Tinctures, a do-it-yourself guide
Usually I wait until it's a desperate situation. You know, everyone oozing green snot and rubbing red eyes.
"Uh-oh, I need some echinacea!"
I trudge off to the health food store and mutter under my breath about the insanity of spending ten dollars on one OUNCE of echinacea tincture. And then scold myself for not having made any myself 6 weeks ago in preparation for cold season.
I buy my little brown dropper bottle, drive home, and in a few days, everyone is cheery, bright-eyed and snot-free.
Well, this year I am not putting it off, darn it, I am making my own echinacea tincture NOW, so it's ready in time for Sicky Season.
It's a ridiculously simple process. You need three things:
1) dried echinacea herb- I buy mine online at Mountain Rose Herbs, $7 for an organic pound
2) enough vodka or grain alcohol to cover the herb, the cheap stuff is what I use,
3) a huge glass jar
Sterilize your jar (dishwasher is fine) AND DRY THOROUGHLY. Very important. Pour in your herb. Pour in your alcohol.
Make sure you are using enough alcohol to completely immerse the herb. Cover the mouth of the jar with plastic wrap if you are using a metal lid.
Same process for licorice-cinnamon tincture (this one tastes yummy and doesn't numb your mouth up!):
Now place it in a dark cupboard. Shake every few days. After 6 weeks, strain out the herb, bottle in dark glass, and voila- echinacea tincture!
This costs me about 50 cents an ounce, all told, versus $10 an ounce in the store. 95% savings! WOW!
Always use echinacea in cycles- 5 days on, 2 days off is easy to remember. For children, add the tincture to a pot of freshly brewed herbal tea and let cool with the tea to evaporate much of the alcohol.
This process can be used for any dry herb you use- catnip, lemon balm, feverfew just to name a few.
Let me know if you have success with these directions, won't you?
"The foliage has been losing its freshness through the month of August, and here and there a yellow leaf shows itself like the first gray hair amidst the locks of a beauty who has seen one season too many." ~Oliver Wendell Holmes
(This information is not intended to diagnose, treat, or cure any disease. It is for informational purposes only.)
No comments:
Post a Comment