Re: Tincture question
this sounds like Dr Richard schulze's supertonic (originally Dr Christopher's plague tonic). It has been called the cure for the common cold and can be made up in your blender (after grating the hard horseradish root) or better yet in a vitamix. you can either strain it and use as a tincture or eat the stuff in an applesauce like consistency..some people even wrote him saying they used it as a salad dressing. You would want to use Bragg's or spectrum or some other raw apple cider vinegar with the mother and not regular vinegar which Patricia Bragg said in her book apple cider vinegar is unsafe to consume or put on one's body
Since Dr schulze used vodka in most of his formulas but not in this one, I would say he must have had a reason and felt this was best..there are many health giving properties in ACV but not that many in vodka..yes, vodka will preserve it fine. In fact, I once peeled many, many dozens of garlic cloves (which burned my fingers after a while of peeling them) in vinegar in the event of bird flu or or other plague type thing in the future so I will have some beneficial garlic on hand for a long while should stores not have anything due to some crisis down the road so I does preserve the stuff. I have had it about 4 years.
I would stick with the vinegar but personally feel the vodka (80 proof)would preserve it even better, but the vinegar may be needed as part of the benefits. Perhaps you could use a half and half mix so it will preserve well and also give you the benefits found in the vinegar.
Well, just my two cents.