Re: do you top off your tincture?

[Guest guest]

When I tincture herbs, I stuff a glass jar with as much leaves (or whatever) as

I can get into the container. Then I pour in the alcohol to fill it to the top.

I keep the mixture in a dark cabinet, shake it every day - for two weeks. Then I

drain the tincture into a clean bottle, pushing  the plant matter (miniscus???)

thoroughly onto the strainer to get as much liquid as possible out of it. Cap

the jar and you're ready to go. I believe the herb tincture will last up to two

years. So, no I do not top off the tincture during the two week, nor after. I'm

not saying this is the correct way, but it works for me.

 

Kleager

brendajenkinskleager.com

Blog: http://brendajenkinskleager.com/cgi-bin/blog

[Guest guest]

Re: do you top off your tincture?

>Then I drain the tincture into a clean bottle, pushing� the plant matter

>(miniscus???) thoroughly onto the strainer to get as much liquid as possible

>out of it. Cap the jar and you're ready to go. I believe the herb tincture

>will last up to two years. So, no I do not top off the tincture during the

>two week, nor after. I'm not saying this is the correct way, but it works

>for me.

Perhaps you are thinking of the word " menstruum " ? That's the liquid

used as a solvent, i.e. alcohol, making a tincture. Miniscus means

the curvature of water at the top of a glass, or a concave or convex

lens - you can see this when pouring a glass very full; it will bulge

or have a convex curve to it, but if you add too more it will

overflow. Meniscus is also an anatomical term, referring to the

crescent-shaped curved cartilage which connects two bones at a joint,

like the elbow or knee. This word derives from the Greek mene

(I haven't the appropriate accents on my keyboard), which means

crescent, or moon. I hope I don't come off as being being preachy -

I just love words.

All the best,

Dara

www.HoodooRoots.com

www.etsy.com/shop/hoodooroots

[Guest guest]

When making a tincture its good to have some consistency from batch to batch. A

typical tincture is 1 to 5 or 1 to 10 meaning that you weigh the herb and add

either 5 x or 10 x alcohol to that. This way you know that it will be somewhat

similar from batch to batch although there is always biological variability in

plants. But it will give you a good concentrated tincture. Sometimes just

filling the jar, even though it seems like alot, does not make a strong

tincture.

http://www.sagescript.com

[Guest guest]

>

>

>

> I am refering to cases in which I remove and replace (there's a word for this

too... any idea what that one is?) the scented material frequently to achieve a

stronger tincture.

> not sure whether you top off everytime you fill the jar and see there is more

plant than menstruum (thanks for that word Dara), or how often if at all

>

> Hemla

>

> Hi Hemla -

>

> Yes, you will lose some scented alcohol each time you remove the material for

a re-charge.  When I do this I do not add more alcohol because it just weakens

the tincture.  I can often press out some of the alcohol when I filter the

flowers (or whatever) out.  If you use cheesecloth or paper filters just squeeze

the material to get as much alcohol out as you can.  Whatever you do, you will

most likely end up with less alcohol than you started with but it's worth it to

get the stronger scent.

>

> Hope this helps -

>

> Elise

However, the more dilute your alcohol becomes the less effective it will be in

extracting the volatile compounds you desire. The tincture ends up like an

infusion or tea. A dilute tincture is also subject to spoilage. Finally, with

a " watered down " tincture you will have problems with separation when you use it

in a blend. Three reasons to opt for topping off when tincturing with fresh

plant material.

Maggie

[Guest guest]

> However, the more dilute your alcohol becomes the less effective it will be in

extracting the volatile compounds you desire. The tincture ends up like an

infusion or tea. A dilute tincture is also subject to spoilage. Finally, with

a " watered down " tincture you will have problems with separation when you use it

in a blend. Three reasons to opt for topping off when tincturing with fresh

plant material.

> Maggie

>

How much alcohol do you add, how often?

Hemla

[Guest guest]

How much alcohol do you add, how often?

Hemla

Hi, Hemla:

I don't understand why anyone would want to " top off " their tincture.

After my tincture has reached the desired strength, I discard the spent plant

material, filter it and bottle it. 

Best Regards,Margo

www.miraculousbeads.com

[Guest guest]

I'm with you, Margo. To top it off is to dilute it in my opinion.

 

Kleager

brendajenkinskleager.com

Blog: http://brendajenkinskleager.com/cgi-bin/blog

 

[Guest guest]

>

>

> How much alcohol do you add, how often?

>

> Hemla

>

> Hi, Hemla:

> I don't understand why anyone would want to " top off " their tincture.

> After my tincture has reached the desired strength, I discard the spent plant

material, filter it and bottle it.

> Best Regards,Margo

> www.miraculousbeads.com

>

Hi Margo, Hemla....

I've been doing tincturing for about a decade...I'll be honest, I don't

use my tinctures as a main essence....I use the as the alcohol base, to

a blend....

Basically, after draining the old material, I add the new, and add

alcohol, up to my original volume...And tell by my nose, when it's done,

or finances demand it so...

BTW, many of them them seem to get better, with time....Even years of

time...Even if you thought you got a crappy result, not even overcoming

the sharpness of the alcohol...With time....you might be surprised...

Besides, there's alla this high grade alcohol you've used...You don't

have to worry about buggies and stuff...Alky eliminates that.

The ListMom knows how to standardize her tinctures....I'm not even sure

how to approach that, given the variables...But, when it smells nice, I

shut the process off..

Dang things seem to keep forever, or even get better......

Is my experience, at any rate....

--

W. Bourbonais

L'Hermite Aromatique

A.J.P. (GIA)

[Guest guest]

> How much alcohol do you add, how often?

>

> Hemla

I put a tick mark on the jar indicating the alcohol level before adding fresh

plant matter and top off then. I also weigh my plant matter before recharging so

that I'm consistent. Maybe you could start 2 jars of the same tincture and top

off one to see which yields the best results . . . and report back!

Maggie

[Guest guest]

That's what I do when making tinctures. I only add alcohol whenever I add plant

material to the original tincture.

www.miraculousbeads.com

[Guest guest]

>

> Hi Margo, Hemla....

>

> I've been doing tincturing for about a decade...I'll be honest, I don't

> use my tinctures as a main essence....I use the as the alcohol base, to

> a blend....

>

> Basically, after draining the old material, I add the new, and add

> alcohol, up to my original volume...And tell by my nose, when it's done,

> or finances demand it so...

>

> BTW, many of them them seem to get better, with time....Even years of

> time...Even if you thought you got a crappy result, not even overcoming

> the sharpness of the alcohol...With time....you might be surprised...

>

> Besides, there's alla this high grade alcohol you've used...You don't

> have to worry about buggies and stuff...Alky eliminates that.

>

> The ListMom knows how to standardize her tinctures....I'm not even sure

> how to approach that, given the variables...But, when it smells nice, I

> shut the process off..

>

> Dang things seem to keep forever, or even get better......

>

> Is my experience, at any rate....

>

> --

> W. Bourbonais

Hi,

So I started a tincture on 4-27-12 of orris root and alcohol 50 grams each, (I

posted pictures of the process in the photo link) as I read somewhere in a post

here, that it's best to do 50/50. Of course over time the alcohol has been

absorbed almost completely and feel I should top it off with more alcohol. My

question is should I strain it, add new orris, the alcohol from the original

tincture and new alcohol to it, and let it do it's thing? I haven't opened the

jar since it was made so I can't tell you how it's turning out.

I also agree that tinctures do smell better over time, as the ones I made

earlier (2011) smell incredible now.

-Kristie

[Guest guest]

Hi,

So I started a tincture on 4-27-12 of orris root and alcohol 50 grams each, (I

posted pictures of the process in the photo link) as I read somewhere in a post

here, that it's best to do 50/50. Of course over time the alcohol has been

absorbed almost completely and feel I should top it off with more alcohol. My

question is should I strain it, add new orris, the alcohol from the original

tincture and new alcohol to it, and let it do it's thing? I haven't opened the

jar since it was made so I can't tell you how it's turning out.

I also agree that tinctures do smell better over time, as the ones I made

earlier (2011) smell incredible now.

-Kristie

Hi, Kristie:I recently made an orris root tincture using the powder.  The ratio

I used was 1:3.  The powder separates from the alcohol.  Shaking a few times a

day is necessary.  Finally about 3 days after letting it just sit there, the

powder settled to the bottom and I was able to syphon off the liquid to use in

my perfume recipe.Regards,Margo www.miraculousbeads.com

[Guest guest]

> >

> So I started a tincture on 4-27-12 of orris root and alcohol 50 grams each, (I

posted pictures of the process in the photo link) as I read somewhere in a post

here, that it's best to do 50/50. Of course over time the alcohol has been

absorbed almost completely and feel I should top it off with more alcohol. My

question is should I strain it, add new orris, the alcohol from the original

tincture and new alcohol to it, and let it do it's thing? I haven't opened the

jar since it was made so I can't tell you how it's turning out.

I recommend that anyone interested in making an orris root tincture refer back

to Message #42797. it gives wonderful, detailed explenations of how to go about

doing so.

On the 6/16/12 I made 2 tinctures of Iris Pallida (-pieces, I did not want to

deal with the mess of powder) that I had purchased from Mountain Rose Herbs,

one was 25% and the other 50%, after seeing that the 50% swalloed all the

alcohol (again, I did not want to deal with a mess of squeazing out the alcohol)

I combined both and added alcohol to reach a 25% (1:3) strength tincture.

Seems to be coming along wonderfuly, I mix everyday.

I do not think this is one of those tinctures that need to be recharged... you

can leave the aromatic material in for as long as you wish though.

If you wish to experiment, try one with recharging and one withought. (I live in

Israel, so shipping over more orris root is too much of a bother for me at the

moment. I am taking a break from purchases. for that reason I'll stick with what

I have for now.)

Do refer to the message I have posted above, that is what i had followed when

making my tinctures.

All the best

Hemla