Make a tincture of Chaga | Blastocystis and other mushrooms

February 15, 2025

Chaga or Sprängticka is the king of mushrooms from our own Nordic forests. A mushroom to be very grateful for as it is superior in the amount of antioxidants. Research shows a wide range of uses thanks to Chaga's active ingredients.

Today we write about how to make your own Chaga tincture. A tincture provides a concentrate of the mushroom's active ingredients. Which is very convenient, as you only need to dose with a couple of drops. Tinctures have several advantages. They have a shelf life of several years and it is a climate-smart choice as we preserve the plant or mushroom for many years. But you have to make the tincture correctly to extract the mushroom's valuable ingredients. Here we describe how to do a double extraction.

You can apply this description to any type of mushroom. You may have heard of Lion's Mane, Shiitake, Reishi? These functional mushrooms I am convinced we will use more of in the future. You can buy them in cultivated form, fresh or dried and make a tincture from them according to the steps below. It will probably be easiest to find in dried form.

In Chagan, we primarily want to take advantage of these substances: beta-glucans, triterpenes and antioxidants. To extract these substances, three things are needed: water, alcohol and heat. The cell walls of the mushroom contain chitin. It is the same substance as, for example, the shell of a crab. In other words, it is very hard. If we do not heat the mushroom, we cannot digest the mushroom and also cannot absorb the nutrients, such as beta-glucans. Through water and heating, we ensure that beta-glucans are extracted. Triterpenes are most easily extracted through alcohol. The function of alcohol is also to ensure shelf life.

Here's how to make a multi-step tincture of Chaga / Sprängticka:

1. Start by dividing the Chaga into small portions. Mix one part Chaga with 10 parts water (so if you have 100 grams of Chaga, you take 1000 ml of water).

2. Simmer on low until 3/4 of the liquid remains (you may need to add more water). Let the liquid cool.

3. Now you will strain the liquid. Use a strainer. Collect the liquid in an extremely clean glass jar. Store it in the refrigerator. Now you have your water extract, about 750 ml.

4. Is it possible to further pulverize Chagan? Now you are going to make a tincture of Chagan using alcohol. Take a new, super clean glass jar. Add the Chagan and fill with alcohol. Use as strong alcohol as possible. Preferably 60% or more (but take what you have). Use one part Chaga and 2.5 parts alcohol (for 100 grams of Chaga, you use 250 ml of alcohol). Put the lid on.

5. Let the alcohol tincture sit in the dark, at room temperature for at least 14 days. Shake the jar daily.

6. Strain the alcohol tincture through a clean towel or a fine-mesh strainer.

7. Now you should mix the water extract you have in the fridge with the alcohol tincture. To ensure shelf life, the ratio should be 75:25. In other words, three parts water extract (750ml) and one part alcohol tincture (250ml). If the alcohol content is too low in a tincture, unwanted organisms can start to grow.

Now you have your own Chaga tincture. Store it in a dark glass bottle in a dark room, and it will last forever (some say). By doing this, you maximize the extraction of the mushroom's important substances: beta-glucans, terpenes, and antioxidants.

How often you should take Chaga depends on what you want to achieve. Typically, Chaga is taken daily for a limited period of time. For example, three weeks. The daily dose varies, but a standard tincture dose is often 20 drops/dose.

Are you curious about Chaga but haven't made your own yet? At Örtfabriken , Chaga is available as a tincture and other mushrooms such as Lion's Mane, Cordyceps and Reishi , extracted to ensure maximum nutrition.

We've written a lot about Chaga and mushrooms on our blog. If you're interested in making your own tincture, you'll probably also be interested in this article on how to easily test the quality of your tincture at home .

Make Chaga Tincture Recipe