Some of you may be asking, what exactly is a glycerite? Good question!
A quick answer is that like a tincture, it's a way to preserve the medicinal components of plants. However, instead of pulling out plant medicine into alcohol the way that tinctures do, glycerites pull out the plant medicine into a sweet, vegetable-based glycerine syrup. While traditional tinctures, such as the ones we sell in our shop, are alcohol-based and typically have alcohol percentages as high as 50%, the glycerites we offer have the plant medicine drawn-out into an organic, coconut-based glycerine with a minuscule amount of alcohol. While we would love to offer our glycerites as a totally alcohol-free product, we do still need to add in a dash to make our bottles shelf stable. It works out to an imperceptible two drops of alcohol per dose.
Currently we offer glycerite versions of California Poppy, Saint John's Wort, Turmeric, and Ginger. And we have just added new glycerites of Ashwagandha and Phoenix Moon Bitters!
For many of us, this is a really big deal! Some people are alcohol adverse in general and the need to avoid alcohol leads them to miss out on the beneficial medicine of plants that traditional herbal tinctures provide. In other instances, people use herbal medicine to support certain conditions such as a chronic challenge, inflammation, or a struggling liver... and while the medicine from certain plants can help in these cases, the frequent dosing sometimes needed for chronic issues, the addition of alcohol into an inflamed system, or asking an already overly taxed liver to process alcohol-based medicine, is less than ideal.
As a mama-of-three, the most important reason in my household to use a glycerite over a tincture is that it allows me to offer herbal medicine to my children without worrying that, along with the plant medicine, I am having them ingest alcohol! Until recently, our California Poppy was the most exciting addition to my home for those "tired-but-wired" moments when a young one needs some help settling down at the end of the day. However, we are now offering Phoenix Moon Bitters as a glycerite and I'm nearly jumping for joy! There are certainly times when my younger ones overindulge when out and about and then come home with indigestion and an upset stomach. While they have all learned that the strong taste of Bitters is worth enduring to gain the relief it provides, now I have a new tool in my toolbox-- digestive support that tastes sweet and yummy! As a parent, I love having something to offer that contains barely any alcohol and tastes delicious without causing my nine-year-old to grimace and shiver as she tries to swallow the medicine in one gulp without tasting it!
I am excited to introduce you all to our newly stocked Phoenix Moon Bitters glycerite, plus all the other glycerite products in our shop. Have a lovely summer everyone!
Listen to Blake give her take on Glycerites here: