MUD/WTR: Does it live up to the marketing hype?

 Sorry Shane, I'm not the market you're after.

A little over a week ago, curiosity got the best of me and I pulled the trigger on a 30 serving container of Rise Cacao MUD/WTR. If you haven't heard of MUD/WTR, founder Shane Heath created the recipe as a coffee alternative. It uses mushrooms like Lion's mane, Cordyceps, Chaga, and Reishi to avoid the coffee crash and provide all-day energy, mental clarity, and immune support. As a daily coffee drinker, I thought maybe it's meant for me. Marketing buzzwords like mental clarity caught my attention, and the powers that mushrooms can offer are no joke. Further, the MUD/WTR brand donates to psychedelic research for mental health, and offers a pretty humorous tone in their writing. All things I can appreciate. However, after about 10 days of drinking MUD/WTR, the only real effect it has on me is this: I really miss my coffee. 

And that's not just the coffee relapse talking. I'm not the person who drinks coffee all day long. One cup in the morning and that's good for me. I don't get the jitters, I don't have a crash, and I've just recently starting really enjoying the taste of black coffee. I even bought a coffee grinder shortly before starting MUD/WTR. Ultimately, I think this product is for someone who is actively trying to move away from coffee because it's starting to have negative impacts to their everyday life. Below I'll list some pros and cons to MUD/WTR, and I'll let you make the decision if it's right for you.

Pros:

It is quick and easy to prepare in the morning. Heat up a mug of water, drop in a tablespoon of MUD, and stir it up with a frother. That's it. It's similar to preparing instant coffee.

The taste will take some getting used to, but overall it's pretty good. It has a spicy taste if you get the one I did, which could be nice to help wake you up in the morning. If you want to see my initial taste test and first impressions, I made a YouTube video about it. Watch it here.

Cons:

Its biggest downfall by far is the texture. They were smart when they came up with the name mud. It's grainy and it settles. No matter how much you froth it, you'll taste the grain with every sip and your final drink will be full of grainy mushrooms and spices. 

It's expensive! The 30 serving Rise Cacao MUD/WTR is $50. It is marketed and presented as a premium product, but coffee can be a much more premium experience. 

There's a third con in the form of a warning label on the very container your MUD/WTR arrives in. But I want you to see it in person, so click here to watch my first impression taste test video.

With all that said, I'll finish my 30 servings of MUD/WTR, but I can't wait to get back to coffee. It's what this blog's name is about after all! Check out MUD/WTR.

Thanks for reading.

-Sean