How to Make a Medicinal Mushroom Dual Extract at Home: A Step-by-Step Guide

Source or Grow Your Mushrooms

Start with USA-grown medicinal mushroom fruit bodies, ideally from your own grow, a local mushroom farm, or a trusted domestic supplier. Imported dried mushrooms from overseas are widely available and often cheap, but quality control, age, growing conditions, and compound concentrations are difficult to verify.

If you're purchasing dried mushrooms rather than starting from fresh, skip to Step 3.

Dehydrate Until Cracker Dry

Fresh mushrooms need to be fully dehydrated before extraction. Moisture left in the mushroom will dilute your alcohol phase and potentially introduce unwanteds like mold.

Dehydrate at 95–115°F (35–46°C) until the mushroom is completely dry and snaps rather than bends — what foragers call "cracker dry." Times vary by species and thickness:

✦ Lion's Mane: approximately 48 hours (dense, water-rich flesh)

✦ Reishi and Turkey Tail: approximately 24 hours (woody, lower moisture content)

✦ Cordyceps: approximately 18–24 hours

✦ Maitake: approximately 24–36 hours depending on thickness

If you don't have a dehydrator, an oven on its lowest setting with the door cracked works, though we don't recommend this method as it wastes a lot of energy. Full dehydration is non-negotiable. Any residual moisture creates problems downstream.

Powder or Chop Your Dried Mushrooms

The more surface area your mushroom material has, the more efficiently the solvents can extract compounds from it. Run dried mushrooms through a blender or coffee grinder to produce a coarse powder, or chop into pieces no larger than ¼ inch.

Don't skip this step. Whole dried mushrooms dropped into a crockpot will produce a weaker extract than properly broken-down material.

Hot Water Extraction (Aqueous Phase)

Place your mushroom powder or pieces into a stockpot or crockpot. Cover completely with water — use roughly a 1:10 ratio of mushroom material to water by weight as a starting point.

Simmer (do not boil) for 2 to 12 hours. Longer simmering times generally produce a more concentrated aqueous extract. Keep the temperature below a rolling boil as sustained high heat can degrade some of the more delicate polysaccharide structures.

What you're extracting here: Beta-glucans and other water-soluble polysaccharides, i.e. the immune-supporting compounds that form the foundation of medicinal mushroom supplementation. These compounds cannot be extracted by alcohol alone, which is why both phases are essential.

Strain and Press the Aqueous Extract

Strain the mushroom material from the water using cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer. Once strained, gather the mushroom material in the cheesecloth and press firmly to extract as much liquid as possible. There are significant compounds left in the spent material and you want to recover them. We press ours under 6,000lbs of pressure. 

Collect all the liquid in a labeled glass jar or container. Label it clearly: "Aqueous Extract." Do not discard the spent mushroom powder. It goes into the alcohol phase next.

Freeze the Aqueous Extract

Freeze your aqueous extract to preserve it while you complete the alcohol extraction, which takes several weeks. Glass mason jars freeze well. Just make sure you leave headspace for expansion.

Alcohol Extraction (Tincture Phase)

Place your spent mushroom powder, the same material from the hot water extraction, into a clean glass mason jar. Cover completely with 95% ethanol (Everclear is the most accessible option; food-grade organic cane alcohol is the premium choice). The alcohol should fully submerge the mushroom material with at least an inch of coverage above it.

Seal the jar tightly and label it: "Alcohol Extract — [Date Started]."

What you're extracting here: Triterpenes (including Ganoderic acids in Reishi, Cordycepin in Cordyceps), fatty acids, phenolic compounds, and other alcohol-soluble bioactives that hot water cannot access. These are the compounds responsible for many of the adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory, and species-specific effects medicinal mushrooms are known for.

Let the Alcohol Extract Steep

Let the alcohol extraction sit for 4 to 8 weeks, shaking the jar daily or as often as you remember. The longer the steep, the more thoroughly the alcohol extracts the available compounds.

Store in a cool, dark location during this period. A cabinet away from heat and light is ideal.

Strain and Press the Alcohol Extract

After 4 to 8 weeks, strain the mushroom material from the alcohol using cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer. Press the spent material firmly to recover as much alcohol extract as possible.

Collect all the liquid in a labeled glass jar. Label it: "Alcohol Extract." Measure the volume and note it — you'll need this for the combination step.

Combine the Two Extracts

Thaw your frozen aqueous extract at room temperature. Once thawed, combine the alcohol extract and aqueous extract so that your final product is approximately 30% alcohol by volume (ABV).

To calculate this: if your alcohol extract is 95% ABV, you need roughly 1 part alcohol extract to every 2.2 parts aqueous extract to achieve a 30% final concentration. A 30% ABV is the industry standard for shelf-stable tinctures — high enough to prevent microbial growth, low enough to preserve heat-sensitive compounds.

Stir well to combine, then bottle in amber glass dropper bottles. Label with the mushroom species, extraction date, and alcohol percentage.

Your Finished Dual Extract

When done correctly, your homestyle dual extract will contain:

✦ Beta-glucans — immune-supporting polysaccharides from the aqueous phase

✦ Triterpenes — adaptogenic, anti-inflammatory compounds from the alcohol phase

✦ Fatty acids and phenolic compounds — additional bioactives from the alcohol phase

Store in a cool, dark location. A properly made 30% ABV dual extract is shelf stable for 1 to 2 years.