Making Herbal Tinctures

Making Tinctures is very helpful skill if you are serious about creating natural remedies for consumption. They are more powerful than tea's, and because you don't slowly sip a tincture, it is more appropriate for bitter or poor tasting herbal medications.

A Tincture is a concentrated, alcohol based herbal extract. You create it using fresh organic and herbal materials, and a liquid alcohol base; commonly vodka, but brandy, veggie glycerine, or even apple vinegar can work.

Choosing your base liquid:

When a commercial tincture is created, it usually is created by using nearly 99% pure grain alcohol. For making tinctures at home, this is unnecessary. Simply purchase vodka that is 100 proof. This means it is 50% pure alcohol, and 50% water. This actually is perfect to figure for dosages, because most herbal tinctures are recommended by herbalists to be made using 50% alcohol, and 50% water.

Of course, if you want to reduce the amount of alcohol, you may want to place the tincture in a pot of boiling water for a minute or two. This will reduce the alcohol in the solution by roughly half. Cider vinager is also an option, as is vegetable glycerin.
This won't be quite as potent as an alcohol tincture, but if alcohol is a major concern, than these will do. Be sure to pour the vinager warm, but not hot, to help absorb the fresh herbal material.

Making Herbal Tinctures:

- First, pick your fresh herbs. Remove any that are damaged, dirty, wilting, etc. However, DO NOT wash your herbs.

- Flowers are to be left whole, and as for stems, roots, and leaves, you can coarsly chop them.

- Fill a jar with the liquid of your choosing, say, 100 proof vodka.

- add the chopped stems, roots, and leaves to the jar with 100 proof vodka

- add any whole flowers to the jar with the 100 proof vodka in it.

- use an airtight lid, and close the jar tightly. It is important no air can get in.

- It's best to label what the jar is, and what date you created it. Store it somewhere dark for 8 weeks. Shake it every 2 - 3 days.

- After 8 weeks, your ready to go. Strain out the organic material, and pour the liquid into a dry, clean bottle. Label it again
with the ingredients that went into it, as well as the date.

Why Tincture?

Tinctures are concentrated, and therefore are effective in small doses.

Some herbs can only be extracted using alcohol.

Tincture solutions are fast acting, and dosaging is easy.

Tinctures will keep their strength for years.