CHAGA PUMPKIN SPICE

The spices in this jar once crossed oceans in wooden ships. Cinnamon from Ceylon. Cloves and nutmeg from remote islands so coveted that empires went to war over them. Medieval cooks ground them into something called sweet powder. By the 1600s, bakers were folding them into pumpkin pie. In 1934, McCormick put the mix in a bottle, and what was once rare, precious and full of wonder and mystery became ubiquitous and quotidian. 

But the story starts earlier. About eight hundred years prior, St. Hildegard of Bingen was already blending these spices in what was the first iteration of the “pumpkin spice blend”. 

In her Physica, the great medieval herbal, she left a recipe for little spice cakes, or Cookies of Joy: nutmeg and cinnamon in equal measure, a few cloves, ground fine and baked with breadcrumbs and water. Nutmeg was one of her favourite spices. She wrote that it would open the heart, free the judgment and give a good disposition, and told her readers to eat the cakes often, so that "the bitterness of the soul" would calm and the spirit grow cheerful.

To Hildegard's spices we added chaga, the dark mushroom that slowly grows on northern birch. In the cold countries, people have simmered it into a deep, earthy tea for generations. Ours comes from ethical wildcrafters in the wilds of Northern Ontario, blended into organic cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg and mace.

What you get is pumpkin spice with roots. Warm and familiar up front, with a subtle earthy tone underneath.

Stir it into lattes, coffee and tea. Bake it into pies, pancakes and muffins. Shake it into an autumn cocktail or two. It's naturally caffeine-free with no added sweeteners. 

Comes in a 40 g jar or a 120 g bulk bag. Every ingredient is ethically wildcrafted or certified organic.

Ingredients: cinnamon, cloves, allspice, ginger, nutmeg, mace, chaga mushroom.

Questions and Answers

What does it taste like? Classic warm pumpkin spice with a deeper, earthier backbone from the chaga.

How do I use it? Start with ½–1 teaspoon per cup of latte, coffee, or tea; a tablespoon or two in baking.

Is it caffeinated or sweetened? Neither — the blend itself is naturally caffeine-free with no added sweeteners.

Where does the chaga come from? Ethically wildcrafted in Northern Ontario.

Disclaimer: This information is for educational purposes only and has not been evaluated by the CFIA or FDA. It is not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease.