How To Make Chaga Tea

Want to learn how to make chaga tea? Today I’ll show you (with videos!) how easy it is to brew a tea from chaga mushroom nuggets.

First, why drink chaga tea? Chaga has some impressive health benefits, which we will cover. I brew tea with chaga every day. It’s a simple process, and so worth it for chaga’s health-promoting properties.

And don’t feel intimidated by the look of chaga nuggets. They are gnarly-looking things! 👇 However, they brew a mellow cuppa that you can enjoy in many ways (I will share how to customize).

Let’s begin with some background, and then I’ll walk you through how to make your favorite cup of chaga!

What is Chaga?

Chaga is a non-edible mushroom that grows on birch trees. It has been used in Europe for centuries as a medicinal mushroom, because of its numerous health benefits.

Chaga is one of the adaptagenic mushrooms which reduces the negative impacts of physical, biological, and chemical stressors on the body. Adaptogens help the body regulate in many ways, including improving mood, balancing hormones, fighting fatigue and boosting the immune system. I wrote another post about chaga (and also lion’s mane and sea moss), link here to read more.

As adaptogenic mushrooms have become more popular, you may have seen chaga as an ingredient in coffee and tea mixes, and also in supplements. However, you can get all the health properties of chaga by brewing your tea – and because you can reuse the nuggets over and over it is more affordable.

Health Benefits of Chaga

• Cancer Fighting Properties: Research is showing chaga has powerful cancer-figthing properties. Studies have shown chaga promotes the death of colon cancer cells and prevents growth of cancer cells in the liver. Chaga has an unbelievably high antioxidant content, protecting cells from free radicals. Chaga’s ORAC score (which measures antioxidant strength) is higher than blueberries, higher than goji and acai berries.
• Lowering cholesterol & heart disease risk: Chaga mushrooms have been shown to reduce “bad” LDL cholesterol, triglycerides and overall cholesterol. Research is showing that chaga may also increase “good” HDL cholesterol.
• Immunity: Chaga has been shown to stimulate white blood cell production nececessary to fight harmful bacteria and viruses.
• Inflammation: Chaga mushrooms can help reduce long-term inflammation associated with conditions like heart disease and rheumatoid arthritis.
• Stress Reduction: As mentioned, chaga is an adaptogen and can help modulate stressors. In addition to the other health benefits outlined here, chaga has also been shown to have an “anti-fatigue” effect, which increases the capacity to perform mental work even during periods of stress and fatigue.

How to Make Chaga Tea

With all these health-promoting properties, why not learn how to extract the properties of chaga mushroom in a comforting cup of tea? It is far easier than you might imagine. Ridiculously easy!

Tea Ingredients

The ingredients for chaga tea couldn’t be simpler:

1. Chaga Nuggets: I use Survival Moss, and you can enjoy 10% off with code DREENA
2. Water

Of course, you can always customize to enjoy more flavors in your chaga tea, and I give some ideas for these flavor variations below.

Tea Process

Bring a pot or kettle of water to a boil with 1 or more chaga nuggets, depending on size. If nuggets are smaller than a golf ball, add 2-4 nuggets. If about the size of a golf ball or larger, you can use 1-2 nuggets.

Once at a boil, reduce heat and let simmer for 15-30 minutes, until you have extracted the chaga essence and your water is the color of a weak to dark black tea. Enjoy straight up, sweetened, or with one of the flavorings below.

That’s it!

I’ve shown a few videos making chaga tea, mostly because I want to share (a) how easy it is to make chaga tea, and (2) how often I make chaga tea!

These videos show you how to make chaga tea and enjoy it straight up. However, you may want to infuse your chaga tea, adding other teas into the chaga or adding other flavor elements.

Chaga Tea: How it Tastes & How to Add Flavor

The flavor of brewed chaga water is subtle. It doesn’t taste like mushrooms! Rather, it has a very light mallow-y flavor, that’s how I describe it. So you can certainly enjoy without any added flavor or enhancements. However, if you’d ike Here are 3 ways to add some flavor:

1) Hot Tea Pour-Over

Steep your chaga, then add the hot tea to a cup with your favorite tea bag. For instance, if you love earl grey or chai tea, simply use the steeped chaga water instead of boiled water. Voila! Instant chaga tea goodness that tastes like your favorite tea. This is my morning ritual with Guayusa tea, I love it. 👇

2) Cold tea brew infusion

If you prefer a chilled/cool tea, steep your chaga water and let cool slightly. Add to jars with a cold tea brew infusion. Place in the fridge and enjoy for up to 3-4 days.

3) Other Flavors: Additional ways to flavor your tea include adding:

That’s really how simple it is to make tea with chaga nuggets. Not intimidating at all, right?

I’ve created a “recipe”, just so you can print for your reference, if you like. But truly it’s so easy, once you make your first brew of chaga tea you’re a pro!

I’d love to know how you enjoy brewing your cup of chaga. Share your ideas in the comments.

Remember when picking up your chaga nuggets to get your 10% off with code DREENA. I hope you love your chaga brews as much as I do! x Dreena