Tincture Forum

This section exists for the moments when the question isn’t how to make something, but what kind of preparation makes sense in the first place.

Different preparations serve different purposes. Alcohol, vinegar, glycerin, water, oil — each extracts and delivers plant constituents in its own way, and each comes with tradeoffs. The “right” choice often depends on the herb itself, the person using it, how it’s intended to be used, and practical considerations like taste, tolerance, shelf life, or access to materials.

You’ll see people here comparing preparations, talking through why they chose one form over another, or questioning whether a preparation they’ve been using is actually the best fit. Those conversations are encouraged. There isn’t always a single answer, and sometimes the most useful outcome is clarity rather than certainty.

If you’re unsure whether something should be a tincture, tea, glycerite, oil, or something else entirely, this is a good place to talk it through. Likewise, if you’ve changed your approach over time and learned something from that process, sharing it can be helpful to others.

This space isn’t about prescribing methods or ranking preparations. It’s about understanding context, asking better questions, and making more intentional choices over time.

As with the rest of the forum, this section is meant to stay practical, open-ended, and grounded in real use.

From my experience I first have to know what bioactive compounds are in a target plant, is it polar, non polar or semi polar and what about their safety, dosage and strength. Then why I need that plant for (e.g. Balanites aegyptiaca for leukemia), after knowing the targeted plant involved in my target disease I have to explore which method will I use to extract the targeted bioactive compounds of interest. It may be tincture, oil maceration, decoction, infusion and more.