In the health food and drink industry people are used to consuming completely clear liquid products that don’t have even one speck of sediment in them. But is this really the marker of a healthy drink? Why is a “clear and pure'' drink the standard, when sediment, as you’ll read below, can be a key component of an herbal product? We believe that our medicinal mushroom sediment increases wellness and indicates that your Ceybon AF drink is of the highest quality and made with care by herbal experts. Read on for more of the sediment story:
At Ceybon, we extract high quality mushrooms and herbs for you to feel better and drink up natural wellness. Our filtration and bottling standards are the highest possible, yet you may have noticed a layer of sediment collecting at the bottom of our Ceybon AF mushroom-infused aperitifs. That’s because, when mushrooms and certain herbs are extracted and added into alcohol free beverages, some of the active and most important constituents precipitate out of solution. In other words, the sediment at the bottom of our Ceybon AF cocktails is a sign our extracts are the real deal and great for your health!
The ins and outs of Mushroom Extraction at Ceybon
To dive into more detail we need to understand full spectrum mushroom extraction. First of all, “full spectrum extraction” means that you are getting the most healthy, bioactive, valuable chemical constituents out of the mushroom that you possibly can; you’re not settling for a half extraction of the mushroom’s medicinal constituents - you’re getting all of them! To achieve this full spectrum extraction you must complete both a water extraction and a high alcohol extraction of the medicinal mushroom. A water extraction involves placing the mushrooms in a pot on the stove, covering them with water, gently simmering them under pressure for 3-4 hours, then straining them out. The strained out mushrooms are then used for a high alcohol extraction, which happens in a separate container for at least 2 weeks. Don’t worry - all of our Ceybon AF cocktails are still alcohol free through processes like dilution and evaporation that we complete when bottling.
The next part of the process is where we believe the sediment begins to magically appear- when the water extraction and the alcohol extraction are eventually mixed. This causes high molecular weight polysaccharides, specifically beta glucans, from the water extraction to start precipitating out of solution and forming valuable sediment at the bottom of the bottle. There is absolutely nothing wrong with this, and in fact shows that a product is of high quality and has really extracted their medicinal mushrooms properly! Beta-glucans are incredible immune-balancing molecules that activate our body’s natural infection-fighting defenses without causing inflammation. In short, the sediment is medicinal goodness.
So when drinking our alcohol-free mushroom-infused cocktails, what do you do with the sediment? It’s simple. You shake up your bottle and drink it up! It’s good, healthy stuff that will support you and your health goals. We’ve also been doing some good old fashioned test kitchen play and have some fun options coming your way soon. Stay Tuned!
Want to learn more about beta glucans? Check out these articles:
https://www.mdpi.com/1648-9144/43/8/597
https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/B9780123945914000118