Chanterelle Cold Brew

Sep 2, 2025, 02:17 AM

Chanterelle mushrooms steeped in water with coffee grounds

Strolling around a farmer's market in the Catskills, I found someone selling dried chanterelles and picked them up to experiment with later. It wasn't until recently that I learned the tastiest parts of chanterelle mushrooms don't make it past the dehydration process. When you find chanterelles, it's best to prepare and eat them right away. A friend gifted me the book Project Mushroom by Lorraine and Jodie Caley. This recipe loosely follows their Mushroom Coffee recipe. The coffee flavor seemed to overpower the delicate flavors of the chanterelle, but I'm excited to continue experimenting with other flavors.

Ingredients

20g Favorite dried edible mushroom
500ml Boiling filtered water
Honey (optional)
50g Coarsely ground coffee
Sieve
Jar for storage

Preparation

Step 1

Boil the water and, while still hot, transfer it to a bowl. Add the dried mushrooms and steep for 30 minutes. Leave to cool completely. Add honey if that's your jam.

Step 2

Use the sieve to strain the mushrooms from the mushroom water, pouring the beautiful mushroom liquid you just made into the jar for safe keeping. Refrigerate the hydrated shrooms up to three days for use in a soup or stew (or whatever else you like), or compost them.

Step 3

Add the coffee grounds to the mushroom water, and lightly mix. Do not stir.

Step 4

Let the coffee rest for overnight (12-15 hours) and strain the mixture through a sieve. Decant the mushroom-coffee mixture into a glass jar. For serving, mix 1 part mushroom-coffee infusion with 1 part water or milk.