Herbal medicine as we know it has been around for thousands of years. Tinctures are a crucial part of your development with herbs and can be used in almost any situation with almost any plant. They are especially valuable when clean water is not readily available or teas are impractical.

Tincturing can be performed anywhere, but it must be stored in a cool, dark place to maintain potency. Tinctures are often poured into amber bottles to help restrict UV access. Electrical or duct tape wrapped around a clear bottle often works well if low-light areas are limited.

To begin making a tincture you must first gather your plant material like roots, stems, leaves, or fruiting bodies! Once harvested it is common practice to dry the materials in the sun or with a dehydrator before processing into medicine. Dehydrators provide a more even drying with less loss of potency and no sun bleaching. Below is a list of common times and temps for drying most plants in a dehydrator:

Leaves: 3-5 hours at 125° - 145°

Roots: 5-8 hours at 150° - 175°

Fruits: 4-6 hours at 115° - 135°

Once you have prepared your material to be extracted you must now choose a solvent. Traditionally tinctures are made with vegetable or animal glycerine, apple cider vinegar, or high-proof alcohol like ever clear. Any alcohol above 30% will work though.

To begin the extraction process you must first choose between using dried or fresh herbs for your extract. This decision is important as it will determine your alcohol to plant ratio.

Fresh material = 1:2 ratio

Dried material = 1:5 ratio

1 part plant : 2 part alcohol/solvent

These ratios are often overlooked or skipped giving unreliable potency from batch to batch. A good rule of thumb is to completely cover the plant matter with 1/2 inch of fluid above.

When using dried material it is important to add back the lost water weight during or after the extraction, depending on the water solubility of the desired medicinal extract. Often water Is used in extracting alkaloids from plants, so using proper pH water is very important. Alkali water will not extract alkaloids. SMALL amounts of white vinegar can be added to alkali water to return it to a pH of 7 or slightly higher.

Before adding the plant material to your tincturing solvent (typically alcohol), it is important that it is finely chopped or powdered to increase its surface area in contact with the alcohol. The average tincture takes 2-4 weeks to fully extract all soluble chemicals, with some roots sometimes taking up to 6 weeks. During these weeks the tincture must be shaken Daily to help increase the plant's contact with the chosen solvent.

Powdered herbs CANNOT remain in open contact with air for long, maybe 36 hours at most as the increased surface area quickly loses potency in the air.

If you have any questions about tincturing or processing herbal medicine please email us at: info@oldworldherbs.com