Two Lifelong Friends Bring Healthy Chaga Brew To Riverhead Farmers' Market

When Bridget LeRoy's youngest son, Bing, came down with mono just weeks before heading to summer camp, she was at a loss.

But as moms have done since the dawn of time, LeRoy, a longtime East Hampton resident who now lives in Moriches, called her good friend, Debbie Falborn of Sag Harbor.

"She suggested I try chaga. She had some chunks, and I made a strong tea, which my son drank every day. Within a week, his mono was gone. I mean, gone. The doctor was absolutely gobsmacked," she said.

After the two bonded over chaga, a medicinal mushroom often used to make healing tea, a dream was born.

They teamed up to create Chaga Island Super Brew, "no ordinary beverage," they said in a release. "The next big thing in the feel-good drinks department is bursting with antiviral, antibacterial and immune-boosting properties. One hundred-percent organic, vegan, shelf-stable and raw, it’s also tasty and refreshing."

And now, for the first time, LeRoy and Falborn are taking their tea to the Riverhead Farmers' Market, to share with the scores who turn out on Saturdays for the best of the East End's rich abundance.

The Riverhead Farmers' Market is back for the season beginning Saturday from 10 a.m. to 3 p.m and running through April 29, located at 117 East Main Street in Riverhead

Made only with large pieces of organic chaga that have been sustainably harvested and slow-brewed, Chaga Island Super Brew is also the first of its kind on the market, they say.

"Through a proprietary formula, Chaga Island has managed to provide its customers with a shelf-stable beverage that is still raw, retaining all of the beneficial properties of a home-brewed chaga tea," the release said.

The classic version is made only of organic chaga and pure, filtered water, and a little organic cider vinegar, to stabilize the product, LeRoy said.

LeRoy and Falborn say the beverage tastes best over ice; the wild-harvested natural drink also comes in an organic agave nectar version, for those with a bit of a sweet tooth.

Chaga, a healthy fungus, is known as "the king of medicinal mushrooms" and has been touted for its medicinal properties for thousands of years. Chaga chunks, the two said, were even discovered in the travel packs carried by Otzi, the Ice Man, who lived circa 3,300 BC.

Falborn, a registered nurse, and LeRoy, a certified herbalist, consider themselves "co-partners in health," and bottle the brew to make bringing it along easier.

"I'm so very passionate about chaga," Falborn said. "I've seen firsthand the results medically in countless people. It still continues to amaze me. From weight loss and significant pain relief to arthritis, HPV, diabetes, psoriasis, neuropathy, energy and mental clarity, it's helped so many suffering people. My heart is truly vested in chaga use by all I've personally witnessed."

Friendship blossoms into business endeavor

For the two friends, the business is a dream realized for two women, LeRoy said.

"Debbie and I met almost 30 years ago, when she worked as a nurse in a pediatrics office where I brought my oldest child, Georgia. She always seemed so calm and natural and holistic; we were drawn to each other."

Life happened, and the pair lost touch. But when LeRoy and her family moved back to the East End, "We ended up renewing our friendship," she said.

The two share a passion for introducing others to the healthy brew.

"I'm not making any claims, but if you check the research on our website, or on PubMed, you can see that chaga is a superfood that has a host of benefits. It's known as an anti-inflammatory, anti-viral adaptogen. It can really help a host of ills. And it's tasty, too," she said.

The two women joined forces to bring chaga to a wider audience.

"It occurred to Debbie and me that no one was bottling the stuff, so we may as well be the first. It's an entirely woman-run business," LeRoy said.

Aside from LeRoy and Falborn, the developers and co-packing company are entirely women-run ventures on Long Island, she added.

"The forager who harvests our chaga up in Eastern Canada is a woman," LeRoy said. "We didn't plan it, it just turned out that way."

While the business partners still sell chaga chunks, "very popular with do it your-selfers," she said, the Chaga Brew "is amazing in the bottle for 'grab and go.' We're tweaked the formula over the last few months, and couldn't be prouder to be the first people in the world bottling a raw, organic chaga beverage."

The tea can be warmed, too, but never boiled, as that process can make it lose its beneficial properties, LeRoy said.

And creating the product with her longtime friend was a life-altering experience, LeRoy said. "When you have a partner and friend as magical as Debbie, magical things happen. We would love to see Chaga Island take off around the country — in Wild by Nature, Whole Foods, etc. When people drink it and see how good it makes them feel, they'll want more. So, yes, we would love for it to take off, but we would also be happy to stay local, right here on Long Island."

For additional information on Chaga Island's Super Brew, click here.