Folk Tincturing Method
<p ><b>With Dry Herbs:</b></p><p >Grind your herbs to a moderately coarse powder and place the powder into a large jar that can be tightly closed. Its usually a good idea to be sure the rim of the jar is wiped off well before fastening the lid in place and I like to place a piece of plastic wrap between the lid and jar to prevent moisture from deteriorating the jar lid. </p><p > </p><p >Prepare your menstrum in a separate container if you are blending various solvents together (for example, alcohol and vinegar...or different proofs of alcohol). Then add your prepared menstrum to the herbs in the jar. Stir well (chopsticks work great). Cover the herbs so there's about 1/4" of menstrum covering the herbs. Let it sit for about 12 hours and then check to see how much of the menstrum has been absorbed. You may need to add more menstrum to ensure that the herbs are still covered with 1/4" of menstrum. </p><p > </p><p >Place your jar in a dark place, shake it at least once a day for anywhere between 7-30 days (14 is most common) Before you decant, let it sit without shaking for another day.</p><p > </p><p >Decant: Pour off the clear tincture from the top, press the remaining wet pulp and combine these two liquids.You can make your first pass through a screen, then place the wet marc in cheesecloth to squeeze more out. Filter if desired. Some folks like to filter several times. Bottle, tightly cap and be sure to label with the date the tincture was started, how long it sat and thus, the end date when you decanted it, the herbs used, the kind of alcohol or other solvents (and percentages of those you used) and any other information that will help you learn more about your tincture, for example, if the herbs originated from your garden.</p><p > </p><p >Note: Dried roots will expand when reconstituted so prepare to add more menstrum.</p><p > </p><p class="MsoNormal" >Rule of thumb for selecting menstrum for dry herbs: make the water portion as high as possible</p><p > </p><p ><b>With Fresh Herbs</b></p><p > </p><p >When you use fresh herbs you'll need to use 190-proof alcohol</p><p > </p><p >Chop the herbs up until they're as fine as you can get them and stuff them into a jar, filling it to the top with alcohol. Pack the herbs in tightly. Cap tightly. Shake the jar daily for about 14 days. Decant, press the wet pulp, mix these two liquids. Filter if desired. Bottle, cap tightly, label.</p><p > </p><p ><b>Tincturing Fresh Herbs When Using dilute Alcohol (less than 190-proof)</b></p><p > </p><p >Again, chop up your herbs, stuff the jar as full as you can get it, pour in your alcohol, filling to the top. Now you'll need to pour all of that into a good quality blender and blend thoroughly. Pour back into your tincturing jar and cap tightly. Agitate daily for 14 days, then let it sit another day. Decant, press, filter. Bottle, cap, label.</p><p > </p>