By: Tom Lasher

 Herb Tinctures Recipe


Well, the basics are actually quite simple. Collect the herb that you wish
to use at a propitious time. You'll want to research what part of the
plant to collect. This should be fresh material hopefully.

Grind the material up a bit.(though I do notice that the Chinese
herbalists will often leave a big ol ginseng root whole in the bottle. I
believe they must leave the tincture sit significantly longer)

Put the material in a glass jar. Get some grain alcohol or some 100 proof
vodka from the store and cover the material in the jar with it, and cover
the jar.

I leave the herb soaking for about a month. Each day I gently agitate the
jar. At the end of a month, I strain off the herb through cheesecloth and
discard it. What's left is your tincture. I try to leave it in a darkish
place to store.

Talking with an herbalist friend of mine and he will leave the material in
the jar ad infinitum. When he wants to use the tincture, then he will
strain it. So that is another option.

Also you can use apple cider vinegar instead of alcohol. Some folks here
have done that and they say it works pretty good. I am interested in this
because the kids hate to take the alcohol.

