Shane Heath and the morning flask that replaced five coffees

Five or six caffeinated drinks a day left Shane Heath wired, tired and short on sleep. His fix was a 32 ounce hydro flask filled with cacao, chai and mushrooms that he sipped between work and jiu jitsu. In May 2018 he bought jars, built a site and launched MUDWTR as a steadier morning routine, one lot and label at a time.

Shane Heath launched MUDWTR in May of 2018 from Venice and Santa Monica, California. He ordered jars and labels, built a website and started the brand while 15,000 dollars in debt and working a full time design job at tech startups.

He grew up in Santa Cruz, California. He was drinking upwards of one thousand milligrams of caffeine daily and felt the trade at his desk and at home, with anxiety, broken sleep and less space for creative work. He liked the smell and flavor of coffee, and the ritual above all, but he wanted a morning pattern that did more than carry a large caffeine dose.

What started as a personal mix is now made by a 32 person remote team. The first release was a cacao blend with masala chai and mushrooms, followed later by matcha and turmeric blends, then protein. The company states each blend is USDA Certified Organic, with mushrooms grown in California, blended and packaged in the United States.

The Daily Capsule angle is the routine inside that origin story. This interview tracks the powder forward into the day, from wake up timing to training, stacking and habit cues, with label reading and lot paperwork where they help a rushed reader set a pattern that holds.

Thanks for making time to sit and talk with us, Shane. Your mother worked in IT for one of the largest mushroom growers in North America. How did that shape where your mushrooms come from today, and what does grown in California show on paper?

Mushrooms felt ordinary in our home well before they trended. I say this plainly. My mom has worked around mushrooms since before I was born. She worked in IT for one of North America’s largest mushroom growers, so I grew up near that world. I did not train as a mycologist, but I learned which questions to bring to growers. The company states each strain is researched for demonstrated efficacy, and I describe lion’s mane around focus, cordyceps around energy and reishi around immunity as my shorthand for the set. That early familiarity gave me respect for farmers. Today we state our mushrooms are grown in California. That place sets a baseline for oversight, harvest logs and handling before drying and milling.

Place alone leaves gaps. Grown in California names location. It does not by itself name fruiting body or mycelium share, extract ratio, standardization or test outcomes. For those details you need the certificate of analysis from a third party lab, with identity, heavy metals and microbial limits linked to a lot and batch. I want shoppers to scan the Supplement Facts panel and the other ingredients line, then request the lot sheet. Origin counts, then the lab shows what left the farm and what entered encapsulation and fill.

You carried the early mix in a 32 ounce hydro flask for work, jiu jitsu training and painting, while coworkers kept asking about the mug. What was really inside that flask, and how did decaf coffee turn into cacao, chai and mushrooms?

I built this drink around my own mornings. It began as a personal search for ingredients I trusted to meet my need. I like coffee. The aroma, the taste and more than both, I love the ritual. I was likely having five or six cups of coffee or another caffeinated drink each day and I paused to review my patterns and saw my coffee use was not creating real energy.

When I launched MUDWTR in May of 2018, I was 15,000 dollars in debt and holding a full time job. So I started MUDWTR to help people rethink their relationship with coffee. At the start I blended batches in a commercial kitchen, then we shifted to a co packer as volume rose. The line on day one stayed spare. I am not mad at coffee, just disappointed, so I built something better for my routine. That restraint guided sourcing. Our products act in many ways like a lead domino or a Trojan horse. The cup is the first step, but the supply chain behind it must hold.

You reject synthetic pesticides, herbicides and seed oils across blends that are USDA Certified Organic. For a careful buyer reading the panel, what does that choice change in the field and in the blending room?

We put it in plain terms. Our blends are USDA Certified Organic with no synthetic pesticides or herbicides and no seed oils. That reflects a handling and recipe decision that begins on the farm and appears in blending and packaging in the US. Organic certification limits what a grower may spray and calls for logs and inspection, so the seal links to files.

In the blending room it keeps the recipe lean. No seed oils as carriers, no synthetic pesticide residues permitted under the standard. Coconut and creamer parts are picked to keep the mix plant based and to keep texture absent those oils. For the person at the counter, the review stays simple. Find the organic seal, scan the other ingredients line for oils and carriers, and check fill weight and serving count. A 30 serving tin should pour as 30 servings, with steady lots from tin to tin.

We are grateful you sat down to speak with us, Shane. In May 2018 you bought jars plus labels and started MUDWTR while in debt and working full time. What did that choice force you to learn about sourcing first, ahead of branding?

I prized the coffee ritual, but I wanted my morning pattern to be more than a carrier for large caffeine doses. First I added items to decaf. Then I centered the mix on cacao and masala chai, with adaptogenic mushrooms and spices, including lion’s mane and cordyceps. I toted it in a 32 ounce hydro flask while I worked, trained and painted, and people kept asking what sat in my mug and whether I could share some.

My mother has worked in the mushroom world since before I was born. She worked in IT for one of North America’s largest mushroom growers, so that world felt familiar early. I did not grow up as a mycologist, but I understood where to direct questions. The brand states each strain is researched for demonstrated efficacy, and I link lion’s mane with focus, cordyceps with energy and reishi with immunity as my way to frame the group. That flask stretch mattered because it meant everyday use, not an idea. It needed to blend, taste good and travel.

Your flagship cacao blend sits beside a 100 percent organic matcha with naturally occurring L theanine and a zero caffeine turmeric with mushrooms and mycelium. How should a buyer read those three labels differently for origin and process?

Begin with origin and method. Our matcha blend is 100 percent organic, crafted with spices and mushrooms, with just a fraction of coffee caffeine, as well as naturally occurring L theanine. Matcha is shade grown tea, stone ground, so source, harvest and milling register directly in color and feel. The cacao blend combines cacao with masala chai and mushrooms, including chaga, reishi, lion’s mane and cordyceps with turmeric, so the tin reflects more origins at once.

The turmeric blend carries zero caffeine, with turmeric, spices, mushrooms and mycelium. Mycelium and fruiting body mark different phases of the organism, and shoppers often mix them. Fermentation, drying and extraction shape what becomes powder or oil prior to encapsulation or tin fill. Study the panel for which portion was used and whether an extract ratio or standardization appears. If it does not appear, ask. The label opens the trail, it does not close it.

You call the products a lead domino or a Trojan horse for healthy minds built through healthy habits. With more than 130 million servings of the rise line sold by 2023, how do you keep that habit message tied to extraction and testing and not hype?

Our products serve in many ways as a first domino or a Trojan horse. The line we repeat is create healthy minds through healthy habits. The drink opens the morning in another way, with lower caffeine and a stable ritual, and the hours after tend to follow. By 2023 we had sold over 130 million servings of the flagship rise Cacao blend, and in 2022 we sold around 1.4 million units to around 443,000 customers in the past 12 months.

Growth makes traceability tougher, not simpler. Early lots were blended by me in a commercial kitchen. Later we transferred to a co packer, with blending and packaging in the US. So I stress the plain parts. Extract ratio shows how much raw material entered an extract. Standardised shows which marker stays constant. A certificate of analysis connects identity, heavy metals and microbes to a lot. I believe that to stand out, you have to find a way to zig while other people zag. For us, zigging means files and restraint.

Our products work like a first habit that helps the rest of your routine fall into place.

Shane Heath

You often repeat fix your fix and started from the mud now we here. For a household with a small shelf kept for years, what is worth paying for here, and what step in the chain is still unclear and needs better proof?

Fix Your Fix frames our view on caffeine. I carry the CYP1A2 variant, which means I clear caffeine more slowly and feel it more strongly. That reflects my biology, not a rule for you. Would I rather prompt alertness absent dependency than pursue sharp caffeine peaks. Would I rather guard sleep and recovery than praise hustle and overwork. Would I rather question caffeine norms than accept but first, coffee habits. Started from the mud now we here simply marks an honest start in debt and growth tin by tin.

What merits spend is what you can confirm. Organic farm logs, California mushroom origin, US blending and packing, and lot linked lab findings. What stays murky across much of the category is the middle stretch. Precise farms by lot, fruiting body portion, extraction solvents and ratios, and complete heavy metals panels seldom print on pack. What would resolve it stays simple. List the growers, publish the method, and share the certificate. We acknowledge what traces cleanly and we name what does not yet.

By 2023 the rise blends were in over 500 Target stores, you had launched the gather cafe in Santa Monica and grown into Canada plus the UK. What did retail plus a cafe show you about keeping each lot steady from tin to cup?

Store shelves alter the task. By 2023 our rise Cacao and rise Matcha were stocked in more than 500 Target stores nationwide, we opened our first cafe MUDWTR gather in Santa Monica, California, and we grew internationally into Canada and the UK. A tin on display and a cup poured at the bar must align, or confidence fades.

In September 2018 we received a 25,000 dollar first investment from Paul DeJoe and I left my day job to work full time. That shift supported steadier runs and stronger logs. Repeatability means the same farms, the same specs, the same fill weight and the same third party checks by lot and batch, then transport that endures trucks, shelves and a busy counter. You cannot aim to be liked by all or you will be loved by none. We held the flavor earthy and the branding blunt, and placed effort on repeat runs rather than softening the product.

Closing note from the desk

What remains after this talk is a morning system built to survive a packed calendar. Heath keeps the cup and the timing fixed, then pairs each blend to its slot and stores the tin where the habit already happens.

MUDWTR began to help people rethink their relationship with coffee, absent jitters, crash and broken sleep, and to ground that shift in certified fields and California mushroom houses through US blending rooms to a legible label. For the reader, the next move is small. Anchor one tin to breakfast, track sleep and afternoon focus for two weeks, and ask a clinician about fit before stacking more.

Product spotlight

Coffee arrives as a 30 serving tin priced at 50 dollars. It joins arabica coffee with cacao, masala chai and mushrooms including lion’s mane and cordyceps, plus L theanine. Whisk with hot water and milk or creamer for a morning coffee swap.

Matcha arrives as a 30 serving pouch priced at 50 dollars. It holds 100 percent organic matcha with spices and mushrooms and naturally occurring L theanine, with a fraction of coffee caffeine. Stir with hot water or milk as a morning rise option.