KNOW YOUR SHROOM
The Complete Guide to Chaga
The Complete Guide to Chaga
What Is Chaga Mushroom (Inonotus obliquus)?
Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) is a slow-growing fungus that forms a hard, black, charcoal-like mass called a conk on birch trees in cold climates. It can take 10 to 15 years to mature, and that deep black colour comes from melanin. Chaga has been brewed as a forest tea in Russia, Siberia, and Northern Europe for centuries.
Unlike a typical cap-and-stem mushroom, Chaga looks more like a piece of dark, cracked mineral. Our Chaga mushroom extract is a concentrated powder made from the whole Chaga fruiting body, dual-extracted and lab-tested, so you get a caffeine-free daily brew without simmering raw chunks for hours.
Chaga Mushroom vs Chagas Disease
A quick clarification, because search engines confuse the two. Chaga mushroom (Inonotus obliquus) is a fungus that grows on birch trees and has been used as a traditional tea. Chagas disease is a completely unrelated tropical infection caused by a parasite in Central and South America. Different organism, different topic. If you were looking for the mushroom, you are in the right place.
What Is Inside Chaga Mushroom Extract
Chaga is studied mainly for its unusual compound chemistry. These describe what is in the mushroom, not what it does in the body.
Melanin The black pigment
Chaga is one of the richest natural sources of melanin, the pigment behind the conk's black exterior. A 2019 study in Biomolecules characterised Chaga melanin and its antioxidant activity as a compound.
Beta-D-Glucans & Polysaccharides Water-soluble
The water-soluble fraction is made of beta-D-glucan and other polysaccharides, the same broad family of compounds studied across functional mushrooms.
Betulin & Triterpenoids Drawn from birch
Chaga takes up betulin, a triterpene compound, from the birch bark it grows on, alongside other triterpenoids. These are fat-soluble, which is why the extraction method matters.
Phenolic Compounds Polyphenols
Chaga also carries a range of phenolic compounds. A 2022 study in Biomolecules found conks grown on birch are richer in polyphenols, flavonols, and glucans.
Lab-Verified Composition
From our Certificate of Analysis, batch NG20240720. Whole extract, no carriers.
17.38%Polysaccharides
12.50%Beta-Glucans
0.91%Betulin
Chaga's beta-glucan level is naturally lower than our other extracts because its profile is led by polyphenols and melanin instead. That is correct for the species. Every batch is lab-tested for heavy metals and active compounds.
Why We Dual-Extract Our Chaga
Chaga holds two kinds of compounds that will not come out the same way. A single hot-water brew, the way most people make Chaga tea at home, misses half of them.
Hot Water Step
Pulls out the water-soluble polysaccharides and beta-D-glucans.
Ethanol Step
Pulls out the fat-soluble betulin and triterpenoids that water leaves behind.
Our Chaga is an 8:1 dual extract, hot water plus ethanol, so both fractions end up in the powder. Eight kilograms of raw Chaga go into one kilogram of finished extract.
Fruiting Body, Never Mycelium
This is where a lot of Chaga on the market quietly falls short. A 2025 analysis in Planta Medica tested 18 marketed Chaga supplements and found 8 of them, almost half, were actually ground mycelium grown on grain, missing the triterpenoid and phenolic markers of real Chaga. Ours is made from the whole Chaga conk, never mycelium on grain, never fillers.
How to Make Chaga Tea from Extract Powder
Whole Chaga chunks need one to four hours of simmering. Extract powder is ready in seconds. Pour 200 to 250 ml of hot water, just off the boil, over 1 to 2 grams of Chaga extract powder and stir. It has a mild, earthy taste with a faint note of vanilla, and it is naturally caffeine-free, so it suits any time of day. You can also stir it into coffee, a smoothie, or broth.
Chaga Mushroom: A Note on Heritage
The Khanty people of western Siberia are among the first recorded to use Chaga, brewing the black conk into a slow forest tea and calling it a "gift from God". Across Russian, Siberian, Finnish, and Baltic folk tradition it was a foraged winter tonic, and it picked up names like "King of Mushrooms" and "Diamond of the Forest". We share this as history and culture, not as a health claim.
Chaga Mushroom Extract: Quick Answers
What is Chaga mushroom used for?
Traditionally, Chaga was brewed as a daily forest tea and a warming winter ritual across Russia and Siberia. Today people take Chaga extract as a caffeine-free daily drink, on its own or stirred into coffee. We describe these traditional uses and do not claim the product produces any specific health outcome.
How do you identify real Chaga?
Real Chaga is a hard, black, deeply cracked conk on the outside, with a rust-orange to amber interior, growing on birch. It looks like burnt charcoal, not a soft cap-and-stem mushroom. In powder form, the marker of quality is whether it is made from the fruiting body rather than grain-grown mycelium.
Is Chaga caffeine-free?
Yes. Chaga contains no caffeine and is not a stimulant, so it can be taken in the morning or the evening.
When is the best time to take Chaga?
Any time. Because it is caffeine-free, Chaga has no time-of-day preference. Many people take it in the morning as a daily ritual, similar to green tea or matcha.
Is Chaga safe?
For most healthy adults Chaga is well tolerated. Because Chaga draws compounds from its environment, sourcing and testing matter, which is why we lab-test every batch for heavy metals. If you take blood-thinning medication, have a kidney condition, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, speak to a doctor before regular use.
Chaga is a food and is not for medicinal use. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. If you take blood-thinning medication, have a kidney condition, or are pregnant or breastfeeding, consult a doctor before use. Marketed by Nutradose Private Limited under FSSAI License No. 13326999000107.
Composition references (identity only): Drenkhan et al., Biomolecules 2022, PMID 36139017. Avula et al., Planta Medica 2025, PMID 40854436. Beltrame et al., Journal of Fungi 2021, PMID 33800424. Burmasova et al., Biomolecules 2019, PMID 31238558.
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