Mushroom Tincture Kit Instructions
Tinctures and the practice of traditional medicine-making has been around for centuries. It can be an intimidating and expensive endeavor to take the leap and make your own mushroom tincture, which is why we’ve gathered the supplies and measured things out for you - so you can have the confidence to craft your own mushroom tinctures with love & intention right in your own kitchen!
Below we’ll provide you with instructions to craft a double mushroom extract. The medicinal mushrooms in our take home tincture kit contain both water & alcohol soluble properties, and we want you to get the best of both worlds! Our instructions are based on the traditional folk method for preparing tinctures, so results may vary slightly – which is how traditional medicinals are meant to be!
Research has shown that the functional mushrooms included in this blend (cultivated lion’s mane, foraged reishi, foraged chaga, foraged turkey tail, and organic, cultivated cordyceps) support & enhance many components of the body including the immune system, nervous system, respiratory health, etc.* We’ve been making & taking mushroom tinctures for years and want you to have the chance to experience them too!
Our Take Home Tincture Kits come with everything you need to get started at home!
Here are the basics to get you started with one of our tincture kits, which are available for purchase on our website or at either farmers market location!
What you’ll need:
1 bottle 70 - 95% clear grain alcohol such as vodka
(Note: you can also use 100 proof alcohol (such as Everclear), which will yield a slightly more potent tincture. But standard vodka works just fine too, especially since you’ll likely be able to have other uses for it than just tincture-making. If you’re not into alcohol, please see our notes below. PLEASE DO NOT USE ISOPROPYL OR RUBBING ALCOHOL! )
Small cooking pot or small crockpot
Pint jar or medium sized bowl
What’s included in Your Kit:
Functional mushroom blend (equal parts cultivated lion’s mane, foraged reishi, foraged chaga, foraged turkey tail, and organic, cultivated cordyceps)
Half pint mason jar & lid
Syringe
Cheesecloth bag
2 oz. dropper bottle with label
Timeframe: About 4-6 weeks
What You’ll Get:
Approximately 6 ounces of functional mushroom tincture ($75+ value)
The education, skills, and confidence to make your own tinctures!
Lion’s mane & reishi tincture alcohol and water extracts, freshly strained and waiting to be combined!
How to Begin:
Pour about alcohol over your mushroom blend until there is about an inch of headspace in your jar. Give it a shake to make sure that all the mushroom mixture is fully covered. You can add a little more as needed once the mushrooms begin to rehydrate. Label with today’s date to help you remember when you need to move onto the second phase. Keep your jar in a dark space such as a cupboard and shake daily - this is when you can send your love & intentions into your mushroom medicine!
After about 4-6 weeks (if you forget about it and it’s longer than that, you should still be fine - this is in alcohol, after all!) strain the mushrooms from the alcohol using your cheesecloth bag. Don’t toss the mushroom powder - keep it for the next step! Give your jar a quick water rinse to make sure there isn’t any debris left and return your mushroom alcohol back into your jar
Keep your mushrooms in your cheesecloth bag and place it into a small saucepan or a small crockpot. Measure out how much alcohol is in your jar, and add that same amount of water to your saucepan/crockpot. If using a crockpot, set it to low. If using a pot, put it on the lowest heat setting available on your stove and stir occasionally - you want to make sure your mushrooms don’t burn! You’ll keep your pot uncovered for the entire process.
Make a mark to remember where your water level reaches in your crockpot or pot - we make a little notch on a chopstick to measure. You can use this to check the evaporation of your water – once the water has slowly reduced to half the amount you started with, you’ll add the same amount of water to the pot once again and repeat this step twice more. Repeating helps increase the concentration and the potency. (For example, if your alcohol amount is 1 cup, add 1 cup of water to the pot and then mark it. Then add another cup of water and simmer back down until you have 1 cup again. Then you’ll repeat 2 more times.) Ideally you should end up with approximately the same amount of water decoction as you have alcohol. If you have more water decoction, continue to simmer slowly until you have about equal parts.
Once the water decoction is complete, let your mushroom water cool before straining. Your strained mushrooms can be composted or tossed. You may need a larger jar or bowl to mix the water with your vodka before transferring to your dropper bottle.
Mix the water & vodka together. You can strain the combined mixture once more through your cheesecloth if you feel it’s necessary, but seeing some sediment is normal and completely ok!
Use your syringe to transfer your combined tincture into your dropper bottle. To avoid any extra sediment, let the tincture fully settle before transferring to your dropper bottle and keep your syringe above the sediment line. Any remaining tincture can be stored in your jar in a cool, dark place and will last for at least 6-12 months.
Notes & Tips:
Pro tip: keep your tincture somewhere you’ll remember to take it daily. We keep ours next to our other vitamins/supplements and add it daily to our coffee & tea! You could also add to OJ, soups, sauces, etc. if you aren’t a hot beverage drinker. Approximate serving size is 1 dropperful daily.
Your 50/50 ratio of tincture should have a shelf life of 12-18 months but can likely store just fine beyond that (we’ve used personal tinctures as old as 3 years old!) Potency may start to decrease as time goes on, so please use your best judgment.
Now you can take your newfound tincture-crafting skill and apply it to other herbs, roots, and berries and make all kinds of herbal medicines. The folk method we use is a good blanket-method for making most herbal tinctures, but we encourage you to do your own research and see what works best for you!
Whenever you’re ready to make another batch of mushroom tincture, check out our website for bulk powder refill options!
Q: I’d prefer not to use alcohol in my extracts, is there an alternative option?
A: There sure is! Glycerites are similar to tinctures, except they use glycerin as the base instead of the water/alcohol combination. If you’d prefer to go this route, you can certainly still use your kit. You would just use glycerin in place of alcohol in steps 1 & 2. After straining, you’d just transfer your glycerite right to your dropper bottle and skip steps 3-6. The big difference is your shelf life is likely to be closer to 3-6 months without alcohol to help stabilize it. Reach out to us if you have any questions about this modification - we’re happy to help!
*These statements have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. This product is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.
