So you want to make some Chaga tea? Great! Why wouldn’t you? With all the health benefits, and the surprisingly refreshing taste, tea made from Chaga is a no-brainer! So let’s get started with what you need to know.
What is Chaga?
First of all, chaga is not actually a mushroom. A mushroom is that iconic part of a fungus that fruits or blooms, rising above the ground to disperse its spores. Chaga is actually the mycelium of a parasitic fungus known as Inonotus obliquus. Usually mycelium is soft and resembles roots that branch off underground, but in this case, the mycelium forms a hard mass known as a sclerotium. This sclerotium grows into irregular shapes and resembles a cracked charcoal. It is pure black due to the large amount of melanin it contains.
So chaga is actually a parasitic fungus that infects birch trees in the northern hemisphere. The spores of Inonotus obliquus find their way into a birch tree through some sort of open wound, such as the scab were a limb has fallen off. The fungus then spreads throughout the birch over the period of up to 10-80 years, slowly rotting it from the core. Eventually the tree becomes too soft in its center to support itself, and collapses. Then the fruiting bodies will do their job, and release spores that can infect other birches nearby.
Why Consume Chaga? The Health Benefits of course!
Ok, now that we know all about this parasitic fungus and what it does to poor birch trees – why should we consume it? Well, chaga has been being used by Scandinavian and Russian cultures since at least the 16th century. I say at least, because this seems to be some of the first documented use, but I would imagine it was being used much, much earlier than that. It was described by the Russian writer Alexsandr Solzhenitsyn as something that can be found in the woods, broken off, boiled, and drunk as tea to keep a person healthy and vigorous.
In depth science and chemistry results are still being done on this fungus, so what we currently know is probably not an exhaustive list of benefits. But we do know some important things Chaga Tea can do for you.
What Chaga Tea Can Do For You!
- Boost the Immune System: Chaga causes increased production of lymphocytes and macrophages. These important immune cells than cause an increased production of cytokines. There are a few different types of cytokines, but they are all basically messengers of the human immune system. Having an increased amount of these causes a person to have an immune system that is boosted up, and ready for anything.
- Reduce Inflammation: Remarkably, if a person has too many cytokines – as in the case of a person suffering from an autoimmune disorder – chaga will then regulate the cytokines to help suppress inflammation.
- Help Fight Cancer: Firstly, because Chaga helps boost and regulate the immune system (as discussed in the last two sections), Chaga can be a powerful supplement to someone going through radiation or chemo therapy who needs a boost to their immune system. However, Chaga has also been shown to have anti-tumor fighting capabilities. In fact, some Studies have found that Chaga significantly inhibits tumor growth and metastasis.
- Source of Antioxidants: Because Chaga is naturally high in numerous different antioxidants, it will fight those free radicals for you! Fighting free radicals is good for you – especially your skin and liver.
- Lower your Cholesterol: Chaga produces polysaccharides which have been shown to lower cholesterol in people. But most importantly, it has shown a significant lowering in the bad cholesterol(ldl).
Boy if that isn’t enough reason to consume some Chaga tea regularly, I don’t know what is! Oh, how about that it is naturally high in the compound vanillin (the same one found in the bean), which gives it a subtle, yet lovely flavor!
How to Prepare Chaga Tea from Whole Chaga Chunks.
So you have either bought or foraged some Chaga for yourself. You have read about the organism, you have brushed up on its health benefits – time to make the tea!
Steps to the Perfect Chaga Brew
Step 1 – Dry out your Chaga: It needs to be dried if you just recently plucked it off a birch tree. The reason is that you don’t know what other types of fungus could be tucked away in one of those cracks. Rather than chancing being poisoned, one should dry out their Chaga for a couple months before moving on to step 2. If you bought your Chaga from a reputable dealer, you should be able to skip this step.
Step 2 – Break up your Chaga: Grab a hammer, a towel, and get to work. Cover the fungus up with the towel and smash away. Break it up into as many little pieces as you can.
Step 3 – Pulverize your Chaga: I use a Magic Bullet, but any strong enough blender type thing will do. If you do not have a blender that will work, you can also try hand grating with a cheese grater. If this is too much, you can always just use the pea sized chunks you got from hammer smashing. Just remember, the smaller the pieces, the more surface area. The more surface area, the more extraction of all those beneficial compounds that you want.
Step 4 – Heat your Chaga in water: Take your powder and put it into a large pot, add water. I use the following ratio for a strong, but not too strong brew. 10 cups water – 1 cup Chaga powder. Bring the mixture to a boil, stir, and reduce to a simmer. Simmer for around 3 hours.
Step 5 – Strain your Chaga: Strain though a traditional metal strainer or cheesecloth.
Step 6 – Enjoy your Chaga: Time to appreciate all your time and hard work and enjoy all those health benefits! Hint – if you find the brew to be a bit too strong, just add a little water.
