Double extracts

[ItalianBee]

Even before the thread on Chaga reminded me of it, I'd been hearing about double extracts - mixing an alcohol tincture with a water extract. I gather that the point is to extract all the goodies that water gets as well as all the goodies that alcohol does, and to get the benefit of long life from the alcohol. I haven't been able to find a whole lot of detail about how to do this, though - one Youtube video on Chaga that says to use 50-50 alcohol and water extract, which sounds reasonable, but that's about it. So I am wondering if other people have experience with this method.

And what about combining a vinegar extract with an alcohol extract? Or all three?

And - if I'm using 80 proof alcohol instead of 100 proof, does it have enough extra water to catch some of those goodies that aren't alcohol-soluble?

[Lady Alinor]

I've also been looking into 'double extracts', more towards working with herbs and honey.
There are some herbs that just refuse to extract into honey, so into water, oil or alcohol first...sometimes water and alcohol then into honey.
I read that sometimes one would want to soak herb in water first just to get rid of any useless constituents ...huh? I'm of the opinion there aren't any 'useless' constituents in plants, they are WHOLE.

[ItalianBee]

Coming back to this one because I just started the second stage of my double extract - I just strained the tincture and the infusion is infusing.

But I meant to come back earlier to say, Lady Alinor, that I'm really surprised too that somebody would suggest soaking in water to get rid of what is "useless." I've always understood that water gets out all the best, and that the only reason to extract any other way is that infusions don't last very long and extracts in alcohol or vinegar or honey do last. So what was the suggestion, throw out the water after infusing? Seems very strange.

[NateFlory]

Interesting. I've never done such, but also would unscientifically caution agaisnt the "water gets out the useless stuff" advice.

As for a Water infusion and an alcohol infusion, unless you are using pure 95%+ alcohol such as Everclear(tm) or similar product to make your tinctures, regular 80-100 proof vodka is already half water, and yes will extract both the water-soluable and the alcohol-soluble alkaloids and minerals and "goodness" all together. Hmmm......
Granted, I can see some benefit in possibly making an ancohol tincture and then mixing it with an infusion to either boost the "medicine" of the infusion and/or cut the taste perhaps... (like an extra espresso shot in a Caffe Americano!) But I'm not sure in which cases that would be preferred or best utilized, personally. Kinda a neat idea I never considered though.

I'll be following this thread with interest now.

[ItalianBee]

Nate, part of the idea behind adding an alcohol tincture to an infusion is to increase the lifespan of the infusion. I've always understood that, though regular-proof vodka (like 80 - 100 proof) is at least half water, that it was not as efficient as pure water at getting out the constituents. But I could be wrong.

Anyway, I took my first dose of the chaga double extract this morning (a dropperful in water), since I'm a bit under the weather. We'll see!