Alternative Healing Wednesdays

Herbal Elixer in a Bottle

TINCTURES

The purpose of making a tincture is to extract the part of the herb that will assist in healing. You use a solution to accommodate this process.  These “solutions” are alcohol, vegetable glycerin, or vinegar. Getting “constituents” (mentioned in last Wednesday’s blog) out of the herb is the purpose of using these solutions.

To prepare:

With dried herb, a ratio of 1 part herb, to 5 parts alcohol (Vodka) / or 2 parts fresh herb to 5 parts alcohol.

Begin by chopping or grinding the herb 

Sterilize a pint jar and its lid

Then add the herb, and pour in the alcohol over the herb 

Leave in a warm, dark place for 2 weeks, shaking the herbs two to three times a day. 

After two weeks, strain with a coffee filter (I have a funnel I place mine into) into a bottle or jar (be sure to sterilize the jar first). If any herb is left in the solution, it will possibly spoil the solution. Store with the cap secured tightly in a cool place. Label and date your bottle. 

If stored correctly, and sterilization used, they should keep indefinitely.

FLUID EXTRACT

Special equipment is used for this process. To prepare it, the herb is soaked in alcohol for two weeks. Then, the strained fluids are evaporated under high pressure.  A residue is left after this process, which is diluted to the correct strength.

Generally these are 2X stronger than a tincture and will have only a minute amount of alcohol. The amount recommended is usually very small, usually drops.