Personally, my preferred method of taking herbs is a tincture, because they are so simple and easy to use. Squirt it in your mouth and you’re done. This is easier than mixing powders into some sort of drink.
Capsules are easy too, but still not as easy as tinctures in my opinion. And with any sort of pill, you miss out on the benefits of tasting the herbs, which can be important (especially with herbs like Blue Vervain).
Unfortunately, we only have six different tinctures available at Lost Empire Herbs. While these are great, it is somewhat limited. (Yes, we will have more in the future…)
So lately I’ve been conducting a new experiment, with what I call making faux tinctures or liquid suspensions. They are not true tinctures in that they have not been extracted with alcohol from the raw herb. But functionally, they end up working the same.
In this video, I’ll show you how to make a liquid suspension and the instructions are detailed below.
Supplies needed:
Tincture bottle – You can find these pretty cheap, or simply save your old empty tincture bottles and re-use.
Alcohol – Organic vodka is great. I personally use pure organic cane alcohol, that I water down. By having 30% ABV+ you’re going to best ensure that the liquid suspension is properly preserved.
Funnel – Not necessary, but helpful for pouring the powdered herbs and alcohol into the tincture bottle.
Herbs – I suggest Lost Empire Herbs Elderberry, Tongkat Ali, Reishi, Chaga, Lion’s Mane, Cordyceps, Black Ant, Shilajit Powder, Cistanche, Bacopa.
You want to choose very concentrated herbs so that you get a proper dose in one to three squirts. It is not worth the hassle if you have to take the entire bottle to get one dose!
Also, be warned, some of the bitter-tasting herbs such as Tongkat or Bacopa, may taste worse when the liquid suspension saturates your taste buds.
How to make:
Step 1) Select the herb or herbs to create your liquid suspension.
Step 2) Fill the tincture bottle with the herbs, anywhere from 1/4 to 1/2 full
Step 3) Fill the remainder of the bottle with alcohol.
Step 4) Screw the top on and shake vigorously.
Step 5) Take a squirt
(Note: separation is likely to occur, so be sure to shake well before each use.)
Also, note that with herbs like Elderberry that have strong pigments (aka antioxidants) they can stain your mouth. I like to take them shortly before brushing my teeth, or if that’s not possible, then I just squirt it towards the back of my tongue and swallow, and follow with a glass of water.
These DIY liquid suspensions are convenient to pack and easy to take when you’re on the go.
Additional related articles you may be interested in:
How to Take a Tincture
How to Make Herbal Tinctures
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