Perfectly calibrated, Taika is a ready-to-drink, adaptogen-infused coffee, designed to keep you calm, focused and clear. Functional, healthy and amazingly delicious. It’s not just coffee.
Hey Product Hunt! Thank you @chrismessina for hunting us.
For the past year, I've been heads-down building Taika with my co-founder @michael_eyal_sharon. We’re super excited to finally share what we’ve been working on.
My background is deep in coffee: I’m a two-time Finnish Barista Champion and was ranked 9th best in the world in 2015. Before Taika, I co-founded Sudden Coffee (YC W17) which makes “instant coffee you’ll actually want to drink”, as NYTimes put it.
Both Michael and I love coffee (surprise). Alas, over the past few years caffeine started giving us nasty side effects many people are familiar with: anxiety, jitters, and crashes. Decaf wasn’t the answer: most of the time we wanted some caffeine, but not the side effects.
This is when we discovered L-theanine and other adaptogens - natural plant extracts and functional mushrooms - that support the body’s ability to deal with stress. We started researching and experimenting with these compounds. Adaptogens turned out to be a game-changer in balancing the caffeine and reducing the side effects.
However, keeping a bunch of random capsules with you and remembering to take them every time you have coffee sucks. We both hate compromising and set out to create a coffee that’s absolutely delicious and perfectly calibrated with the highest quality adaptogens.
We’re launching with three flavors, each featuring the same adaptogen blend:
- A sugar-free, keto-friendly macadamia latte that tastes like melted coffee ice cream. As far as we know, it's the first macadamia latte on the market.
- Oat milk latte which tastes like coffee cereal milk but has no added sugar.
- Black coffee - a brilliantly smooth, bold brew, never bitter. Unsweetened and keto-friendly.
Taika is currently available in SF, LA, and NYC for 2hr contactless delivery, powered by Postmates.
Our motto is for friends, by friends. We think sharing gifts is more fun than discounts. Enter code
MYSTERYGIFT at checkout at on our website and we will mail you a fun surprise to go with your coffee 🎁 🔮
What questions can we answer?
I'm not a coffee person and really want to keep my caffeine levels in control so I've preferred tea for several years. But, I did taste an early version of Taika and was sincerely amazed by the rich macadamia flavor and how good I felt after drinking it. What exactly is the magic behind this?
@tiinaliu Great question. That's because Taika is not just coffee. We tested dozens of adaptogen blends until we found one that balances the caffeine really nicely for that calm and focused feeling. Our blend includes:
- L-theanine for focus: an amino acid found in tea leaves that counteracts some of the negative side effects of caffeine (jitters, crashes) and helps improve focus
- Ashwagandha for calm: A leafy, flowering plant that helps you cope with daily stress and promotes calm.
- Lion's Mane for clarity: An odd-looking mushroom that supports memory, concentration, and cognitive function.
Reishi for improved immunity: A mushroom that supports the immune system and aids the body in coping with daily stress.
Cordyceps for energy: A mushroom that supports better energy levels, stamina, and physical performance.
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Well done Kalle and Michael! Tried out the product last summer. Have the products developed since then and what's next in terms of flavors or "coffee meets x"-combos?
@rudi_skogman Thanks Rudi! Yeah, I took a look at our change log: we've made 22 iterations to the recipe since last summer and changed the packaging completely. The coffee is so much better than last summer, even if I say so myself 🤠
We have a lot of ideas in the pipeline, including non-coffee products. One that I've been working on for a while is a zero-sugar macadamia chocolate milk that is insanely tasty 🍫
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Love that there’s mushrooms involved. Do you see your coffees having a broader range of them - such as chaga for immunity.. etc? Also, are you available in Bi-Rite?
Thanks! Cool to see we’ll though through ingredients
@henrietta_k We have a lot of ideas for other products and benefits. Chaga is definitely on the list - Stay tuned 😎
And yes, we're available at Bi-Rite and dozes of other great retailers. You can find all of them at https://taika.co/stockists
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