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What is a Tincture?A Tincture is an alcoholic extract of an active ingredient within a herb. To make a tincture, you need to: Soak the herb (which can be dried or fresh) in a mixture of alcohol and water for two weeks. After this time, you strain the mixture through a wine press.
Most tinctures are made using ethyl alcohol. Although any alcohol can be used to make tinctures, not all are safe to drink, so take care when making home-made tinctures.
A safer option in home-made tinctures is Glycerol, which is cheap and available from pharmacists, but the resulting tinctures are a little bit slippery on the palate! Tinctures made using Glycerol may be better for use in children, pregnant women and recovering alcoholics.
However, the simplest source for making home-made tinctures is to use ready-made alcohol in the form of wines and spirits. Vodka is especially good.
The measurements are 25% alcohol in water, ie. 1fl oz of pure alcohol with 3fl oz water). Tinctures made from resinous plants are normally 45% alcohol. To gain this strength for home use is quite difficult, so it is probably better to buy commercially-made ones.
Using 200g of herb with 1 litre of liquid is a sufficient quantity to make at one time. If you are using fresh herbs, you will need to triple this quantity, ie. 600g herb to 1 litre water. Put the herb in a large jar and pour over the alcohol and water mixture. Store in a cool place for two weeks, making sure you shake the mixture each day. Then filter the mixture through a wine press. Store the mixture in a clean, dark glass container. Tinctures generally last for two years without any problem.
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