21 Aug How to Make a Chagachino

For some, coffee is the only way to become a functional, contributing member of society. For me, it’s more like a morning ritual I take great delight in; freshly grinding the beans, frothing the milk, sipping the cinnamon dusted foam as the birds twitter awake – it’s my bliss and while I will adapt most areas of my life to be healthier – my coffee isn’t going anywhere. However if like me, you do have a tendency towards experiencing jittery, heart palpitations, particularly when your system is already under stress, then a medicinal mushroom mocha might be just what you need. The chagachino’s hero ingredient is, of course, chaga wild crafted mushroom powder, known to naturally support the adrenal system in charge of managing the body’s hormonal response to stress. This enhances its ability to cope with anxiety and fight fatigue – slowly and gently.

When I began adding a shroomy shot to my morning coffees, that nervous upper it sometimes gave me completely disappeared. taking my morning coffees to a whole new dimension, and not the trippy kind.

HOW TO MAKE A CHAGACHINO:

INGREDIENTS

• 1 Tsp Chaga Mushroom Powder
• One shot coffee
• 50ml any milk alternative
• Cinnamon, optional sprinkle
• Boiled water
• 1 Tsp sweetener of choice
• Small sieve for straining

METHOD

1. Brew one shot of your regular coffee in your preferred method (I use a 200 ml moka pot on the stove, which takes about 14 g of ground coffee depending on how tightly you pack it.)
2. Boil the kettle for your chaga ‘tea’.
3. Place 1 tsp of chaga into another cup and cover with 50 ml boiling water. Allow to steep for a few minutes.
4. Pour your brewed coffee into a mug.
5. Place a small sieve over the top of your mug and pour your chaga tea through this.
6. Heat 50ml of your preferred milk, stove or microwave – whatever tickles your turnip.
7. Froth it up using either a glass plunger milk frother or a hand held whisk frother.
8. Top your coffee-chaga brew with the frothy good stuff and add a dash of cinnamon for good measure.
9. If you take a sweetener, honey, agave, maple or coconut all work well, and each add their own nuance – experiment to see what works best for you.

I find this gives me the best of both worlds. I get my delicious coffee drink in the morning and the added benefits of immune boosting, stress busting and anti-parasitic chaga all in one (another bonus for pet owners who don’t want to take pharmaceutical deworming tablets). The chaga only adds a marginal earthy taste, which I personally think complements the coffee flavour quite nicely.

If all of the above sounds like a tad too much effort for your morning cuppa, especially if you fall into camp ‘coffee-before-all-else’, then you’ll be pleased to know chaga mushrooms are one of the key ingredients in These Mushroom Coffee Blends.

I prefer buying my coffee and chaga separately, as it allows me to play with the quantities, adding and subtracting additional ingredients like cinnamon and turmeric as I please. You can even sneak chaga into your hot chocolate (or try this ready-made cacao mix).

So there you have it. A tasty fix for jitter-free, super-powered coffee.