Clarification on spagyrics/calcination and tinctures 2

[Guest guest]

In order to establish some terminology, I am posting the following

information from Michael Moores excellent website.

 

Taken with permission from Michael Moore's teaching manuals

(http://chili.rt66.com/hrbmoore/ManualsMM/MansMM.html)

 

COLD INFUSION

After pre-moistening a bit, wrap one part herb (dry weight) in cloth

and suspend it in 32 parts of water (by volume) at room temperature,

overnight. Squeeze out the herb into the tea in the morning, and add

enough water to bring it back to 32 parts.

 

STANDARD INFUSION

Boil 32 parts of water, remove from heat, and steep one part (by

weight) of the herb in the water for 20-30 minutes. Strain, and pour

sufficient water through the herb in the strainer to return the volume

of tea to 32 parts.

 

STRONG DECOCTION

Combine 32 parts of water with one part of herb (by weight), bring

slowly to a boil, continue for ten minutes, cool until warm, and

strain. Pour additional water through the herb to return the volume

to 32.

 

A WEAK DECOCTION is the same, but using half as much herb in the same

volume of water.

 

COMMENTS. Except for the weak decoction, the above teas end up with

an ounce having the constituents of a gram of herb. If the dosage

recommends 4 ounces of Strong Decoction, and you only want a single

batch, use 4 grams of herb, or divide an ounce of herb into eight

equal parts and use one part for the tea. (Yes, they aren't quite

equal...4 grams and an eighth of an ounce...but these are

HERBS...lighten up already).

 

FRESH PLANT TINCTURE

One part by weight of the fresh, chopped herb is steeped for 7-10 days

in two parts by volume of grain alcohol (190 proof or 95% ethanol),

and pressed or squeezed out. There is no reason to blend or shake

this maceration; the tincture is formed passively as a result of

dehydration. Ethanol draws out all plant constituents that contain

water, leaving only cellulose and dead tissue behind.

 

DRY PLANT TINCTURE: Maceration.

If the Materia Medica calls for a [1:5, 60% alcohol] tincture, it

means this: your solvent is 60% alcohol and 40% water (the water is

presumed), and one part of herb by weight has been invested in five

parts of solvent by volume. Let me run you through one. You have

four ounces of dried Blue Cohosh roots, which you then grind and sift

down to a fairly consistent coarse powder. The four ounces (1) must

be mixed with 20 ounces of solvent (5). The solvent is 60% alcohol,

the rest water, so you mix 12 ounces of ethanol and 8 ounces of water

to get the final volume. Mix both together in a closed jar, and shake

the mixture up for a couple of minutes twice a day. After 10-14 days

of this, let it set another day, pour off the clear tincture from the

top, and squeeze as much out of the sediment as your press or wrists

allow. The 20 ounces of solvent (called menstruum) and 4 ounces of

herb, may yield up 13-14 ounces of tincture (by wrist) and up to 17

ounces (by press); the rest is immutably held in the sediment (called

marc). This remnant moisture is full strength tincture, and

eventually this knowledge drives one out of four herbalists stark

raving nuts. The resultant attempts to constantly upgrade hydraulic

presses rivals the feeding frenzy at computer hardware conventions.

 

DRY PLANT TINCTURE: Percolation.

This is a method that needs physical demonstration and hands-on

practice. That being said, this is a brief run down of the process.

The same Blue Cohosh has been freshly ground as before. Pack it into

a measuring cup to check its compressed volume...probably about six

ounces. The menstruum will need to be the 20 ounces PLUS the 6 ounce

volume the ground dry herb takes up. The proportion is the same; 60%

alcohol and 40% water. 60% of 26 ounces is 15.6 fluid ounces (the

alcohol), 40% is 10.4 (water). This gives you your 26 ounces of 60:40

menstruum. Place the powdered herb in a little mixing bowl with a top,

add about two-thirds as much menstruum as the herb took up in

volume. It took up six ounces in volume, so add four ounces of

menstruum to the herb, and mix it thoroughly, then cover it. This may

be confusing; the herb WEIGHS 4 ounces, but FILLS 6 ounces of volume.

The reason for checking its VOLUME will become apparent. Anyway, the

menstruum-moistened herb needs

to stay covered and digesting for at least 12, preferably 24 hours.

Now you will need a percolating cone...didn't I mention that? Me

and my students find that a large Perrier bottle with its bottom

removed sits upside-down inside a large-mouthed Mason jar very nicely,

and the screw cap can be used to control the rate of drip out of the

bottom (former top). Anyway, you will need to place some moistened

herb inside a coffee filter cone, slide it into the neck of the cone,

and gradually add the moistened herb on top. It needs to be

compressed and compacted onto the first batch, until you have an

evenly distributed column of herb inside the cone. Place a filter on

the level herb-column, and pour some menstruum slowly on top.

The menstruum should descent evenly down the herb column,and drip from

the bottom at about one drip per second. If it never drips out the

bottom, you packed too tight. If it drips too quickly (drools is a

better word), lift the cone out of the Mason jar, and screw the cap on

until the drool becomes a slow drip. Keep fresh menstruum covering

the top of the herb until it drips through. This can take one or two

hours (or more).

When it has finished, there will be 20 ounces of tincture in the

Mason jar, and the last six ounces of menstruum (virtually inert) will

stay in the herb column, like a moist sponge. Toss it. Now you see

why you need to measure the dry herb volume; you make just enough

menstruum for that batch of tincture, and you won't have little jars

with left-over excess menstruums that are impossible to compute into

another batch with different proportions. Every Pharmacist has a copy

of Remington's Pharmaceutical Sciences, which describes the process in

great detail, and explains why you get better tinctures when percolating.

 

FLUIDEXTRACT

Briefly, take 8 ounces of Tabebuia (Pau D'Arco), grind it, make up an

arbitrary amount of menstruum (let's say four times as much, or 32

ounces). The tincture lists a 50% strength; make your fluidextract

menstruum 20% higher in alcohol content (i.e. 70%). Mix 22.4 ounces

of alcohol with 9.6 ounces of water to get a quart of 70% alcohol

menstruum. Take the Tabebuia, moisten it, digest it for TWO days,

pack a larger cone with it, and drip (very slowly) a first batch of

tincture that is only 75% of the volume as the original dry herb

weighed. This means after you have dripped 6 fluid ounces, take it

away, and continue dripping everything else into a second jar. As the

rest of the menstruum finally starts to sink below the top of

the herb column, start adding water into the cone. This second drip

can be any amount you wish...a quart, two quarts, whatever. You will

need to evaporate it all in a double boiler until it is reduced to 25%

in volume of the herb weight...2 ounces in this case. Add the vile

remnant of the second percolation to the 6 ounces from the first

percolation, and you now have 8 ounces of fluidextract, made from 8

ounces of Tabebuia Bark. A Fluidextract is by definition 1:1 in strength.