What is turkey tail?
Turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) is the mushroom you've almost certainly seen without knowing it: thin, fan-shaped shelves banded in browns, greys, and blues, growing in overlapping rows on fallen logs. Its Latin name means "of several colours." We dual-extract it and put 500mg in every cup of Turkey Tail Coffee.
Reviewed by Andrew Langevin — mycologist & contributing author, Mushroomology (Brill, 2026).
Whole turkey tail mushrooms
Turkey tail extract powder
The most common mushroom you've never noticed.
Walk any Ontario trail after rain and you'll likely pass turkey tail — it grows on dead hardwood on every continent except Antarctica. The concentric colour bands really do look like a wild turkey's fanned tail, which earned it the name.
Unlike lion's mane, turkey tail is too tough and thin to cook as food. Its long history of use is as a brewed decoction — simmered, steeped, and drunk — which makes extraction the natural way to bring it into a cup.
Dual-extracted to a precise 500mg.
Our turkey tail is dual-extracted (water plus fermentation) from both mycelium and fruiting bodies, then dried to a powder that dissolves completely in hot or cold water.
As with all three of our mushrooms, the point of extraction is precision: 500mg per serving, the same in every cup, printed on the label.
Paired with cardamom, on purpose.
Turkey Tail Coffee is our warm-and-spiced blend: the earthy extract sits under real coffee, a touch of maple sugar, and a hint of cardamom — the spice that gives the cup its subtle chai-like character.
It's the blend for people who want their coffee to taste like something is going on in the cup, without a syrup pump in sight.
Turkey Tail, on the record.
| Species | Trametes versicolor ("of several colours") |
| Grows on | Dead hardwood logs, worldwide |
| Form | Dual-extracted powder (water + fermentation) |
| Amount per cup | 500mg, printed on the label |
| On the label | Organic turkey tail extract |
| Found in | Turkey Tail Coffee |
What researchers have found.
This section summarizes published composition and characterization research about turkey tail as an ingredient. It is not a claim that Shyne products diagnose, treat, prevent, or cure any condition.
Compositional analysis of Trametes versicolor polysaccharides found that D-glucose was the dominant monosaccharide at 87%, with traces of galactose, mannose, arabinose, and xylose. FTIR analysis confirmed the presence of both alpha- and beta-glycosidic bonds.
Production and structural analysis of the polysaccharide secreted by Trametes versicolor, PubMed 18800181, 2009 ↗HPLC-MS/MS phenolic profiling of Trametes versicolor identified 38 phenolic compounds, including gallic, p-coumaric, and caffeic acids, plus 20 flavonoid structures. Total phenol content of the water extract measured 142 mg gallic acid equivalents per gram dry weight.
Janjušević et al., Journal of Enzyme Inhibition and Medicinal Chemistry, 2017 ↗A study comparing mycelium and fruiting body fermented substrate of Trametes versicolor confirmed compositionally distinct polysaccharide fractions between the two tissues, supporting dual-tissue extraction approaches.
Mycelium of Trametes versicolor — complementary properties study, PMC6889544, 2019 ↗Don't take our word — read the pack.
The full ingredient list and nutrition facts, exactly as printed on every pack that uses turkey tail.
Turkey Tail Coffee
Where you'll find it.
Recipes that use it.
Asked & answered.
What is turkey tail mushroom used for?
Historically, turkey tail has been simmered and drunk as a brewed decoction rather than eaten — it's too tough to cook as food. It's also one of the most researched fungi, and you can find that discussion online. Shyne is a coffee, not a natural health product, so we don't make health claims: we simply put 500mg of dual-extracted turkey tail in every cup and print it on the label.
Does turkey tail change how the coffee tastes?
The extract itself is mild and earthy. What defines Turkey Tail Coffee's flavour is the pairing: real coffee, maple sugar, and a hint of cardamom that gives it a warm, subtly spiced, chai-like character.
Where does the name come from?
The mushroom grows in thin, fanned shelves with concentric bands of colour — brown, tan, grey, blue — that look remarkably like a wild turkey's fanned tail feathers.
Taste what's on the label.
Every ingredient, measured and printed on the bag. Free shipping across Canada. 60-day money-back guarantee.