Okay, first, let’s define our terms here.
Maceration is one tincture making process where you soak your herbs in a menstruum for about 2 weeks. To macerate something generally means to soften and break it apart. And no, I’m not chewing on the herbs!
The next sets of tinctures I’m going to be working on is a variety of medicinal mushrooms. Currently in the line up is shitake, reishi, chaga, miatake, lions mane, cordyceps, and turkey tail. These will be available in a stronger alcohol tincture rather than my usual VG.
I’ve been debating on whether or not I want to combine each of these mushrooms as a complex formula. Part of me believes that it would be a great thing to offer, but the other part of me knows that each individual mushroom has so many benefits that it would be best to offer them individually.
Let’s talk about mushies.
Each mushroom is wildly beneficial to the body systems, esp for the immune system. Plus, every single one is adaptogenic. What that means is that they balance out your body systems and help them adapt to both environmental stressors, and emotional ones. Granted, nothing is going to take away your stress if you are in a perpetually stressful environment.
The first two I have brewing are Reishi and Turkey Tail. I decided to start with just a couple because I have a habitual issue with starting far too big and then backing down when the overwhelm gets too consuming.
Reishi
Reishi is probably my favorite. It’s BIG medicine. It’s not just some casual herb that holds a small but mighty impact. It’s a major player in the mushroom medicine game. Although it is very safe to take and you can add it into your every day routine, it’s important to know that this mushroom deserves respect.
This big fella has some major benefits, including clearing the mind of foggyness, improving stress and sleep quality, and boosting the immune system. It’s been used by many as cancer prevention and treatment, lowering blood pressure and cholesterol, and seizure prevention (although none of these things, of course, are confirmed by the FDA and I don’t claim that they *do* these things, just that they are commonly used by individuals for such). This beautiful mushroom has a mirad of traditional uses!
It is important to note that Reishi does have a mild blood thinning effect, so anyone already on blood thinners or chemo needs to be cautious and talk to their doctor before taking it.
The best way to take reishi is really in tincture form. You could decoct and drink it in a tea, but it’s rather bitter and somewhat unpleasant on its own. My personal preference is adding some tincture to a couple oz of water or juice in the mornings. It helps to really clear my mind and jump start my energy levels for the day. It’s quite wonderful.
Reishi is also a very woody mushroom. It’s shiny in appearance and does come in a number of colors, but the most potent one is red. That’s the one I’m currently brewing! It’s extremely solid and difficult to chop into pieces when dried. You might actually break a tooth on it if you tried to bite into it.
Turkey Tail
Turkey tail is my homey. First off the smell of dried turkey tail is beyond wonderful. It smells like something you would definitely want in a soup! Although, it’s a very woody mushroom and inedible. When I say inedible, I don’t mean that it’s poisonous, I mean you literally physically can’t eat it. By the time you get done chewing it, you might not have a jaw left.
Speaking of soup, one of the best ways to consume turkey tail is to create a broth with it. You boil the fungus for roughly 20 minutes making a decoction. You can reduce it by half, add more water and reduce it again if you want, or just boil it for a little while until the flavors infuse. Honestly, it’s cool just to play around with decocting. Kitchen science.
Once your turkey tail is decocted, you can use it as a broth for soup or just drink it like a tea. It’s safe to take daily and it’s relatively hard to over do it. It is, of course, best to start small if you’ve never had it before and gradually increase.
Always listen to your body.
Turkey tail’s benefits include boosting the immune system, balancing the gut microbiome, reducing inflammation, and is actually frequently used to enhance the efficiency of standard cancer treatments. It’s also used for fatigue, muscle strengthing, and many other things, but again, I make no claims, the FDA has not approved of these statements, ya dig?
I always recommend that an individual does their research before taking any herbal supplements. It’s best to know what you’re taking and why.
Wow those sound great, I want some.
Of course you do. I want some. I’m so excited for these tinctures to get done that I could about do cart wheels. Each of the alcoholic tinctures I’m making take about 2 weeks to soak in the alcohol. After those 2 weeks, I will take them and decoct the mushrooms as well to make sure I extract all of the polysaccharides. Can’t miss all of those benefits.
When you decoct an herb or mushroom that’s been soaking in menstruum for a while, that’s what’s called a double extract. Most herbs are just fine with a single extraction, but some benefit majorly from doing it double. Reishi and Turkey Tail are definitely some of those!
Some of the constituents are only soluble in alcohol, others in water. So I’m doing them both to make sure everyone, myself included, gets the best tincture I can make! Typically I wouldn’t use alcohol just because I do take pride in making a VG tincture that everyone can use… but sometimes these need that extra bit of potency. Seeing as these mushrooms are big medicine, I do believe they deserve big potency for maximum benefits.
If an alcohol tincture isn’t for you, don’t sweat it. In due time I will make a vegetable glycerin version with your name on it. Currently, I’m out of glycerin and I’m waiting on the next shipment to come in so I can make more tinctures.
Until then, bask in the anticipation. Good things are coming soon! All praise to the Most High for His mighty and beautiful creation ♡.