By Tina Calder
Stumbling across a new drink like Otzibrew Chaga is always exciting, especially when it’s something that is not just good for your health but really pleasant to drink.
Founded by Northern Ireland entrepreneur Tricia McNeilly and co-founded by European entrepreneur Cedric Charpenet, Otzibrew is an exciting new company which currently specialises in Chaga products.
Harvested from the Birch Tree in the wilds of Siberia Chaga is drank like a tea. It has a surprisingly smooth and luxurious taste and and there’s not a hint of mushrooms.
Chaga is known in the health world as the “king of medicinal mushrooms” due to its vast range of health benefits. From an anti-inflammatory and an antioxidant to being rich in melanin, having anti-viral properties Chaga can even be used to normalise blood pressure and cholesterol levels.
In fact Chaga is considered one of the most powerful sources of antioxidants. Just 1 serving of Chaga has the antioxidant equivalent of eating over 1.3kg of blueberries and 30x more antioxidants than Matcha (another superfood mushroom).
The melanin in Chaga can help regulate sleep patterns as well as promote healthy hair, skin and nails. It has even been used as an effective healthy alternative to caffeine based drinks due to it’s easy to drink texture.
What’s great about Otzibrew is that they can trace your cup of Chaga straight back to a group of specific trees, the traceability and provenance of the drink is just one of it’s many features.
The Chaga mushroom’s medicinal qualities have been known for thousands of years, in some areas of Eastern Europe and Russia it’s a widely used remedy. Otzibrew took it’s name from the oldest known person to have used Chaga. Otzi was found frozen in ice in 1991 in The Alps. The perfectly preserved body is believed to be around 5,000 years old and in his medicine bag he was carrying what was believed to be Chaga.
When making your cup of Chaga, just a small amount of the sparkly black substance is needed. As Tricia said “a little goes a long way”.
Chaga is vegan friendly, can be used with a Paleo diet and is free from gluten, sugar and GMO. There are no additives or preservatives either. It comes in beautiful violet bioactive glass jar, giving it optimal protection against light, increasing the shelf life and maintaining the quality of the product.
Priced at £35 per 55g jar it’s served at 1g per cup with around 200ml hot water. It can also be added to other hot drinks such as tea, coffee and hot chocolate.
For more information log onto www.otzibrew.com.