Tincture Making

[Vortex]

Hi Everyone.

I’ve been making tinctures for my own use for nearly 30 years. I am self taught from books so apologies if I’m not using the correct terminology.

I’ve always wondered what the best techniques are for getting the most tincture (liquid) out of the material you’re extracting it from.

I recently had to make several root tinctures from finely powdered roots and have found it almost impossible to separate some of them when they are ready. A couple of them have had the consistency of chocolate sauce!

I normally use muslin cloth and squeeze by hand over a bowl, but this doesn’t work at all with some of them. I’ve tried coffee filters but they either take forever or almost instantly clog up to the point where nothing else goes through. What do other members do with these?

Thanks.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

We use regular cotton cloth (like a cloth handkerchief).

We also use a tincture press. Some things are harder to press than others.

Doc

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[IdahoHerbalist]

Muslin is good. For our commercial purposes I get a heavy duty cotton/poly napkin. Handkerchiefs work good for hand pressing or for those things that will wreck the cloth, like boswellia.

[Vortex]

Thanks guys, that’s a great help. When I would try to press them the muslin cloth would burst.

One other question, when tincturing these dry powders a 1:5 tincture often results in a paste that seems to dry, not a liquid like I’m used to. Is this OK or would you add more alcohol?

[IdahoHerbalist]

My take for our business is we REALLY would like to keep it at 1:5. I RARELY add more liquid. Yield may be lower but I have not looked really closely at yield in that condition…… Thanks, now I have another LEFT BRAIN thing to check out!!!! :yahoo:

For personal use you CAN add more liquid. That will just make the final product less potent and will require a large portion.

As long as all of the material is WET the components are getting extracted.

If you do decide to add more do it in portions that match the original dry portion. IE: if you added 100 g of powder then add liquid in 100 g increments. That way you will know what the final ratio is for future reference.

[Vortex]

Thanks 🙂

Here’s another left brainer for you. Why is the dried herb dose quoted always more than the tincture dose? Surely if we add 5 times as much alcohol as herb then shouldn’t the tincture dose be 5 times the herb dose? :boggle:

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Vortex wrote: Thanks 🙂

Here’s another left brainer for you. Why is the dried herb dose quoted always more than the tincture dose? Surely if we add 5 times as much alcohol as herb then shouldn’t the tincture dose be 5 times the herb dose? :boggle:

There is lots of fiber, fluff and structural stuff in plants that isn’t medicinal. Tinctures are much more concentrated. Hence, the smaller dose to get the same effect.

Doc

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[Vortex]

Thanks for your reply, Doc.

For the sake of the discussion lets say half is fiber, fluff and structural stuff and half is the goodies we want.

If we have one spoonful of herb we have half a spoonful of goodies. If we then put that in our mouth and swallow we’ve taken half a spoonful of goodies.

If on the other had we make a 1:5 tincture with that spoonful of herb, the half teaspoon of goodies is diluted in 5 teaspoons of alcohol, so we’d need to take 5 teaspoons of tincture to get the same half teaspoon of goodies. No? :boggled:

[IdahoHerbalist]

Excellent analysis that I have been struggling with for a time.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Vortex wrote: Thanks for your reply, Doc.

For the sake of the discussion lets say half is fiber, fluff and structural stuff and half is the goodies we want.

If we have one spoonful of herb we have half a spoonful of goodies. If we then put that in our mouth and swallow we’ve taken half a spoonful of goodies.

If on the other had we make a 1:5 tincture with that spoonful of herb, the half teaspoon of goodies is diluted in 5 teaspoons of alcohol, so we’d need to take 5 teaspoons of tincture to get the same half teaspoon of goodies. No? :boggled:

Except that alcohol is much better at getting chemicals out of plant cells than your body is. So the half teaspoon of plant you ingest has markedly less available medicine than the tincture. Mammals have no enzymes to break down the cellulose in plant cell walls. We chew stuff up and break down the cell walls mechanically but we aren’t as efficient as the solvent power of booze to get the goods out.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[Vortex]

Thanks, Doc. I’m not trying to prove anyone right or wrong, just trying to understand it and can’t seem to find a definitive answer.

I wondered if it was because the alcohol extracted more, but the Well know Herbalist and author Stephen Buhner says that he prefers powders over tinctures because your stomach acid is the best at extracting everything…

I would have thought a herb steeping in alcohol for 2 weeks to 2 months would have a better chance of extracting everything than in your stomach acid for a few hours. Plus it should have a much better chance of being absorbed into your body as an alcohol extraction.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

Vortex wrote: Thanks, Doc. I’m not trying to prove anyone right or wrong, just trying to understand it and can’t seem to find a definitive answer.

I wondered if it was because the alcohol extracted more, but the Well know Herbalist and author Stephen Buhner says that he prefers powders over tinctures because your stomach acid is the best at extracting everything…

I would have thought a herb steeping in alcohol for 2 weeks to 2 months would have a better chance of extracting everything than in your stomach acid for a few hours. Plus it should have a much better chance of being absorbed into your body as an alcohol extraction.

I am a proponent of using the whole, unadulterated herb when possible. However this is not because stomach acid is a better solvent than alcohol. Alcohol is a much better solvent than anything the human body produces. So, I’m afraid Stephen Buhner isn’t correct on that score. However he is correct that the whole, unadulterated plant is usually the best source of the phytochemicals we want even though it takes more plant material and takes a little longer to kick in.

The advantage of tinctures is that they are absorbed by the body very quickly and they are handy to carry around and take. They are also more concentrated so smaller doses are effective. Tinctures are especially great for crisis herbs.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[IdahoHerbalist]

Tinctures also have an extraordinary shelf life.

The advantage for my wife is her throat is very sensitive to the powdery texture. Tinctures solve this issue for her.

The very best form to take for medicinal plants is the one you have available to you.

[Dr. Patrick JonesHomestead Instructor]

IdahoHerbalist wrote: Tinctures also have an extraordinary shelf life.

The advantage for my wife is her throat is very sensitive to the powdery texture. Tinctures solve this issue for her.

The very best form to take for medicinal plants is the one you have available to you.

Bingo.

Don't use herbs or combine herbs with medications or use them during lactation or pregnancy without talking with your healthcare provider.

[AnnettStudent]

If a plant has toxins in it, will they be preserved in a tincture along with the plant’s medicine? Or are they somehow not an issue (like bacteria) in tinctures?

[IdahoHerbalist]

Alcohol is used for tinctures. Alcohol kills nearly all micro organisms. That is why alcohol is used and will preserve as long as the % of alcohol remains about 30-40%.

As far as any chemical toxins that would naturally be in the plant, yes, they would be extracted as well.

[AnnettStudent]

Thanks. Are all vitamins and minerals from a plant also extracted in a tincture or are some nutrients lost when tinctured?

[IdahoHerbalist]

I am guessing it is not 100% extraction. Like pressing, where it is impossible to get 100% of the liquid recovered. I also do not know if any of the nutrients are destroyed by the alcohol.

[Reverie Farm]

Alcohol can dissolve both water-soluble and fat-soluble components of a plant, in addition to mineral salts. Resins must be extracted in alcohol or oil, mucilages and polysacc’s will precipitate with alcohol. Alcohol is a great overall menstruum; however, no method of extraction will preserve 100% of everything. This even goes for our own digestion of the plant material.

Although I personally prefer fresh plant material as the best medicine, there is frequently a limiting factor on one’s ability to consume it fresh. Since tinctures are concentrated with a long shelf life and are easy to consume in any dose, they are a great second to fresh.

[Donnay]

Hello all!

How about using food grade glycerine? Is the tincture not as strong?

I made a double extraction of Chaga and it came out good. Is double extraction needed for all mushroom base tinctures?

[IdahoHerbalist]

Reverie, please define your understanding of ALCOHOL. That would be important for me/us to know before addressing your comment.

[IdahoHerbalist]

Donnay, glycerin is a very mild form of alcohol. I do not believe it does as good a job at extraction as Vodka. It certainly does not have the shelf life of your typical alcohol extract: one year or so in the fridge.

Double extraction is a personal preference and is used to boost the concentration of the herb. I do not think it is required.

[Donnay]

IdahoHerbalist wrote: Donnay, glycerin is a very mild form of alcohol. I do not believe it does as good a job at extraction as Vodka. It certainly does not have the shelf life of your typical alcohol extract: one year or so in the fridge.

Double extraction is a personal preference and is used to boost the concentration of the herb. I do not think it is required.

Thank you for responding. I agree with you.

Another quick question:

With all the mushroom craze presently trending, which mushroom is, in your opinion, the best for immune system?

[IdahoHerbalist]

The only mushroom I have ever messed with is Chaga. That is only because someone sent HGH some and I have tinctured it. I have not ever used it or have studied it much.

[Donnay]

IdahoHerbalist wrote: The only mushroom I have ever messed with is Chaga. That is only because someone sent HGH some and I have tinctured it. I have not ever used it or have studied it much.

Here is a good website to get a lot of good info:

[Author]

Posts