Chaga tincture

Recently I have made some Chaga tincture.  Chaga (Inonotus obliquus), also known as True Tinder Fungus

is renowned for its medicinal properties which include; anti-tumor, anti-bacterial, anti-fungal, anti-viral, anti-septic, anti-inflammatory and it helps to strengthen the immune system.

It is recommended that you crush the mushroom into a powder and use to make a tincture (a tincture is an alcohol extract), but I wanted to use the fungus after to teach firelighting, so I broke it up into small pieces and placed in a tar which has an air-tight seal.  I then covered the pieces of Chaga with 40% vodka.

I sealed the jar and left it in a dark cupboard for two weeks, agitating the jar everyday.  After two weeks I poured the jars contents through a coffee filter, into a bottle.

Then I put the pieces of Chaga back into the jar and filled the jar with fresh vodka and repeated the hole process again.  Eventually I had a vodka bottle full with Chaga tincture.  The Chaga pieces I have dried and use for firelighting and some of the tincture I have transferred into small medicine bottles and I take a dropper full of tincture two times every day.