Advice needed re: Propolis Tincture

I'm making propolis tincture for the first time and I don't know if I'm doing it right!

We have kept bees for a few years and I recently decided to make use of the propolis for the first time.
I researched blogs and books on how to make propolis tincture. All the methods are similar so I bought some 95 grain alcohol and followed the instructions. I collected the propolis scrapings and put them in alcohol (1 part propolis to 9 parts alcohol, by weight)
I put them in a clean old dark brown beer bottle, sealed with a suction cap, and stowed it away, shaking daily.

According to the recipes, after 1-2 weeks, it should be done, and the alcohol should change to a brownish color and the propolis should break down somewhat.
However, after over 2 weeks, my alcohol is still perfectly clear like water. It looks, smells and tastes like the same alcohol it was before.

Is this a sign that it didn't work?
did I do something wrong?
It has been cold weather. does that slow down the process, the way it cold does with fermentation?

Thanks for you help!

Propolis tincture is just dissolving propolis in the alcohol.  Only a small amount of it will ever dissolve.

Rate of dissolution is determined by

Temperature - warmer is better

Concentration of the alcohol - stronger is better

Available surface area - more surface area is better. You want tiny flakes of propolis, not a big squished together ball. This has a HUGE impact

Making strong propolis tincture needs specialist equipment. The gold standard is a soxhlet extraction setup.



These are expensive and only worth bothering with if you want a premium product to sell.

This one is maybe a clearer explanation.