Chagarific ice tea!

Slow cooker food warmer used for brewing chaga chunks

Chagarific ice tea!  

First, look up my blog post on brewing chaga in a slow cooker.  Next, let's keep it simple.  50/50 ratio of chaga brew to your choice of apple juice or cider, and stick it in the fridge.  Its the easiest way to drink copious amounts of chaga on a daily basis.  The brew is still darker then coffee if you brewed the chaga long enough, and it stays fine in the fridge for about 2 weeks or so.

Tea Mugs

New additions to the tea mug collection.  Gotta say, I love these 2 new design.  Works great for keeping the tea hot a bit longer. The second design has a triple function with a coaster / top / tea bag holder.  If you're looking for a great source for pottery, gotta have a look at this shop!

Chaga-laga-egg-nog Latte

To start, I admit there are prerequsites to understanding this blog post.  One, buy (or harvest if your brave enough) a fine grind of chaga.  Two, look up my blog post on brewing chaga in a slow cooker.  Lastly, let me suggest my new favorite holiday concoction.  50/50 chaga to egg nog.  While still warm, add a little candy cane for extra flavor.  The egg nog and chaga separate a bit when poured which makes for an interesting visual.  Handle this at a party and you may be considered cool or just plain weird, but thats whats going to happen any time the word chaga is mentioned.  So educate them!  

Vacation - Stone Carving Courses

Random update on life.  As my last blog said, I've made the jump to live in a small trailer for the summer, and still do it comfortably.  Possibly in style.  Without an ultimate fail.  

It's a little more daunting than you think.  Namely, all your stuff that is useful and valuable (necessities) are inside a trailer which has a tarp hanging out the side (fold out bed), and all someone has to do to get in is undo the velcro seams and crawl in when no one is looking.  

My other trailer park is quite safe and has no theft reported except for a golf cart last year.  I couldn't blame them if it was from the lot that overlooks a huge cornfield.  A golfcart and a downhill cornfield.  Yup.   But the trailer park I currently reside in has a creepy name.   Rip's Sleepy Hollow. Weird eh?  The owner has a slight stutter...  hmmm... a reason why perhaps?   Whats even weirder is that street name I live on in Cambridge is called 'Sleepy Hollow'.  

The park is quiet and peaceful though.  Not a lot happening here.  No gravestones either to prove it.  No ghost sighting yet.  

So the reason I'm here though is because I've enrolled in 2 stone carving courses over at the Haliburton School of the Arts.  It's a little break in the monotony of daily living.  I'm doing this vacation purely for myself and my artsy interests.

Many years ago, I took a blacksmithing course at the same school.  Really enjoyed the time out to find my roots.  So it feels a little like replanting those same roots again.  The feeling of driving out to Haliburton was euphoric.  The sights are spectacular for a an affichio of flora.  What really got me almost teary is the pleasing aroma of so many varieties of plants that I could often identify.  Beautiful and unique each one.  

So here I am.  On a plot of richly green grass, where my grass in Cambridge is the colour of aged hay.  Cool temperatures, and a thick blanket of rain chiming on my trailer ceiling.  The trailer is still intact after the move.  Nothing tipped over or broke after careful planning prior to the move.   And tomorrow, I'm off in the morning to a new adventure.  

To top is off, just had a lovely cup of peppermint tea.  :)

Tea at the Trailer

Yes, I officially live in a van down by the river.  But what do you care?  Because I have tea in it, and there is plenty to share.

So I love my baby-boo (yes I do), so I thought it was about time I get down to the area to be all close and snuggly with her in the boom-town of Cambridge.  In fact, I hate the city (city life in general) so I found a comfortable in between.  Twelve minutes from the edge of town, I reside in a trailer I purchased which is quite livable in for the unfrozen months.  Yet to test that.  But it is equipped with all those things that keep you hot and cool, including tea.  :)

Set and setting make a big difference to any situation, including tea.  I'd like to think of tea as being slightly ceremonial, and slightly sacred.  We do what we can to make it so, butI wanted to remind you that I do like in a van down by the river, so I can prove to you that you can still enjoy a little romance in the small things in life.  The other day, me and the lady broke open a fresh award winning tea, turned on a good internet radio station that suit the desired vibe, and lit the trailer with a few LED candles (from the dollar store).  It hit the spot, and all that stressy-bessy stuff soaked away, esp since it was enjoyed with my lady-loo.  

This goes to show that you too can put aside a little time at the end of your day.  With a little prepped set and setting, stress melts away to a warm cup of tea.   Even if it's just you - it's your you time.  

Cheers!

Snowshoeing - Tips tor Trips

G'day y'all!


Okay, drop the Southern drawl, we up here in the North have our own type of hickyness.  It's all in the way ya step out your door when its -35 (celcius) and say, 'ain't it a good to snowshoe, eh?'  Well, I will say that, but not many else.  Last time I took my girlfriend out on a romantic snowshoeing trip (Valentines Day) with a thermos of our stew, and a frozen bottle of wine in -25 (celcius) at night, she burnt a boot practically off her foot at the campfire trying to warm up, and that was the end of that party.

Well, I digress.  My post is about how not to do it right ... I mean how to do it right.  No mean to brag, but I've been doing it for a tad, and experimented with a number of different kinds of snowshoes, poles, hats, mitts, gloves, scarves, coats... etc etc etc.  So you can trust Uncle Wes for a few tips, okay eh?

So this is my current ghetto gettup for +5 (celcius).  Was pretty damn warm, so I later took off the sweater.  I have a backpack full of survival stuffers on my back as well which isn't shown.  I won't hit on too much here, but 2 things.  Laying down some emphasis on how much I love traditional hybrid type snowshoes.  The old deerskin are the best for something that lasts.  I just had a pair of mountainering style that kinda snapped at the side, but the epoxy should fix that.






So there are a lot of traditional designs out there, and all have their benefits.  You'll only find this model in the store these days, but if you look, there are a lot of traditional designs sold at different name like Faber (Quebec).


 So whatever... great design mean optimizing for the type of terrain you want to hit.  But point number 2 to hit;  POLES.  Not the kind you lick in the winter and get stuck to.  Yes, you can use poles for showshoeing.    I admit -- I have little experience with using poles, or dancing on them, but there is a bit of a science as to what wonders they can do for you.  USE THEM!!!   Here is why.  They counterweight the extra weight your feet have on them (and they snow that sometimes sticks on), and force you to carry your posture correct -weight forward to carry each step centimeters to inches further.  Plus they add stability, and when used properly save a lot of energy and strain in the legs.

I was snowshoeing today, and forgot my poles behind for the first kilometer.  I actually turned around because it was just getting too difficult to travel without them.  When getting the poles, it certainly felt like I was moving with less effort and strain, and could cover much more distance then I would have attempted without them.

The sled you see here behind me is helpful for when you want to lighten you load.  Throw the backpack in there, or the kid, or the chaga you harvested.  Or the snow.  I gotta add a rug on the top to keep snow from falling in.  

Well, thats it for now.  To summarize and add; type of snowshoe for terrain pretty important.  Climbing a hill with traditional snowshoes sucks.  2 - Poles are a must.  Saves your ass.  3 - Optimize on gear every trip to find what works for you.  Temperature is difficult to deal with, but you gotta have gear for the worse swing.  Getting stuck out longer than anticipated in freezing temps can be dangerous to say the least.  Might just burn your boots off in a makeshift campfire.
Aight - hope you learned something.  Don't take your girlfriend out on Valentines day snowshoeing.  Unless your me. Actually - it was beautiful.  A sky full of stars above us and a holy boot.   Only on the lakes of Canada -- too bad for you Southerners.  All you can see is an giant orange glow.  Sucks to be you.

Now plan a trip with a bud and get out there!  :)  

Chaga for Scoliosis?

Quick note here: food for thought.  Or Chaga for your food.  

A lady at our church found great pain relief benefits from using chaga.  She was initially recommended it from her husband, as he must have read its anti-inflammatory effects being helpful.  But specifically, her issue is long-term scoliosis.  This is defined as abnormal lateral curvature of the spine.  Her pain was so bad, she has been taking pain meds for a long time. 

She was recommended chaga from one of her fellow nurses in the hospital.  This lady is actually a nurse too.  So she figured the educated testimonial was more valuable than her husband's opinion.  Tisk tisk.  So she went with it, and they bought one of my chaga kits.  I am skeptical of chaga myself sometimes as a cure-all sota panacea thing, but it was effective for this.  She has been off her pain meds as I've been told.  So then she went off chaga for 3 days, and found it wasn't a placebo as the pain returned.

They came back for a 1 lb refill the other week.

So, there you have it guys.  Maybe it's more effective than one thing.

If you're interested in reading on, here is a random link.  

http://www.chagatea.org/chaga-tea-benefits/

Reishi (Mushroom of Immortality)

 

Now if title didn't peak your interest, I don't know what will!  I know I blogged a lot about the recent interest in chaga of today's health culture.  About time for a change.  

Reishi Mushroom is also known as Lingzhi.  It's been used as a Chinese medicinal mushroom for over 2,000 years, making it one of the oldest mushrooms known to be used.  A few erroneous sources even claim it to be used for 4,000 years.  

Its health benefit claims are boosting the immune system, fighting viral infections (influenza), lung conditions, heart disease, high blood-pressure, high cholesterol, kidney disease, cancer, liver disease, HIV/AIDS, altitude sickness, chronic fatigue syndrome, insomnia, anxiety, preventing fatigue, stomach ulcers, poisoning and herpes pain.  Quite the list eh?  

Its tumor prevention, and immune system boosting abilities are what is mainly known for, but I read some strong claims to use it regularly as tonic to reduce anxiety.

So, with that teaser of info, let get to the tasty stuff.  Actually, to be honest, its not that tasty.  People have described it as having a 'earthy woody' sort flavor.  I would agree.  Its a mushroom; what more can you ask for?  Although it's easy to get used to.  I've been brewing pots for a while and drinking it as a iced tea for a while.  I haven't figured out a way how to make it into a delicious iced tea yet, but perhaps you tell me your secret when you harvest some.    I talked to a lady from a tea shop who puts some into her smoothy blender everyday.  I guess that works too!

So here is my adventure in picture form how I got hunting this year.  Out behind Horne Lake in Elliot lake, I found a few trees that had fallen that had a number of these shelf polymers. 

This is is!  I know this photo brings out the colours way too much, but it does come out like a rich deep red fading out to the tip.  Notice there are some bugs responsible for the holes -- they chow down on this stuff.

Early development of reishi.

Was happy to find this cluster.  

All on one tree!  You'll notice them on the base of old trees that have died prematurely for various reasons.  There was a small bush fire that skortched this place a while back.  This is a hemlock -- seems to grow well on these.  

More early growth of reishi.

The beginning phase of reishi.

These are about a week after I harvested the reishi.  Doesn't seem to be growing again. 

Almost missed these ones!  Tucked away and hidden!  Pretty much ready for harvest.  Biggest one yet!!

This still looks clean and soft on the bottom.  No signs of going to spore.  

This is an example of one still growing strong.  White soft bulging edges.  

Notice the small darker spots towards the center.  I think this is sign that it is starting to go to spore.  I harvested this after seeing the early spore sign.  You do not want it to go to spore, unless you want to increase your chances for having more for next years harvest.  You wouldn't want to harvest it after it goes to spore.  

You can see some spore activity towards the back.  I think this one is drying up and going to spore.  I was watching this one to see what it looks like after it did go to spore so I could also have more for next year.  The spores are seeding for new reishi. 

This is the top of an old shrivelled up one from last year.  

Another example of the early spore activity.  See my fingerprints.  The bottom is very sensitive to pressure.  

I used a bread knife while the mushrooms were fresh and cut them up into thin slices.  They get much smaller after dried. I dried them in the oven and in the sun-porch.  They have a strong odor when drying, so try and do it in a well ventilated area.  This is about 6 mushrooms.

I place 3 slices in this crock pot food-warmer and just let it sit for 8+ to 16 hours and dump the water to steep it twice to 2 times, depending on appearance of colour of tea.  

Taken out of the fridge to show colour.  Iced tea -- just add honey.  I don't add the honey in the pitcher though since I'd imagine the 2 would 'break down' the reishi too fast (since honey is acidic), making is decompose while you're trying to preserve the drink in the fridge.

This one has gone too far.  Wouldn't harvest this one.  Going to spore for more reishi!  The reishi is essentially taking the nutrients from the tree and recycling is back into nature in its own way.  

I hope this blog post has enlightened you!  Tell me if you find some and gain immortality.  Keep your eyes peeled on prematurely dead trees -- esp fallen ones.

Happy harvesting!

Geocaching in Wes' Wise Words

Its summer, the sun is out, and your inside scrobbling your facebook as if it's a DJ's scratchpad. I have news for you; you need to get out. You waited a long winter for this, and you're wasting it with cheesy excuses about the weather, or feeling tired... etc. Well I have news for you; its because your ass is soggy and you need to get that right and tight!  

Okay, maybe this isn't going to get you fit like a 12 day 12 step program, but you'll see the benefits. Yes, I'm being a bitch - but life's one too. :) I present a solution to all who've taken my humor lightly.

Geocaching
Geo (of or relating to the earth)
Cache (a collection of items of the same type stored in a hidden or inaccessible place)
ing (... you get the idea)

To those of you who do not know the term - this is an actively growing activity which involves using a gps device which will give you coordinates that will lead to the uncovering of a hidden container, traditionally holding a log book, and sometimes tradable doohickeys if you chose to exchange goods.  There are multiple types of caches available, but roughly 95% of geocaches are of this traditional type.  The adventure lies in getting to said coordinates (which your gps will point on out to where).  The terrain and difficulty of each cache is rated on the cache details listed on the geocaching website, so if you're in a wheelchair, no one is asking you to climb a mountain (unless you want to try that of course).  Some geocaches are as easy as parking and grabbing an easily locatable container.  Some involve climbing a mountain.  Some even require 5 days backpacking adventures.  Some are just for the kids.  The point is there is something for everyone.  And there are some right outside your door.  Maybe 1 block away, but ya, seriously.  There is a map on the geocaching website which you'll see at this link.  

Now you may be asking 'what be ye GPS'?  I shall show ye.  Pull out that 'smart' phone you have in your left pocket, and see the apps section.  Download the geoaching app.  If you just want to check this out, see the intro app which is free -- otherwise the 10 buck app is worth it.  If you have a backpacking GPS device, this works great too, but depending on the model, will require some tinkering to transfer geocache coordinates.  I used to do it this way, but went to the smartphone device instead since all details about the cache are transferred right into the app - no messy paperwork.

Now I have a smartphone (iphone 4) but do not have an account linked to it.  I don't pay anything -- nada -- no charges -- no bills -- no fees.  But what can my device do?  Everything still.  A smartphone still works as a gps locator, as long as it has a SIM card in it (guaranteed you do).   So what I do, it download (from wifi) the hundreds of geocaches in my area to an offline saved maps list, and then access them on the go.  Works like gangbusters.  Now I drive out to the countryside, looking for someplace new, and find some odd places I've never been.  If you have a data plan on your phone, all the better.  The idea of geocaching too, is that someone put the cache there to show you something or someplace interesting.  I was geocaching in Cambridge with my girlfriend, and this one geocache led to an old amazing mill on the Grand River.  Something like that, people need to see. Someone else who was at the mill, told us he collected the coordinates from the geocaching website, just so he could see the location - but hadn't geocached before.  Anyway, this smartphone appy way of geocaching for free is a steal to find a way to get out and explore while keeping in touch with your inner-ninja and inner-geek at the same time.

Now I know my words are fickle and thin, but I hope to have wetted your palette.  Feel free to browse their website for all the other info I missed.

Happy Geocaching!

P.S  Check out the geocaches I made -- my screen name is hops118

The Chalice

Tea is important, but no one tries to pour boiling water into their hands like our neanderthal friends and steep a leaf therein.  For countless millennia, we've been using a variety of vessels to do this for us, but in a modern era with too many selections... which one is best?  

I've used my astutely keen sense of observation to make some clever ones over the years (oh, so clever).  Many have been poured out into tea. What makes a good cup, and all that jazz.  But lets get down to Earth.

Chalices (now known as cups) are important for a number of factors listed here:

1. The cups ability to keep heat
2. Duration that it's able to keep that heat
3. Comfort of handle (if applies)
4. The handles ability to keep fingers from contact of heat (if applies)
5. The edge of the cups contact point with mouth (comfort)
6. Fluids surface exposure / vessels walls proportions
7. How the vessel affects the taste (sometimes applies)
8. Aesthetics

Some of these points may seem unimportant, but in defence, if you want to seriously consider your life over a cup of tea, you need to make sure you're not scaring your hand with a still yet boiling cup.  This can leave the rest of your thoughts a little obscured and aggravated.

Here are the top pros and cons of various vessels that I've discovered.

Glass
I still own a few glass vessels (double walled to avoid scorching heat), but 2 of them had broken due to odd circumstances. One was blown off a table, the other had suctioned itself to the bottom of a matching glass teapot set and kamikazed over a floor.  These vessels are excellent and often cool at a good pace.  They hold little body, so the temp of the tea tends to hold consistent for a little too long for my liking.  They also need to be cleaned well, so hard to reach areas will tend to give the vessel a poor aesthetic look unless cared for well.  Aesthetically, they are great guest pieces for a good loose leaf tea.

Cast Iron with Enamel Coating
Definitely one of my favourites.  These have a tried and true traditional look.  They hold a lot of weight, which keeps the temp high and long.  They have minimal affect on the taste of the tea, and go well with traditional green, black, white and so forth.  The down side is that they often do not carry a handle, which is a good thing actually.  The way to handle these cups is to not fill them to the top, and just hold the cup towards to rim where the cup is still cool.  Strange that it works.

Ceramic 
Good.  Ceramics have a wide variety, and whatever works with you works with you.  Come in all shapes and sizes. Of those shapes and sizes though, consider the type of tea and how long you want the tea of steep in the cup, and at what temp.  Larger the cup, the more the initial temp will dissipate through the vessel.  Smaller the cup, the faster it will cool.  Consider the amount of fluids exposed at the top too - this is help it cool fast, but almost too fast.

Earthenware / Clay / Pottery
I'm surprised to say it, but over the years, I've become obsessed with one cup in my possession. This is the redish one shown in the picture.  It is a bit of a man mug, but it holds so much fluid that I don't need to worry about it cooling down too fast with the volume.  The earthenware cools the initial temp down a bit and holds it quite well, but allows it to cool at a natural expected temp.  The glaze of this cup is par none for my tastes, and masks the appearance of settling tea residue.  The blue cup goes quite well with it - a matching set to me!  The other neat thing which I find so versatile, is that the cup size fits every kind of steeping device out there.  Often there is a case where a steeping device just doesn't fit in, or clasp on the edge right or something... but this never fails.  Aesthetically, the shape is timeless and perfect.  Both of these cups are hand made and carefully thought over to carry their own distinction.  I like that.

Consider the piece I found below off of Point Pelee.  I have no idea how old this is, but they have character even in age.  Because of this, I appreciate the timeless arts all the more.


I'm proud to have an Aunt who has cherished this gift she has.  She owns a pottery Studio in Algoma Mills, Ontario - just off Highway 17. Her work embodies careful craftsmanship and unique glazes in combinations I can only compare to a work on canvas.  My kitchen will not be complete until I have it completed with her work!   You'll understand why I'm being praiseworthy.  



Hope you enjoyed the extra bit of info.  I bet you'll never drink from a chalice again without thinking about it twice!  Maybe drinking from it twice too. :)  Appreciating the qualities will only bring out the best in your next cup, which may make your next cup your best cup.  

Chaga Harvesting to Iced Tea!

A video I just made and posted to youtube of the whole process from A to Z on my preferred method of consuming chaga.  Enjoy and be educated!  

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!

Just Enough

Late night thought which I desire to record.  This thought has often reminded me of my place in this world, as a imperfect flawed human like everyone else.  I often feel more damaged then others.  This leads to a sense of hope that once day this mind and body will be repaired and cured back to to its original healthy state.  For for now, every step of the way - everything is 'just enough'.  Just enough to get to the next step; just enough to get by till tomorrow.  Often our strivings fall just short to hit our mark, but its just enough to try again.  One more chance to survive.  But amongst all this striving, what is really surviving? The body will soon be defeated, and nothing left to be reminded of its former belongings.  What survives is the soul and its lessons learned, and survival of the soul through these trials and tests are what helps us feel like something in us belongs, even though there is nothing to hold onto but the experiences of highs and lows that bring us to our knees.  These experiences submit us to the choice of continuing for the sake of hope, and belong to the lowly class of human nature for one more day in hope that we might transmute ourselves onto an fallen world which so desperately needs to be transformed.  This can only be done by recognizing the things which carry light, and loving them till they burst forth as the sun.  Until then, life will always be just enough.

CHAGA-BREW-HOW-TO

Hello Chaga-to-be-lovers! 

Throughout my experience, these are the top questions people have about Chaga when first being introduced to it.

Q1. What did you just call it? 
A1. I could phonetically spell this out, but here is a link to the pronunciation on this word [click on the word] Chaga.

Q2. What is it? 
A2. In short, a tree fungus. Chaga has been used for thousands of years in Asia and Eastern Europe. It is only now gaining more awareness in the West, and we're sure that as more time passes, you will be hearing about Chaga more and more. Just recently, it was named the "Anti-Cancer Herb of the Year" in Russia, and its popularity is slowly beginning to grow all over the world.

Q3. What do you do with it?
A3. Consume it using a variety of methods.  Actually- its now being worked into creams for the body since its chemical constituents are known to have beneficial qualities to skin health and maintenance.  That's besides the point.  You can take it in a pill form, or as tonic (tea) for the more effective and efficient method of enjoying it.   This is why I made this video for you on how I do it now. 

By the way, you do not have to use the slow cooker method as I'm showing -- you can take it straight in the teapot just like you would any lose leaf tea but this method gets the most 'bang for your buck' out of the chaga.... even if you did pay for it.  

To your health and longevity! 

P.S.  Keep it in the fridge no longer than 2 weeks to be safe.

Pottery - Tea Vessel of Choice!

Tea is the beverage of choice of the 21st century, and the vessels used for steeping and serving are fast beyond measure. The world is a large place.  From antiquity the vessels used for boiling, steeping and drinking tea morph from culture to culture.  What is true of all; they would have used a pottery at some point in their past. 

Pottery can be termed earthenware, stoneware or porcelain. Modern materials have included metal-ware, glassware and plastic (perhaps more).  They all have their pros and cons.  I've owned them all and have developed a taste for each one respectively (except for anything containing plastic).  Above all though, I have to tip the hat to the pottery hand. 

Pottery has always been pure of impurities, easy to clean, resistant to breakage, comfortable to hold, thick enough to hold a temperature but not too long.   Its aesthetic appearance can be skillfully arranged with bold to delicate features, controlled masterfully with glazes which blend together to form an appearance akin to an artists palette.   Every piece is uniquely distinct.  The finishing movement of the potters hands can be seen in the rich glaze. 

The history of the pottery is long before we can recall, or find record of (no doubt).  I remember my friend who lived in the exact town where Jesus of had lived.  Because of excavation, he was able to crawl under a stone to discover some old aged pottery, most likely dated 2000 years old.  I picked up a piece of worn pottery that had been eroded in lake Huron for long years - no way of knowing exactly how long it had been there.  These are just personal reflections, but was all know even Sumerian record 6000 BCE isn't even the beginning by our best guesses. 

I'm proud to have an Aunt who has cherished this gift she has.  She owns a pottery Studio in Algoma Mills, Ontario - just off Highway 17. Her work embodies careful craftsmanship and unique glazes in combinations I can only compare to a work on canvas.  My kitchen will not be complete until I have it completed with her work!   You'll understand why I'm being praiseworthy. 

Recent bead I received from her - love this glaze!