Hey David, thanks for answering my question about not using 95% on all fresh herbs the other day. I've always felt like that felt sloppy and very non specific. But Thomas Easley was kinda making me feel stupid at AHG last year when I said I don't use 95% on all fresh and other herbalists seem very adamant about it (the whole bursting the cell wall thing). But from a constituent solubility perspective it just has never made sense to me. Anyways, feels good that we're in the same boat on this one. I wanted to just to clarify your approach on this though: take the fresh herb, weight it, dehydrate it fully, weigh it again, and determine the percentage water in the fresh herb. So then how does the math go when you're determining how much additional alcohol to add to your menstruum when extracting it fresh (by additional alcohol I mean when comparing it to how much is used when its dried)? So if a plant has constituents ideally extracted at around 40% alcohol, and the plant is say 20% water, how do you go about deciphering your percentage to extract it fresh? I've had different teachers explain it differently, so I'm just curious how you go about it. (I apologize if this was something discussed in the tincturing class with Rich, I unfortunately missed that class as it was right after our new baby was born and I haven't had the chance to rewatch it yet) The second part of this: it seems like many herbalists prefer to use a majority of herbs dried over fresh. When I was at Bastyr, Dr. Eric Yarnell was kind of in the opposite boat, saying that most herbs are better extracted fresh, with a few being better dried. That's how I've been doing it for years (and not at straight 95% for everything). Again, Thomas was kinda putting me down for making most of my medicines from fresh plants and it made me think about it and possibly reconsider how I prep my medicine (while at the same time kinda making me feel like an idiot lol). I think for one I find a majority of bulk dried herbs in the marketplace are just really old and when I get COA's they've been harvested sometimes up to 5 years ago, which to me is less than ideal. I also just want to say I'm really enjoying the program David and really appreciate your perspectives and insights. I hope my questions don't seem like they're trying to contradict you in any way or anything like that. I've just learned from a lot of different herbalists over the years and sometimes people say different things, opposite things, etc. etc. and it sometimes gets a little confusing. So please know it's not be doubting you in any way, just seeking clarity. I hope that makes sense. Thank you again good sir.

I am pretty sure Rich covers this in class and honestly, it is a bit complex to explain via e-mail, it is a formula (Math is not my strong point I will admit). Check out his class from August and if that does not fully explain it , I will try to do so. BTW, there are multiple reason why not to use straight 95% ETOH in tincturing, I am surprised Thomas does this. First it is expensive, secondly alcohol is not really good for you, so why use more than needed and thirdly, as I mentioned using more alcohol than needed in some cases can interfere with extraction of some constituents. We herbalists have a lot of opinions, but opinions are not facts and it is unfortunate when someone says their opinions are the truth. Thomas, has strong opinions, but he is not the arbitrator of truth, in fact being open to learning new things and changing your mind is a great strength. I guess on this question I am somewhere in between Eric and Thomas. I have done a lot of tincturing, I ran the H & A lab for more than 15 years and we constantly experimented using fresh or dry herbs, different menstuums, with or without glycerin, apple cider vinegar, etc. After all that time and experience, I am pretty comfortable that H & A makes some seriously excellent products. Anyway some herbs in my opinion are much better made from recently dried material (Peppermint, SJW, Lavender, Hyssop, Red Clover, etc), some from dried material from the most recent harvest (Goldenseal, Oregon Grape root, Angelica root, Kava, European Mistletoe, Culvers root, etc), some should be aged (Buckthorn, Cascara Sagrada, Blue Cohosh), some fresh (Pipsissewa, Milky Oat, Cleavers, Chickweed, Skullcap, Bugleweed, Corn Silk, Gotu Kola, Night Blooming Cereus, Echinacea, Celandine, etc), some can be made fresh or dried (Ginger, Black Cohosh, Elecampane, Spikenard, etc) and some are wilted (Sweet Melilot, Saw Palmetto). This information is what is on the materia medica sheets, so you can get the information for good tincturing practices that make high quality extracts from one source. No, your questions are appreciated, I do not always have the answer, but too many people think they do and it really does cause confusion.

Hey David thanks so much for the in-depth reply. I'll make a point to stay up some night coming up so I can watch that tincturing class Rich did- it's been on my to-do list for awhile now, just been tough striking that balance between work-home-family-farm-studies. Yeah the math piece sometimes makes my head spin- definitely difficult to explain in this format I'm sure! Thanks for understanding where I'm coming from too! I'm always continually striving to learn and refine what I do, which is certainly at times humbling =)