Making a tincture is an excellent method for extracting medicinal compounds from fungi!
Many of these compounds are not easily accessible solely by eating the mushrooms due to being locked up in the tough cell walls made of undigestible chitin. Some, like triterpenes, dissolve in alcohol, while others, such as polysaccharides, dissolve in water. The dual extraction process we present here uses both alcohol and water to extract the as many compounds as possible.
This recipe is versatile and can be used with any medicinal fungi. It's a straightforward, home-friendly version of how we create our mushroom tinctures at Fat Fox Thrive. While we use an ultrasonic extractor for efficiency and to ensure maximum compound extraction, patience is key when making tinctures at home!
The most popular and well researched mushroom species for making extracts include lion's mane and reishi, both of which are easy to grow at home.
DIY 30% Dual Extract Tincture Recipe
You will need:
Mushroom fruit body (fresh or dried). The amount of tincture you make will depend on the amount of mushroom fruit body you have.
A cheesecloth, muslin or other material to use as a filter.
40% alcohol - vodka is best for a neutral end product, but you could use a flavoured spirit of your choice if you want to try creating a tincture with an interesting flavour
A jar with lid that is big enough to contain the fruit body.
A dark coloured bottle or jar with a lid for storage (ideally bigger than the first container). The dark glass will help protect the contents from degradation due to exposure to light.
Kettle, measuring jug, pot, small plate & hob for heating.
Alcohol Extraction
Take your mushrooms (fresh or dried) and cut them as small as possible. If you can grind them in a blender of food processor, this is even better!
Fill a jar around ½ - ¾ full with your chopped or ground up mushrooms and add enough vodka or 40% alcohol of choice to cover the fungi by 10mm. Put the lid on and make sure it’s got a good seal. For the next month, store it in a dark place that you often visit (like a cupboard) and give the jar a shake regularly (once a day is ideal).
After a month, you'll notice a change in the liquid's colour. This is because of the alcohol-soluble compounds suspended in the solution. Pour this solution through your filter fabric (such as a cheesecloth), into a measuring jug to separate the liquids from the solids. Squeeze the fabric to extract as much liquid as possible.
Measure the amount of alcohol in your measuring jug, then transfer it into your dark jar or bottle and close the lid. Refill the measuring jug with an equal amount of hot water as the alcohol you just decanted.
Water Extraction
Next you'll do the water extraction, which will take a few hours. Place your pan on the hob and put a small plate in the bottom, which will prevent your jar from cracking. Place your jar with the ground or chopped mushrooms on the plate and pour the hot water from the measuring jug into this jar. Loosely place the lid on the jar.
Fill the pan around the jar with hot water (not boiling!) and turn the hob on so that it remains hot but not boiling. After 2 hours, filter your fungi liquid through your cheesecloth and into your measuring jug. Now place the liquid into a clean empty pan on a low heat. Allow it to reduce down by around half.
Once cool, add the water solution to the alcohol solution. You may notice some suspended mass in the liquid. These are chains of polysaccharides - it's the good stuff! Shake before using to disperse the polysaccharides.
We recommend taking 5ml each morning in water. Store your tincture in the fridge for up to 1 year. Please note that if you are pregnant, nursing or taking anticoagulant medication you should consult your doctor before taking reishi supplements.
And that's it! This is a simple method for making mushroom tinctures at home with readily available materials.
If you're interested in ready-made tinctures, we have a range of mushroom tinctures available at fatfoxthrive.com using well-known and researched species: chaga, lion's mane, turkey tail, reishi, cordyceps, and shiitake.
Read our blog post on the process that we use to make our ultrasonic-assisted dual-extract tinctures here: How We Make Mushroom Tinctures At Fat Fox Mushrooms
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