A Gentle Reminder When Harvesting Chaga Mushrooms
Make sure to get chaga from a sustainable source or if you purchasing chaga in store or online make sure the product is being harvested responsibly, sustainably and ethically. Do not take more than what you will use. If harvesting from public lands be sure to verify local rules and regulations to make sure you are allowed to harvest. Over-harvesting depletes the whole ecosystem. It can takes years to decades for chaga mushrooms to reproduce.
Whats The Big Deal With Chaga
Chaga tea has been consumed around the world since ancient times as an herbal medicine for the treatment and prevention of diseases. It is very popular in Russia, Poland and other Baltic countries for treating gastric problems, cancer, heart and liver issues. In Russia, its known as a treatment for cancer in the folk medicine traditions of peasant villages.
There isnt much scientific data to definitely link chaga mushroom tea to its traditional health benefits. The chaga mushroom has destroyed cancer cells in Petri dishes in several studies . That’s a long way from doing it in the human body, but it’s a step in the right direction.
Analysis of chaga reveals that it is packed with nutrients. Chaga contains calcium, silicon, iron, magnesium, zinc, copper, aluminum, phosphorus and sulfur. Chaga contains more potassium than a banana and more rubidium than green tea. Chaga is also energizing. It has effects similar to caffeine without inhibiting your sleep cycle.
Chaga is most famous for being full of antioxidants and beta glucans. Beta glucans boost immune function, which supports the body in healing sickness and combating cancerous cells . Chaga tea is richer in antioxidants than blueberries. Antioxidants come with a whole slew of benefits, including prevention of heart disease, blood pressure regulation and diabetes prevention. Because of its very high levels of antioxidants, chaga is often considered to be a superfood.
Chaga Tea Side Effects/warnings/dangers
There arent studies that show the negative effects of Chaga tea. However, as with anything, you need to be careful of uses that have never been studied. If you take medicines or are just sensitive to various side effects, you need to consider the side effects.
In general, Chaga is safe without major side effects, but there might be some problems with those suffering from diabetes, autoimmune diseases, or taking blood thinners. And since not everything is yet researched, pregnant and breastfeeding women should be cautious.
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Side Effects Of Chaga Tea
Always seek medical advice from a qualified healthcare professional before drinking herbal teas. A doctor can help you understand the benefits and side effects associated with chaga. it’s particularly important to talk to a doctor if you have a medical condition or take medications as chaga may cause interactions. The United States FDA does not approve the use of chaga in the treatment of any ailments or illnesses.
Chaga may lower blood pressure and can effect blood pressure medications.The mushroom also contains compounds that may interfere with blood clotting medications. Don’t drink this tea if you are taking any blood pressure medications. Pregnant women should also avoid using the herbal tea as there is little research on whether it is safe during pregnancy.
How To Drink The Decoction
Im obviously not talking about the physical act of drinking, Im referring to the ways you can consume the beverage. Here are some of my favorite:
Straight From The Jar
This might be the easiest way to drink it, but I hope you like the bitter taste of the tea. I normally put maple syrup in the glass when I drink it straight. It helps to bring down the bitter taste and adds a nice sweet taste to it.
If you are lucky enough to have birch syrup, you should definitely try the combo chaga-birch syrup. Not only does it tastes delicious, but you are also practically drinking a whole birch tree, which means health benefits x2.
You can also put milk/cream and sugar in your chaga tea as if you were drinking coffee. Im not sure if there is a reaction happening that might compromise some of the health benefits of the chaga, but its a tasty option.
In Your Coffee
This one is my all-time favorite, my number one way to drink chaga. The taste is just amazing.
If you are a coffee lover, the combination will get you hooked on the first sip, I want to drink it right now just thinking about it.
The ratio of chaga tea to coffee is purely dependent on your personal taste. For me, 2/3 coffee and 1/3 chaga tea is what I found to be the best ratio, but I encourage you to try different variations to create YOUR personal ideal ratio.
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How To Make Chaga Tea At Home
The chaga mushroom is a wild growing fungus that grows on mainly white and yellow birch trees in the Northern Hemisphere. Commonly found throughout Canada, the Northern United States, China, and Russia, chaga has been used for centuries in healing teas and remedies. It can even be used as a fire starter!
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How Do You Make Chaga Tea Taste Better
If youre not a fan of the taste of your chaga tea, start by adding a bit of sugar, maple syrup, or honey. Sweetness is a great distractor that helps bring out the earthy flavors of chaga tea while making it easier to drink.
Try all three options: maple syrup and honey add flavors that complement the taste of chaga tea very well. Dont be afraid to add a lot of sugar or syrup, either. Youre ultimately drinking this for you, not for anyone else.
Other factors to consider include your steep time and how concentrated your chaga tea is, if youre simmering big chaga chunks overnight to make your tea, youll get a dark, strong brew. If youre not used to chaga tea, consider adding water or even club soda or ginger ale. This will help mellow out the flavors and give your mouth some space.
By contrast, if your tea tastes like someone dipped a brown crayon in lukewarm water, youll want to increase the amount of chaga you use and your steep time. Try twice as much chaga steeped for twice as long and taste as you steep. When youre done, try adding a bit of sugar.
Sweetness can help bring out flavors in herbal infusions and can really change the game where chaga is concerned.
Finally, dont limit your additions to simply sugar and water. Milk in chaga tea is odd, but not unheard of, and many people add other herbs like turmeric, ginger, and honeybush. You could even add a bit of chaga tea concentrate to a drink like chai tea for an interesting hybrid infusion.
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Recipe #: Chaga Tea Recipe Pot Method
For chunky Chaga tea , you will need some dried Chaga in chunks not ground, a pot, a cup, and some water. This method is a bit healthier because it allows you to squeeze out more of that Chaga goodness, and it is perfect if brewing for a larger group of tea drinkers.
What Are Chaga Mushrooms
Charcoal black on the outside and sunny orange on the inside, Chaga mushrooms are a slow-growing fungus that you can find sticking out from the white trunk of birch trees. Their history goes back to 100 BC, and their use is incredibly versatile.
Growing in Canada, New England, Korea, Russia, and North-East Europe, these odd cure-all mushrooms are a popular folk medicine.
Tea may not be the first thing that comes to mind when you spot this fungus protruding a birch, but once you steep dried Chaga in hot water, chances are, youll soon become addicted to this yummy me-up beverage.
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Chaga Tea From Chunks: Step By Step Instructions
1. Put a large amount of water in a pot and bring it to a boil
2. Reduce the heat and bring the water to a simmer. Add a generous amount of chunks of chaga. Because of the reduced surface area, youll want to use a fair bit.
3. Let the chaga steep for at least 15 minutes. Steep time will vary based on how large your chunks are. how much chaga youre using, and how strong you want your tea to be. For best results, use a spoon to remove a bit of liquid and taste it every 15-30 minutes until youre happy with your tea.
4. Let your tea cool. Use a slotted spoon or colander to remove large chunks, or simply pour carefully into another container. If you feel like theres too much debris in your tea. pour through a coffee filter.
5. Add honey, sugar, or maple syrup to sweeten your tea.
Some people like to brew extra-strong chaga tea with this method and then add a bit of water later. This is a great way to save chaga tea for future consumption or to brew it for multiple people with varying tastes.
What Does Chaga Tea Taste Like
Chaga tea has a strong, earthy flavor with some hints of vanilla. That isnt to say that it tastes like vanilla, but rather that its faintly reminiscent of the vanilla bean once you get past the initial earthiness. Chaga tea is fairly bitter and does not taste like other mushrooms, meaning your first couple of sips might surprise you.
Like many other complex, earthy tastes, chaga tea is a bit of an acquired taste for some people. If you dont like it at first, try another cup later. Many people also add sugar, syrup, herbs, or other flavorings to their chaga. Its health benefits dont change when you add a bit of honey and turmeric, it just tastes different.
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How To Make Chaga Tea From Harvest To Cup
To make a chaga tea prepare the fungi as a whole.
- Dry the mushrooms properly. Chaga mushrooms are heavily moisturized and may take days to dry the whole conk.
- Wrap chaga in a towel. Make sure there are no open ends as the pieces may get shattered and end up everywhere.
- Hammer the chaga on a hard surface it may be on your countertop, on the floor or outdoors.
- Crack the conk pieces further by grinding them through a blender until they turn into a very fine powder. Grinding Chaga increases its surface area that the medicinal properties of the fungi are easily extracted.
- Place 80 grams of chaga mushrooms to a gallon of water. Bring to a boil then lower the heat.
- While cooking chaga mushroom for 1 hour is equally sufficient, traditional tea preparation includes simmering chaga pieces for 4 hours or until the liquid has reduced by 75%. Wait until the water turns rich and dark. The large your chunks the longer you may need to steep the chaga for.
- Once finished, strain and serve it immediately as a tea or store in a jar in a cool place. You can save the rest of the liquid for a good 3 days in the fridge or in dark place at room temperature.
Note: You can often boil the same chaga mushroom chunk for two to three times but not necessarily cooking it for the same amount of time. Alternatively, you can use the remaining liquid as a base for soup, broth, rice, oatmeal, smoothie, etc. Make meals more exciting and flavourful.
Does Boiling Chaga Ruin It
Health experts have split opinions on the preparation of chaga tea. One school of thought, backed up by experts like Greg Marley, suggests that many of the beneficial compounds in chaga arent released at infusion temperatures below boiling.
Compounds like polysaccharides cant be found at all in tea thats steeped at lower temperatures rendering several of the health benefits of chaga useless. By contrast, a different school of thought suggests the exact opposite.
Cass Ingram claims that many other components of the chaga mushroom are medicinal, including catalase and peroxidase. These compounds are damaged by temperatures above 180 F, meaning that ideal extraction involves a gentle simmer, not a boil.
Followers of this line of thinking often steep their chaga for hours or even days, creating a strong syrup that they can add to other drinks or enjoy straight.
We know that chaga is full of potentially healthy compounds and have performed numerous animal studies that have reinforced the health benefits of the mushroom, but human trials have not been conducted.
Its unclear whether the benefits of the polysaccharides and other chemicals that dont come out to play until the water is boiling outweigh the losses of destroying catalase, peroxidase, and other heat-sensitive compounds.
Youll still get plenty of value out of either preparation method, so use the one that preserves the compounds youre attempting to ingest or simply the one thats easier for you.
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How To Make Chaga Tea In Slow Cooker
- Add 3 to 5 dried mushrooms or 3.5g of Annanda Chaga Chunks
- 1 liter fresh water
- Slow cook on low or warm for up to 12 hours
Optionally, the slow cooker can be kept on warm or low for days adding more fresh water as needed.
Monitor your results, as slow cooker temperatures and their settings may vary with different models.
To keep Chaga tea from reaching a boil keep the lid of your slow cooker slightly askew. this will allow some heat to escape will help to avoid reaching higher temperatures above 80 Celsius.
How To Make Chaga Tea For Cancer
Actually, theres nothing different about making and ordinary tea and tea for cancer. So check the regular recipes. Dont self-medicate for cancer! You really need to consult a doctor. However, there are studies on the cancer-fighting abilities of Chaga, and it is a healthy drink to take while you work with your doctor. A little extra insurance wont hurt.
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What Does The Chaga Contain
- Polysaccharides/beta glucans The main active substance of Chaga. Those are mushroom carbohydrates that increase energy levels and boost the functions of the brain and liver.
- Betulin/ acid A review by Królin in 2015 summarized the many studies on this substance as a promising cancer treatment. Studies have proven that it does no harm whatsoever to healthy cells.
- Phytosterols, inotodiols and lanosterols These phytochemicals and phenols can stop the growth of harmful microbes.
- Melanin The chemical substance that gives Chaga the highest antioxidant levels among all mushrooms.
So, those are the ingredients that play a positive role on human health.
Chaga is real superfood with lots of benefits. It is erroneously thought that the Chaga and its tea are alternative medicine but the short answer is it isnt alternative medicine, but a medically proven herbal medicine whose effects have been heavily researched.
Identifying The Chaga Fungus
Chaga conks are most often found on birch trees. So the first step is to learn how to identify birch trees.
You must learn to differentiate chaga from fools chaga.
Warning! I am not a professional forager or wild food expert. I forage only for myself. Please do your own research before touching or eating any plants. Never consume anything in nature that you personally cannot 100% positively identify.
Chaga has a rough and hard exterior often described as resembling burnt wood or charcoal cinder the black sterile parasitic conks are quite distinctive in the field. The exterior will break off in chunks, sometimes simply using finger pulls, sometimes with the aid of a small knife.
Chagas interior is softer, woody, almost cork-like and orange.
Some friends and I found the chaga conk shown below on North Dome in The Catskills. It was quite large, possibly weighing a few pound
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How Much And Often To Drink Chaga Tea
Everyone is different, and there is no standardized limit or dosage of this tea. Its best to start with a small amount to make sure there are no adverse effects. Chaga tea shouldnt cause any problems, but as with any new food, it may cause an allergic reaction or stomach upset in some people. If you are concerned, please consult your doctor before drinking any Chaga products.
- Start with 1-2 teaspoons per day for basic immunity properties. It can be consumed on its own or added to coffee or tea. If you add it to coffee, its unlikely youll even taste the mushroom at all.
- Some people drink an 8-oz cup of tea per day.
- Chaga tea is easily added to smoothies, water, tea, coffee, hot chocolate, and chai. Or, add it to soups and stews for an earthy flavor boost.
If youre interested in taking Chaga for health, immunity, or treating a disease, it is always best to consult a doctor beforehand to ensure it is the best choice for you. The research on Chaga is ongoing, and as of now, there are no approved dosages of Chaga tea or supplements.