When I gave up coffee, I thought finding something else to drink would be the easy part.

It wasn't.

What I missed most wasn't simply having something hot in my hand. I missed the flavor of coffee and that rich, creamy cup. I wanted something dark and roasted that I could brew in the morning, add cream to, and actually look forward to drinking.

But “coffee alternative” turned out to be an incredibly broad category.

Some are mushroom powders. Some still contain actual coffee. Some are made from roasted grains. Others lean heavily into cacao or chai spices. Some dissolve instantly into your cup, while others are brewed or steeped from roasted roots like chicory and dandelion.

And they don't taste remotely alike.

That's why trying one coffee alternative and hating it doesn't necessarily mean you're out of options. You may have simply tried the wrong kind of coffee alternative for what you were hoping to replace.

The best coffee alternative for you depends on what you actually miss about coffee. Someone who drank black coffee may be looking for dark roasted flavor and bitterness. A mocha or hazelnut drinker may want something entirely different. And someone shopping for functional mushrooms may care more about the ingredients than whether the finished cup tastes like coffee at all.

Jump to:

Why Do Coffee Alternatives Taste So Different?     What Are You Actually Looking For?     How Do Popular Coffee Alternatives Differ?     Why I Eventually Made My Own Coffee Alternative

Will a Coffee Alternative Actually Taste Like Coffee?     How to Switch From Coffee to a Coffee Alternative     Which Not Coffee Should I Try?     Coffee Alternative FAQs

Why Do Coffee Alternatives Taste So Different?

The first mistake I made was thinking “coffee alternative” described a particular kind of drink.

It really doesn't.

Walk through the options today, and you'll find roasted chicory and dandelion roots, roasted grains, mushroom blends, instant coffee mixed with mushrooms, cacao, chai spices, carob, and all sorts of combinations of those ingredients.

Some contain caffeine, and some don't. Some are instant powders. Some are brewed like coffee. Some are steeped like tea and strained. Some are deliberately trying to provide that dark roasted coffee experience, while others are really offering something different to drink in place of coffee.

That distinction matters.

If what you miss is black coffee, a cacao-chai-mushroom drink may leave you wondering how anyone considers it a coffee replacement. But if you were looking for mushrooms and lower caffeine, that same drink may be exactly what you wanted.

Neither person is wrong. They're shopping for different things under the same enormous label of “coffee alternative.”

^{Photo: By Farmhouse Teas}

What Are You Actually Looking For in a Coffee Alternative?

Before comparing brands, I'd start with your old cup of coffee.

Do you miss the dark roasted flavor?

Look toward alternatives built around roasted ingredients such as chicory, dandelion, carob, roasted grains, or similar ingredients. These are the options I'd explore first if your biggest complaint about other alternatives is that they don't taste enough like coffee.

Did you usually drink flavored coffee?

Don't assume you need the plainest alternative to get the most “authentic” experience. If your coffee always had hazelnut flavoring, vanilla, maple, chocolate, cream, or something else added to it, a plain roasted drink may actually be farther away from the cup you miss.

Are mushrooms the reason you're shopping?

Then look at the mushrooms as well as the flavor. Some mushroom products contain actual coffee, some combine mushrooms with chicory, and others pair mushrooms with cacao and spices. A mushroom coffee alternative and a coffee alternative that happens to contain mushrooms aren't necessarily trying to accomplish the same thing.

Are you trying to avoid caffeine?

Don't assume “coffee alternative” means caffeine-free. Some products still contain coffee, black tea, cacao or other caffeine-containing ingredients.

Does instant convenience matter?

This is another real dividing line.

If you want to scoop something into a mug, add water, stir, and go, an instant alternative may make the most sense. If you enjoy brewing and prefer loose roasted roots and herbs that are strained from the finished cup, you'll probably be happier looking in another direction.

Once you know which of those things matters most, the coffee-alternative aisle starts making a lot more sense.

^{Photo: By Kimberly Davis Photography & Farmhouse Teas} 

How Do Popular Coffee Alternatives Differ?

If you've already tried a coffee alternative and didn't care for it, don't write off the whole category. The popular options can taste and feel surprisingly different.

RYZE

RYZE is a powdered mushroom drink that, depending on the blend, combines functional mushrooms with coffee or chicory. Some people who have tried it describe the flavor and texture as earthy, muddy, gritty or chalky. Others say they need quite a bit of cream or sweetener, or even mix it with regular coffee, to make it more enjoyable.

For someone looking primarily for mushrooms, that may not be a deal breaker. But for a coffee drinker looking for a rich, smooth replacement for their usual cup, the earthy flavor and powdery texture can be where RYZE misses the mark.

Teeccino

Teeccino comes in a huge range of flavors, but some coffee drinkers complain about an overly flavored or strangely sweet taste, particularly the added “coffee flavor” found in some blends. For someone looking for the natural dark, roasted character of coffee, that can leave the cup tasting a little manufactured rather than convincingly coffee-like.

Dandy Blend

Dandy Blend is one I've personally used for years, and of the instant coffee alternatives I've tried, it gets much closer to the dark, roasted flavor I was looking for. It's made from extracts of roasted dandelion, chicory, barley and rye and dissolves instantly in water.

Where I find it falls a little short of coffee is in the body. The flavor is there, but the finished drink is lighter and thinner than the rich mouthfeel of a brewed cup of coffee, especially once you add cream.

It's a good example of why finding a coffee alternative isn't always just about getting the roasted flavor right. Sometimes what you're missing is the weight and richness of the cup itself.

MUD/WTR

MUD/WTR is a powdered coffee alternative built around cacao, chai spices and functional mushrooms rather than roasted coffee-like ingredients. Some people describe the finished drink as earthy or watery, with sediment or sludge settling toward the bottom of the cup.

The flavor can also be a surprise if you're coming directly from coffee. Cacao and warming chai spices create a very different profile from the dark, roasted flavor of a traditional cup.

So while the mushrooms, cacao and spices may be exactly what attracts some people to MUD/WTR, coffee drinkers looking primarily for a rich, smooth, roasted replacement may find both the flavor and texture quite different from what they were hoping for.

So What Was I Actually Looking For?

Sorting through all these different options eventually helped me realize that I wasn't simply looking for something to drink instead of coffee. I wanted the parts of coffee I actually missed: dark roasted flavor, a little bitterness, enough body to stand up to cream, and something that felt at home in my coffee mug.

^{Photos: By Kayla Joy Creative}

Why I Eventually Made My Own Coffee Alternative

By the time I started experimenting with my own coffee replacement, I knew what I wasn't looking for. I didn't want another cup that tasted like the medicinal-tasting teas I'd reluctantly ordered at the little coffee stand at college years ago and thought tasted like weeds. I didn't want it filled with extracts and flavorings and powders I avoided as much as possible, knowing that they would likely end up as sludge, so the less the better. I wasn't primarily looking for an instant powder, either.

Somewhere along the way, I learned that chicory had a long history of being added to coffee, especially when coffee was scarce or expensive. That sparked an idea. If roasted chicory had been blended with coffee for generations, maybe those dark, roasted roots could be the starting point for the kind of coffee alternative I had been looking for.

The point wasn't to make herbal tea pretend to be coffee. I wanted to capture the parts of the coffee experience I actually missed: dark roasted flavor, a touch of bitterness, enough body to stand up to cream, and a cup that felt satisfying rather than like a consolation prize. From there, I began building blends with roasted dandelion and other whole ingredients like herbs, mushrooms, cacao, and nuts, depending on the flavor I was trying to create.

As those experiments grew, I realized there wasn't going to be one perfect blend for every coffee drinker. Someone who drank their coffee black wasn't looking for the same thing as someone who always ordered hazelnut coffee or loved a mocha. That realization is eventually what turned Not Coffee® from one idea into a whole line of blends built around different kinds of coffee drinkers.

That eventually became our Farmhouse Teas Not Coffee® line.

Will a Coffee Alternative Actually Taste Like Coffee?

This is where I think expectations matter. Dandelion root isn't a coffee bean, chicory isn't a coffee bean, and mushrooms certainly aren't coffee beans, so I don't think it's helpful to promise that a coffee-free drink will be indistinguishable from coffee. I mean, that's my honest opinion as a once-upon-a-time tried-and-true coffee drinker. Although I have a dear friend who says it smells like coffee then tastes like she thinks coffee should! What you can look for are the qualities you loved about your cup: dark roasted flavor, a little bitterness, body and richness, and something strong enough to stand up to cream.

That's also what makes our customer reviews so interesting to me. People describe Not Coffee® as rich, smooth, and full-bodied. One Chocolate Conniption customer described getting the same “mouth feel and satisfaction” she associated with freshly brewed coffee, while others talk about adding cream or steamed milk, making lattes, or sweetening their cup with maple syrup. We've also heard some version of, “I've tried other coffee alternatives, but this tastes like what I thought they were supposed to taste like.”

That's probably the distinction I care about most. Not Coffee® doesn't need to secretly be a coffee bean. It needs to satisfy the person who's missing that kind of cup.

^{Photo: By Kayla Joy Creative & Kimberly Davis Photography}

How to Switch From Coffee to a Coffee Alternative

Finding the right flavor is only part of making the switch. If you've been drinking coffee every morning for years, replacing both the familiar flavor and your normal caffeine intake with something completely different overnight can make it hard to tell what you actually think about the new drink. You don't have to make the change that way.

One method I've recommended for years is starting with about ¼ Not Coffee® and ¾ of your usual coffee, then moving toward half and half and gradually increasing the Not Coffee® at whatever pace works for you. You can also simply replace one cup at a time. One Mountain Hazel Not Coffee® customer found her own way to do something similar, starting by mixing it with cold-brew coffee and eventually moving to drinking Not Coffee® straight.

And keep the parts of your coffee that you actually enjoyed. If you always added cream, add cream. If you were a latte drinker, steam the milk. If you loved iced coffee, make your alternative strong and pour it over ice. Maple, vanilla, chocolate, or whatever else made your coffee yours doesn't suddenly have to disappear just because you're changing what's underneath it.

Our Healthy Homemade Coffee Creamer guide has 13 flavor ideas if you want to experiment with your cup. And if mushrooms are what interest you, you may also enjoy our DIY Mushroom Coffee Recipe & Mushroom Tea guide.

^{Photo: By Farmhouse Teas & Kayla Joy Creative}  

Which Not Coffee Should I Try?

This is why, when someone asks me which Not Coffee® tastes the most like coffee, my first question is usually: How did you drink your coffee?

And if you're looking at that list thinking, “I still have no idea,” that's exactly why we put five flavors into the Not Coffee® Tasting Collection. You can taste them before deciding somebody else's favorite should be yours.

Coffee Alternative FAQs

Is a coffee alternative the same thing as decaf coffee?

No. Decaf coffee is still made from coffee beans, with most of the caffeine removed. A coffee alternative may be made from roasted roots, grains, mushrooms, cacao, herbs or other ingredients instead of coffee beans.

Are coffee alternatives always caffeine-free?

No. Read the individual ingredient and nutrition information. Some coffee alternatives contain regular coffee, tea, cacao or other caffeine-containing ingredients. For example, current RYZE Medium and Dark Roast products contain coffee, while MUD/WTR Original contains caffeine from black tea.

What coffee alternative should I try if I hated mushroom coffee?

First figure out what you disliked. If it was the earthy mushroom flavor or the texture of a powder in your cup, you may prefer a roasted-root alternative made with chicory or dandelion. If you liked the idea of mushrooms but not the particular drink, you can also look for a mushroom blend built on a different base.

What's the difference between instant and steeped coffee alternatives?

Instant alternatives dissolve or disperse directly into the finished drink. Steeped alternatives infuse loose ingredients in water and then remove those ingredients before drinking. Neither format is automatically better, but the preparation, texture and finished cup can be quite different.

^{Photo: By Kimberly Davis Photography}

The Best Place to Start? Your Old Cup of Coffee

After trying to replace coffee myself and spending years talking with other people doing the same thing, I don't think there is one coffee alternative everyone is going to love. There are simply too many different drinks hiding under that name.

So if the first one you tried tasted like mud, weeds, cereal, mushrooms or chai when what you really wanted was a rich, roasted cup, don't assume that's what every coffee substitute tastes like. Instead, think about the coffee you actually miss. Was it black and roasty, creamy and slightly sweet, hazelnut or mocha? Maybe convenience matters most, or you're specifically looking for mushrooms or something completely caffeine-free.

Once you know what you're actually trying to replace, finding your cup gets a whole lot easier.

If a dark, steeped roasted-root drink sounds like the direction you've been looking for, the Not Coffee® Tasting Collection lets you try five of our blends before choosing a full bag. And if you're working on reducing coffee or caffeine rather than simply replacing the flavor, grab my FREE Coffee Drinker's Guide. I put together the gradual transition method, brewing tips, and ideas I've learned along the way so you don't have to figure the whole thing out from scratch.

More for Coffee Drinkers

• DIY Mushroom Coffee Recipe & Mushroom Tea Benefits
• Why Does Coffee Make My Stomach Hurt?
• Herbs for Mastering Caffeine Withdrawal & Coffee Headaches
• How to Make an Irish Coffee with Chicory Root Tea
• Healthy Homemade Coffee Creamer + 13 Flavor Options
• Is Coffee Acidic?