A complete and ready-to-brew caffeine-free coffee alternative with maca, chicory, and cacao.
Contains no caffeine. Does not need to be mixed into coffee. Brews like regular coffee. Uses all three colors of maca. Has creamy chocolate flavor from its cacao components. Can be served hot or cold.
Not pure maca. Based on chicory.
At less than a dollar per ounce, this gelatinized maca powder is a great buy.
Gelatinized to allow for better digestion and nutrient absorption than raw. Notable roasted, butterscotch-like flavor notes. Mixes well with hot coffee and other drinks.
Some find the roasted taste too strong for their recipes.
Although a little pricey, this gelatinized maca powder boasts a better flavor and impressive quality control.
Minimally processed aside from gelatinization. Tested for nutritional value by third-party labs. Easier to digest. Dissolves better in liquid. Toasted, malty flavors.
Pricier per ounce than others.
This gelatinized powder comes from red maca, with a slightly milder, sweeter flavor.
Made of gelatinized red maca, which is associated with strengthening women's health, improved memory, and better mood. Milder, sweeter flavor than black maca.
Reports of clumping in some drinks, although may dissolve better in hot coffee.
This 1-pound bag of gelatinized pure yellow maca is a good size at an agreeable price.
Gelatinized for easier digestion. Can be mixed into brewed coffee with an electric whisk or blended with instant coffee. Made from yellow maca, the most commonly used variety. Certified organic.
Some users find it clumps in coffee unless premixed or whisked.
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Among the popular health drinks making the rounds on alternative and natural social media sites are maca coffee and maca coffee alternatives. You may have seen the recipes for maca lattes, macaccinos, maca mocha, and super coffee. These posts and videos come with big health claims, everything from caffeine-free all-day energy to mood stabilization to even—and especially—boosting sex drive, especially for men.
Like all things related to health and wellness, it would be wise to take these claims with a grain of salt. While maca is a real root grown and eaten by people for centuries, with both nutritional and medicinal uses, its effects as a nutritional supplement and health food need more scientific study. That said, there have been studies done on this ancient vegetable, and some of them are promising.
If you think you’d like to try a maca coffee alternative, a good shopping guide and some hand-picked recommendations can get your shopping started.
Maca is a root vegetable that grows in the Andes in South America, the starchy hypocotyl and taproot of a plant related to broccoli and kale. Grown and harvested at high altitudes, it’s a staple food of indigenous communities in Peru. As a food, whole maca root is eaten boiled, roasted, or dried. Maca has also been used in traditional medicinal practices.
Maca coffee is typically a mixture or combination of coffee with maca powder, while maca coffee alternatives don’t include any coffee at all. Maca coffee is usually made with the powdered form of the vegetable. Compared to eating maca root, drinking maca coffee involves much smaller amounts of the powder in an easy to drink form.
If you want to try maca coffee or a maca coffee alternative, you have several options.
Instant drink mix: You can find several brands of instant coffee drink mixes featuring maca. These mixes resemble instant coffee and usually but not always have instant coffee as an ingredient. You prepare them by mixing the powder into hot water. Many brands of instant maca coffee alternatives promise energy and libido enhancement and may also include other supplements like mushrooms, ginseng, turmeric, and cacao.
Ground coffee with maca: If you want a bit more control over the preparation and ingredients of your drink, you can find ground coffee with added maca. These blends are designed to be brewed like regular coffee, but they also include ground maca and perhaps other supplements like cacao. Like instant mixes, there are also coffee-free blends available for those who want to avoid caffeine.
Ready to drink: You can find pre-made coffee that includes maca and other supplements in some health food stores and retailers. These usually come in cans and resemble ready-to-drink coffee beverages. Like coffee drinks, they can be consumed chilled.
Make it yourself: The simplest way to make maca coffee is by adding a small amount of maca powder to a cup of coffee or other hot drink. Maca powder is easy to find in health food stores. And there are numerous recipes for maca drinks that use maca powder, including vegan maca lattes and mochas.
Increased sex drive: The most talked-about benefit to maca coffee is its supposed effect as an aphrodisiac, that it increases libido in both men and women and acts like “natural Viagra” (sildenafil) in men. According to Examine.com, a number of studies seem to support the idea that maca increases libido and sexual function, with a paper on the National Library of Medicine’s PubMed citing an increase in semen quality. A further systematic review of multiple maca studies in PubMed found “limited evidence for the effectiveness of maca in improving sexual dysfunction.” However, in 2019, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration issued a public caution that a specific brand of maca supplement was adulterated with sildenafil, which can be dangerous when not properly prescribed.
Sustained energy: Another frequently cited benefit of maca coffee alternatives is increased and sustained energy and focus. According to some users, adding maca to coffee or drinking a maca coffee alternative gives them a sustained sense of energy compared to the jitters and crashes of caffeine. Keep in mind that many types of maca coffee do in fact include coffee. Coffee-free maca drinks, on the other hand, have the benefit of including little or no caffeine.
Menopausal relief: Maca may help alleviate the symptoms of menopause, including anxiety, depression, hot flashes, and sleep problems. However, MedlinePlus.gov notes maca’s estrogen-related effects might not be helpful for those with hormone-sensitive conditions like breast or uterine cancer.
Maca comes in several varieties differentiated by color, including yellow, red, and black. Yellow maca is the most common, while red and black maca are rarer.
A French press is an excellent way to make coffee from premixed maca coffee grounds. The action of the French press allows for maximum extraction without overheating or overmixing the brew. Unlike a paper filter, a French press also allows some of the maca powder to pass through.
Maca powder can be difficult to integrate into liquids. To make the job easier, you can use an electric whisk or milk frother. Not only does this device help mix the powder into the coffee or water, but it also works great for making foamy maca lattes, coffee-free maca drinks, and macaccinos.
You can find maca powder that costs less than $10 per package in many shops and online. However, these packages might not be a great value, offering 4 or 6 ounces of maca powder at around $2 or more per ounce.
You can find maca powder, ground maca coffee blends, and some instant maca coffee alternatives that cost between $10 and $15 per package. These offer better value, with some 16-ounce bags working out to less than $1 per ounce or instant maca coffee that costs less than $0.60 per serving.
You can find maca powder that costs over $20 per package (over $1.50 per ounce), often boasting powder made from the rarer black and red maca varieties. You can also find “super coffee” instant maca coffee alternatives crammed with various buzzy ingredients, from adaptogenic mushrooms to herbs promising male virility and sexual enhancement, sold online for around $25 per package. Be aware that these might be gray-market items whose purity, safety, and efficacy can’t be verified.
A. Not by itself. A 2009 study published in PubMed indicates maca may enhance endurance and fight fatigue in athletes. Paired with good nutrition and exercise, this can contribute to increased muscle mass, but this is due to the effects of the exercise, not the maca itself.
A. As a food, maca is eaten in significant quantities every day without adverse effects. As a medicine, it seems to be safe in amounts of 1.5-3.5 grams by mouth daily for up to 4 months, according to MedLinePlus. A teaspoon is the typical amount suggested when making maca coffee.
A. A university study in Peru published on PubMed found that maca had no effect on serum testosterone levels in male subjects, but maca did seem to have some effect on sexual desire.
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