Class Notes from Lesson 8-10 Constitutional

 Lesson 8-10: Tincture Percolation

The .pdfs for this lesson tell which herbs should be used fresh and which should be dried, which should be macerated, which should be percolated, etc. Percolation requires both alcohol and water. Discussion of how the addition of glycerin can be used to preserve the life of tinctures that are high in tannins.

Use the Form titled "Lesson 8 Worksheet" - Latin name, common name, date, weight of dried herb, recommended strength of dried root/herb. He uses echinacea at 1:5. Menstruum is 70% alcohol, 30% water. Volume of dried, compressed herb. Herb should be finely ground. He has 5 ounces of freshy ground echinacea root. It is 9 ounces by volume in a measuring cup, tapped/tamped down. Goal is to have 25 full ounces of tincture after percolation - macerated tincture would be 20 oz. He uses 34 oz of menstruum. Basically, all the calculations are so that you don't mix the last few ounces of weaker extract into the stronger - it will hold about 9 oz of weak extract in the cone, soaked into the herb... no use in adding it to the stronger extraction, because it will weaken it... and no sense in wasting alcohol by using too much. He is using a 96% alcohol (rounded up to 100). So, he mixes 10.5 ounces of water with 23.8 ounces of alcohol (rounded up to 24 oz). He ours 6 oz of the menstruum over the herbs in the bowl to moisten them - like moist sponge, not a sopping wet one. He mixes it and lets it sit over night.

Here is the link to the Southwest School of Botanical Medicine Course

https://www.swsbm.com/school/