9 Coffee Alternatives With Low (Or No) Caffeine
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When it comes to our morning ritual, there’s nothing quite like sitting down with a piping hot cup of coffee and taking time to meditate or journal. That is…until the afternoon crash, when we’re slumped over our desks.
But what if we could upgrade our morning drinks for something that left us focused and energized throughout the day? For when coffee is too strong and tea isn’t quite strong enough, check out these coffee alternatives instead! Using superfoods, adaptogens and spices, these brews focus on the short- and long-term benefits, so you can enjoy not just a boost in productivity but also in your immune system, gut health and quality of sleep.
Top off your new morning ritual with our favorite handmade mugs and the best electric kettles.
Best Overall | Best Herbal | Best Matcha
1. MUDWTR
Best For | Mushroom & cacao coffee
Main Ingredients | Masala chai, lion’s mane, chaga, reishi, turmeric, cinnamon, cacao, cordyceps
Price | $50 for 30 servings; discounted subscriptions available
Owned and operated out of Santa Monica, CA, MUDWTR harnesses the power of mushrooms (the legal kind!). Grown in the US and supplemented with other sustainable ingredients like cacao, turmeric, and cinnamon, MUDWTR offers two kinds of coffee alternatives: :rise Cacao and :rise Matcha—and at just a fraction of the caffeine of coffee, it’s enough to give us energy and focus without impacting our sleep (as noted by our editor when she switched over to MUDWTR for a week). With 25,000+ glowing reviews and counting, MUDWTR is worth a try if you’re looking for an organic, vegan, and non-GMO drink.
2. Wooden Spoon Herbs
Best For | Herbal coffee & tea
Main Ingredients | Organic chicory, dandelion, maca, burdock roots, mesquite pod, cinnamon bark
Price | $24 for 7 oz; discounted subscriptions available
Wooden Spoon Herbs is focused on “everyday herbalism for every day’s vibes.” Founder Lauren Haynes focuses on herbal alternatives that are all found in nature; the brand’s Herbal Coffee is a caffeine-free alternative that blends together some of the best prebiotic roots around. The formula is vegan, comprises USDA organic ingredients, and gives back to 1% for the Planet. Enjoy the rich, earthy taste of this herbal coffee and the energy boost you’ll get with it.
3. Clevr Blends
Best For | Coffee-shop taste & pre-made lattes
Main Ingredients | Organic oatmilk powder, coconut cream powder, monk fruit, carob, chicory root, resihi, ashwagandha, vanilla bean powder
Price | $28 for 14 lattes (12 oz); discounted subscriptions available
Love the flavor of your local brew, but want to avoid too much caffeine? Consider Clevr Blends’ oat milk lattes, made with adaptogens, mushrooms, and probiotics—all you have to do is add the water (cold or hot!). Ingredients are responsibly sourced, third-party tested, and concocted without refined sugar or dairy. Instead, you can enjoy the benefits of regenerative cacao, ashwagandha, reishi, and valerian root, just to name a few. We love how luxurious the drink gets after a little frothing, and it’s all the comfort of a cup of coffee without the digestive discomfort. Our Editorial Director highly recommends the chai blend, but says you can’t go wrong with any of them. Try it for 30 days or your money back!
4. RASA
Best For | Adaptogenic formulas
Main Ingredients | Organic chicory, burdock, dandelion roots, eleuthero, roasted date seeds & maca, chaga, ashwagandha, cinnamon
Price | $50 for 30 servings (8 oz); discounted subscriptions available
Launched by a (formerly) tired mom and an herbalist, RASA turns to holistic adaptogens for a morning pick-me-up rather than coffee. Today, the brand has served more than 100k customers around the globe and has an impressive array of coffee alternatives. The ingredients are sourced sustainably across 15 different countries, fairly traded, and third-party tested. Not sure where to start? Try the interactive quiz or we personally recommend the sample pack subscription. This drink is SO divine with all of its roasted ingredients and spices, our eyes lit up the moment we smelled the blend. We actually like that it takes 15 minutes to brew—it gives us time to do some morning meditation and stretches.
5. Joe’y
Best For | Delicious blends that taste more like cocoa than coffee
Main Ingredients | Single-origin cacao, gluten-free barley, chicory & dandelion roots, ashwagandha, lion’s mane, reishi
Price | $20 for 18 servings (4 oz); discounted subscriptions available
After developing this recipe for an entire year (and across two cities, Brooklyn and LA), Joe’y is a coffee alternative all its own. Now made in California, this coffee alternative combines cacao, ashwagandha, lion’s mane, chicory and dandelion roots and more to help you feel your best inside and out. But don’t expect a coffee flavor; this delicious blend borders between espresso and cocoa. (Our editor promptly recommended this drink to friends and family as soon as she took her first sip.) We recommend drinking this iced, or adding just a touch more hot water for the perfect cup! A fifth of the caffeine, but allll the flavors and benefits.
6. Four Sigmatic
Best For | Cold brew & decaf mushroom coffee
Main Ingredients | Organic coffee, chaga, reishi, ashwagandha
Price | $20 for 16 servings (12 oz); discounted subscriptions available
Four Sigmatic helps make every morning more magical—and productive. Rather than relying on coffee alone, the FS team blends coffee and mushrooms to keep you energized throughout the day. Choose from a number of different benefits (Think, Focus, Boost, Calm, Protect, Happy Gut or Balance) or by product type (including cold brew and decaf options!), and reap the benefits of the best in vegan protein. Four Sigmatic also prioritizes recyclable containers, is nontoxic and USDA organic.
7. Golde
Best For | Organic matcha & turmeric lattes
Main Ingredients | Certified organic coconut milk powder, turmeric, matcha, cacao, spices
Price | $29 for 30 servings (4.2 oz); discounted subscriptions available
Supercharge your mornings with Golde’s superfood alternatives. Instead of a cup o’ joe, try Golde’s line of matcha, turmeric, and mushroom mocha products that offer a powerful dose of energy without the jitters or crash. (As a bonus, these thoughtful formulas also support gut health and clear skin.) Try out discounted bundles to find your favorite, and if you love it, sign up for a subscription for an added 10 percent off! Certified organic ingredients, vegan-friendly, BIPOC woman-owned, and absolutely delish.
8. Chagacinno
Best For | Adaptogen beginners
Main Ingredients | Wild foraged chaga, organic cacao, cinnamon, monk fruit
Price | $30 for 10 packets; discounted subscriptions available
If you’ve stepped foot into a coffee shop or wellness store lately, chances are you’ve seen an ad for Chagacinno. Now touted by baristas and keto-fans alike, Chagacinno combines freeze-dried chaga sourced from birch trees in Canada with organic Peruvian cacao, organic cinnamon from Sri Lanka, and monk fruit sweetener from Japan. The result? A creamy, delicious powder blend that’ll give you a boost just when you need it. No sugar, no junk, and no GMOs here; just a clean, vegan formula you can use for iced or hot drinks. (Okay, so technically this one gets added into your coffee but it’s worth a mention for those of us who are swapping to decaf or wanting to just try out some mushrooms in their morning cuppa!)
9. Free & True
Best For | Matcha & turmeric rooibos blends
Main Ingredients | Organic matcha green tea powder, turmeric, ginger, rice powder, spices
Price | $38 for 6 oz
You may know of Free & True as a clean skincare brand, but the brand has expanded its horizons into ingestible beauty (aka wellness bevvies that are healthy for your skin). For our tea aficionados who can’t have a full cuppa, they may enjoy the Genmai Chai, aka its turmeric-spiced matcha. The genmaicha tea is from Japan, while the turmeric-infused rooibos is sourced from South Africa. Just add two teaspoons to your favorite milk or milk alternative (or even into your smoothie). We specifically recommend this drink for latte-lovers, since it’s so creamy and froths up easily.
Featured image is from Clevr Blends
