Reishi(lingzhi in Japanese pronunciation) coffee. (Photo by Hu Jin/Yubei Fabu)
Chongqing—A bold new crossover product from Chongqing has made its debut on Amazon’s U.S. platform. Lingzhi coffee—a fusion of traditional Chinese medicine and modern coffee culture—is breaking new ground in the global promotion of Chinese agricultural products. The drink combines coffee with lingzhi (known as reishi in Japanese), a medicinal mushroom long valued in Chinese health traditions.
The story begins in the mountains of Shunlong Village, Dasheng Town, in Chongqing’s Yubei District, where red lingzhi mushrooms are cultivated under semi-wild conditions. The idea of blending lingzhi with coffee emerged during a matchmaking initiative organized by the Chongqing Municipal Commission of Agriculture and Rural Affairs.
“We’ve been looking for ways to make reishi more appealing to younger consumers, and coffee gave us the spark,” said Gao Weiqiong, head of Chongqing Weijin Ecological Agriculture and a longtime lingzhi grower.
In March, the commission signed a cooperation agreement with a logistics and e-commerce hub in Ningbo to identify and promote premium local agricultural products for export. During a site visit to Dasheng Town, representatives from the Ningbo team and Chongqing officials first proposed the concept of lingzhi coffee. The project quickly gained momentum.
To develop the product, Gao partnered with Professor Ming Jian and his team at the College of Food Science at Southwest University. After extensive testing, they selected Arabica beans for their smooth aroma and accessible flavor, and settled on an optimal formula: each box contains finely milled powder made from 0.16 lingzhi mushrooms. The result is a drink that preserves the rich, satisfying taste of coffee while offering the calming and stomach-friendly benefits of reishi.
“This combination not only eases the acidity of traditional coffee,” said a Chongqing Municipal Commission of Agriculture and Rural Affairs representative, “but also draws on lingzhi’s natural properous system and reduces caffeine-related sleep disruptions in sensitive individuals. It’s a modern expression of the traditional Chinese belief that food and medicine share the same origin.”
Photo shows lingzhi coffee and blueberry coffee. (Photo by Hu Jin/Yubei Fabu)
The packaging of the lingzhi coffee features a creative crossover with the traditional Chinese craft of filigree inlaid metal art (huasi xiangqian), a recognized form of intangible cultural heritage. Inspired by the motif of butterflies in love with flowers, the designer blended classical patterns with modern minimalist aesthetics to create packaging that reflects both Eastern elegance and international appeal.
Gao Weiqiong presents lingzhi coffee at the Western China International Fair for Investment and Trade (WCIFIT). (Photo by Zhu Yunqing/Yubei Fabu)
From forest farm to global shelves: it shipped overseas in April, earned FDA approval in May, and hit Amazon in June.
Domestically, major e-commerce platforms are now preparing for distribution, and the product is expected to be available to Chinese consumers later this year.
Inspired by its success, other local agricultural firms in Dasheng Town have followed suit. Chongqing Rongjin Ecological Agriculture has developed a blueberry coffee, while Chongqing Yunyiyun Agriculture introduced a crispy plum coffee—both poised to follow lingzhi coffee's path to international markets.
(Yubei News and Gou Long, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)