Maple Medicinal Mushroom Concoction
Text and Photography by Juliet Blankespoor
Maple Medicinal Mushroom Concoction is a true bittersweet elixir.
Maple Medicinal Mushroom Concoction is an ebony brew enriched by the deep earthiness of the mushrooms and the hearty sweetness of cinnamon and maple syrup. The long boiling process effectively extracts one of the primary components of these mushrooms’ medicine—their immunomodulating long-chain polysaccharides. Read through all the directions carefully before making Maple Medicinal Mushroom Concoction as there is a narrow window for alcohol percentage.
Maple Medicinal Mushroom Concoction
Equipment
- Medium pot with lid
- Strainer
- Half gallon mason jar
Ingredients
- 1 cup dried shiitake slices (Lentinula edodes) - 1 ounce, or 28g per cup.
- 1 cup dried maitake slices (Grifola frondosa) - ¾ ounce, or 21g per cup.
- 2 cups dried reishi slices (Ganoderma tsugae, G. lucidum, or G. applanatum) - 2 ounces, or 56g per 2 cups.
- 2 tablespoons cinnamon chips (Cinnamomum verum, C. burmannii, or C. zeylanicum)
- 2½ teaspoons cardamom seeds (Elettaria cardamomum)
- ¾ cup maple syrup
- 10 ounces 190 proof (95%) organic corn, grape or cane alcohol - Or 2.5 times more ounces if using 100 proof (50%) vodka.
Directions
- IMPORTANT: Directions below are for a 48 ounce yield.
- Add the mushrooms, cinnamon, and cardamom to a medium pot and add 40 ounces (1.2 liters) of water. Stir the mixture well to coat the mushrooms and herbs.
- Cover the pot and bring to a boil. Reduce the heat, cover, and simmer for six to eight hours. Stir and check the water level frequently. When the water dips below the mushroom-herb mixture, add enough water so the mixture is completely submerged.
- Turn off the heat and leave the lid off to let cool for half an hour.
- Strain the mixture through a funnel or ceramic coffee filter lined with a straining cloth into a half-gallon (1.9 liters) jar. Wring out the mushrooms in a cloth with your hands or press with a stainless steel potato ricer.
- Measure the mushroom/herb tea into a half-gallon mason jar, or another vessel you can cap and shake. You’ll want exactly 32 ounces (1 liter) of the tea. If you have less, add just enough water to bring the volume up to 32 ounces (1 liter). If you have more, store the excess by freezing in ice cube trays, and take one tablespoon daily.
- Add the maple syrup first, and then the alcohol.
- Shake well until all ingredients are combined, and pour into storage bottles using a funnel.
- Label with the ingredients and date. Store in the refrigerator if you have space. If you don’t have space, store in a dark cabinet. Will keep for one year refrigerated and six months unrefrigerated.
- Adult dosage (150 pounds) is 2 teaspoons (10 ml) to 1 Tablespoon (15 ml), two times a day. Note that 2 teaspoons (10 ml) will have 2 dropperful of alcohol. One Tablespoon (15 ml) will have 3 dropperfuls of alcohol. Calculate children’s dosage by weight.
Notes
You can substitute any medicinal mushroom for the ones listed in the recipe. For instance, say you have lots of turkey tail (Trametes versicolor) and no reishi ( Ganoderma tsugae or G. lucidum). You could just use turkey tail in place of the reishi. I recommend using several different species in the recipe, as multiple mushrooms in a formula are more effective than any single mushroom species used alone.
Meet the Green Mastermind Behind Blog Castanea:
JULIET BLANKESPOOR is the founder, primary instructor, and Creative Director of the Chestnut School of Herbal Medicine, an online school serving thousands of students from around the globe. She's a professional plant-human matchmaker and bonafide plant geek, with a degree in botany and over 30 years of experience teaching and writing about herbalism, medicine making, and organic herb cultivation. Juliet’s lifelong captivation with medicinal weeds and herb gardening has birthed many botanical enterprises over the decades, including an herbal nursery and a farm-to-apothecary herbal products business.
These days, she channels her botanical obsession through her writing and photography in her online programs, on her personal blog Castanea, and in her new book, The Healing Garden: Cultivating and Handcrafting Herbal Remedies. Juliet and her family reside in a home overrun with houseplants and books in Asheville, North Carolina.
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Andrzej Müller says:
Witam jak mi wiadomo alkohol usuwa z platynowce a są w tych grzybach , sa najwazniejsze w tym wszystkim ile sie icm ma tak itak długo żyjemy , reszta to skutkowe działanie
SaDonna Heathman says:
Could I add Chaga to this recipe? How might you suggest I go about it? What would be a good amount to add? Would I replace another mushroom with Chaga or would it be ok to add it on top of what the recipe already calls for?
Sarah Sorci says:
Chaga sounds like a nice addition to this recipe! Personally, I would substitute in chaga for another mushroom(s) (whether some or all of the amount of mushroom called for). I would make a 1:1 substitution, removing the same amount of mushroom that I add of chaga. Enjoy 🙂
Dana says:
Hello, I have a local honey whiskey I would like to use for this recipe. Do you feel this will suffice? It is 37% alc/vol (74 proof). I will also use instead, wild harvested turkey tail, chaga, and reishi. Thanks for the reply! Dana
Meghan Gemma says:
Yes, the whiskey will work (and probably taste amazing!). However, your final concoction will have a lower percentage of alcohol than what we suggest for the recipe. You can carefully recalibrate proportions, or simply keep your concoction refrigerated and use it in the next 6 months – 1 year.
Kathy Lewis says:
What would this be used for exctly?? Sounds easy enough to prepare. If freezing, how long can it be frozen and does freezing dilute it’s potency?
Meghan Gemma says:
I use this as an immune-balancing remedy, and ideally it’s taken daily as a tonic. It can be frozen almost indefinitely (but I’d probably compost it after a year or so) and freezing will not dilute its potency.
Paddy says:
How much alcohol should I add if I only have 80 proof brandy? Thank you.
Sarah Sorci says:
According to my math, Using 35 oz of 80 proof alcohol (without adjusting other measurements in the recipe) will give you about 19% alcohol. That will result in less mushroomy goodness per dose in the final concoction, since the alcohol takes up more volume.