A sip of herbal tea or a few drops of tincture can be all you need to inspire a lifelong pursuit of herbalism. The plant world is powerful, and we can reap its benefits in so many different ways. One of those ways includes tinctures. This method of preparation is one of the oldest, created thousands of years ago, and is still used by herbalists all over the world today.

What Is a Tincture?

Don’t let the word tincture intimidate you. A tincture is essentially just a concentrated herbal extract made with alcohol as the solvent that can be added to a tea or consumed straight. Tinctures offer a fast-acting and easy-to-use form of herbal medicine. This method of preparation is another way for us to extract the beneficial active compounds from a plant and add them to alcohol instead of using vinegar, water, or glycerin. Tinctures are portable and more potent than other herbal remedies. Unlike herbal teas that require the preparation of leaves and flowers separately to the bark, berries, and roots because of their structure, tinctures use all parts of the plant simultaneously. To get all the wonderful benefits of the herb through a tea, you may need to drink four or five cups, but with a tincture, you’ll only need a dropper or two, and thanks to the alcohol, tinctures last for years and years.

When To Use Tinctures

The alcohol content in tinctures means that the herbal extracts are more quickly absorbed into the bloodstream, and the effects can be felt within an hour. Tinctures are fast-acting, making them perfect for pain, digestive troubles, sleeplessness, and insomnia. I generally have an array of blends on hand whenever aches, pain, hormonal imbalances, or stressful moments come knocking. Tinctures can be used for anything you would use a herbal tea for.

How To Make A Tincture

Tinctures are surprisingly easy to make and really only require a few items.

Choosing your alcohol

Alcohol is the solvent that extracts the active ingredients with the beneficial properties from the herbs. You can use any alcohol you like, but vodka or white rum is my go-to because of its neutral flavor. Standard 80-proof alcohol is good for most fresh and dried herbs with a low moisture content like dill, sage, fennel, and thyme. Higher-proof alcohol will draw out more of the herb’s volatile compounds, especially with herbs that have a higher moisture content like oregano, parsley, basil, cilantro, and mint. You can also use 190-proof grain alcohol to dissolve the resins and gum found in dried plant matter. Very high-proof alcohol will extract more aromatics and oils, but it also makes a very strong tincture, which can be challenging to ingest for some people.

Choosing your herbs

You can use any plant material with medicinal benefits to make a tincture. If you have a herb garden, you can use fresh herbs, but if you can only get your hands on dried herbs, those work perfectly as well. If you buy your herbs, make sure they are organic and come from a reputable supplier. Some of my favorite tincture herbs include thyme, sage, rosemary, marshmallow root, nettle leaf, ashwagandha root, echinacea, elderberries, chamomile, licorice root, and raspberry leaf.

Choosing your method

Tinctures can be made using two different methods: the percolation method and the folk method. If you enjoy precision, care, and specialized tools, or if you need to make a tincture in a few days, the percolation method is a good option for you. It requires more equipment, work, and math than the folk method, but it lets you make tinctures in a fraction of the time. The folk method, also known as the maceration method, is the best way to go when you’re not in a hurry. The folk method is simple, practical, and efficient and means you get to estimate the herb measurements without specific tools.

The Percolation Method: Complex But Fast

Percolation is the process of extracting herbal material into a tincture by moving the alcohol through a powdered herb very slowly. The alcohol drips through the herb to a filtered bottom container where the tincture is collected.

Ingredients:

Dried herb powder
Alcohol solvent for extraction and a little more for rehydration

Items:

Kitchen scale
Percolation cone (you can use a wine bottle with a cut base)
Food grade silicone cap fitted with a needle valve
Organic cotton balls and unbleached coffee filter
Collecting jar
Wooden spoon
Measuring jar
Glass bowl

Instructions:

Percolation generally works with a standard 1:5 weight to volume ratio, so begin with weighing out your chosen dried herb powder. Weigh 1 gram of powder to 5 ml of alcohol. Keep the capacity of your wine bottle in mind to determine how much powder you need to use.
Once you’ve measured out your powder, rehydrate it using a little bit of the alcohol you’ll use for the extraction. Keep mixing the alcohol with the dried herb powder until you get a wet-sand consistency. Rehydrating the powder ensures it doesn’t swell when adding the alcohol to the percolation cone.
Place the cotton balls in the neck of the bottle and tightly fit the silicone cap by pushing it as far up the bottleneck as possible and leaving the valve open.
Place the bottle (neck down) in the collecting jar and add the rehydrated powder in thirds, using the end of the wooden spoon to press it down gently.
Place the unbleached filter on the surface of the herb powder and press it in place.
Add the diluted alcohol, and at this point, the alcohol should move through the powder at the same speed all around.
Let the alcohol drip through the powder, cotton balls, and silicone cap until there are a few drops of tincture in the collecting jar before closing the valve.
Once you’ve closed the valve, let the alcohol sit with the herb powder for 12 hours before starting the percolation dripping.
Once the 12 hours are up, adjust the valve to have a steady flow of one drop every 5 seconds and set aside until all the extracted tincture is in the jar.
Label your tincture and store it in a dark place.

The Folk Method: Simple But Slow

This is my favorite method of making a tincture, thanks to its simplicity. However, this takes a lot longer, so the percolation method would be better if you need a tincture quickly.

Ingredients:

Dried herbs
Alcohol solvent

Items:

Bowl
Blender
Measuring jar
Storage jar
Cheesecloth
Sieve

Instructions:

Using the standard 1:5 weight to volume ratio and keeping your jar’s capacity in mind, weigh out your herbs and alcohol solvent. Weighing out specifics is not mandatory for the folk process (you can definitely eyeball it), but it helps to attain a more consistent tincture.
Blend your herbs and alcohol in the blender to increase the surface area of the plant material, allowing the alcohol to extract more plant goodness. If you don’t have a blender, you can use a mortar and pestle to crush your herbs before adding them to the alcohol.
Place the herb and solvent mixture into a labeled jar (with the date) and place it in a dark spot for up to six weeks. It’s recommended to shake the mixture around every couple of days.
Once the six weeks are done, grab another jar and line the opening with cheesecloth. Pour your new tincture through the cheesecloth to filter out the plant material.
Label your tincture again and store it in a dark place.

Pro tip: you always want to ensure that the alcohol covers the plant material to keep it from molding.

Tincture Recipes

Here are three of my favorite tincture recipes. Because tinctures have a long shelf life, I make these in large batches and decant them into handy dropper bottles for when they’re needed.

Digestive Tincture

2 ounces dried peppermint leaves
1 ounce very finely diced fresh ginger root
1 ounce cup dried fennel seeds
6 ounces vodka or rum

Stress Tincture

1 ounce chamomile flowers
1 ounce lemon balm
1 ounce holy basil
1 ounce cinnamon
6 ounces vodka or rum

Liver Detox Tincture

1 ounce dried milk thistle seed
½ ounce dried organic dandelion root
½ ounce dried organic burdock root
¼ ounce dried organic turmeric root
¼ ounce dried organic artichoke leaf
12 ounces vodka or rum

The best thing about herbal tinctures is choosing how to make them and what to make them with. For a start, try the folk method with cheaper herbs and gradually progress to percolation with pricier herbs. This way, you will gather enough knowledge, experience, and tricks and become a tincture expert in no time. Please remember to always consult with a healthcare practitioner before ingesting tinctures, especially if you take other medication.

Tincture 101: How to Make A Herbal Tincture