Two Different Herbs Brewed in the Same Tincture?

Not sure if this topic has been posted before, but can I place two (2) different dry herbs
in a single jar tincture? I would like to create my own neurological tincture........

Thanks,
Rob

Thanks Garzie for the response!
Somehow I knew you would give me the answer I was looking for!
I will brew them separately.........

Rob

hi Rob

again - it depends

the optimum alcohol vs water ratios have been studied in some herbs and not in others

some herbs benefit from up to 70% pure alcohol by volume ( the remainder water ) - others as low as 20% alcohol

but in many cases its simply not been systematically evaluated - so a mid point of 50% is used often as a standard - as a general convention

100 proof is around 40% alcohol by volume ( as an aside 100 proof was originally the ratio of alcohol and water that would not cause black powder to fail to ignite when touched with a light fuse - so its pretty arbitrary when it comes to tinctures )

hence 40% vodka is often regarded as close enough to the arbitrary 50% standard for home tincturing

depending on where you are in the world and local licensing laws - you may be able to buy 96% alcohol "Everclear" - or "Pure grain alcohol" this the highest % that alcohol can be normally be distilled to without chemical drying

all that said - in reality 40% or 50% will work adequately for just about any herb - the only issue being some possible drop in ultimate strength of the final product in a few cases - but not to such a degree that would render the tincture ineffective - and worst case can be compensated by slightly increasing the dose

the only exception i have come across is some herbs are very mucilaginous - ie go v slimy when wet - and can then be very hard to get high water content liquids out of again at the end - again - this is only a small subset of herbs - not all of them

if you let me know the herbs you are using - i may have the recommended recipes - eg as per Buhner

Chinese Cat's Claw ( Uncaria rhynchophylla hook and stem)
ideally powdered or blended in a kitchen blender
mix 1:5 by weight with the liquid - eg 100g Herb 500g menstruum
Buhner suggests 60% alcohol - acidified with 1 tablespoon of apple cider vinegar or lemon juice


Chinese Skullcap ( Scutellaria baicalensis root )
again powdered or blended
mix 1:5 by weight with the liquid - eg 100g Herb 500g menstruum
Buhner suggests 50% alcohol

chinese skullcap is one of the ones that can behave a little strangely when tinctured so in this case i do think its best done separately

I hope it helps

Garzie,

Seems like the powered form of the herb is generally preferred when making your own tinctures?

Thanks,
Rob

Garzie, you have a knack for explaining the diy herbals. I’ve taken several screenshots of your postings on the subject for later use. So, thank you for that.