Making a Meadowsweet tincture

Since I have plenty of meadowsweet (filpendula ulmaria) I've decided to use that as a natural pain relief in my medicine cabinet. Having read up on it a bit it contains salicyclic acid (the natural chemical that aspirin is derived from) and is reputed to be good for settling stomachs, to relieve migraines and fevers and is also anti inflammatory so may help with arthritis.

a drift of meadowsweet

Since it is just coming into bloom just now I decided to go ahead and make a tincture. It sounds like the herb is pretty safe to take, so I may just have to experiment with the dose to find out what works for me. The instructions I found said both the leaves and the flowers (and the roots) are used, but I just plucked the flowers, since there is quite a bit of stem between flowers and leaves. The bees are also enjoying the flowers, so I only plucked those that were starting into bloom, leaving all that were not open at all, or that appeared to be going over a bit.

preparing a tincture

It seems that 40% alcohol by volume is not so easy to get hold of in the UK, but I sourced some suitable vodka. Maybe cask strength whisky may be a better route? I also found a nice clip top jar to hold the tincture. I roughly chopped the flowers, put them in the jar and pressed them down. When I poured in the alcohol however the flowers had a tendency to float, so they aren't as covered by the alcohol as I was hoping. I do have a bit more vodka, but was hoping to make it as strong as possible.

making a herbal tincture

I've now labelled it and put the mixture in a dark cupboard with the intention of taking it out and shaking it a couple of times a week for a couple of months.

So did I do anything wrong? What did I miss out?

I've now picked more meadowsweet with the view of drying it to make more tincture (or infusion perhaps?) when the fresh herb tincture is used up.

In using fresh herbs, a higher abv is better, because they have their own moisture, so weaken the abv. 40 is great for dried. What this means is that using a higher herb:abv ratio brings even more moisture, reducing the overall abv, even more. This doesn't mean it won't work, but the shelf life will be substantially shorter, before it starts losing strength, and the risk of spoilage increases.

So, more herb is fine, if the herb is dried, not so much, if it's fresh - unless you're using a much higher abv. My suggestions would be to either add at least 25 - 30% more alcohol, in the highest abv you can get, *or* just plan on keeping it in the fridge and using it within 6 - 12 months.

The only thing I would suggest would be to make another with all dried material, stem, leaf and flower to see if you could tell a difference between the fresh and dried,  Dose size will have to be the old try it and see method.  If I remember it right the dropper in a 1 oz bottle would equal between 15 to 30 drops.

And I agree, the stronger the alcohol the better the tincture, and quicker!  (that is coming from an old drunk!!! hahahaaaaaa, but I'm talking from a herbal view)
The alcohol I used was made by a friend of mine, whose goal in life was to make a 200 proof run of "shine", and I think he did come real close!!!
Talk about a real Mother tincture, I reduced all my tinctures by 50%, using his "shine", they were strong.

I will never give his name or location, doesn't really matter, he was another good person taken way too early by cancer.  I still miss him!!

Best of luck with your "brew"

Peace

Carla brings up a good point.  Check on the jar/bottle with your tincture often.  The moisture content of the fresh material plant material is often hard to work with.  I lost most of my fresh preps, or maybe all of them.  Had no problem with mold using dried material.

Jewel weed infusion was about the only fresh material I worked with, using ice cube trays to freeze the fresh "tea" for later use.

Peace

Thank you both.

Deane Adams wrote:Carla brings up a good point.  Check on the jar/bottle with your tincture often.  The moisture content of the fresh material plant material is often hard to work with.  I lost most of my fresh preps, or maybe all of them.  Had no problem with mold using dried material.

Hmm. Well I'll see how it goes. I do think it is difficult to get stronger alcohol intended for internal use in the UK. I'll have to investigate that.
So the tincture will show signs of mould if there is a problem? I guess that is why most of the instructions I found start with dried herbs. Possibly putting it in smaller bottles once brewed may help, as the mix will be pretty sterile to start with, so it is less likely to go bad before the bottles are reopened perhaps.

Nancy Reading wrote: I do think it is difficult to get stronger alcohol intended for internal use in the UK.

I think dried herbs may be the more accessible way forward ..

It's not cheap but a quick search found ..

Spirytus Rektyfikowany Duch Puszczy
Half Litre
50cl / 95%
£34.75

https://www.thewhiskyexchange.com/p/34119/spirytus-rektyfikowany-duch-puszczy-half-litre

Hoping your tincture of meadowsweet stays sweet!

I'll keep you posted with progress.

I've made meadowsweet cordial before, the trick is to use only the flowers, since the green bits are medicinal tasting. I wonder though whether the medicinal taste is what we want with the salicyclic acid? I've also had meadowsweet infusion as a tea accompanying dessert, which sounds odd, but actually worked really well with the sweetness of the food.

Meadowsweet is such a pretty flower, frothy and bridal. It reminds me now of a friend (a Scot) we lost a few years ago in June. I couldn't get to the funeral in London, but sent an arrangement of meadowsweet and melancholy thistles with my husband who did go.

Ac Baker wrote:It's not cheap but a quick search found ..

Spirytus Rektyfikowany Duch Puszczy

wow 95% - good find AC! I wonder if one can get hold of the raw spirit the craft gin makers use?

In pasty/solid-state culinary fermentations, you can put off mold formation essentially forever by stirring it up periodically. You might be able to do the same with the high-moisture tincture -- shake it up once a week to keep the alcohol all over everything?

Nancy Reading wrote:I wonder if one can get hold of the raw spirit the craft gin makers use?

I think you could definitely ask your local gin distillers!