Re: tincturing Echinacea

Hi Marc,

I used Echinacea Purpurea & Angustifolia root dried because I couldn't get fresh.  I ordered both from Mountain Rose because they were cheaper and P/B hadn't harvested the fresh yet.  Since you live so close P/B would probably be cheaper for you because of no shipping charge. 

I ordered a pound of each, you use equal parts to make the tincture.  My part of each was 1-1/4 cup.  At first I just put 1 cup of each in but right before I added the Vodka I added 1/4 cup of each lol.  I wanted to make sure it was very strong.  After taking 1-1/4 cup out of each bag I've still got about a half of a bag left.  

Fresh is always better if you can get it but if not its okay to use dried.  You are so fortunate to live so close to P/B and see exactly what kind of operation they run.  Uny orders from both P/B & M/R as they are both trusted sources we know without a doubt when they say its organic or wildcrafted and what country it came from we can believe them.  

When you get the fresh be sure to cut it up in small chunks like the size of a small marble or smaller so that when it gets soaked in the Vodka it will soften so that it will be easier to macerate in 3 days time.  You'll need several jars if you're going to tincture a whole 3 pounds of each at one time, thats a lot of Echinacea lol.  Remember its the root that swells the most and can become impacted if you don't allow for it lol.

Here's a picture of my Echinacea.  I haven't macerated it yet, its got a little over an inch float of Vodka on top of the saturated herbs.  I don't know what I'll have once its macerated, I'll have to wait and see.  I might have to add more Vodka.

Good luck with your tincturing.  Please be sure and let us know how it turns out and what its like to work with fresh.

Happy tincturing.

Willow