Written by John Immel, Asheville, NCPunarnava clears Kapha congestion in the blood, and eliminates excess water. The name punarnava means 'new again' - testifying to the rejuvenative properties of this herb.

Ingredients

• Vodka or 195 Proof EverClear - Quantity will vary depending on jar used. See notes below on adjusting the % alcohol.
• Punarnava
  • If using the whole dried herb, use enough to tightly pack 1/3 of your jar with the herb. Pole suggests a 1:3 @ 25% ratio for fresh herb.
  • If using dried powdered herb, use a 1:5 @ 25% ratio (i.e. 1 gram herb for every 5 ml of 25% alcohol = 50 proof). So if filling a 500ml (1.1 pint) jar with 50 proof alcohol, use 100g of punanarnava.

Other Equipment

• Sterile, dry jar with airtight lid
• Cheesecloth
• Funnel
• Sterile storage container(s) / jar(s)
• Label

Preparation

• Put herbs into dry, sterile jar
• Pour alcohol to top of jar, covering plants completely
• Close lid tightly, give gentle shake to release any air bubbles.
• Store in a cold, dry, dark place for 6-8 weeks.
• Shake weekly. If you used powder instead of whole leaf, use a spoon to fully agitate any clumps of powder. If alcohol evaporates a bit, top it off as needed

Filtering the Final Product

• Place a funnel over the storage container.
• Put a damp cheesecloth over the funnel.
• Pour tincture from original jar into funnel and allow to drip into container
• Squeeze remaining herbs in cloth until it stops dripping.
• Label with quantities and names of herbs, oils; dates

What if my alcohol is 80 proof instead of 50 proof ((40% instead of 25% alcohol)?

Add water to your alcohol to reduce it to 50 proof. Many herbalist buy 195 proof Ever Clear and do this formula.

With a 500 ml menstruum, you would need 312.5 ml of your 40% vodka and 187.5 ml of water. To find your ratio on your own, divide D = your desired alcohol content by C = alcohol content of spirit and multiply it by 100. D/C x 100 = S or % of spirits used. You can then multiply your percentage by the total menstruum and that tells you how much alcohol to use. Then you fill it the rest of the way with your water.

Even though you should calculate it for this tincture - so you know how to do it, using 40% Vodka will still yield you a wonderful tincture. The alcohol content needs to be at least 25% to preserve the tincture. Increasing the alcohol content somewhat won’t make a huge difference. It is more important to have enough water & alcoholo to extract molecules that are water soluble vs alcohol soluble. So straight Ever Clear may not get the water soluble constituents. But if you are somwhere in between the extraction will work.

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