For centuries people in Eastern Europe have been drinking chaga tea for its many health benefits. Chaga tea is made from the chaga mushroom, which typically grows on the trunks of birch trees in the Northern Hemisphere. In North America, you will typically find it in the Northeast.

The Latin name for chaga mushroom is Inonotus obliquus, but other common names include:

birch conk cinder conk clinker polypore

Walking through a forest, you may mistake the chaga mushroom for a clump of dirt or a burnt section of the tree. At first glance, this fungus has the appearance of burnt charcoal or simply dirt. But if you look closer, you will find a nutrient-rich, rusty, yellowish-brown interior.