Every month or so, I make a long-brewed mushroom tea and drink from the same pot for about a week—simply refilling the pot with water after each pour. Several
years ago, I was intrigued to hear about a brewing method using a crockpot kept on low throughout the winter, with mushrooms added whenever the liquid became pale. I actually use the “simmer” burner on my gas stove at its lowest flame, which keeps the mushroom decoction just below a simmer through the week. Here’s how I make my medicinal mushroom tea.
I have a small 4-cup glass pot with a lid, to which I add:
a piece of chaga, about the size of a golf ball (a gift from a friend who purchased it from a reliable chaga gatherer in northern Minnesota),
a couple slices of reishi mushroom (purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs),
a maitake mushroom or two (purchased dried at our local food co-op),
about a tablespoon of dried dandelion root (but any of your favorite roots can be added, too),
and fill with water (I use spring water collected at the Fredrick-Miller Spring in Eden Prairie).
I put the pot on the simmer burner as low as it goes in the evening and by morning, I have a gorgeous, dark brew. I keep the pot covered, replacing the water after each pour. Besides having a steady supply of hot tea for the week, I occasionally use it to steep other favorite short-steep herbs mug by mug, such as tulsi or calendula. By the end of a week, the tea becomes quite pale and the mushroom pieces get composted.
As I mentioned at the outset, I prepare this tea about every month or so. The reason I don’t do it continuously throughout the winter is because I don’t endorse doing or taking anything every day.
Why medicinal mushroom tea?
Using mushrooms for their health benefits dates back centuries in many cultures and continues today, evidenced by their exploding popularity. Modern science has confirmed what the ancients knew long ago—that mushrooms can be deep
reservoirs of powerful medicines. Certain mushrooms have proven beneficial for the respiratory, nervous, and immune systems, and the body in general. Not only anti-inflammatory, immunoregulatory, neuroprotective, and even antiaging, there
is also much ongoing research concerning their
. I recommend an excellent book by herbalist and renowned mycologist Dr. Christopher Hobbs titled Medicinal Mushrooms: The Essential Guide.
Why long-brewed tea?
The beneficial beta-glucans and polysaccharides of the mushrooms are locked in chitin walls, which are indigestible to humans and require a hot water extraction
process to release and make digestible. Experts generally agree that eight hours is
the minimum time for extracting most of those healthy compounds. However,
heat that is too high can destroy those same compounds—the reason for keeping it below a simmer.
Why these mushrooms?
Reishi (Ganoderma lucidum) was the first mushroom I began using sevearl years ago, since I could easily get slices from Mountain Rose Herbs. Reish is referred to as “The King of Immortality”. That sounded interesting to me and worth studying! There has been much research done on reishi, as it has been highly revered and used medicinally for thousands of years. It has been thought to promote longevity and help maintain agility into the later parts of life. It is considered to be a powerful immune builder and protector. And there is some support and much research occurring in regard to its cancer prevention and cancer fighting potential. I hope research can continue and perhaps treatment could include reishi or other medicinal mushrooms in conjunction with conventional cancer treatments, to enhance both the effectiveness of the treatments, the body’s tolerance, and recovery. I could go on and on and on. Do your own research and be amazed!
I have an affection for chaga as it can be found locally, usually growing on older birch trees, and was used by our native peoples. The first known record of chaga use dates back to the 16th century when it was consumed to alleviate upset stomachs, hunger, fatigue, and to increase energy. Its reputation is right up there with reishi for cancer, both as a preventative and as a treatment. Chaga can quiet or activate the immune system, whichever is needed, encouraging internal balance. An over-active immune system may lead to allergies, asthma and autoimmune disorders while an under-active immune system may contribute to frequent infections and colds, slow healing wounds, chronically low energy levels and other autoimmune diseases.
I used maitake simply because it has many of the same benefits as reishi and chaga and was easily purchased at our local co-op. The major difference with reishi and chaga is that maitake can also be eaten as food, even in place of meat in some
recipes. Reishi and chaga are much too hard to eat as a food and require the long-brewing.
And why dandelion root? The better question is "why not?" Since it does pretty much everything and anything needed to restore and maintain balance in our body, I just had to add it in.
Enough said. Make yourself a long-brew medicinal mushroom tea. You're welcome.
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