Basic Herbal Tinctures
Basic herbal tinctures are fairly simple to make. All you need is an herb, a solvent, and a few kitchen staples.
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Herbal tinctures are concentrated liquids made from dried or fresh plants that carry active constituents known to promote health and healing.
Whether making a single herbal extract or blending several herbs together to make an herbal combination, creating your own tinctures is fun and easy!
These homemade remedies are great to have on hand to support the health needs of you and your family.
Most herbal tinctures are made using alcohol as the solvent. We call the solvent used to make our tinctures the menstruum. For those who would rather avoid using alcohol as the menstruum, glycerin, apple cider vinegar (ACV), water, and sometimes wine may also be used. Alcohol is the preferred menstruum of herbalists as it is able to extract alkaloids and resins from the herb, whereas glycerin, ACV, water, and wine may not do as well. Using alcohol helps preserve the balance of the phytochemicals in our herbs. It is a natural disinfectant and preservative, and using alcohol as the menstruum prevents bacteria and mold from affecting our herbs. This allows our herbal tinctures to maintain their potency for five years or more!
Recipe adapted from Practical Herbalism by Philip Fritchey.
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