{"id":1015,"date":"2011-11-25T06:03:27","date_gmt":"2011-11-25T13:03:27","guid":{"rendered":""},"modified":"2016-03-23T16:19:39","modified_gmt":"2016-03-23T22:19:39","slug":"elderberry-tincture","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/articles\/elderberry-tincture\/","title":{"rendered":"Elderberry Tincture"},"content":{"rendered":"<p>The Elderberries were a gift from a friend.\u00a0 It was a gift of health.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Last year was my first winter in Montana.\u00a0 As with all moves, our immune systems were not prepared for the onslaught of every flu and cold, every bacteria and virus in which we came into contact.\u00a0 I thought I was going to die at one point.\u00a0 A friend sent my husband home with a bottle of Oregano oil and a set of instructions for me to mix a few drops with water and drink up.\u00a0 Not only did I think I was going to die, my husband very nearly did that day.\u00a0 If you have ever tasted the burn of Oregano oil, you know what I\u2019m talking about.\u00a0 But I recovered immediately.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>So this trusted friend (who just might have saved my life once) gave me a bag of Elderberries. \u00a0They were so delicious, I very nearly ate the bag of them; I restrained myself in the name of health for the long upcoming winter.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><em>\u00a0I am not in a medical profession so please understand that I am not giving any medical or miracle claims.<\/em>\u00a0 I can only tell you what others typically use the tincture to treat and I\u2019ll let you draw your own conclusions.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>To make a tincture, you can either use glycerin or a strong alcohol.\u00a0 However, which of those two options you use has everything to do with the herb or berry used itself.\u00a0 The chemical compound may not be drawn out simply by using glycerin, as is the case with Elderberries.\u00a0 Alcohol is needed to draw the medicinal properties out of the plant in this particular case.\u00a0 You should research each individual plant to determine which type of tincture will give you the most benefit.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Elderberries can provide excellent immune support, and many natural products you buy claiming to do so will have Elderberries in its\u2019 contents.\u00a0 It\u2019s also an antioxidant and is used to treat coughs and colds.\u00a0 <a href=\"http:\/\/www.herbwisdom.com\/herb-elderberry.html\">They say<\/a> that it can combat both viruses and bacteria, and even help with tonsillitis!<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" title=\"Elderberry Cluster\" src=\"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/media\/blog-images\/Elderberry_MassanuttenResortRoad_050903.jpg\" alt=\"Elderberry Cluster\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>I did refer to <a href=\"http:\/\/smallfarm.about.com\/od\/cropsandvegetables\/ss\/How-To-Make-Elderberry-Tincture.htm\">this site<\/a> for very easy-to-follow instructions. The whole process took less time than pouring a glass of chocolate milk.\u00a0 Seriously.\u00a0 The hardest part for me was when my husband asked the church pianist, \u201cWhere can you buy liquor on a Sunday morning in this town?\u201d.<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p><strong>Supplies:<\/strong><\/p>\n<p>A clean\u00a0 jar with tight fitting lid<\/p>\n<p>Vodka (or Brandy) with the highest alcohol proof available (100-proof desirable)<\/p>\n<p>Elderberries<\/p>\n<p>A wooden spoon and colander (preferably non-metal)<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<ul>\n<li>Wash and strain elderberries in the colander.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>For a tincture, you do not need to worry about the seeds.\u00a0 Remove the stems with a fork.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Mash the berries as much as possible with your wooden spoon in the jar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Pour alcohol over them until just above the berry-line.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Label the jar clearly, including contents (so that you\u2019ll know which tinctures on your shelf contain alcohol and which ones do not).\u00a0 Date the jar.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>Occasionally shake the jar during the next 6 weeks.\u00a0 This is the ideal length of time to allow the tincture to fully \u201ccure\u201d.\u00a0 You can certainly use it before then if you need to.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<ul>\n<li>The tincture can be stored in the jar for up to 2 years.\u00a0 I recommend placing it in the refrigerator once the jar has been opened.<\/li>\n<\/ul>\n<p>Optional\u2014if you would like to remove the berries after 6 weeks, simply strain out as much of the tincture as possible and rebottle it.\u00a0 This is not necessary.<\/p>\n<p><img decoding=\"async\" style=\"display: block; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;\" title=\"Chaya's Elderberry Tincture\" src=\"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/media\/blog-images\/elderberry_tincture.JPG\" alt=\"Chaya's Elderberry Tincture\" width=\"300\" \/><\/p>\n<p>&nbsp;<\/p>\n<p>Picture of Elderberry Cluster is from this (really informative) <a href=\"http:\/\/www.sierrapotomac.org\/W_Needham\/Elderberry_061106.htm\" target=\"_blank\">site<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>The Elderberries were a gift from a friend.\u00a0 It was a gift of health. &nbsp; Last year was my first winter in Montana.\u00a0 As with all moves, our immune systems were not prepared for the onslaught of every flu and cold, every bacteria and virus in which we came into contact.\u00a0 I thought I was [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"footnotes":"","_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":false,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false}}},"categories":[230],"tags":[556,494,555],"yst_prominent_words":[],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack_shortlink":"https:\/\/wp.me\/p9Fvks-gn","_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=1015"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/1015\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=1015"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=1015"},{"taxonomy":"yst_prominent_words","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/pantryparatus.com\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/yst_prominent_words?post=1015"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}