How do you brew your Chaga tea?

[flipjargendy]

Last year I decided to harvest some Chaga and process it for tea. I've seen a few ways but am curious which way others are doing it.

When I processed mine, I broke it up with a hatchet and then used a coffee grinder to get it a little finer. Then I use a coffee filter to steep it like tea. Someone suggested that I boil a chunk in a pot so that way I can reuse it. This got me wondering how others have been doing it.

How do you process and then brew your Chaga tea?

[Bradley]

After washing, I use a 12" chef knife and a hammer to chop the chaga into 1" cubes. I used to just throw those cubes in a crockpot and keep replacing the water as i drank the tea over the course of several days. i found although the water will continue to change color for many brews, the chaga is pretty well spent after 4 or 5 water replacements.  The process can be paused, if needed, by putting the cubes in the fridge for a few days or the freezer. This method works well if you have a lot of chaga drinkers around or have a tiny crockpot!

Some folks say you should never boil chaga, others say it must be boiled in order to release the cancer fighting properties. This is what my method has evolved into over the years.  First put the 1" cubes in a pot with just enough water to cover them (extra water if chaga is dry) cover and cook on lowest setting on your range for 4-6 hours.  (Electric range works best)  Strain the tea and replace with enough water to cover the cubes again.  Increase the range temp by 1 setting and reduce the cooking time by an hour or so. Repeat the process 4 or 5 times. The last run i will usually let cook at a full boil for an hour or more. I then mix all of these teas together and put them into shallow pans in an electric food dehydrator until all liquid is gone.  Scrape out the concentrated chaga flakes, grind into powder with mortar and pestle and store in a dark glass jar.  To make tea add 1/16-1/8 teaspoon of the powder to 6 oz of hot water.  Add a little maple syrup and half and half no one will believe its a mushroom flavored beverage!

After you're done, the cubes can be dried and used for tinder or incense.  

If the chaga was harvested in the spring or summer the concentrate may be a bit salty and won't be as medicinally potent.

I hope i didn't leave anything out, let me know if something doesn't make sense.

Cheers!

 

[dualsetters]

I broke off 2 pieces roughly 1"x1" and simmered them in 2 gallons of water for about 2 hrs until the brew was black. I think lol  it's been a while. Then put it in the refrigerator and used it until it was gone. I've read that a glass  pot is the way to go and you can see when it is done rather than trying to time it. Afterwords I let the chaga dry so it could be reused 4 or 5 more times. It made a pretty good tea. Reminded me slightly of birch beer. 

I have enough chaga to last me a year or more, but just couldn't get in the habit of keeping it handy. 

 

[flipjargendy]

Wow, 4-5 uses is pretty good. It seems to me it goes a long way. It seems I've been doing it wrong! I did boil a 4x4 inch piece a couple of times but it sounds like I need to make it smaller. Thanks for the input.

[themess1]

Just as you did. After drying, I grind it like coarse coffee and throw it in a stainless tea ball when I'm ready to drink.

[Dave W]

I break chunks apart into pea-sized pieces using a vice-grip. I use a crock pot to simmer for a day or so. On high setting, the crock pot brings the liquid to s slow boil. On low setting the temp seems to stay just below boiling. I alternate settings. I have used material as many as three times. The tea tastes good. I like a little brown sugar added. But it's good straight up. 

My wife, who is a cancer survivor, makes a tincture out of Inonotus obliquus (Chaga). This is a drawn-out process, which begins by soaking the material in grain alcohol for a few weeks (I think it's a few weeks). Then, after the alcohol is drained off the fungus, the material is simmered in water for a day or two. The water-based and alcohol-based liquids are mixed 50/50. 

[The Vault Dweller]

I've found Chaga, but haven't harvested it.  I will someday and try to make tea just for the novelty of it.  Also read some of the many articles I see about it online