Chaga fungus can be found growing on birch trees throughout northern regions of the world and is best known for enhancing immunity, lowering blood sugar, and more! It’s been touted for improving one’s wellbeing!

Chaga can be made into tea for one of its primary uses. This is one of its most widely utilized methods.

1. Clean the Chaga

Chaga fungus is an extremely hardy and durable conk that grows on tree branches and trunks. Over the course of five to seven years, chaga extracts its own nutrients from its host tree in order to extract antioxidants and vitamins for its own use. Meanwhile, its thick outer chitin shell encases these essential elements within it and protects them. Chaga’s thick texture also makes it very difficult to cut or break into smaller pieces.

Chaga can be harvested year-round, although peak harvest periods tend to occur in autumn and winter when more birch trees go dormant, providing their nutrient-rich sap for use by the fungus.

As chaga is so resilient, it must be dried quickly after harvesting to avoid mold growth. Once dry, chaga should be placed on a pan, sheet, or tarp and kept out of direct sunlight or other sources of contamination; once it’s completely dried out it should be stored in an airtight container and placed somewhere dark and dry such as your pantry or kitchen cabinet – where its medicinal value can still be restored with each use.

Before brewing your cup of chaga tea, it’s essential to use a mushroom brush and remove all dirt or debris from the surface using an uncontaminated brush and any equipment that might contaminate it with additional chemicals or bacteria that could taint its taste.

Preparing Chaga Tea: What Methods Exist? There are various approaches for making Chaga tea. A popular way is boiling it in water for 20 minutes and letting it settle before cutting up and breaking apart into smaller pieces. This will soften and soften up the fungus for easier cutting/breaking down/cutting into pieces.

Chaga can also be prepared for tea by using an alcohol extraction or fermentation process, but this requires specific equipment such as a still to complete successfully at home.

2. Break it up

While chaga can be used to create various beverages, most people enjoy it when made into tea. Chaga is an unusual fungus found on birch trees that looks more like tree bark than it does a mushroom; often used to promote health and boost the immune system; it is very easy and delicious; some even use it to treat cancer or other diseases!

To make chaga mushroom tea, first break up the fungus into chunks that are approximately one inch wide using either a knife or hatchet. Some people also choose to dry the chaga prior to turning it into tea; this step is important as it prevents mold growth after boiling it in water.

When you are ready to brew chaga, place the chunks in a pot filled with 0.5 litres (17 fluid ounces). Bring this water up to a boil on high heat before simmering it for 30 minutes.

Chaga can be harvested any time of year, though wintertime is ideal due to fewer leaves covering up its source. You’re most likely to find great chaga on old, healthy-looking birch trees; other trees may also produce it – look out for hard, black cankerlike fungus with yellowish or tobacco-colored stain in cracks or wounds in trees as a telltale sign.

Once your chaga has been brewed, it should take on a dark coffee-like color. If it hasn’t quite reached this goal yet, allow it to sit for another few hours and try again later – though beware that using the same chunk multiple times may eventually dilute its potency.

Create a tincture of your chaga by mixing it with alcohol to form a tincture in a jar, but keep in mind that its shelf life is only around eight weeks – use quickly! Chaga tinctures can help boost energy and fight colds quickly; however, their impact in terms of fighting cancer and other diseases is limited by comparison with tea.

3. Dry it

Chaga has long been revered as an effective medicine. A parasitic fungus found primarily on birch trees in cold climates worldwide – including Maine! – it has been discovered to contain antioxidants and boost immune systems while simultaneously lowering blood sugar and cholesterol. Chaga harvest can be made into tea or tinctures; making tinctures requires expensive equipment that many home herbalists may not have access to.

Chaga must be cleaned and dried prior to being used as it has the tendency to mold. A white mold may form on its black exterior surface while greenish blue mold may develop within its fungus when not processed properly or stored properly. Chaga should be divided into small chunks to facilitate complete drying.

An effective way to hasten the drying process for chaga is placing it on a baking tray. Chunks should be separated so as not to overlap and ensure all areas of its surface can dry evenly.

Chaga must be air dried for several days before being stored away in an appropriate dark location for storage until needed.

Many online sources extoll the health benefits of Chaga and make claims that it cures cancer, yet most scientific evidence supporting such claims comes from Russian studies over four to six decades old that were not randomized, double blinded, placebo based or controlled for analysis.

If you want to use chaga for tea making purposes, simply put a crockpot or saucepot filled with water on the stove and add one fist-sized chunk of chaga to it. Reduce heat to its lowest setting and simmer for at least two hours (up to four if necessary), adding additional water as necessary as it evaporates away. Upon completion of this process strain out any remaining pieces and enjoy your beverage hot or chilled!

4. Brew it

Chaga mushroom tea has been shown to offer numerous health advantages, including improving immune system functioning, inhibiting cancer cell growth and lowering blood sugar levels, as well as decreasing inflammation in the body. Chaga contains betulinic acid which may play an integral part in inhibiting tumor development while simultaneously suppressing inflammation.

Before making chaga mushroom tea, first make sure your chaga pieces are completely dry and brittle before using them. Next, combine them in a pot with 0.5 liters (17 fl oz) of water in order to bring to a boil and then simmer them for 30 minutes or more – the end product should have an earthy flavor with dark hue. Depending on desired tastes you can also add milk, honey, cinnamon or ginger for additional flavors or reuse pieces multiple times until their dark pigment stops adding dark tinted hue to water or extract fat-soluble compounds with alcohol to create chaga tincture tincture!

When making chaga tea, ensure to use a pot with an airtight lid which will keep moisture at bay – such as a large mug or teapot – and use a metal strainer to separate chunks from liquid after boiling. If making larger quantities at one time, store chunks in an airtight container until ready to use them in your tea brew session.

For an easier way of creating chaga mushroom tea, purchasing high-quality chaga powder may be the better choice. This powder can be used in hot or cold beverages alike or mixed into coffee blends to make chaga-infused coffee blends. Chaga tinctures offer another method, but these often involve long processes with equipment not readily available at home.

For optimal chaga results, take regular doses. Brewing it as tea is ideal; alternatively there are capsules and powders available that make this easier.