This week I spent some time weeding and caring for my crops as well as learning about Alamere’s tincture press and marketing experience. Below is a type up of what I learned about both:
Tincture press-
The tincture press that Alamere Herbs uses is an old shop press rigged with a scissor jack that can press about 1 ton of pressure onto plant material. A tincture press is useful when processing large quantities of plant material, usually over a cup. Using a tincture press increases the medicinal constitutes that are released from the plant material and increase the potency of the product you are crafting. The folk method of crafting tinctures involves allowing the plant material to steep in a solvent, usually alcohol or vinegar, in a dark cupboard for several weeks; the timing usually depends on the plant. Then straining and bottling the tincture after the solvent has done its extracting. A tincture press can be a beneficial tool in increasing the bioavailability of medicinal constituents in a tincture, infused oil, or glycerite. The process is similar to the folk method in that it involves steeping plant material in a solvent with the added step of squeezing out more of the medicine that the solvent extracts using the press. It is said that more expensive hydraulic presses that can exert several tons of pressure can even extract the liquid medicine present in the plant material itself as opposed to the medicine that the solvent extracts. Hydraulic presses are expensive and also present the challenge of contaminating your product with the hydraulic fluid needed to run the press. Strictly Medicinal offers some strategically designed presses that eliminate contamination but the prices start at around $2,000.
How the tincture press works-
The tincture press that Alamere has was specially crafted by the owner John who was inspired by the presses carried by Strictly Medicinals. The press itself was found at a reuse store for under $20 and the parts needed to craft tinctures and oils were found at thrift stores and slightly altered using a drill press. The components are all stainless steel and can be seen in the photographs below and consist of a basket with holes drilled into the sides, a wooden ‘plunger’, with a stainless steel cap, …
The process of crafting a tincture involves steeping plant material in an alcohol solvent for 6-8 weeks then lining the basket in a tight weave cheesecloth and placing plant material into the bucket and slowly applying pressure using the jack and having the plunger to press down and squeeze the liquid out of the plant material, allowing the liquid to drip off into a glass jar. After all of the plant material has been pressed, the liquid is then stored in a dark cupboard for several days and then decanted to extract any plant settlement that got carried into the liquid. Decanting can be done using coffee filters or a coffee pour-over device, after any leftover plant debris is strained out, the tincture can then be bottled and taken internally, The process is similar to crafting infused oils.
