Ok, so I have decided for this post I would teach something that has helped my health tremendously over the years.  I have been using this tincture for about 10 years now for any respiratory and upper respiratory infections. I have used it for strep throat, croup, tonsillitis, bronchitis, pneumonia, and tonsillitis.  It has helped my family through the cold and flu season over and over again.  It has, what I call, a very natural taste.  Some can handle it and some can not.  It is strong, but it works. Some of my kids can’t handle the taste but my other kids it doesn’t bother them. If you like garlic you can handle this.

Day 1

Step 1:

– 5lbs of Garlic.  The fresher the better.  Some garlic varieties are stronger and spicier than others. It doesn’t matter which variety you choose.  I have used many varieties and they all work great.

–2 gallon glass jars

-food processor

-cheese cloth and 2 large rubber bands

-2 quarts of raw apple cider vinegar with the mother.  I love Braggs, but I have had to use others and they work fine.

wooden spoon

Step 2:

Peel garlic.  You don’t have to peel all the way if you don’t want but you do have to separate the individual cloves. A little bit of peel left on the garlic clove will not effect the the tincture.

Step 3:

Take about 4-5 handfuls of garlic cloves and put them in the food processor with about 1 cup of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar (ACV). Chop it up into pea sized chunks (DO NOT PUREE) . Pour into the glass jar (or scoop) and repeat until all the garlic is chopped and the 2 quarts of ACV is used up.

Stir garlic and ACV with wood spoon. Place cheese cloth over each of the glass jars and secure with rubber band.  Place jars in a cool place out of sunlight, like your garage or cellar. This will need to be stirred once a day for the next 3 days. This will not smell good so choose your place wisely. It will keep away the vampires but also your friends.

Step 4:

Over the next 3 days you will need to gather a few supplies. (7) glass gallon jars with lids; 3 or 4 – Stainless steel 6-quart or larger pots. I like to gather at least 4 of them. A few wooden spoons;  large cheese bag or almond milk bag. I have used cheese cloth before to strain the herbs but the cheese bag/almond milk bag works a hundred times better. (2) 5 or 6 gallon buckets; pair of heat resistant silicone or heat resistant gloves; a funnel;  and few good friends to help you. You can do it by your self but it will take a lot longer and it is more fun to play a witch cooking your brew when you have friends joining you.

Day 2:

Stir Garlic/ACV with wooden spoon

Day 3:

Stir Garlic/ACV with wooden spoon

Now it is time to soak your herbs.  You will be soaking them over night to prepare them for cooking the next day. Place each herb in its own glass gallon jar, except for the ones that need to be processed together, with 64oz of distilled water.  Totaling 7 jars with herbs/water in them. Stir each herb until they are good and wet. Place the lid on each jar and let them soak.

Here are the herbs you will need. I like Star West Botanical Herbs.  They are so fresh and potent. I have labeled my jars with the herbs that they will contain.

8 oz. Comfrey Leaf, cut, not powdered

8 oz. Mullein Leaf, cut

4 oz. White Oak Bark, cut

4 oz. Marshmallow Root, cut

4 oz. Black Walnut, cut

Process these together:

4 oz. scull cap, cut

4 oz. gravel root, cut

Process these together:

4 oz. lobelia, cut

4 oz. wormwood, cut

8 gallons of distilled water

It must be distilled so that it is pure of any impurities that may react with the herbs.  Distilled water works to draw out the properties of the herbs.

Collect these next 3 ingredients for Day 4.

1 gallon of Raw Apple Cider Vinegar

6-8 cups of raw Honey

1 gallon of Vegetable Glycerin 

7-8 gallons worth of glass jars with plastic lids. Plastic lids is a must.  The vinegar would corrode the metal and give the tincture a metal taste. Make sure to clean all jars and lids very well.

Day 4:

Time to make the infusions of the herbs.  Cook each herb in its water in a stainless steel pot, on medium heat and bring to a boil, stirring with a wooden spoon.  You may need to add a tad bit more distilled water to some of the herbs because they soaked up so well, but make sure it is just a little bit. You want the infusion to be very concentrated. Boil it 15 minutes and then simmer it 15 minutes creating a very potent tea or infusion. There are some who really do not like the smell of these herbs cooking.  I personally enjoy them, but if you do not want your house to smell like cooking herbs for a few day you may want to open some windows. While these herbs are cooking muster up all your strength because you will need it for this next part.

Take the garlic that you have been soaking in ACV for 3 days now and strain it into one of those 5 gallon buckets using the cheese bag/ nut milk bag.  If you look at the pictures below you can see how I am straining the herbs in the same manner you will need to strain and squeeze the garlic. You will want to squeeze as much juice out of it as you can. Standard rubber gloves might come in handy here so that your hands don’t smell like garlic for 3 days.  Trust me!  This is the main part of the tincture and the big immune booster, it is also the ingredient that gives it it’s kick.  Once you are done straining and squeezing it rest a second because you are going to be using those muscles again to squeeze each of the herbs when they are done cooking.

Strain herb in the cheese bag into the 5 gallon bucket,  squeezing as much liquid out of the herb.  This is where those cooking gloves would come in handy.

Place herb back in the pot and cover with another 64oz of distilled water and repeat the process of the 15 minute boil and 15 min simmer, then strain and squeeze it again for a second time.  Discard the herb after the second processing. Do this with each jar of herbs until all herbs have been processed twice and strained into the buckets.  Pour in 1 gallon of vegetable glycerin, 1 gallon of ACV, and 6-8 cups of honey into the hot tea/infusions.  Stir with a long wooden spoon until honey is dissolved. This can be done at any time during the straining of the many herbs. You won’t be able to fit all the liquid into one bucket that is why you have 2 buckets.

Once all ingredients are poured into the buckets, mix up liquid by pouring a little bit back and forth from one bucket to the other until the tincture is thoroughly combined and mixed together.  My husband helped me with this part and we did it out side because spills do happen. This is where the larger 6-gallon buckets are nice because you have a little bit more room to mix it back and forth.

Now that it is totally mixed you can fill your glass jars that you collected (that have the plastic lids) using a funnel.  I have saved all of my Braggs ACV jars over the years and reused them.  They are perfect for storing the tincture.  This tincture will last about 3 years on the shelf or 4 years in the fridge, but we seem to go through it in one year. Family, friends and neighbors tend to help us use it up.

Suggested Use:

Maintenance

Adults 1 T per day

Children (8-12) 2 tsp per day

Children (3-7) 1 tsp per day

Children (1-2) ½ tsp per day

Acute Symptoms:

Adults 1 T per hour

Children (8-12) 2 tsp per hour

Children (3-7) 1 tsp per hour

Children (1-2) ½ tsp per hour

Shake well before each use.

Store in a dark, cool place. “Mother” may accumulate at the top of the bottle. This is normal because of the cider vinegar it contains. Do not remove it. Shaking the bottle well before each use will take care of the “mother”.

***DISCLAIMER*** Talk to your doctor before taking this, especially if you are on any prescription medicines.  Take the list of ingredients to your doctor.

*This product contains Comfrey. FDA warns prolonged use of Comfrey could cause liver damage. Some herbalists disagree.