Tinctures

I made my first tinctures on the 23rd, and Jim (as he says on his herbcraft site) is right--it is frightening at first, but for no good reason! I thought making tinctures would be like making a potion, involving bubbling cauldrons and double-boilers. No way! All it takes is proper harvesting and cleaning, chopping, a jar, and some grain alcohol.

There was plenty of plantain and chickweed growing outside, so I harvested those for my first tinctures. I realized I didn't have any liquor on hand, so I ran out to the store and got some Seagram's vodka for about $14. Maybe I should have bought something cheaper? Probably, it's not like I'm making a fancy mixed drink. But, I wanted to do it right the first time, so I spring for the Seagram's.

The vodka was only 100 proof, meaning 50-60% ABV. I went back to the store to get more alcohol for tinctures this evening, and they hooked me up with some everclear for $20, which is 151 proof, or 75.5% ABV. It is illegal to sell 190 proof everclear in Michigan. This might be an expensive endeavor if I don't find a great high proof grain alcohol hook up, because the whole bottle only made me two jars of tincture.

I chopped up the plantain and covered it with vodka in a small salsa jar, and the chickweed went chopped into a large-mouth mason jar. Each let greenish stains on the wooden cutting board--more so than lettuce or other greens seem to leave behind. Jim was right about that too: you really get to know the plants the more time you spend working with them. The plantain, for example, was crunchy, crisp, and strong, and noticeably more demulcent near the base. This may sound weird, but I think the plantain may not want me to use it. Okay, yeah, it does sound crazy. But the jar with the tincture in it fell right off the shelf. It fell a good way to the floor, but didn't crack! The lid somehow flung off upon landing, even though it is a screw-on type, spilling some of the plantain and much of the vodka onto the kitchen floor (also leaving a green hue behind). The glass magically remained intact, so I tried to justify this seemingly negative omen, telling myself that I was lucky to have this small amount left to steep. The glass jar still sits, hardly full, on the shelf, but I don't know whether to keep it or toss it. Tell me, plantain, just what to do.

As I've been typing, I keep hearing gunshots going off. Makes it hard to focus on herbs when the world outside my window is hurting.

Resources:
http://www.organiclifestylemagazine.com/issue-7/how-to-make-a-tincture.php
http://www.herbcraft.org/preparations.html