Crafting Your Own Glycerite

Crafting Your Own Glycerite

This time of year, I like to make different tinctures to keep herbs preserved for a long time. I usually go for the traditional alcohol-based ones since they’re good at concentrating and preserving herbs for years. However, for kids or anyone who can’t handle alcohol, glycerin tinctures offer a great alternative.

A tincture is basically a concentrated liquid that helps keep an herb or medicinal substance fresh for a long time, making it easy to use. They’re both simple and cost-effective to make. A glycerin-based tincture, or glycerite, uses vegetable glycerin as the main ingredient for extracting. Unlike the traditional kind that uses alcohol, glycerites use glycerin as their primary (or sole) solvent.

While glycerin isn’t as strong a solvent as alcohol or even water, glycerin tinctures offer the benefit of being alcohol-free, making them great for kids. It’s worth mentioning that glycerin tinctures are absorbed more slowly compared to those made with alcohol. This is because alcohol gets quickly absorbed by the liver, whereas glycerin tinctures take a slower glucogenic pathway in the liver, which is about 30% slower but doesn’t impact blood sugar as much.

If you want to make a glycerin tincture, here’s what you need to do:

1. Start by filling a jar about one-third to half full with dried herbs. Filling it halfway will result in a stronger tincture, but don’t pack the herbs down.
2. Fill the rest of the jar with glycerin and stir it with a clean spoon. Make sure glycerin makes up more than half of the mixture to preserve the tincture well.
3. Seal the jar with a lid and let it sit for 6-8 weeks, shaking it occasionally. After that, strain out the herbs and store the tincture in a cool, dry place.

If you want to use some heat for the extraction, place a washcloth or silicon mat at the bottom of a crock pot to protect the jar, then add water until it covers about three-quarters of the jar. Keep the crock pot on the “keep warm” or very low setting for at least a day, and maybe up to two, adding water as needed.

After letting it cool, strain and use it like any regular tincture. Glycerin tinctures are typically sweeter than other types.

You can make any tincture into a glycerite, although it’s better for herbs with flowers and leaves rather than barks, roots, and other tougher plant parts since glycerin isn’t as strong in extracting.

Have you ever tried making a glycerite? What kind did you make?

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