http://thegreenmanstore.com/2012/05/medicine-making-basics-how-to-make-t...
Medicine-Making Basics: How to Make Tinctures and Glycerites
w/Julie James
Sat Jun 9th, 3-5pm $20 cash fee
Tinctures are alcohol and water extractions of herbs, providing a concentrated, stable, easily absorbed and readily utilized form of herbs. It is often the medicine of choice for herbalists, as it allows therapeutic levels of herbs to be ingested relatively easily.
But if you read most herb books, they'll give you a quick paragraph on tincture-making, telling you to cover herbs with brandy, let them stand for a few weeks, and strain. This makes a fair tincture for most herbs, but it's ineffective for many, and a waste of good herbs and brandy far too often. And it is NOT the way that most good herbalists make their tinctures.
Learning how to make your own tinctures is a tremendously valuable art. There's a fair bit of science and, yes, some algebra involved (but just a bit, and I promise I'll make it as easy as possible for you).
For those of you who cannot ingest alcohol, glycerine is used to make a decent alternative, and we'll discuss and demonstrate that process as well.
We'll sample many different tinctures and go through the process from start to finish, so that you'll feel absolutely comfortable going home, breaking out the Everclear, and starting your own herbal apothecary!
This post was contributed by a community member. The views expressed here are the author's own.
The views expressed in this post are the author's own. Want to post on Patch?
