$40 Gourmet Coffee vs $16 Budget Brew vs $50 MUD\WTR: An Honest Comparison
We spent $106 on premium coffee, grocery store coffee, and the trendy mushroom coffee alternative everyone’s talking about. After two weeks of blind taste tests and jitter tracking, here’s what we actually found.
⚡ Quick Verdict
Best Value: Gevalia delivers surprisingly good coffee at $0.53 per cup—you’re not missing much by skipping the premium stuff. Best Taste: The Gourmet Gift Set wins on complexity and smoothness, but it’s $2.66 per cup (5x more than Gevalia). MUD\WTR: Tastes like chai-spiced dirt, works if you’re trying to quit caffeine, but at $3.33 per serving it’s a tough sell for most people.
Why We’re Testing Coffee (And Why You Should Care)
Coffee snobbery is real, and the internet loves to tell you that you’re drinking garbage if you’re not hand-grinding single-origin Ethiopian beans roasted by a bearded artisan in Portland. But is expensive coffee actually better? Or are we all just victims of marketing?
We decided to find out by testing three wildly different options: a premium gourmet gift set ($39.95), a grocery store staple ($15.81), and MUD\WTR ($49.99)—the mushroom-based coffee alternative that Instagram won’t shut up about. We ran blind taste tests, tracked caffeine jitters, calculated cost-per-cup, and drank way too much coffee over two weeks.
No sponsorships, no free samples. Just three coffee drinkers who wanted honest answers about whether premium coffee is worth the premium price.
The Coffee & Coffee Alternatives We Tested
Gevalia Special Reserve Costa Rica
Grocery store coffee that punches way above its weight class. Medium roast, coarse ground for French press or pour-over. Costa Rican single-origin that doesn’t cost your firstborn child.
Gourmet Coffee Gift Set (Ethiopian & Colombian)
Two premium single-origin coffees: Medium-Dark Ethiopian (fruity, wine-like) and Medium-Light Colombian (smooth, balanced). Gift-worthy packaging, specialty-grade beans. The fancy option.
MUD\WTR Original (Mushroom Coffee Alternative)
Not actually coffee—a blend of mushrooms, cacao, chai spices, and turmeric with 1/7th the caffeine of coffee. Marketed as a “healthier alternative” with adaptogens. Tastes like… well, we’ll get to that.
The Numbers Don’t Lie: Cost Breakdown
| Metric | Gevalia | Gourmet Gift Set | MUD\WTR |
|---|---|---|---|
| Package Price | $15.81 | $39.95 | $49.99 |
| Weight/Servings | 10 oz (~30 cups) | 10 oz total (~15 cups) | 30 servings |
| Cost Per Cup | $0.53 | $2.66 | $1.67 |
| Caffeine Content | ~95mg | ~95mg | 35mg (1/7th) |
| Taste Score (Blind) | |||
| Jitter Factor | Medium | Medium | Low |
| Brewing Method | French Press/Pour Over | Any method | Whisk with hot water |
| Best For | Daily drinking | Special occasions | Caffeine reduction |
☕ How We Calculated Cost Per Cup
We used 1 tablespoon of coffee per 6 oz water (standard ratio). Gevalia’s 10 oz bag = ~30 tablespoons = ~30 cups at $0.53 each. The gourmet set’s smaller portions (5 oz each) yield fewer cups despite higher price, making it $2.66 per cup—exactly 5x more expensive than Gevalia for your daily caffeine fix.
Blind Taste Test Results: We Were Shocked
Here’s where it gets interesting. We brewed all three options using identical methods (French press, 200°F water, 4-minute steep), poured them into identical mugs labeled A, B, and C, and had three testers score them without knowing which was which.
The Gourmet Gift Set scored highest (4.7/5 average). The Ethiopian coffee had distinct blueberry and wine notes that tasted nothing like regular coffee—in a good way. The Colombian was smoother and more balanced than any coffee we’d had in weeks. It was genuinely excellent.
Gevalia came in a very close second at 4.3/5. Clean, smooth, no weird aftertaste. One tester actually thought it was the expensive coffee. It’s just… good coffee. Nothing mind-blowing, but zero complaints.
MUD\WTR scored 2.8/5 and every tester immediately knew it wasn’t coffee. “Earthy,” “chai-like,” and “is this dirt?” were common reactions. One tester liked it (“tastes like a spicy hot chocolate”), two tolerated it (“it’s fine with honey”), and one refused to finish the cup (“absolutely not”).
Detailed Review: Gevalia Special Reserve Costa Rica
This is the coffee equivalent of that reliable friend who shows up on time, never causes drama, and genuinely makes your life better. At $0.53 per cup, Gevalia is absurdly good value.
The Costa Rican beans deliver a clean, balanced cup with hints of chocolate and nut. It’s not going to blow your mind with complexity, but it’s smooth, doesn’t taste burnt, and has zero bitterness even when we accidentally over-extracted it. The coarse grind is perfect for French press—we got consistent results every single morning.
The most impressive part? In our blind test, one tester ranked it equal to the $40 gourmet coffee. When you’re half-asleep at 6am, the difference between “very good” and “exceptional” basically disappears.
✓ What We Loved
- Unbeatable value at $0.53 per cup (5x cheaper than gourmet)
- Consistently smooth with zero bitterness
- Coarse grind works perfectly for French press
- No weird aftertaste or burnt flavor
- One tester thought it was the premium coffee in blind test
- Available at most grocery stores
✗ Room for Improvement
- Less complex than premium coffee (but is that a problem?)
- No exciting flavor notes—just “good coffee”
- Packaging is boring (matters for gifts)
- 10 oz bag goes faster than you’d think
- Not ideal for espresso (too coarse)
Bottom line: This is what we actually buy for daily use. Save the expensive stuff for weekends or when you’re really paying attention. For your rushed weekday morning routine, Gevalia delivers 90% of the experience at 20% of the cost.
Detailed Review: Gourmet Coffee Gift Set
Let’s be clear: this coffee is genuinely excellent. The Ethiopian beans taste like you’re drinking liquid blueberry wine (in the best possible way), and the Colombian is smoother than a jazz saxophone solo. If you’re gifting coffee to someone who actually cares about coffee, this will impress them.
But here’s the reality check: it’s $2.66 per cup. That’s $79 per month if you have one cup daily, or $948 per year. For that price, you could buy 61 bags of Gevalia and barely notice the quality difference in your groggy morning state.
The Ethiopian medium-dark roast is the star. It has actual fruit notes—not “hints of berry” that you have to imagine really hard, but genuine blueberry flavor. The Colombian is more traditional but executed flawlessly: caramel sweetness, zero acidity, perfectly balanced.
✓ What We Loved
- Genuinely exceptional taste—best we tested by a clear margin
- Ethiopian coffee has actual fruit notes (blueberry, wine)
- Beautiful packaging makes it gift-worthy
- Two different origins let you explore flavor profiles
- Zero bitterness or burnt flavor
- You can actually taste the quality difference when paying attention
✗ Room for Improvement
- $2.66 per cup is borderline absurd for daily use
- Small portions (5 oz each) don’t last long
- The quality difference disappears when you’re distracted
- Makes regular coffee taste worse by comparison
- Not sustainable for daily drinking unless you’re wealthy
Bottom line: Buy this for special occasions, gifts, or when you want to actually experience your coffee rather than use it as a caffeine delivery system. It’s objectively better than Gevalia, but 5x better? That’s a personal decision based on your budget and priorities.
Detailed Review: MUD\WTR Original
Let’s address the elephant in the room: MUD\WTR tastes nothing like coffee. It’s a mushroom-cacao-chai blend that tastes exactly like you’d expect dirt mixed with spices to taste. Some people love it. Most people tolerate it. Some people hate it immediately.
The pitch is compelling: 1/7th the caffeine of coffee, loaded with adaptogens (chaga, reishi, lion’s mane), and no jitters or crash. After two weeks of testing, we can confirm: yes, you get less jitters. You also get significantly less energy, because—surprise—caffeine is what makes you feel energized.
The taste is… polarizing. It’s earthy (mushrooms), slightly sweet (cacao), spicy (chai spices), and has a turmeric bite. Think dirty chai latte meets liquid vitamins. Adding honey or oat milk helps considerably. One tester genuinely enjoyed it; two others only drank it because we paid $50 for the bag.
✓ What We Loved
- Actually delivers on the “no jitters” promise
- Works well if you’re trying to reduce caffeine intake
- Contains beneficial mushrooms and adaptogens
- No afternoon crash like with coffee
- One tester genuinely liked the taste with honey
- Vegan, organic, no weird ingredients
✗ Room for Improvement
- Tastes like earthy chai dirt (not for everyone)
- $1.67 per cup is expensive for what it is
- Low caffeine means low energy boost
- Requires whisking (pain in the morning)
- Two testers never adjusted to the flavor
- Not actually coffee despite marketing positioning
Bottom line: Only buy MUD\WTR if you’re specifically trying to quit or reduce coffee. It’s not a “healthier coffee”—it’s a completely different beverage. The health benefits might be real (adaptogens, mushrooms), but you’re paying $50 for dirt-flavored chai when you could just… drink less coffee and save $34.
The Caffeine & Jitter Test
We tracked energy levels and jitters for all three options over a week. Each tester drank one cup on an empty stomach and logged how they felt at 30 minutes, 1 hour, 2 hours, and 4 hours later.
Gevalia & Gourmet Coffee: Nearly identical caffeine response. Sharp energy spike at 30 minutes, sustained energy for 2-3 hours, mild jitters if drunk too fast. No meaningful difference between the two.
MUD\WTR: Gentle, barely-noticeable energy lift at 45 minutes. Zero jitters, zero crash, but also zero “I’m ready to conquer the day” feeling. Great if you’re sensitive to caffeine. Useless if you actually need to wake up.
One tester who normally drinks 3-4 cups of coffee daily switched exclusively to MUD\WTR for a week and reported: “I felt calm and stable, but also less productive and slightly foggy. Good for reducing dependence, terrible for getting sh*t done.”
Final Recommendations: Who Should Buy What?
Buy Gevalia if: You want good coffee without overthinking it. This is the smart money choice for daily drinking. At $0.53 per cup, you’re getting 90% of the quality at 20% of the price. Perfect for weekday mornings, office coffee, or anyone who drinks coffee for caffeine rather than the “experience.”
Buy the Gourmet Gift Set if: You’re gifting coffee to an enthusiast, treating yourself occasionally, or you genuinely care about tasting distinct flavor notes. It’s objectively better than Gevalia, but only worth the 5x price premium if you’re actually going to slow down and appreciate it. Great for Sunday morning rituals, not Tuesday morning chaos.
Buy MUD\WTR if: You’re actively trying to quit coffee or reduce caffeine dependence and don’t mind paying premium prices for a mushroom-chai hybrid that tastes like spiced earth. It works for its intended purpose (low-caffeine energy without jitters), but it’s not a coffee replacement—it’s a completely different beverage. Only buy if you’ve tried it first or are very committed to the concept.
Our personal rotation? Gevalia for weekdays, gourmet coffee for lazy Saturdays when we can actually taste it, and MUD\WTR stays in the pantry for when we’ve had too much coffee and need a break (which is rare, because we’re not quitters).
Where to Buy
All three available on Amazon Prime with free shipping. Prices below reflect December 2025:
-
🏆 Best Value – Gevalia Costa Rica:
Gevalia Special Reserve – $15.81 ($0.53/cup) →
What we actually drink every day. Smart money choice. -
☕ Premium Taste – Gourmet Gift Set:
Gourmet Coffee Gift Set – $39.95 ($2.66/cup) →
Genuinely excellent. Worth it for gifts or special occasions. -
🍄 Coffee Alternative – MUD\WTR:
MUD\WTR Original – $49.99 ($1.67/serving) →
Only if you’re trying to quit coffee. Tastes like spiced dirt (literally).
Last Updated: December 6, 2025 | Testing Period: November 2025 | Total Spent: $105.75 | Cups Consumed: 47