Talk:Tincture

Final Fantasy reference
I removed the reference to the game item "tincture" in the Final Fantasy game series. The description was incorrect, and correcting it would have involved detailing the effects of tincture across several RPGs (it's not always the same). The point is moot because there's no real reason to list it here. Jeeves 01:00, 14 Sep 2004 (UTC)

Examples of Tinctures
Why is the 'Examples of Tinctures' section in the main article? It's just a dumping ground of names right now. Also, Spirits are listed in this section, and Spirits are not necessarily Tinctures. (Additionally this distinction is not addressed anywhere in the main article). --74.179.98.160 (talk) 00:34, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Picture of a tincture
Is anyone certain that the picture of a tincture is really a tincture? To me it looks like a glass of red wine. This is a poor example of a tincture. Maybe there is a better representation that could be used? --74.179.98.160 (talk) 00:36, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

Tincture vs Elixir Needs Work
This article seriously needs to be updated. I came to it looking for elixir. The page does not tell what an elixir is or what a tincture is. It mostly talks about how tinctures were used in the past, or rather what tinctures were used in the past. Tinctures are in widespread use NOW in health food stores etc.

1. The article is altogether unclear. 2. Only 10% of important information is covered.

Knightt 08:37, 14 July 2005 (UTC)


 * The main difference between elixirs (by the definition of elixir) and a tincture is that a tincture uses vegetable materials or chemical substances from plants.  Perhaps a tincture could be looked at as a subset of elixirs.   (Also, be aware that somethings are being branded as elixirs when they do not contain alcohol.   These are not strictly elixirs, but I guess the definition of elixir is slowly being eroded.)   --74.179.98.160 (talk) 00:29, 12 November 2009 (UTC)

below is and update by Alchemist Jesse L. Alexander

Alright so I have I recently came here and found that people are trying to find the difference between tinctures and elixirs, well being as that I make both let me settle the debate for you the main difference is that an elixir is a tincture but it is sweetened up using a simple syrup store bought or home made.

Elixirs are easy to make:

You can start out with a tincture and add a simple syrup (recipe below). Add the cooled syrup to tincture in small bits, then shake the mix to blend it, and then taste. If it isn't right, add more and taste again! Be careful, these are meant to be sipped as they are still potent medicine, and this sweetening and tasting process can get you loopy.

Simple Syrup: Boil one cup of water. Add two cups of sugar (or 1.5 cup of honey, or agave, or whatever you prefer!) Stir until the sugar is completely dissolved and remove from heat. Allow to cool.

Otherwise, you can use the lazy method. Pour a dollop of honey into a strained tincture and give it a shake. It works, but it ends up being super sticky and thick compared to the simple syrup process described above.

I hope that helps to demystify some of the process and allow you to play around with your Junior Alchemist kit in your kitchen, and have another way to use your herb harvest before the final frost takes it from you!

Still need work
A couple of days ago I did some tagging. I see the article hasn’t even been touched since. &mdash; NRen2k5, 10:59, 3 March 2008 (UTC)

How but not why
The article explains what a tincture is, but not what the point of a tincture is. For example, these and other questions left unanswered are: what is the point of using alcohol, and what is the point of mixing the ingredients together and waiting 3 weeks, as compared with simply mixing in a little water and ingesting the concoction immediately?

Math issue
''To make a more precise tincture, more extensive measuring can be done by combining 1 part herbs with a water-ethanol mixture of 2-10 parts, depending on the herb itself. With most tinctures, however, 1 part water at 5 parts ethanol is used.''

Ratio 1:5 is the same as 2:10. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.132.151.195 (talk) 21:45, 13 February 2009 (UTC)

Needs a history section
Nothing here on the origin of tinctures or ancient mentions of manufacture or use. (While their history may be low importance, the extensive current use of tinctures is hardly low importance.)

Warburg's Tincture
I have added Warburg's Tincture to this article page, in the list of medicinal tinctures. I hope my addition is satisfactory and is of interest. I had added the internal link code for ease of readers to access the article on Warburg's Tincture.--Roland Sparkes (talk) 02:44, 5 January 2010 (UTC)

Disadvantage of Alcohol
I have added this segment because of the science and ethical need for the counterpoint to 'Advantage of Alcohol.' The premise of alcohol's intrinsic denaturing and inert rendering effects on many extracted plant constituents cannot be either denied (it's all based on Chemistry 101 principles) or ignored laze affair. As clinicians and consumers alike are becoming more educated the emerging questions of biological viability and clinical proof of efficacy specifically for alcohol-based herbal products is mounting. Heck! the foods, beverage and confectionary industry have known these facts for scores of years, while the alcohol-based liquid herbs industry has been ignorant of or ignored this point. All said, the intrinsic denaturing and inert rendering effects of alcohol on many, if not most, of a plants extracted constituents is the Achilles heel of the 'Alcohol is Better' argument, especially when resorting to outdated Eclectic views as authoritative sources, that don't hold up to modern contemporary science for making the case. --LoR. Caarl Robinson (talk) 05:55, 18 April 2010 (UTC)

How exactly does the ethanol denature the plant extract? As far as i know, it's just a solvent and is fairly unreactive. —Preceding unsigned comment added by 71.103.79.41 (talk) 05:06, 6 August 2010 (UTC)

A lot of technical guff and zero encyclopedic or informative value.
I read the article and it does not explain for one moment what a 'Tincture' is in regard to usage or application. I'll stick a definition in here just incase anyone more skilled in editing than I would like to weave it into the page somehow:

tincture

The Oxford Pocket Dictionary of Current English, 2009

tinc·ture / ˈtingkchər/ • n. 1. a medicine made by dissolving a drug in alcohol: the remedies can be administered in the form of tinctures | a bottle containing tincture of iodine. 2. a slight trace of something: she could not keep a tincture of bitterness out of her voice. 3. Heraldry any of the conventional colors (including the metals and stains, and often the furs) used in coats of arms. • v. (be tinctured) be tinged, flavored, or imbued with a slight amount of: Arthur's affability was tinctured with faint sarcasm. 89.240.182.13 (talk) 14:17, 26 January 2012 (UTC)

Made some changes, but agree this Article needs much more work
Cleaned up some overly long and/or redundant phrases, fixed some typos, fixed incorrectly formatted links. Let's all please be careful about doing these tedious things like links and refs correctly, or someone else has to come along and pick up after.

I found some statements I believe from my own knowledge are true, but stand w/o refs, particularly under section "Disadvantages of tinctures"

I'm a perfumer. This Article makes no mention of making or using tinctures in this craft
Tinctures are of both classic and current importance in perfume making. Oddly, the definition suggested above (The Oxford Pocket Dictionary) fails to mention anything but drug tinctures. OK, have already spent too many hours working on Wiki for today. Perhaps more later.

Mykstor (talk) 22:11, 28 May 2012 (UTC)

=And what do tinctures do?= Horrible article. Not one mention in this article of what a tincture is used for. Do we drink it? Is it applied topically? What is it's purpose? If it's such a crazy high % of alcohol I'd assume it actually isn't something to drink. Is it an air freshener? Or, as Mykstor writes above me, is it some kind of homemade perfume? That should be the first or second thing explained, instead of the opening paragraphs complaining over what "truly" constitues a tincture. Ugh. — Preceding unsigned comment added by TrackZero (talk • contribs) 17:13, 5 August 2013 (UTC)

=Tincture & Liquor= Solutions with alcohol and water, "pot liquor". Technical usage and colloquial usage. Xb2u7Zjzc32 (talk) 08:37, 1 February 2014 (UTC)