Whether you’re on the mountain or at the home office, these products are made with plant-based ingredients designed to elevate your focus and boost your body’s resilience.

The biggest thing that we’ve found when trying all of these ‘healthy’ drinks was that they tasted terrible. While it’s nice to feel good about drinking something every day, it’s also nice not to have to choke it down. So, we came up with some rules for any functional drinks we were going to make:

It took us YEARS to develop just the right blend, and we’re really proud of it. The organic matcha is from Japan. The organic coffee is from Mexico. The ingredients for the Immunity + Focus blend are simple, delicious, and combined for maximum efficacy: coconut creamer that doesn’t taste like coconut and is loaded with MCT’s, a reishi and lion’s mane mushroom extract that has been certified to be 70% β-glucan, and vitamins A and D from lichen to keep our product vegan.

What are MCT’s?

Medium-Chain Triglycerides (MCT’s) are a quick, natural source of fuel for your brain. Most of the fats we eat are long-chain fatty acids and can take a long time to be broken down and used as fuel. When MCT’s are consumed, they go to the liver, where it breaks them down to carbohydrates or ketones that your body uses for energy.

What are β-glucans?

β-glucans are polysaccharides that occur naturally in the cellular walls of mushrooms like Reishi or Lion’s Mane. They are soluble fibers with a lot of powerful benefits including support for your immune system, cholesterol levels and blood sugar.

How about Vitamins D + A? What do they do?

Vitamin D plays a vital role in supporting immune function and cell growth. Interesting fact, most Vitamin D supplements are made from Sheep’s Wool. We use a Vitamin D that is sourced from lichen (crazy, right?) to keep it vegan.

Vitamin A supports immune function as well as your vision!

Alpine Start was conceived on an expedition to the Bugaboos in Canada. Matt wanted a great tasting instant coffee that he could take on climbing expeditions when he needed to go light and fast. 

He enlisted his friend, Alex Hanifin, on the project, and they created their first product, Original Blend, a medium-roast that is delicious, affordable, quick, and easy-to-use. 

Then, things took a turn for the worse. In 2017, while training for an expedition to the Himalaya, Matt took a big fall while paragliding in California. He broke a bunch of bones and was laid up for months. 

Mike Crouch, who had started working at Alpine Start, made up some of his functional coffees for Matt, playing with different ingredients like CBD, mushrooms, and MCT’s. 

Post splatt (as we like to say), Matt was looking to get back to peak performance. This was when he realized he wanted more out of his coffee than to wake him up and uh… speed up his digestion. 

Mike and Matt spent the next couple of years working on various formulas, testing them on their own adventures, and using Matt’s other athlete friends as guinea pigs (thanks, team!). 

Fun. That’s really what we’re all about. We’re making coffee here, people, not saving the world. We try to get work done early so we can get outside. If it snowed last night, we’re the first ones on the hill to get some fresh turns. 

That said, as outdoor adventurers, we’re committed to protecting the places we love to play. 

We want to make the world a better place through Alpine Start and strongly believe in giving back through service and financial support. We’ve worked with numerous organizations that help to make the outdoors more accessible and equitable. In addition, we’re proud members of 1% For the Planet and a Brand Partner with Protect Our Winters.