Making Tinctures

Tincture Bottle

 Tinctures are the easiest means of getting medicinal plant essence into the blood stream. Simply applying a tincture under the tongue will get a quick reaction. Eating a tincture, or infusion rich food, will slow the amount of supplement and delay the effects. Both of these can be very useful in using Home Remedy Herbal Supplements. There are two basic sorts of tinctures. Alcohol tinctures, which use alcohol to strip the plant material of it's beneficial essence; Vinegar tinctures, which are used less except by professional makers.

You may read, in other sources, that you may use either fresh plant materials or dried plant materials, much to the same effect. These sources will tell you that the difference is found mostly in the water content. But I am recommending that you always use dehydrated, or naturally dried, plant materials. When water leave a plant there are new molecules created by the drying and the plant matter is more easily broken up without releasing bitter chlorophyll flavors and colors into the mix. 

Making an alcohol tincture is really quite simple. You put whatever herb you are extracting into a Mason Jar of sufficient size and pour alcohol into the jar to cover. Sealing the jar's lid the mixture is set aside in a dark place for six to eight weeks and then strained through a cheesecloth to remove the plant material. You can double filter the mix using a coffee filter as well. Then pour the mix off into Tincture bottles or nearly anything else that holds water and use it.

A Vinegar Tincture is made much the same way, but vinegar is used to extract the plant's essence in place of alcohol. Vinegar Tinctures are often made to impart flavors into foods directly. Pepper seed tinctures are relatively common  Perhaps the best way to store them is in the original vinegar bottle. 

Be aware that alcohol is flammable whether you are using eighty proof vodka, my favorite, or 190 proof Everclear there is a danger to it. 

 Tinctures contain the essence of the plant and have almost no home remedy benefits on their own.  There is no dose for Tinctures without plant essence in them.  Once infused, dosage becomes about trying to find a therapeutic amount of Tincture and then holding to it. In the case of the Purple Dead Nettle Tincture I found the dose which works is about half a teaspoon dispensed by the eye dropper that came with the Tincture bottle. My need is to relieve swelling in a knee which has a bad meniscus tendon. My wife uses the same Tincture, but about a full teaspoon, but she is treating Osteo Arthritis in her hands and back, where swelling is only a partial symptom. The plant itself doesn't come bearing any serious warnings about dosage, so finding the right dosage is about finding the level that works then gently increasing or decreasing the dose for better or worse. 

Tinctures are easily made, generally safe, and can be very effective when used correctly.  With few warnings most tinctures can be tried without too much danger, but common sense comes to play when talking about using any medicines and if there is any doubt or worry at all, consult your doctor.