OUTLINE OF PREPARATION METHODS
COLD INFUSION
After pre-moistening a bit, wrap one part herb (dry weight)
in cloth and suspend it in 32 parts of water (by volume) at room temperature,
overnight. Squeeze out the herb into the tea in the morning, and add enough
water to bring it back to 32 parts.
STANDARD INFUSION
Boil 32 parts of water, remove from heat, and steep one
part (by weight) of the herb in the water for 20-30 minutes. Strain, and
pour sufficient water through the herb in the strainer to return the volume
of tea to 32 parts.
STRONG DECOCTION
Combine 32 parts of water with one part of herb (by weight),bring
slowly to a boil, continue for ten minutes, cool until warm, and strain.
Pour additional water through the herb to return the volume to 32.
A WEAK DECOCTION is the same, but using half as much herb in the same volume of
water.
COMMENTS. Except for the weak decoction, the above teas end up with
an ounce having the constituents of a gram of herb. If the dosage recommends
4 ounces of Strong Decoction, and you only want a single batch, use 4 grams
of herb, or divide an ounce of herb into eight equal parts and use one
part for the tea. (Yes, they aren't quite equal...4 grams and an eighth
of an ounce...but these are HERBS...lighten up already). DO NOT MAKE
MORE THAN A DAY'S WORTH OF TEA AT ONE TIME.
EYEWASH and DOUCHE
Make an isotonic water by adding a slightly rounded teaspoon
of salt to a quart of clean water (1/2 teaspoon per pint, 1/4 teaspoon
per cup), and make the tea with this solution as per the recommended strength.
Make a fresh batch every 5-6 hours.
FRESH PLANT TINCTURE
One part by weight of the fresh, chopped herb is steeped
for 7-10 days in two parts by volume of grain alcohol (190 proof or 95%
ethanol), and pressed or squeezed out. There is no reason to blend or shake
this maceration; the tincture is formed passively as a result of dehydration.
Ethanol draws out all plant constituents that contain water, leaving only
cellulose and dead tissue behind.
DRY PLANT TINCTURE
Maceration. If the Materia Medica calls for a [1:5, 60%
alcohol] tincture, it means this: your solvent is 60% alcohol and 40% water
(the water is presumed), and one part of herb by weight has been invested
in five parts of solvent by volume. Let me run you through one. You have
four ounces of dried Blue Cohosh roots, which you then grind and sift down
to a fairly consistent coarse powder. The four ounces (1) must be mixed
with 20 ounces of solvent (5). The solvent is 60% alcohol, the rest water,
so you mix 12 ounces of ethanol and 8 ounces of water to get the final
volume. Mix both together in a closed jar, and shake the mixture up for
a couple of minutes twice a day. After 10-14 days of this, let it set another
day, pour off the clear tincture from the top, and squeeze as much out
of the sediment as your press or wrists allow. The 20 ounces of solvent
(called menstruum) and 4 ounces of herb, may yield up 13-14 ounces of tincture
(by wrist) and up to 17 ounces (by press); the rest is immutably held in
the sediment (called marc). This remnant moisture is full strength tincture,
and eventually this knowledge drives one out of four herbalists stark raving
nuts. The resultant attempts to constantly upgrade hydraulic presses rivals
the feeding frenzy at computer hardware conventions.
DRY PLANT TINCTURE
Percolation. This is a method that needs physical demonstration
and hands-on practice. That being said, this is a brief run down of the
process. The same Blue Cohosh has been freshly ground as before. Pack it
into a measuring cup to check its compressed volume...probably about six
ounces. The menstruum will need to be the 20 ounces PLUS the 6 ounce volume
the ground dry herb takes up. The proportion is the same; 60% alcohol and
40% water. 60% of 26 ounces is 15.6 fluid ounces (the alcohol), 40% is
10.4 (water). This gives you your 26 ounces of 60:40 menstruum. Place the
powdered herb in a little mixing bowl with a top, add about two-thirds
as much menstruum as the herb took up in volume. It took up six ounces
in volume, so add four ounces of menstruum to the herb, and mix it thoroughly,
then cover it. This may be confusing; the herb WEIGHS 4 ounces, but FILLS
6 ounces of volume. The reason for checking its VOLUME will become apparent.
Anyway, the menstruum-moistened herb needs to stay covered and digesting
for at least 12, and preferably 24 hours. Now you will need a percolating
cone...didn't I mention that? Me and my students find that a large Perrier
bottle with its bottom removed sits upside-down inside a large-mouthed
Mason jar very nicely, and the screw cap can be used to control the rate
of drip out of the bottom (former top). Anyway, you will need to place
some moistened herb inside a coffee filter cone, slide it into the neck
of the cone, and gradually add the moistened herb on top. It needs to be
compressed and compacted onto the first batch, until you have an evenly
distributed column of herb inside the cone. Place a filter on the level
herb-column, and pour some menstruum slowly on top. The menstruum should
descent evenly down the herb column,and drip from the bottom at about one
drip per second. If it never drips out the bottom, you packed too tight.
If it drips too quickly (drools is a better word), lift the cone out of
the Mason jar, and screw the cap on until the drool becomes a slow drip.
Keep fresh menstruum covering the top of the herb until it all drips through.
This can take one or two hours (or more). When it has finished, there will
be 20 ounces of tincture in the Mason jar, and the last six ounces of menstruum
(virtually inert) will stay in the herb column, like a moist sponge. Toss
it. Now you see why you need to measure the dry herb volume; you make just
enough menstruum for that batch of tincture, and you won't have little
jars with left-over excess menstruums that are impossible to compute into
another batch with different proportions. Every Pharmacist has a copy of
Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, which describes the process in great
detail, and explains why you get better tinctures when percolating.
FLUID EXTRACT
Briefly, take 8 ounces of Tabebuia (Pau D'Arco), grind
it, make up an arbitrary amount of menstruum (let's say four times as much,
or 32 ounces). The tincture lists a 50% strength; make your fluidextract
menstruum 20% higher in alcohol content (i.e. 70%). Mix 22.4 ounces of
alcohol with 9.6 ounces of water to get a quart of 70% alcohol menstruum.
Take the Tabebuia, moisten it, digest it for TWO days, pack a larger cone
with it, and drip (very slowly) a first batch of tincture that is only
75% of the volume as the original dry herb weighed. This means after you
have dripped 6 fluid ounces, take it away, and continue dripping everything
else into a second jar. As the rest of the menstruum finally starts to
sink below the top of the herb column, start adding water into the cone.
This second drip can be any amount you wish...a quart, two quarts, whatever.
You will need to evaporate it all in a double boiler until it is reduced
to 25% in volume of the herb weight...2 ounces in this case. Add the vile
remnant of the second percolation to the 6 ounces from the first percolation,
and you now have 8 ounces of fluidextract, made from 8 ounces of Tabebuia
Bark. A Fluidextract is by definition 1:1 in strength. Now clean up.