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Standard Percolation Cones

Homemade Percolator

Packing Rods

Herb Preparation

You will need to grind and sift your dried plant material to allow for smooth easy extraction. A coarse #20 powder will do (see “Powdering,” Chapter Twenty-Five). The nature of the plant being percolated is the prime factor as to how finely it should be powdered in order to be efficiently extracted by percolation. National Formularies direct anywhere from #20 to #60 powders depending on the herb, with #30 and #40 seeming to be the most often directed. Vary the fineness of the powder you use as you experiment with each herb. This is why, over the long run, note-taking is so helpful. Run the powder through your sifter and remove all chunks and clumps, leaving a uniformly textured powder. When making a tincture by percolation, the evenness of the texture of the powder is probably as important as how finely it is powdered.

Preparation of the Menstruum

Suppose you have decided to prepare a tincture at 1:5 weight/volume in a 60 percent alcohol menstruum:

1. Weigh the freshly ground herb. Let’s say you have 180 Gm.

2. I’ll be referring back to this step at the latter part of the process. Pack the herb into a measuring cup to determine the compressed volume that the herb fills. Let’s say it is 300 ml (10 oz). This is approximately the volume of menstruum that will be retained by the marc and discarded along with the marc at the completion of this percolation. This amount varies depending on the herb being used. At the end of this process it may be found some plant material retains more liquid than this estimate, some may be less; when finished with the percolation, one should make note of the actual amount retained by this herb for the next time it is percolated. Therefore, that amount of (estimated) menstruum (300 ml) must be added to the full volume of menstruum that is required to produce a 1:5 w/v tincture (which in this example will be 900 ml—5 × 180). So, you will need to prepare 1200 ml (300 ml + 900 ml) total volume of menstruum for this percolation (See details for calculating a w/v menstruum in Chapter Twelve).

3. Prepare 1200 ml of 60%:40% menstruum, 60% (720 ml) of 190-proof ethyl alcohol, 40% (480 ml) of distilled water.

4. Mix the alcohol and water together, and set it aside in a closed container.

Moistening the Herb

This is a preliminary moistening that is done before the herb is packed into the cone. It allows the dampened powder to swell upon absorbing the liquid. Some plant powders, if dampened and packed in the cone before swelling occurs, can expand to such a degree that the cone ends up being packed too tightly to allow the liquid that is added later to flow down through it.

1. Add approximately 200 ml of menstruum to the 180 Gm of powdered herb and mix it thoroughly. (This is about 2/3 to 3/4 of the 300 ml volume calculated-in Step 2, on this page—to saturate the marc. Remember, we are only dampening the powder at this time, not yet saturating it). Make the consistency such that you can pinch some of the moist powder between your fingers, and it will hold together. Precaution: Moisten the herb slowly; if it is not moist enough you can always add more liquid. However, if it gets too moist, the ball game’s over, maceration wins.

2. Place the moistened powder into a container that can be tightly sealed to prevent evaporation and let it sit for 1 hour to over night, depending on your time urgency.

Diameter of Cut Paper

Packing the Cone

1. First cut two round pieces of coffee filter paper. Make their diameters roughly equivalent to the inside top opening of the cone.

2. Make a cone out of one of the papers by folding it into fours (in half twice) then opening it up to form the cone.

Making the Cone

3. Pack this paper coffee filter cone with some of the moist powder. (Pack it lightly at this point.)

4. Slide the filled paper cone down into the neck of the glass percolator cone. You may need to use a chopstick to get it in place. (If you experience