How To Make Lemon Balm Tincture (Soothing Recipe)
Lemon balm is a wonderful herb that helps with anxiety, sleep, and even cognition. Here is how to make lemon balm tincture using only two simple ingredients.
Yield: 1 pint jar
Equipment
- A glass jar with a tight-fitting lid – I use a glass mason jar with parchment paper between the metal lid and tincture or extract to prevent the alcohol from corroding the metal.
- Small amber glass bottles with dropper tops
- A fine mesh sieve, cheesecloth, or coffee filter
- A small funnel
- A knife, food processor, or mortor and pestle – for chopping up fresh lemon balm
Materials
- Fresh or dried lemon balm
- 80- proof organic alcohol or 40% alcohol – I usually use 80-proof vodka. If you want to avoid alcohol, you can swap out the alcohol for store-bought apple cider vinegar or food-grade glycerin. If you’re using fresh lemon balm, consider using a high-proof alcohol, which will be more effective at preventing spoilage from the water content in the plant.
Instructions
- If you’re using fresh lemon balm, wash the leaves and remove them from the stems. Pat them dry or leave them to dry overnight so all of the excess water is gone.
- Use a knife, mortor and pestle, or a food processor (if you’re doing a big batch) to chop up the fresh plant material. We do this to maximise how much of the plant will be exposed to the alcohol.
- Add enough fresh herbs to fill the jar ¾ of the way full. If you are using dried herbs, fill the jar ⅓ of the way full. Filling the jar only ⅓ full will ensure there’s enough space for the leaves to expand as they absorb the alcohol.
- Next, fully submerge the lemon balm in alcohol.
- Add a lid and date and label it so you know what it is and when you made it. If you’re using a metal lid, add a piece of parchment paper between the lid and the alcohol to prevent the metal from corroding. Give the jar a good shake to make sure everything is fully submerged.
- Leave the jar to sit in a cool, dark place away from direct sunlight for 6-8 weeks. Aim to give the jar a shake every few days to ensure the leaves remain fully covered in alcohol.
- If you used dried lemon balm, you may need to top the jar up with alcohol after a day or so as the plant material absorbs it.
- After 6-8 weeks, strain off the lemon balm using cheesecloth or a fine mesh strainer. Make sure to fully remove all of the plant material to prevent the tincture from going bad more quickly. I have found that it’s easiest to fully strain off dry lemon balm using cheesecloth doubled over. You can also use a coffee filter but it’ll take a longer time.
- Use a small funnel to pour the lemon balm extract into the amber glass dropper bottle.
- Make sure to date and label your bottle so you know what it is! Store the herbal tincture cool, dark place, away from direct sunlight.
- I hope this recipe gives you confidence to try making your own lemon balm tincture! If you do, let me know in the comments.