I am very excited to say that this is my very first blog post! Now, before I get started I must say that it has been a very long and arduous winter, but thankfully spring is on its way! During the winter I had begun little projects while I shivered in my upstairs bedroom of my parents house. One of these projects was Chaga Tinctures, a mushroom that grows on birch trees deep in the forest. I had gone on a snowy winter walk with one of my best friends, Will, when we found this wonderful mushroom. As we harvested a bit of this mushroom off of a birch tree, he told me all about the health benefits of chaga. After warming up and drying off at his house he let me taste his chaga tincture that he had made a while ago. It tasted good and I became so interested in chaga I decided to make my own tincture.
Chaga mushroom is great for the immune system, especially in the winter season when we are not getting enough nutrients. Siberians had called it "The Gift from God" and "Mushroom of Immortality". Chaga contains B vitamins, flavoniods, phenols, minerals and enzymes. It is also high in copper, calcium, potassium, manganese, zinc, iron and is wonderful for the digestive system.
How to make Chaga tincture:
*First make sure the mushroom is dry*
-Then you chop it up to dime sized or smaller pieces
-Use 100 or 80 proof vodka to soak the chaga pieces in. Use a container and a 2:1 ratio (alcohol to chaga) to let the chaga soak in for about a month.
-After about a month or more, take your chaga and drain out the liquid and put it in your desired bottle for usage. Then for "double extraction" take the left over chaga pieces and put them in a pot. Use a 2:1 or 3:1 ratio (water to chaga pieces) and pour water into the pot. Let this boil, and then simmer until the liquid is about the same amount as your first extraction.
-Let the double extraction cool, and then pour it into your bottle with the first extraction.
-This will be your finished, homemade chaga tincture!
*Enjoy it in tea with milk, dropped onto the tongue, or in your morning coffee! It is a great way to start the day and stay healthy :)