Chaga FAQs

What is Chaga?

Chaga is a very tasty and energizing tonic made from the Birch tree.

Inonotus obliquus, a fungus, converts the Birch tree’s nutritive chemicals into a balanced, beautiful, and bio-available conk, or a stored food mass, that can be harvested and brewed into tea. This tea has been studied extensively worldwide for its incredible properties, which we have experienced ourselves. Learn more about chaga’s properties here.

How to brew Chaga?

Chaga should not be brewed like conventional tea. Many medicinal mushrooms are far too dense to be steeped for only 15 mins.

Click here for an interesting take on why this in rarely mentioned.

Whether you are brewing with grounds, or chunks of chaga, here’s how to get the most out of your medicinal mushroom:

  1. Heat 1 gallon purified water to just below a simmer.
  2. Add 10 tablespoons ground chaga, more or less to taste.
  3. Let brew from 2 hours to 2 days, depending on your patience and preference of strength of brew. Water should stay around 160 degrees F.
  4. Enjoy hot with cream, honey, cinnamon, or enjoy plain to taste chaga’s rich, earthy, and sweet tones. Or save in the fridge and enjoy chilled on a hot day.
  5. Save the grounds in the freezer for reuse. The next time you use them, you may boil them, until the brew becomes dark black again. At this point the grounds should be nearly spent.
  6. Remember, if you are impatient, you can still simmer or boil the chaga the first time and still make a nutritious and delicious brew. However, you will have destroyed some of the beneficial nutrients that are extracted at lower temperatures.

Are there side effects?

Most companies don’t make any mention of chaga’s side effects, and we find this dishonest and frankly, dangerous.

Not only is it delicious, chaga is an incredible source of vitamins, minerals, and anti-oxidants. It supplies the body with many tools to keep you operating at maximum potential. There is so much to learn about why and how chaga is the best thing since sliced bread. Unfortunately most companies only focus on the positives, and neglect to mention the potential negatives.

Here’s what everyone should know:

  1. Chaga naturally lowers blood pressure. For this reason it can be a wonderful tool for those with high blood pressure. However, if an individual is already taking drugs for high blood pressure, drinking chaga could drop their blood pressure too low. 
  2. Chaga naturally lowers blood sugar. Again, if you are taking drugs for this already, consuming chaga could mean a double dose.
  3. Chaga contains high amounts of oxalates. There is now empirical evidence that connects high chaga consumption with kidney stones. Do not consume chaga if you suffer from kidney or liver conditions.

Want to learn more? Read the Ultimate Chaga Guidebook.