Question for those making tinctures

So I finally hit the books (Buhner's) and came up with a list of herbs I'd like to tincture.

That said, I'm not 100% sure I'm understanding Buhner correctly but, I'm under the impression it's best to buy whole herbs and then powder them. Is that what people are doing?

If yes, what are you using to powder the herbs?

I've been using whole herbs - partly because I was reading "old school" thoughts on tincture making and I was following someone that was taught the old school ways.

Of course, I was using medicinal teas and not tinctures for my treatments. Most of my tinctures were for supportive actions of some type.

Actually, if you put a bit of water in when making the tincture, you can get the water soluable components as well. That way you actually get more that the herb offers in the way of medicinal value as there are always parts that are only water soluable, as well as parts you can only get extracted with alcohol.

I've always wondered why some of the tincture recipes include water and alcohol.... That is interesting..

Thanks for the input!

I remember reading Buhner's words that it's the alcohol that draws the water out of the plants....that same action happens to humans when they consume alcohol - they become dehydrated and thus, feel hungover.

I realize I have a few more questions :)

What size bottles do you guys use to make the tinctures? Do you sterilize them?

And, for those using regular vodka, I'm guessing some of the tinctures that require 60-70% or more alcohol would be weaker as a result - is that correct?

I'm realizing I stand the chance of going through a LOT of alcohol since I hope to be making 10 different tinctures at some point. lol

Simela - we are only friends sharing information. I'm glad you were here once again to catch that slip of mine!

I also use canning jars, but I don't have a dishwasher that's not human () so I sterilize everything the old fashioned way - with boiling water.

Once the tincture has had time to do it's thing, then I strain it, and place it back into the canning jar, and only put enough to fill some empty tincture bottles with droppers (sterilized as well)- then I put the rest back into my pantry where it stays cool and dark.

Remember that you want the finished product in amber bottles to help protect that medicine.

Buy the highest proof vodka you can find. You can allow the herbs to do their thing a little longer in order to get a bit more out of them.

You should see the looks I get when I go in to buy 2 or 3 bottles of moonshine!! LOL! They usually want to follow me home or ask where the party is! It depends on what kind of mood I'm in as to how I answer though!

For anyone following this thread that may be interested in what the process actually is, here are two really good sites (IMO):
mountainroseblog.com/guide-tinctures-extracts/

herbalacademyofne.com/2014/02/how-to-make-a-tincture/

Thanks for all the great info and links!!!

The folk method is definitely more user-friendly.

How the heck do you transition from doses of tinctures that you bought to the folk method stuff?

I feel like I'm continually in "herbal transition" lol

I know from reading the threads that some people don't react well to alcohol and use the tinctures that are made with apple cider vinegar or am I missing something?

So if you want to do this without the alcohol, how would you change things?

Thanks, as always thanks for sharing.
Kim

I would not use a different medium to extract. I would use tinctures with alcohol and put them in warm tea or warm water for 10 minutes, so the alcohol evaporates. If you search other mediums, you will see they are not as effective at extracting. The alcohol is negligible. It's not like you will have a shot of moonshine and then get so drank that you see moons shinning everywhere LOL

Some people let it sit for an hour in a cup of water for the alcohol to evaporate. Dr. Cowden says to let it stay for 10 minutes. So, although I purchased some organic apple vinegar, I didn't use it because through my reading, it seems the tinctures won't be as potent--maybe it doesn't extract certain types of constituents (so you will not get the health benefits of these constituents); is not the same thing. Certainly you should do some research and do what makes you comfortable. Buhner says you can even boil the herbs for a couple of minutes to get the alcohol to evaporate, if this is a concern. It was for me too, I didn't want to drink a shot in the morning because I don't drink--I have a couple of glasses of wine per year. But it really is so watered down, when added to a glass of water, that I taste the herbs, not the alcohol. I can't even tell the alcohol is in there.

Post Edited (Simela1) : 11/6/2015 8:16:45 AM (GMT-7)