HOW IS CHAGA MUSHROOM PREPARED?
Since you can only find chaga in the wild, it’s entirely possible to harvest your own chaga and make your own chaga tea from the powder. There’s more to it than just chopping some chaga off of a tree and putting it in a teapot, though.
Whether you’re dealing with chaga mushroom chunks or chaga mushroom powder, you need to prepare your chaga before you can digest it. The cell walls are composed of chitin, which humans can’t naturally digest. Freshly harvested chaga chunks need to be processed before used for tea or other home recipes. We’ll soon post our own video explaining Tru North’s harvesting practices but there are many demostration videos available online.
Of course, the easiest way to get chaga ready for your recipes at home is to buy packages of TruNorth chaga chunks or chaga mushroom powder.
HOW IS CHAGA MUSHROOM POWDER PREPARED?
Since you can only find chaga in the wild, it’s entirely possible to harvest your own chaga and make your own chaga tea from the powder. There’s more to it than just chopping some chaga off of a tree and putting it in a teapot, though.
Whether you’re dealing with chaga mushroom chunks or chaga mushroom powder, you need to prepare your chaga before you can digest it. The cell walls are composed of chitin, which humans can’t naturally digest. Freshly harvested chaga chunks need to be processed before used for tea or other home recipes. We’ll soon post our own video explaining TruNorth’s harvesting practices but there are many demonstration videos available online.
Of course, the easiest way to get chaga ready for your recipes at home is to buy packages of TruNorth chaga chunks or TruNorth chaga mushroom powder.
HOT WATER EXTRACTION
The hot water extraction method is the simplest and most common ways to prepare chaga at home. First, you need to clean and dry your chaga, as you do with any preparation method. Make sure you wash all the bark away, and all that’s left is a beautiful brown hunk of chaga. If you buy your TruNorth chaga online, We’ll take care of this process for you.
After that, the hot water extraction method is just like making a big pot of tea. Put your TruNorth chaga mushroom chunks or TruNorth chaga mushroom powder in a pot of boiling water. Let the TruNorth chaga steep for a period of time (depending on your amount), strain, and you’re ready to drink.
This process is great because it’s quick, easy, and cheap. Most of the components of TruNorth chaga are water soluble, so you’ll have many of the nutrients you want in chaga tea. Certain elements, though, such as polyphenols and beta-glucans aren’t water soluble. To get these nutrients, you’ll have to make a chaga tincture.
CHAGA TINCTURE
Making a chaga tincture is considerably more work, but the payoff comes in the versatility. You can add the chaga tincture to anything, which means you’re not only limited to tea or coffee.
First, break your chaga into chunks and grind those pieces to make chaga mushroom powder. Use a spice grinder or blender to make sure there aren’t any clumps.
Put the powder in a one-gallon glass jar and fill it until about two inches from the top with water. Fill the rest with at least 100 proof vodka. Let the jar sit for a minimum of eight weeks, and make sure to shake the jar every day.
After eight weeks has gone by, filter the alcohol out using a cheesecloth. Measure that amount, and take another cup and measure the same amount of water. Put your chaga in a clay pot, then add the water you measured.
Put the rest of your chaga mixture in a clay pot and add the water. Mark the water level, as this level will be the indicator of when your tincture is complete. After this, add twice the amount of water from the first measurement.
Heat the chaga until boiling then let it simmer on low heat. Once your water has reached the original level you marked, take it off the heat and let it cool until the next day. Repeat these steps for two more days, for a total of three. Once you’ve completed this, add the alcohol and let it sit in a glass jar.
It’s a complicated process, but it’s worth it for the amount of nutrients you receive. The tincture you make will be potent, so use it sparingly to make it last.
Be sure to check out our Recipe Blog to see the many different ways you can prepare and use TruNorth Chaga in various drinks and recipes.