Decanting

Decanted tinctures and one oil today!

Fresh dandelion leaf tincture : liver & digestive tonic

Fresh cleaver tincture : my fav remedy for swollen glands

Dried passionflower tincture: the BEST for anxiety, racing mind, headaches, & insomnia

Glowing fresh calendula flower oil : wonderful oil for the skin in salves, lotions, & just by itself

Tincture Making: Fool-Proof

Tincture making is seriously fool-proof medicine making. 

It is so easy to do...I mean, you can make it complicated...but I don't.

It's a great way to start making your own medicine at home if you never have before. Store bought tinctures are SO expensive, so if you do buy them you will be saving yourself a lot of money by making them instead. Making your own tincture is medicine in itself (every time you shake it think good thoughts!) because you are part of the process. 

And I'll add that tinctures are really handy to have...right before bed (instead of a cup of tea that will make you pee) and they are indispensable when traveling.

Now a lot of the time tinctures are used to preserve the fresh plant, but dried plants work well too (sometimes better for some herbs, in my opinion). So don't let that factor stop you--use what you have/can get!

And lastly, if you are avoiding alcohol you can make a glycerin-based tincture instead of an alcohol-based tincture. My personal preference is alcohol-based though.

The process:

   1. Put fresh or dried herb in a clean mason jar

   2. Add 100 proof vodka

3. Label jar with herb name & date

   4. Cap and store it out of the light in a cool dark place

   5. Shake daily, or as often as you can remember, for at least two weeks

   6. Uncap the jar

   7. Pour out the tincture into a bowl or something and squeeze out the wet herbs as best you can

   8. Filter the tincture through clean cheesecloth or something of that nature

9. Put back into clean mason jar and/or put into a small dropper/tincture bottle & label.

Congratulations! 
You just made medicine!

Passionflower in vodka.

Always label herb name, whether it is fresh or dried, date, and you can add alcohol type.

Passionflower tincture already turning colors after two days.

Summer Solstice

I love the summer solstice! It means the fields and woods are filled with plants in bloom just begging to be harvested. They actually call you to collect them (it's true--ask any herbalist/plant-lover). 

We've been busy communing with some of our favorites: red clover, st. john's wort, nettle, yarrow, and plantain. All are abundant in this area at this time of the year. 

We celebrated the power of the sun on the solstice by collecting St. John's Wort (we go to the same spot every year), making hibiscus-rosehip sun tea, and making various tinctures with fresh herbs that we had collected that day.

 sun tea & st. john's wort tincture

left to right: 

red clover, ground ivy, chickweed, yarrow, indian pipe, & st john's wort tinctures

We have never harvested indian pipe before. 

Last summer we saw it in abundance and wanted to collect it, but never did. 

On the solstice we were taking a walk through the woods and saw a bunch of indian pipe. We crouched down to take a closer look and found the ground was almost covered with clusters of indian pipe popping up out of the dead leaves. We felt it was the right time and took one little stalk home with us. 

The tincture is beautiful looking...it is turning an eerie purple-blue. 

I will have to do some reading/research as I don't know a ton about indian pipe. I believe it looks scarier than it is and if I'm not mistaken my memory tells me that this plant was used as a sedative and nervine. I will have to look more into it though when I have time. 

Happy Summer Solstice everyone!

Guide to Tincture Making

"Navigating the world of herbal medicine can inspire a hungry fascination. Finding wellness through herbs often leads to an experience that’s transformative and empowering. This experience can also bewilder our curious minds! We are lucky to have an incredible wealth of information about plant medicine at our fingertips today, but the beautiful complexity that comes with herbal healing makes learning the nuances a lifelong task.

A sip of herbal tea or a dropperful of tincture can easily unlock the door to herbalism. Most of us begin our studies making these simple and effective preparations. However, basic concepts sometimes become muddied when juggling Latin binomial nomenclature, formulation considerations, physiological effects, historical research, and other pursuits within the art. The most common mix-ups arise from misused terminology. One term that tends to be applied to a variety of preparations is tincture. What is a tincture and is there any difference between a tincture and an extract?

All tinctures are extracts, but not all extracts are tinctures!

Tinctures are concentrated herbal extracts that have alcohol as the solvent. If you are using water, vinegar, glycerin, or any menstruum (solvent) other than alcohol, your preparation is an extract – not a tincture. Although, there are exceptions to every rule and sometimes an acetum is defined as “a vinegar tincture” in the tomes.

 

The Folk Method

Fresh Herb
• Finely chop or grind clean herb to release juice and expose surface area.
• Fill jar 2/3 to 3/4 with herb. ~ OR ~ Fill jar 1/4 to ½ with roots.
• Pour alcohol over the herbs. Cover completely!
• Jar should appear full of herb, but herb should move freely when shaken.

Dried Herb
• Use finely cut herbal material.
• Fill jar 1/2 to 3/4 with herb ~ OR ~ Fill jar 1/4 to 1/3 with roots.
• Pour alcohol over the herbs. Cover completely!
• Roots will expand by ½ their size when reconstituted!

Alcohol Percentages

40% – 50% (80-90 proof vodka)
• “Standard” percentage range for tinctures.
• Good for most dried herbs and fresh herbs that are not juicy.
• Good for extraction of water soluble properties.

67.5% - 70% (½ 80 proof vodka + ½ 190 proof grain alcohol)
• Extracts most volatile aromatic properties.
• Good for fresh high-moisture herbs like lemon balm, berries, and aromatic roots.
• The higher alcohol percentage will draw out more of the plant juices.

85% – 95% (190 proof grain alcohol)
• Good for gums and resins.
• Extracts aromatics and essential oils that are bound in the plant and do not dissipate easily.
• The alcohol strength can produce a tincture that is not quite pleasant to take.
• Often used for drop dosage medicines.
• Will totally dehydrate herbs.

Extraction Time and Bottling

Store jar in a cool, dry, dark cabinet. Shake several times a week and check your alcohol levels. If the alcohol has evaporated a bit and the herb is not totally submerged, be sure to top off the jar with more alcohol. Herbs exposed to air can introduce mold and bacteria into your tincture. Allow the mixture to extract for 6-8 weeks.
Now it’s time to squeeze. Drape a damp cheesecloth over a funnel. Pour contents of tincture into an amber glass bottle. Allow to drip, then squeeze and twist until you can twist no more! Optional: Blend herbs into a mush and strain remaining liquid.
The last step is perhaps the most important of all! Once you’ve strained and bottled your tincture, be sure to label each bottle with as much detail as possible. You will be so happy to have this information to play with next time you tincture the same herb. Don’t plan to lean on your sense of taste or smell alone – regardless of how well honed your organpleptic skills may be. Skipping this step will surely lead to a dusty collection of unused mystery extracts.

 

That’s it!

Keep in a cool, dark place and your extracts will last for many years. Making your own tinctures is simple and rewarding. The process allows you to form an intimate relationship with both the herbs you study and the medicines they offer."

Source:  http://mountainroseblog.com/guide-tinctures-extracts/