Generally talking Chaga’s shelf life is one to two years. Yet improperly dried or stored Chaga is known to spoil within 10 days. It’s important to discard any Chaga that smells moldy or develops visible spores. Contaminated Chaga is unsafe to consume.
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Chaga needs to be properly dried before getting stored in an air-tight container. Some people prefer to leave their Chaga to “breathe”, meaning storing it in a clean paper bag or washcloth. The condition here is that the environment needs to be dry, as Chaga is easily contaminated by mold. It’s good to keep your stash at room temperature, away from direct light.
Chaga’s taste is ofter determined by its quality and origin. Healthy, fresh Chaga has somewhat of an earthy favour with slight bitterness and hints of a sweeter undertone. The mushroom infusion can be made to taste better by adding different components like spices, herbs, plant milk, and a natural sweetener to your brew.
Chaga mushroom has actually been used for centuries by indigenous cultures, natural healers, and traditional medicine practitioners around Russia. Due to the abundance of birch trees there, Russian Chaga is famous and has been distributed around the world. Early eastern Slavic populations used Chaga to treat a variety of internal and external issues. Chaga was …
Chaga is a polypore fungus that grows mainly on birch trees in cold climates. It is parasitic and grows on living trees. The fungal mycelium enters the stem of a mature tree through a crack or a wound in the bark, after which it starts to absorb and synthesize healthy compounds that we, humans, wish to consume. …
Chaga grows on living trees, but it is parasitic. This means that the fungal mycelium enters the stem of a mature tree through a fracture or a wound in the bark and starts to absorb/synthesize healthy compounds. Antioxidants and Betulinic acid are two properties found in birch that give Chaga its potent benefits. Many Chaga look-alikes, unfortunately, do …
Truth is that Chaga will only stay alive and sterile whilst the host tree is living. Meaning that once the birch tree has died, the mushroom will die along with it. Harvesting Chaga from a dead birch tree will not bring you any medicinal value. The fungus will only develop fruiting bodies to start another life cycle.
Drinking Chaga is the most common way of consuming it. A crucial part of the processing is heating – it expands the cell walls of the mushroom, allowing for more nutrients to become bioavailable for human consumption and produce a stronger healing potion.
Chaga tastes and smells like tree bark–but, and that in a positive way. Once processed, the fungus has beautiful sweet undertones to it. Taste is often a good indicator of the mushrooms’ source and quality.