August 7, 2025
About 75% of Americans start their day with a cup of coffee. What if you could fill your cup with something that adds wellness to your routine while tasting like the quality coffee you expect from your favorite roaster?
That’s the premise behind Wunderground, the Seattle-based brand blending premium coffee with adaptogenic mushrooms for wellness. Now open as a kiosk on Concourse A near Gate 1 at Seattle-Tacoma International Airport (SEA), Wunderground gives travelers a new way to fuel up before takeoff — supporting focus and calm without sacrificing taste.
“We created Wunderground to add wellness to the world’s most ritualistic beverage and have it taste like really, really good coffee,” said Jody Hall, founder and CEO of Wunderground. “A lot of us are struggling with anxiety and stress, and are looking for focus and energy. In our world, the new normal is stress and worry and our thesis is ‘Wunderground helps.’ It helps us have better focus. It helps us calm anxiety and stress.”
The airport kiosk sells its Brain Wash Dark and Medium Roast coffee, Dream Supply Tea, and Brain Wash Adaptogen SuperBoost, which can be added to coffee, tea, or water. Visit its Capitol Hill café to try mushroom-infused espresso and tea concoctions, served alongside nourishing and delicious bites made by Chef Ericka Burke.
From coffee to cupcakes and back to (mushroom) coffee
Hall is no stranger to Seattle’s coffee scene. She spent 10 years working at Starbucks during its early days, helping grow the now global brand from 30 to 3,000 stores and introducing travelers to Seattle coffee culture when Starbucks first opened at SEA. She later founded Cupcake Royale, the country’s first cupcake bakery (which she still owns 22 years later), and returned to her coffee roots to launch Wunderground in 2021.
Inspired by mushroom pioneer Paul Stamets, Hall saw an opportunity to reimagine coffee as “Coffee 2.0,” adding wellness benefits without compromising on taste. She brought on a team of some of Starbucks’ best to revolutionize coffee to help people feel and perform better and support overall wellbeing.
Meet the mushroom “quad squad”
Coffee contains high levels of antioxidants, gives you that amazing jolt of energy, and supports motivation and focus. But excess coffee can put the nervous and hormonal systems into a constant state of stress. That’s where the mushrooms come in.
Adaptogenic mushrooms work behind the scenes to create balance in your body, and ensure that you continue through your day feeling great, without the jitters or caffeine crash. Think of mushrooms as a thermostat in your body to regulate stress, cortisol, anxiety, and even caffeine.
Here’s more about the quad squad powering each cup of Wunderground:
- Lion’s mane: Boosts focus, memory, and mental clarity, and is perfect for staying sharp
- Reishi: Promotes calm, supports immunity, and is being studied for anti-inflammatory benefits
- Cordyceps: Boosts energy and endurance without the crash, used by athletes for decades
- Chaga: Helps support your immune system and fight inflammation so you feel stronger from the inside out
Each serving contains 5,000 milligrams of mushrooms — at least double the amount found in most mushroom coffee competitors — while maintaining a rich, smooth coffee flavor with no mushroom aftertaste.
Why Wunderground tastes different
Many people hesitate to try mushroom coffee, fearing earthy or bitter flavors common in other brands of mushroom coffee. Wunderground is trying to change that by creating a delicious, high-quality coffee that happens to be blended with potent, adaptogenic mushrooms — with no mushroom taste.
To develop its product line, Wunderground started with best-in-class concentrated organic mushroom extracts, and then sourced coffees from origins that had the right flavor profile to melt away the mushroom taste. The team then experimented with perfect roast curve to create the most delicious cup.
“People try it and say, ‘Are you sure this has mushrooms in it?’ That’s exactly the response we want,” Hall said.
Creating connection
“At the end of the day, coffee is connection. In the early days at Starbucks, we really saw that. It wasn't just a cup of coffee. It was a place that you went to almost every day. You got to know the baristas. You had little conversations,” Hall said.
Hall took this philosophy with her as she moved on to other business ventures. Cupcake Royale was about connection, joy, and celebration, as much as it was about eating a delicious cupcake.
The name ‘Wunderground’ is based on the fact the mushrooms live most of their lives underground. When they flower, the mushroom finally forms above ground. That creates the concept of wonder, that feeling of being present, in the moment, and discovering something new.
“At Wunderground we want to inspire wonder, and our products can help you turn off the rat race of your brain to get you in your body so you can connect with your friends, your family, ideas, and problem solving. I think we're starving for wonder. We're starving for connection. And that's really the core of the reason to build this company,” Hall said.
A wellness-infused treat
Visit Wunderground Café, located just 11 blocks up the street from the Pike Place Market Starbucks, to enjoy a mushroom-infused espresso or latte, or try its top-selling Big Brainwash on Ice, with delicious hints of cocoa and vanilla.
Here’s how to enjoy the popular drink in your own home:
Big Brainwash on Ice
- 80% cold brew coffee
- 1 stick of Brainwashed Super Boost
- 20% oat milk (or milk of choice)
In the café, Wunderground uses its own cold brew made from the Brain Wash Dark Roast or Medium Roast coffee. At home, you can use any brand of cold brew you love or make your own and chill in the fridge.
The future of Wunderground
At its SEA kiosk, travelers can try free samples and receive discounts on subscriptions to continue enjoying Wunderground beyond their travels.
For on-the-go wellness, Wunderground offers single-serve instant coffee sticks that are perfect for flights, hotel rooms, or travel gifts. The company is also hoping to add Brainwashed Super Boost to airline in-flight offerings and has expanded to airport retailers like Hudson News.
As a Seattle-based startup, Wunderground is continuing the city’s legacy of coffee innovation while working to make their mushroom coffee accessible nationwide. In addition to doing direct-to-consumer sales off their web site and airport kiosk, the brand is working with top tech companies to stock their break rooms, and partnering with third-wave coffee roasters to add mushroom coffee options to their menus.
