Chaga Progress

For the past X months, I've been using a mortar and pestle to mash the chaga up into a desired grind.  After a short amount of time though, I've experienced this to be strenuous on the hand for any larger quantity.  Sure, it may be 'exercise', but efficiency is a term we all have to be well familiar with.  The reason for this acceleration is because I'm considering the option of doing some online chaga sales.  This may succeed, or may not but the ultimate goal is to provide health to someone in need. So this is how I'm starting. 
In the past, I've tried using electric coffee grinders.  I've ended up burning up 2 of them due to 1 common reason.  The plastic washer underneath of the blade wears out quickly due to overheating and over-usage.  It is possible to provide some sort of temporary fix for those, but once they are done.... they are done more or less.  I won't explain.  As a result, I've tried to go on a new limb.  Hand crank grinders.  This is slower, but consistent.

I've purchased a vintage old food grinder with 3 different heads for coarse to fine grinds.  Today I spent a considerable amount of time hacking up a number of chaga chunks into acorn sized chunks to be fed into the grinder.  I started grinding the chunks with the coarse head, and then processed the chaga again with the fine to get a good fine grade.

It is not an espresso grind, but that's why I got an extra espresso hand crank grinder from ebay. 

This served a purpose for personal use, but hardly had the capacity to do larger amount as any reasonable pace.  It literally trickles like a fine hour glass out of the ceramic grinder head.  So.... as a result, to achieve the extra fine espresso grind, I will look into getting another grain mill vintage type grinder from ebay to achieve the speed needed to do this on demand.  The mechanics are slightly different for this model which provides the espresso grind needed. 

Although this is hardly efficient yet, the vintage hand crank grinder is a life saver compared to the other methods used (electric coffee grinder and mortar and pestle).  One more step to the hand crank vintage expresso grinder and I'll have the depth of grind best suited for efficient chaga brewing. 

To your health and happiness.

True to the Leaf

Today's tea shelf has become quite the smorgasbord of selections these days.  I admit this can be a little overwhelming if you have no idea what section you are looking at.   There are pages which can brief you to education on these sections, but I wish to address something deeper.  Despite which section you land in (if there are sections to the store) you will be bombarded with names and types of teas, some of which will be common, and some that will make you raise and eyebrow, and some you will even be brave enough to sniff.   Some are monstrosities which should never even be uttered again in the tea kingdom.  I digress...

What makes good tea?  There seems to be a great divide.  On the one side, there is the tried, true, traditional teas which have garnered much attention over the years from their mark and demand in history.  On the other, there are the makeshift teas which typically deviate to the synthetic artificial flavorings, often including artificial sweeteners.

Let me divulge this hideous crime.  What seems to have taken place is that there was once a time when something called 'Jasmine tea' was born.  This involved the natural fusion of young budding tea leaves would be scented by adjacent fields of jasmine flowers releasing their beautiful scent to fields of camellia sinensis. This natural infusion later was reinforced by methods of blending so the jasmine is clearly aromatic in the tea infusion.  I've had Jasmine green teas that were excellent.  I've had some that were downright odd.  I'd like to think that the distinction is clear.  One is a artificial flavoring agent, and the other actually has the right natural extraction of the jasmine leaf to give it the true organic essence. 

Why does this matter?  This isn't a Pepsi vs. Cola debate.  In fact, its tea vs. pop.  If tea goes to the hands of huge mass producing corporate mongers, it will lose the time needed to prepare the delicate stages necessary to keep tea what it is.  A leaf.  Despite whether we are talking about green, herbal and yerba mate.  These decisions we make in the store, deciding which one we should enjoy, should not be for novelty sake.   Choosing the wrong will leave you disappointed the tea did not deliver in taste anything what it delivered in aroma.  Choosing the right will force the companies which produce these teas to remove the lines which destroy what is good in tea. 

I hope this makes you think twice about the shelf and which stores you attend! This will not only bring a greater healthy appetite for tea, but help you enjoy what you have purchased.  By all means though - explore!  The teas shelf contains a variety of now just one leaf these days.  Obviously the reason the tea leaf was first used might have been for possibly medicinal and stimulant properties, but there are any other herbal tea medleys on the shelf which can assist in your health!   Do your research and you'll enjoy the selection all the more! 

Thanks for reading!