Homemade Herbal Tinctures
Easy, DIY Herbal Medicine
Herbal tinctures are one of the simplest ways to preserve (and use) the power of medicinal herbs. While they can be expensive to buy, they cost just pennies an ounce to make…provided you plan ahead, as they take a few weeks to infuse.
They can be made with or without alcohol for preservation, depending on your preferences.
Basically, all you do is fill a jar about 1/2 to 3/4 full of herbal material and then cover it with a neutral spirit (such as vodka). Allow the mixture to infuse for about 4 to 6 weeks, then strain and bottle for use.
(It’s a bit more complicated than that, but you can read the details of how to make herbal tinctures if you want the nitty-gritty details.)
Many types of herbal compounds are only alcohol soluble, while others are only water soluble. Since spirits contain both alcohol and water, you’re extracting both types, and preserving them simultaneously.
(As alcohol doesn’t spoil like a herbal tea would.)
They can be made with fresh or dried herbs, and this time of year, you’re most likely to have dandelion, chickweed, purple dead nettle, yarrow, and chaga seasonally available for tinctures.
Dried herbs can be used anytime, of course.
They’re generally taken in small amounts, and the dosage for most tinctures is around 1 tsp (or 5ml) taken two to three times per day.
If you’re avoiding alcohol, you can also make a herbal glycerite, which is made with food-grade vegetable glycerine instead. It tastes sweet, and is a good choice for children.
For example, chamomile glycerite is commonly used for teething and colic.
Lastly, you can also make something very much like a tincture using vinegar, and while some people call them “vinegar tinctures,” they’re really just herbal-infused vinegar.
Name aside, they have many of the same benefits, as they extract the herbal compounds and preserve them simultaneously.
Mix that infused vinegar with a bit of herbal-infused honey (or plain honey), and you have a herbal oxymel, which is yet another useful herbal preparation. Fire cider is probably the best-known oxymel, but you can make them with almost any herb. My favorites are bee balm oxymel (for sore throats), elderberry oxymel (for immune support), and elecampane oxymel (for cough).
There are just so many ways to take your herbal medicine!
(If you’re interested in other types homemade herbal medicine, I have a guide where I cover more than 20 types of herbal preparations, from teas and tinctures to salves, oils, infusions, decoctions, poultices, electuaries…and so much more.)
The type of tincture you make depends on your goals, and each herb has different medicinal uses. Elderberry tincture, for example, is a well-known immune booster. Dandelion tincture is used for spring cleansing, and can help clear skin. Yarrow tincture is used to stop bleeding. The list goes on.
I cover quite a few different types of tinctures on the blog in detail, and here are some to get you started:
Later this summer, I’ll be adding at least a dozen more, including:
Usnea Tincture
Ginger Tincture
Turmeric Tincture
Wild Lettuce Tincture
All Heal Tincture
Spilanthes Tincture
Usnea Tincture
If there are any other types of herbal tinctures you’d like to learn about, let me know so I can add them to my list. Which are your favorites?
Beyond that, what types of herbal preparations would you like to learn about this year?
What are you harvesting, preserving, building, or exploring on your homestead this week? I’d love to hear about it!
Leave me a note in the comments…
(Comments only, please. Emails tend to get lost in my inbox, and as much as I’d love to get back to each and every one, my screen time is very limited…and things fall through the cracks, and emails get buried in my inbox. If you comment here, they’re all in one place, and it’s much easier to get back to every single one.)
Until Next Time,
Ashley at Practical Self Reliance
Thanks for this great information. I would love to learn more about tincturing lemon balm since I have SO much from my very vigorous plant!
Plantain. I was swarmed by hornets last summer and stung repeatedly. I had to drive to find plantain past manicured lawns lacking this most common plant. Found it, made the spit poultice and it was amazing. Hot, swollen, painful stung areas were normal in minutes unlike the stings I could not reach. I dried some to keep in a tin in my car but was thinking of tincturing it and keeping it in a mister in my car. Do you think a tincture applied topically would work, or work as well?