The Best Functional Mushroom Drinks in the UK, Honestly Ranked

Functional mushroom drinks are having a moment in Britain, which means the shelf now contains everything from properly formulated cans to fruit soda with a mushroom on the label. The gap between those two is not visible from the front of the can.

This is a ranked list, written by a brand that makes three of the drinks on it. Ours are first, and we will show our working. Everything else is here because it does something well, and we say where it beats us.

Recipes and prices change. Everything said about another brand comes from their public product pages at the time of writing, read the current can. The only figures we can permanently stand behind are our own, because we publish the batch tests.

How we ranked them

1. How much mushroom, and which part? Fruiting body extract or mycelium-on-grain. A milligram figure means nothing without it.
2. Is anything in the can allowed to make a claim? Vitamins and minerals can. Mushrooms cannot, in UK law.
3. What is the sugar and caffeine doing? Plenty of "functional" cans are soft drinks with a garnish.
4. Would you drink it if it did nothing? Adherence is the whole game. See a routine that fits in a pocket.

1. Grass & Co. Liquid FOCUS, Elderflower & Sicilian Lemon

Best overall daytime can, and one of ours.

1,000mg Lion's Mane fruiting body extract with Korean ginseng and vitamin B12, which contributes to normal psychological function and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue. Lightly sparkling, low sugar, no caffeine, vegan. It is the same formula family as our best-selling capsules, made portable.

Pros

• 100% fruiting body extract at a stated 1,000mg, not a "mushroom blend".
• An authorised nutrient claim on the can via B12, most functional drinks have nothing.
• Caffeine-free, so it stacks with your coffee rather than competing with it.
• Certificates of analysis published for every batch.
• Vegan Society registered.

Cons

• No caffeine, so if you want an immediate jolt this is the wrong can, that is POWER.
• Costs more per day than the capsules, which carry a larger daily active load.
• Sold in multipacks; you need fridge space.

See Liquid FOCUS

2. Grass & Co. Liquid POWER, Ginger & Lime

Best energy can, and voted Best Energy Drink 2025 by The Independent.

1,000mg Shiitake and holy basil with vitamins B6, B12 and C for normal energy-yielding metabolism and the reduction of tiredness and fatigue, plus natural caffeine for the immediate part. Low sugar. Our argument with the mainstream category is in the case against the energy drink.

Pros: an award from outside our own marketing department; authorised claims from the B vitamins; no sugar crash; genuinely good ginger and lime.

Cons: contains caffeine, so not for a stimulant taper or a late afternoon; more expensive than a mainstream energy drink; not a pre-workout dose if that is what you want.

3. Grass & Co. Liquid RELAX, Peach & Chamomile

Best evening can, and the most useful product we make for people trying to drink less.

1,000mg Reishi with ashwagandha and chamomile, plus magnesium and vitamin B6 for normal nervous system and psychological function. Its real job is being the thing you open at seven instead of a glass of wine, see the sleepy girl mocktail.

Pros: a proper alcohol-free ritual; authorised claims via magnesium and B6; low sugar; non-sedating.

Cons: contains ashwagandha, so not while pregnant or breastfeeding, or on thyroid medication without GP advice; a can is a lighter dose than DREAM if sleep is the real target.

If you cannot decide between the three, the mixed case exists precisely so you do not have to commit.

4. Wunder Workshop and the mushroom-latte set

Best if you want a warm drink rather than a cold can.

Small British herbal outfits like Wunder Workshop and Rheal build mushroom and adaptogen blends designed to be whisked into milk or water, reishi at night, cordyceps and cacao in the morning.

Pros: genuinely lovely to drink; organic sourcing; a warm ritual holds a habit better than a can does for a lot of people.

Cons: powder, not ready-to-drink, so it lives at home; blend weights are often given as a total rather than per ingredient; rarely any authorised nutrient claim on the tin.

5. TRIP

Best-tasting can in the category, by some distance.

TRIP built the UK's best-known adaptogenic soft drink and it deserves the position: the flavour work is excellent and the branding got a whole category onto shelves.

Pros: outstanding taste; available almost everywhere; a genuinely good alcohol alternative.

Cons: botanical and CBD-led rather than mushroom-led; active loads are modest by design; no functional mushroom extract to compare on beta-glucans.

6. Perfect Ted, Clean Co and the wider matcha-energy set

Best for a gentler caffeine.

Matcha-based cans give a slower caffeine curve than coffee or a mainstream energy drink, which for a lot of people is the actual fix.

Pros: smooth caffeine delivery; widely available; usually low sugar.

Cons: no functional mushroom; still a stimulant product; nothing addressing the underlying tiredness.

7. Mainstream energy drinks

Included because they are what most people are actually choosing between.

Pros: cheap, everywhere, effective at the narrow job of making you alert now.

Cons: large caffeine doses, frequently with sugar or a heavy sweetener load; the spike-and-crash cycle is the business model; nothing functional beyond the stimulant.

What we would actually tell a friend

Morning or mid-afternoon desk work, no more caffeine: Liquid FOCUS. Something needed now: POWER. Seven o'clock and you would normally pour a drink: RELAX. If you have never tried the category, buy the mixed case and find out which one you reach for twice.

And judge them the way you judge a supplement, not a soft drink: which part of the can is fruiting body, what the vitamins are allowed to claim, and whether the batch tests are public. How to read a mushroom supplement label applies to cans just as much as jars.