Four evening botanicals that get lumped together and shouldn't be. What valerian, passionflower, skullcap and blue lotus have traditionally been used for, how each one is prepared, and how to work out which is worth your time.
Three mushrooms, three completely different jobs. A plain guide to telling reishi, cordyceps and lion's mane apart, what each one has traditionally been used for, and how to work out which one you actually want.
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor) is one of the most common and recognisable fungi in the UK woodland. Striped in bands of brown, cream, rust, and grey — its fan-like form earns it the name. Walk through any British forest in autumn or winter, and you'll almost certainly find it.
But beyond its beauty, Turkey Tail has been used for centuries in traditional Chinese medicine, and modern research is beginning to catch up with what herbalists have long known: this is a remarkable fungus.
Turkey Tail grows on dead and dying hardwood trees across Britain — oak, beech, birch, and ash are its favourites. It's a saprotrophic fungi, meaning it feeds on dead organic matter and plays a vital role in breaking down fallen logs and recycling nutrients back into the forest floor.
Look for it:
It's important to distinguish Turkey Tail from look-alikes such as the false Turkey Tail (Stereum hirsutum), which lacks the distinctive pore surface on the underside. Genuine Trametes versicolor will have a cream-white porous underside, while false Turkey Tail is smooth.
Turkey Tail is a cornerstone species in UK forest ecology. As a white rot fungus, it breaks down lignin — the tough structural polymer that gives wood its rigidity — releasing nutrients that other organisms rely on. Without fungi like Turkey Tail, deadwood would accumulate and forests would lose their capacity to regenerate.
It also supports remarkable biodiversity. The complex structure of decomposing logs colonised by Turkey Tail provides habitat for insects, beetles, mosses, and smaller fungi. It is, in a very real sense, a keystone of the woodland ecosystem.
In Traditional Chinese Medicine, Turkey Tail — known as Yun Zhi (cloud fungus) — has been brewed into teas for immune support for over a thousand years. It was regarded as a herb of longevity and energy, given its remarkable ability to survive harsh conditions year-round.
The fungus contains two key polysaccharide compounds that have attracted significant scientific interest: PSK (polysaccharide-K) and PSP (polysaccharide-peptide). These beta-glucans interact with immune receptors and are being studied for their role in supporting overall immune function.
Turkey Tail is also considered a prebiotic, with studies suggesting it supports beneficial gut microbiome diversity — a reminder that gut health and immune health are deeply connected.
The most traditional preparation is a decoction — a long, slow brew. Turkey Tail's cell walls are made of chitin, which doesn't break down in cold water. To release the beneficial compounds, the dried mushroom needs heat.
Simple Turkey Tail Tea:
Some people prefer to use Turkey Tail powder added to soups, broths, or smoothies — the longer the cooking time, the better the extraction. A high-quality extract powder (such as a standardised 30% polysaccharide extract) offers a more concentrated and consistent option for those who want the benefits without the brewing time.
If you're foraging your own, ensure you're confident in your identification and that you're collecting from clean, unpolluted woodland away from roads and industrial areas. Fungi are excellent accumulators of environmental toxins, so provenance matters.
For those who prefer to source dried Turkey Tail rather than forage, quality varies considerably. Look for whole dried pieces or powder with a stated polysaccharide content — this gives you a reliable indication of potency.
At Herbal Monkey, we stock premium dried Turkey Tail with a 30% polysaccharide content — available as whole dried pieces or powder, depending on your preferred preparation method.
Turkey Tail is a beautiful example of how the most common, overlooked things in nature can be quietly remarkable. The next time you walk through a British woodland and spot that striped fan fungus on a fallen log — take a moment. It's been there longer than you have, doing important work, and it has a lot to offer.
→ Shop Herbal Monkey Turkey Tail (Whole or Powder, 30% Polysaccharide)
Mushroom coffee has moved well beyond wellness trend territory. For a growing number of people, it's simply how they start the day — a cup of something that delivers the ritual and flavour of coffee, but with a more measured, sustained energy and a handful of functional mushrooms along for the ride.
But how does it actually work? What happens when medicinal mushrooms meet Arabica beans in the roasting drum — and does the process affect the functional compounds that make mushroom coffee worth drinking?
Written by Simon Coxon, founder of Herbal Monkey. Simon has been sourcing and preparing botanical extracts since 2023 and packs every order himself from the workshop in Essex.
Before any of the science, the thing I get asked most: this is coffee. Real arabica, ground, that you make and drink like coffee. The mushroom extracts are added to it. It is not a substitute, it is not a decaf, and it does not taste of mushrooms. If you are hoping to cut caffeine entirely, this is not the product for you, and I would rather say that now than have you find out after buying a bag.
Quality mushroom coffee starts with quality coffee. Arabica beans are the gold standard — lower in caffeine than Robusta, but richer in the aromatic compounds that give coffee its flavour complexity. During roasting, Arabica beans undergo the Maillard reaction: a chemical transformation between amino acids and reducing sugars that creates hundreds of new flavour and aroma compounds, from caramel and chocolate notes to fruity esters and earthy, roasted tones.
Roast temperature and duration profoundly affect the final character of the coffee. A lighter roast preserves more of the bean's natural acids and fruity brightness. A medium roast — the sweet spot for most mushroom coffee blends — balances flavour complexity with body and reduced acidity. A dark roast emphasises bitterness and smokiness while burning off some of the more delicate compounds.
For mushroom coffee, a medium roast is generally preferred: robust enough to hold its own against the earthy notes of the mushrooms, without overpowering them.
This is where it gets interesting. Medicinal mushrooms like Reishi, Chaga, Lion's Mane, Cordyceps, Shiitake, Maitake, and Tremella contain beta-glucan polysaccharides — complex carbohydrates that interact with immune receptors in the body. These are the compounds people are primarily interested in when they reach for mushroom products.
Here's the key question: do beta-glucans survive the roasting process?
The answer is yes — with an important caveat. Beta-glucans are notably heat-stable. They don't denature in the way that enzymes or proteins might, and they can survive temperatures well above standard roasting ranges (typically 180–230°C). However, the method of mushroom preparation matters enormously.
Whole dried mushroom powder blended with coffee before roasting will behave differently from a pre-extracted mushroom concentrate added after roasting. In most quality mushroom coffee blends, the mushrooms are either:
Extraction before blending ensures you're getting bioavailable compounds — not just dried mushroom powder that your body may struggle to process without the heat extraction step.
Different medicinal mushrooms bring different compounds to the blend. A well-formulated mushroom coffee uses multiple species not for marketing reasons, but because each targets something slightly different:
Seven species, each adding something. The combination creates a more rounded functional profile than any single mushroom could offer.
"Seven mushrooms" on a label tells you very little. Here is what each one is and why it is in there.
Reishi. The bitter one. Traditionally the evening plant, which sounds like a contradiction in a coffee, but it sits in a small proportion and works on the edges of the blend rather than leading it. It has the longest recorded history of the seven, going back two thousand years in Chinese texts as lingzhi.
Chaga. Not a mushroom in the shape you are picturing. It is a black, cracked, charcoal-looking growth on birch trees in cold northern forests, traditionally simmered into a drink across Siberia and Scandinavia. It has a natural woody, faintly vanilla quality that works unusually well with coffee, and it is the ingredient most people say they can actually taste.
Lion’s mane. The white cascade that grows off the side of trees. Traditionally associated with study and attention, which is the most coffee-adjacent history of the seven. It is also the mildest tasting, so it adds volume without adding flavour.
Cordyceps. Traditionally the stamina one. Ours is cultivated Cordyceps militaris, the bright orange club-shaped species, not the wild caterpillar-grown kind that made cordyceps famous and expensive.
Shiitake. The one you already know from the supermarket. Cultivated in Japan and China for something like a thousand years, and eaten as food long before anyone thought of it as anything else. Savoury and familiar.
Maitake. Known in Japan as the "dancing mushroom", supposedly because foragers who found one danced with delight, since it was once worth its weight in silver. It grows in large frilled clusters at the base of oaks.
Tremella. The one nobody has heard of. A translucent, jelly-textured "snow fungus" used across East Asia for centuries, traditionally associated with the skin rather than anything internal.
If you want to know how three of these compare when taken on their own rather than in a blend, there is a separate guide to reishi, cordyceps and lion’s mane. And for what the strength numbers on any extract actually mean, there is extract ratios explained.
Mushroom coffee typically contains less caffeine per cup than regular coffee — partly by design (mushroom content displaces some coffee), and partly because the adaptogenic compounds in certain mushrooms may modulate the stimulant response. Many people report a smoother, less jittery energy than they get from regular coffee, with a more gradual tail-off rather than a sharp crash.
This makes it particularly well-suited for those who are sensitive to caffeine, or who want to reduce their intake without giving up the morning ritual entirely.
Mushroom coffee is brewed exactly like regular ground coffee — French press, pour-over, Aeropress, or espresso machine. The main difference is that the mushroom compounds are already extracted and water-soluble, so they disperse easily during brewing. No special equipment needed.
For the best flavour, use water just off the boil (90–95°C) rather than a full rolling boil, and leave it 3–4 minutes in a French press. Milk, oat milk, or a dash of cinnamon pair beautifully with the earthy mushroom notes.
If you're curious to try a quality seven-mushroom blend, our Organic 7-Mushroom Coffee Blend uses Arabica coffee with pre-extracted mushroom concentrate — so you're getting the real thing, not just powder.
→ Shop the Organic 7-Mushroom Coffee Blend
If you want the mushrooms without a full coffee, the Japanese Matcha 6-Mushroom Blend does the same job on a matcha base. Matcha carries caffeine too, but it arrives more slowly and it is a much gentler cup. There is a guide for that one here, and it currently ships with a free bamboo spoon while stocks last.
If you just want good matcha with nothing added, we sell plain organic matcha too.
I will be straightforward about this, because coffee is the one product where it genuinely makes sense rather than being a sales mechanic.
Coffee is the thing in this shop that people go through on a fixed, predictable schedule. Nobody forgets they have run out of coffee, but plenty of people run out on a Tuesday, buy a supermarket bag to get through the week, and never quite get back to it. That is a delivery problem, not a preference one.
Subscribe and save takes up to 15% off and turns up on a schedule you set. Pause it, skip a month, or cancel entirely without emailing anyone. Most people use the pause for holidays.
Everything above describes traditional and historical use. Nothing here is medical advice, and none of these products are intended to diagnose, treat, cure or prevent any condition. This blend contains caffeine. If you are pregnant, breastfeeding, taking prescribed medication or under medical care, speak to your doctor before adding any botanical to your routine.
Questions about any of this? Email me directly at simon@herbalmonkey.co.uk. I read them all.
If you've been looking at Lion's Mane products, you've probably encountered numbers like "10:1 extract", "30% beta-glucan", "50% polysaccharide", or "100% water soluble". These terms appear constantly in product descriptions but are rarely explained. If you're trying to make an informed choice, that's frustrating.
Let's break it down clearly.
Lion's Mane (Hericium erinaceus) contains a range of bioactive compounds — most notably beta-glucan polysaccharides (which interact with immune receptors) and hericenones and erinacines (which are studied for their potential role in nerve growth factor synthesis). The challenge is that these compounds are locked inside the fungus's cell walls, which are made of chitin — a tough material that human digestive enzymes cannot break down efficiently.
This means that eating or taking raw dried Lion's Mane powder may not give you meaningful access to the compounds you're paying for. An extraction process — typically using hot water, alcohol, or both — breaks down the chitin and concentrates the bioactive compounds into a more bioavailable form.
A 10:1 extract ratio means that 10kg of raw mushroom material was used to produce 1kg of extract powder. In theory, it's more concentrated than the raw mushroom.
Here's the problem: extract ratios alone tell you almost nothing about quality.
A 10:1 ratio sounds impressive, but if the raw material was poor quality mycelium (the root-like structure grown on grain, rather than the fruiting body), the extract may actually contain very little Lion's Mane compound — and a lot of starch from the grain substrate. A 4:1 extract made from high-quality dried fruiting bodies could easily outperform a 10:1 extract made from myceliated grain.
Ratio claims are largely unregulated and widely misused in the supplements industry. This is why savvy buyers look for something more meaningful.
A far more useful metric is the stated polysaccharide or beta-glucan content of the extract. This is a direct measure of the active compounds present.
As a rough guide:
Water solubility refers to how readily the extract dissolves in liquid. A fully water-soluble extract means the compounds will disperse properly in hot water, coffee, or a smoothie without clumping or sitting at the bottom of the glass.
This is partly a measure of how the extraction was processed, and partly indicates that the product doesn't contain significant amounts of undissolved chitin or starch. It's a good sign — but it should be one data point among several, not the only thing you look for.
This is the single most important factor in Lion's Mane extract quality.
The fruiting body is the mushroom you'd recognise — the white, shaggy mass that grows on trees. This is where the highest concentrations of hericenones and beta-glucans are found.
The mycelium is the root-like network that the mushroom grows from. In commercial production, mycelium is often grown on grain (rice, oats, or sorghum). The resulting powder contains a significant proportion of grain starch — sometimes more starch than mushroom compound. Products based on mycelium on grain often have inflated polysaccharide figures because starch counts as a polysaccharide.
Always look for products that specify "fruiting body" on the label, or state clearly that their beta-glucan content is measured separately from starch.
Both have a place.
Dried Lion's Mane is excellent for cooking and decoctions — a long slow simmer will perform a natural hot-water extraction. The texture and flavour of fresh or rehydrated Lion's Mane is also enjoyable in its own right, with a gentle, seafood-like taste. If you're interested in the full range of Lion's Mane compounds and happy to brew, dried fruiting bodies are a beautiful option.
Extract powder is more convenient for daily supplementation — easy to add to coffee, smoothies, or capsules. A quality extract standardised for beta-glucan content removes the guesswork and gives you a consistent dose.
At Herbal Monkey, we stock both:
The extract specification — 50% polysaccharide, 30% beta-glucan — is one of the higher-grade options available. If you've been confused by extract ratios in the past, these are the numbers that actually matter.
Black Maca: The Performance Root Gaining Attention in the UK
Across the world of natural wellness and performance nutrition, one ancient plant is gaining increasing attention among athletes, gym-goers and health enthusiasts alike — black maca.
Used traditionally for centuries in the Andes mountains of Peru, black maca is now being explored for its potential to support energy, stamina and overall physical performance. As interest in natural supplements continues to grow in the UK, this powerful root is quickly becoming a favourite among those looking to enhance their training naturally.
At Herbal Monkey, we are proud to stock what we believe to be one of the best black maca extracts available in the UK, containing 1% macamides, one of the key compounds often associated with maca’s active profile. We’re also excited to share that our Black Maca Liquid Extract will be launching in the shop within the next two weeks, offering an easy and convenient way to incorporate this incredible plant into your routine.
Black maca is a specific phenotype of Lepidium meyenii, a plant that grows high in the Peruvian Andes. While there are several varieties of maca — including red and yellow — black maca is often discussed as one of the most performance-focused types due to its distinct antioxidant and nutritional profile.
Traditionally consumed by indigenous communities for strength and endurance, black maca has recently gained popularity in modern sports nutrition circles.
While no single supplement builds muscle on its own, black maca is often highlighted for several properties that may support the conditions needed for effective training and recovery.
Improved Energy and Stamina
One of the most widely discussed benefits of black maca is its potential to support energy levels and workout endurance. Many athletes report that it helps them maintain stronger training sessions, allowing for longer or more intense workouts.
Better training sessions can ultimately contribute to improved physical performance over time.
Adaptogenic Properties
Black maca is often described as an adaptogen, meaning it may help the body adapt to physical and mental stress. For athletes and regular gym-goers, this can be particularly important.
Supporting the body's stress response may help promote consistent training and improved recovery, both essential for long-term progress.
Support for Muscle Endurance
Black maca’s unique antioxidant profile has been studied for its role in supporting endurance and performance. While this doesn’t directly build muscle, greater endurance can allow for increased training capacity — which is a key factor in muscle development.
Nutritional Contribution
Black maca also offers some nutritional value. A tablespoon of maca powder contains around 4 grams of protein, providing a small but helpful addition of amino acids that support an active lifestyle.
When combined with proper nutrition and training, these factors can contribute to a more supportive environment for strength development and hypertrophy.
Within sports and fitness communities, black maca is often regarded as the most potent type of maca for performance support.
Across training discussions, it is frequently explored for its potential to support:
• Higher training volume
• Greater resilience to fatigue
• Improved recovery between sessions
Together, these factors can help create the conditions needed for better performance and muscle growth over time.
At Herbal Monkey, we are passionate about sourcing high-quality botanical extracts that reflect the powerful traditions of natural plant medicine.
Our Black Maca Extract contains 1% macamides, making it one of the strongest options currently available in the UK for those looking to explore the benefits of this remarkable root.
And we’re excited to announce that our Black Maca Liquid Extract will be arriving in the Herbal Monkey shop within the next two weeks, giving customers another convenient way to incorporate black maca into their daily routine.
Black maca represents a fascinating bridge between ancient herbal tradition and modern performance nutrition. Used for generations in the high altitudes of Peru, it continues to attract attention today for its potential to support energy, endurance and training resilience.
While it’s not a replacement for proper nutrition, training and recovery, black maca may offer an interesting natural addition to a balanced fitness routine.
And at Herbal Monkey, we’re proud to help bring this powerful botanical to the growing community of people across the UK who are exploring the potential of nature’s most remarkable plants.
