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Chaga
Inonotus obliquus
Chaga is the odd one in the blend. It grows on living birch, it is black and hard as charcoal, and almost nobody would guess it was a fungus at all.
Updated October 2026
What Chaga is
Chaga appears on birch as a hard black mass with a deeply cracked surface and a rusty orange interior. It looks far more like burnt bark or a burl than like anything with a cap and a stem, and it is slow, taking years to reach a usable size.
What we grind is the conk itself, the body of the fungus harvested from the birch. Mycologists call that body a sclerotium, a dense knot of fungal tissue, which is why Chaga is described by tissue rather than by cap and stem, and why it is milled rather than sliced. Like the other six mushrooms in the blend, it goes in whole, with no mycelium grown on grain and no extract.
Where the color comes from
The black exterior is melanin, the same class of pigment that colors skin and hair, and Chaga carries an unusually high concentration of it. Melanin is one of the pigments most often measured for antioxidant activity, which is the property this species is best known for.
The rusty interior carries betulin and betulinic acid, compounds the fungus takes up from the birch it grows on. A Chaga growing on another tree does not carry them the same way, so the host species is part of what defines the ingredient.
The compounds
Alongside melanin and the betulin compounds, Chaga carries beta-glucans and other polysaccharides in its cell walls, the same family that Turkey Tail and Maitake are valued for, plus a range of triterpenes.
Its antioxidant density is the number usually quoted about this species. Antioxidants are compounds that neutralize reactive molecules produced during normal metabolism, which is the mechanism behind the everyday support Chaga is taken for.
How to get it
We do not sell a single-species Chaga powder. It is one of the seven mushrooms in our signature daily blend, ground from the whole conk with no additives and no extracts.
Compounds it is known for
- Beta-glucans
- Melanin
- Betulinic acid
- Triterpenes
- Polysaccharides
- Antioxidants
What people take it for
- Supports the immune system
- Rich in antioxidants
- Adaptogenic support for everyday stress
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.
Where to get it
Every daily powder is 100% fruiting body. Here is what that means and how it differs from mycelium grown on grain, or read the rest of the guides.