or go straight to a species.
How to read a label
- Fruiting body and mycelium on grainThe two ways mushroom powder gets made, why the difference changes what ends up in the container, and how to read a supplement label for it.
- Powder and capsulesWhat a capsule holds, how to compare cost per gram, and when capsules are the better buy.
- Fruiting body and extractWhat an extract is, what the ratio on a label means, and when an extract is the better buy.
The species
- Lion's ManeHericium erinaceusLion's Mane is the shaggy white mushroom that looks like a small frozen waterfall. It is one of the few culinary mushrooms whose compound story turns on which part of the fungus you are holding.
- ReishiGanoderma lucidumReishi is the hard, lacquered shelf mushroom that grows off hardwood and looks more like a piece of furniture than food. It has been used in traditional wellness practices for centuries, and almost never as a vegetable.
- MaitakeGrifola frondosaMaitake is the mushroom most people meet under its other name, hen of the woods. It grows in feathered, overlapping clusters at the base of oaks, and it is one of the few species in this line that is as good on a plate as it is in a container.
- ShiitakeLentinula edodesShiitake is the one species here that needs no introduction. It is in the produce aisle, in ramen, and in every stir fry, and it has been cultivated on logs in East Asia for something close to a thousand years.
- Turkey TailTrametes versicolorTurkey Tail is the banded, fan-shaped bracket you have almost certainly walked past on a fallen log. It is one of the most common fungi in North American woods and one of the most studied in the world.
- ChagaInonotus obliquusChaga is the odd one in the blend. It grows on living birch, it is black and hard as charcoal, and almost nobody would guess it was a fungus at all.
- CordycepsCordyceps militarisCordyceps is a small bright orange club that looks more like coral than like a mushroom, and it is the species people reach for when they want something to take before effort rather than before sleep.
In the kitchen
- Lion's Mane and mushroom powder in coffeeCoffee is where most people build the habit, because the cup is already part of the morning and the mild powders vanish into it. The whole trick is matching the species to the cup and adding the powder the right way.
- Mushroom powder in eggsEggs are the easiest savory home for mushroom powder, because a powder whisked into the raw egg behaves exactly like a seasoning and cooks in with everything else. This is where the species with real flavor earn their keep.
- Mushroom powder in soup and brothSimmering mushrooms into a liquid is the oldest preparation there is, and a fine powder is the shortcut version: all of the material with no straining afterward. A pot of soup will absorb a serving without anyone calling it a mushroom soup.
- Mushroom powder in smoothiesA blender solves the only mechanical problem mushroom powder has, so smoothies are the most forgiving place to start. The powder disperses completely in the first few seconds and the fruit does the rest of the work.