Outside USA - September 2019

48 OUTSIDE MAGAZINE PHOTOGRAPH BY Hannah McCaughey

A Robust Blend
CAFFEINE IS OLD NEWS ON
THE SUPPLEMENT SCENE. THESE
NEXT-GEN COFFEE PRODUCTS
AIM FOR ADDITIONAL BENEFITS.
BY GRAHAM AVERILL

YOU PROBABLY don’t need another rea-
son to start your morning with a cup of
joe, but here goes. Caffeine’s potential to
improve athletic performance is well estab-
lished: numerous studies have found that
it has positives effect on strength, power
output, and endurance. Now companies
are targeting athletes by infusing their java
with ingredients like mushrooms and algae
that may carry other performance benefits.
Here are six of them.

Dispatches Fuel

09/10.19

Strong Coffee

Company Original

Developed by ath-

letes, Strong Coffee is

a sugar-free instant

latte that includes

collagen protein,

which may ben-

efit joint health and

speed injury recovery,

and powdered MCT

oil, a fatty acid that

could help boost

endurance. It’s

sweetened with

cacao for a hint of

chocolate flavor.

$45 for 12 oz

Laird Superfood

InstaFuel

This mixture is

modeled on Laird

Hamilton’s morning

brew. It combines

freeze-dried arabica

coffee with a dose of

coconut oil, coconut

milk, and Aquamin, an

algae-based mineral

supplement that

some research sug-

gests could improve

bone density and

reduce inflammation.

Fortunately, you taste

the coconut, not the

algae. $12 for 8 oz

EnerHealth

NutriCafe Perfor-

mance Coffee

The beans in Nutri-

Cafe come from

Mexico, and they’re

infused with cordy-

ceps and reishi mush-

rooms. The science is

far from conclusive,

but some studies

suggest that cordy-

ceps boosts VO 2 max,

while reishi has been

used in Eastern medi-

cine for centuries to

fight inflammation.

$15 for 12 oz

Strava Craft

Coffee Restore

This Colombian-

sourced whole-bean

coffee is infused with

120 milligrams of CBD

per bag, which could

help balance out

coffee jitters. Strava

uses CBD oil that’s

rich in vitamins B1

and B2, and omega-3

and omega-6 fatty

acids. $35 for 12 oz

Infinit Nutrition Cold

Brew Performance

Infinit Nutrition

began as a sports-

fuel company selling

drinks and supple-

ments, and it’s now

moving into coffee.

Each cup of its cold

brew has 100 mil-

ligrams of caffeine

and is blended with

20 grams of whey

protein, which makes

it an optimal recovery

beverage. The result

is creamy and just

a bit sweet. $49 for

22.5 oz

Four Sigmatic

Mushroom Coffee

This mushroom cof-

fee uses a blend of

lion’s mane—thought

to improve mental

focus—and chaga,

both of which are

believed to boost im-

mune function. But

be warned: this

brand has about half

the caffeine of non-

fungi-infused coffee.

(And no, it doesn’t

taste like mush-

rooms.) $19 for 12 oz