Rupam here, following up on last week's email from Blake all about Glycerites. I want to share my own personal thoughts and explain why we decided to introduce them as a product line. I am fairly new to glycerine extractions, mainly because for so long I followed old herbal lore and the belief that an alcohol tincture has more extraction power and longevity. However, after following Anthony William's protocol and teaching it for almost a decade now, I wanted to make the shift into offering alcohol-free (or at least very low alcohol content) medicine as well!
We are now into our first year offering some of our formulas and herbs as glycerites and I am really happy and excited about that shift! They are so easy to take, yummy beyond belief, and they feel gentler on my system. (You really can taste the individual herb in the extraction. I am in love with our Ginger, Turmeric, and Phoenix Moon Bitters glycerites right now!) I do take a little more than I would an alcohol tincture, but that might change as I get more intimate in their use and dosing. We continue to use a dash of biodynamic (organic) grape alcohol in our glycerites to ensure added extraction power and longer term shelf stability. Additionally, we leave our mother/stock bottles in the fridge for that same purpose before pouring from them into individual for sale bottles. Our current glycerine is derived from coconuts, but we are exploring glycerine made from flaxseeds and comparing quality and taste. Stay tuned and we will let you know what we come up with! Lastly, I want to cover why I don't mind glycerine in my medicine but I DO mind vegetable glycerine found in literally all toothpastes: Glycerine in teeth cleansing products, where you cover and distribute this sticky, slick substance to every surface of your teeth with the aim of cleaning them, is completely crazy in my mind! Glycerine is literally the consistency of plaque and it doesn't rinse off easily, leaving behind a sticky layer smeared across your teeth which attracts MORE plaque! Plus, that smear layer hinders mineral absorption in your mouth; most of the mineral absorption happens internally but there is some mineral absorption through the saliva into teeth as well. Finding a way to avoid the glycerine found in all toothpastes on the market was one of my main aims when I created our very different teeth cleansing and mineralizing product line! The result was our One Drop Only Tooth Elixir and Dental Soap, born almost 2 decades ago! So while you don't want to use vegetable glycerine to cleanse your teeth, it is a viable option if you are looking for a way to avoid the high alcohol content of traditional herbal tinctures. Mixing your glycerite dose into hot tea is a delicious method of lightly sweetening your beverage as well as evaporating the last bit of alcohol, which has a very low evaporation point (much lower than water) and still getting your dose of herbal medicine!
Check out these wonderful new glycerite medicinals and let us know what you think!
Listen to Rupam give her take on Glycerites: