Making Mushroom Tea: To make a pleasant medicinal mushroom tea, simply add your mushroom slices or pieces to a large pot of water. Bring the water to a boil and then cook at a hot simmer for at least 1 hour. Next, strain the mixture through a colander or kitchen strainer. You can also ladle your mushroom tea from the pot as your mushroom pieces will settle to the bottom after cooking. Add flavors traditionally found in teas such as sugar and lemon. Medicinal mushroom teas also blend well with other prepared teas. The possibilities are endless for the creative medicinal mushroom connoisseur. Mushroom teas should be kept refrigerated or even frozen for long term storage of large batches.
(SEE SPECIFIC DOSAGE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW)
TYPICALLY 1 oz. OF DRIED MUSHROOMS WILL MAKE 1 GALLON OF MEDICINAL TEA. THE TRADITIONAL RATIO FOR MUSHROOM TEA PREPARATION IS 1 PART MUSHROOMS TO 5 PARTS WATER BY VOLUME (TWO 8 oz. GLASSES PER DAY ARE RECOMMENDED)
Making a Mushroom Tincture (Alcohol Extraction): To make a medicinal mushroom tincture or alcohol extraction, fill your container of choice (bottle, canning jar, etc.) approximately half full with your mushroom pieces or extract. Keep in mind that dried mushrooms and extracts will expand as they steep. Next, fill the container to the top with your alcohol and seal (80 proof or greater vodka or other clear spirits work well). Let your tincture rest for 2 weeks, shaking the container once a day if possible. After the extraction is completed, strain your tincture through some cheese cloth. Squeeze the remaining liquid out of the cheese cloth into the container. This yields a "single extraction".
You can then take it a step further and create a "double extraction". Combine your remaining mushroom mash with 5 times its' volume of water in a pot. Bring this mixture to a hot simmer and cook for 1 hour. Allow the mixture to cool and then strain off the mushroom mash. Next, continue simmering this strong tea until it is back to its' original volume or reduced by 5 times. Add this to your single extraction. This yields a stronger, more robust medicinal tincture. As mentioned above, flavors traditionally used with clear spirits such as lemon or even licorice often mix well with medicinal mushroom tinctures. We prefer to store our mushroom tinctures in the refrigerator or freezer as well, but room temperature storage is fine if using immediately.
(SEE SPECIFIC DOSAGE RECOMMENDATIONS BELOW)
WE GENERALLY RECOMMEND 4 - 6 oz. OF DRIED MUSHROOM PIECES PER GALLON OF TINCTURE. YOUR DRIED MUSHROOM PIECES SHOULD FILL YOUR TINCTURE BOTTLE OR JAR TO HALF FULL
Recommended Doses for Medicinal Mushrooms, Mushroom Teas, and Mushroom Tinctures:
Artist Conk (Ganoderma applanatum): Tea or tincture (alcohol extraction). Dosage: Tea: Up to 30 g. of mushroom in tea/day. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Reishi (Ganoderma sp.): Tea, soup stock, or tincture (alcohol extraction). Dosage: Tea or Stock: Up to 30 g. of mushroom in tea or stock/day. Tincture: 10 ml. 3x daily.
Turkey Tail (Trametes versicolor): Tea or tincture (alcohol extraction). Dosage: Tea: Up to 20 g. of mushroom in tea 3x daily. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Chaga (Inonotus obliquus): Tea or tincture (alcohol extraction). Dosage: Tea: 3 cups per day of tea prepared with 3 cm. of Chaga per pot. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Oyster (Pleurotus sp.): Rehydrate and cook as you would any mushroom. Grind or crumble dried mushroom and add to soups, sauces, gravy, or any recipe in which mushroom flavor is desired. Oyster can also be made into a tea or tincture. Dosage: Cooked, ad lib. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Maitake (Grifola frondosa): Rehydrate and cook as you would any mushroom. Grind or crumble dried mushroom and add to soups, sauces, gravy, or any recipe in which mushroom flavor is desired. Maitake can also be made into a tea or tincture. Dosage: Cooked, ad lib. Tea: Two 8 oz. glasses per day. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Birch Polypore (Piptoporus betulinus): Tea or tincture (alcohol extraction). Dosage: Tea: 3-12 g. of mushroom in tea/day. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Lions Mane (Hericium erinaceus): Rehydrate and cook as you would any mushroom. Grind or crumble dried mushroom and add to soups, sauces, gravy, or any recipe in which mushroom flavor is desired. Lions Mane can also be made into a tea or tincture. Dosage: Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Giant Puffball (Calvatia gigantea): Rehydrate and cook as you would any mushroom. Grind or crumble dried mushroom and add to soups, sauces, gravy, or any recipe in which mushroom flavor is desired. Dosage: Cooked, ad lib. Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
Shiitake (Lentinula edodes): Rehydrate and cook as you would any mushroom. Grind or crumble dried mushroom and add to soups, sauces, gravy, or any recipe in which mushroom flavor is desired. Shiitake can also be made into tea or tincture. Dosage: Cooked: (dried 6-16 g./day)(fresh 90 g./day). Tincture: 1 tsp. twice daily.
RECOMMENDED DOSING INSTRUCTIONS TAKEN FROM
"MEDICINAL MUSHROOMS, AN EXPLORATION OF TRADITION, HEALING, & CULTURE" BY CHRISTOPHER HOBBS
. DOSING INSTRUCTIONS ARE BASED ON AN AVERAGE ADULT
ALWAYS FOLLOW THE RECOMMENDATIONS OF YOUR HEALTH CARE PROVIDER WHEN BEGINNING A NEW HERBAL REGIMENT
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