What is a Glycerite?

A glycerite is a tincture that uses glycerin instead of alcohol from a spirit (vodka or grain alcohol). Glycerin (also spelled glycerine) is a substance similar to sugar and is present in all natural fats. Yes, that means it tastes sweet. And like alcohol it is a solvent, and thus it is used to make tinctures. Glycerin is a clear syrupy liquid that has no odor. It is a by-product of soap making. Vegetable glycerin produced from coconut oil or palm oil is widely used by pharmacies and for making alcohol free herbal tinctures called glycerites.

Why make a glycerite?

The main reason to use a glycerite is to avoid the use of alcohol, especially for children and for pets. And due to its natural sweetness, it is easier for children and pets to accept compared to most alcohol based tinctures. In the case of a Milk Thistle Seeds tincture that is used for healing and regenerating the liver, if the reason for liver damage is due to overuse of alcohol (i.e., Cirrhosis of the liver due to alcoholism), a remedy that contains alcohol does not make sense. In this case a Milk Thistle glycerite would make more sense.

How is a glycerite made?

When I wrote my book Making Tinctures: Beyond the Folk Method, I viewed glycerin, as many herbalists do, as a solvent equivalent to alcohol and treated it as such in making glycerites. However, in the years since that book was published, I have worked more with glycerites, as well as have done more research. As a result, I have discovered that there are many considerations in addition to solubility and preservability which require another look at how to use glycerin in tincture formulas.

To explain how to use glycerin instead of alcohol in a formula for a tincture requires some understanding of what are the differences in properties between alcohol, water, and glycerin, and how each interacts with specific herbal constituents.

One interesting discovery was that the reason the maximum proof for alcohol can only be 190 (meaning 95% alcohol) is that just when absolute alcohol (100% alcohol) is created, it immediately interacts with atmosphere to gain 5% water – thus becoming 95% alcohol. And guess what, GLYCERIN DOES THE SAME! So pure glycerin is a 95% solvent with 5% water. In other words, like alcohol, it is 190 proof.

I have documented all my findings and provide some of the practical conclusions from both my research and my experience in a chapter titled What is a Glycerite in my upcoming book Making Tinctures: Determining Formulas, Benefits, Safety, Dosage.

I have posted the chapter from my upcoming book here: What is a Glycerite?    

I would appreciate any comments you might have.