Pic 1- First weigh out your mushrooms on a scale or go with what you feel the need to.Then chop up your mushrooms with a knife into 1/4 inch sections or simply use a coffee bean grinder or a blender to chop into a powder.
Pic 2- Measure out your water and add to a small pot. Then add the chopped or powdered mushrooms to the water. Get a good idea of how much water is in the pot so you can add more water accordingly to maintain that depth in the pot. Bring the contents to a mild boil and then lower the heat so the contents are just barely moving around in the pot. Very little movement of the fungus works better than boiling water with the contents moving vigorously. You can cover or leave uncovered. Just make sure you maintain your water depth by simply adding a smige of water here and there. Don't worry about adjusting the heat to speed things up after you add water. It will get back up to temperature soon. Allow the mixture to steep, stirring around every 5-10 minutes. Don't leave the house or get stoned and forget about your tea project. It's not funny when your pot goes dry and the horrible smell reaks through your house.
Pic 3- Allow the contents to steep until your fungus turns this brown color. This is key in steeping all the actives out of the fungus. It might take 30 minutes or an hour, or even longer. Don't try to rush things by boiling. It will not help at all. Most of the actives in mushrooms are steeped out just a little bit before this point. Steep'em good, while maintaining your water depth. It doesn't have to be the perfect depth, just close as you can get.
Pic 4- Then slowly drain your tea back into the measuring cup. If you use a pot that's smaller than the measuring cup, it's easier to contain the mess from the tea dripping off the bottom of the pot from pouring. Or simply use a larger pot to pour the tea into. Use a spoon to hold back the mushrooms while pouring. Do it slowly so you can use the spent fungus as a filter while pouring. The spent fungus will provide a perfect filter so vermiculite, soil, or any other types of things that you don't want in your tea from getting in there. Or you can use a strainer, but the fungus will work wonders for filtering if you take your time pouring.
Pic 5,6,7- Smash down the fungus with the back of a spoon so you can get the rest of the tea out of the fungus. Then pour out the rest. As you can see, i'm a little short of the total amount I like per person. So simply measure out the needed water to make up the total and add it back to the fungus in the pot. Steep again for about 10 minutes, reasuring you got all the actives. Pour out again as before. And there you have it. Tea that's gotten all the actives out, making sure that the tea is going to do what it's supposed to do. KNOCK YOUR SOCKS OFF! You can simply buffer the taste with 2 teaspoons of maple syrup or honey with a hint of lemon per dose. I prefer to go raw dog! Just remember. No matter what tek you choose to go with, make sure your steep your fungus until it's turned brown. It's spent! The tea will be potent as it can get. Good luck!
Pic 8- Cheer's! I'm goin fishing! :D
