The phases of the moon are very important in making tinctures.

Always make your tinctures on the NEW MOON, and press them on the FULL
MOON.

Every great herbalist I know of including Dr. Schulze, Dr. Christopher
and Dr. Royal Lee made their tinctures this way.

This principle is not new, and goes back to farmers of antiquity. It is
a very valid and important part of Herbal technology.

Except in the case of an emergency, every tincture should be allowed to
brew for at least two weeks (prepare on the New Moon & press on the Full
Moon). In an emergency, I've made a batch of Cayenne tincture and
instantly given it to a person with heart problems to have those
problems disappear immediately. Anything you make yourself is going to
be a zillion times more potent than what you buy in the stores with the
exception of purchasing direct from an herbalist who knows his or her
stuff. If you have to whup up a batch of something in an emergency, it
will still be more powerful than store bought remedies.

The rule of thumb is: "The longer you let a tincture brew, the more
potent it gets."

IE. Last June 98, a day before the New Moon, my Wildcrafter picked a
couple of dozen pounds of Echinacea Root starting at 5AM and bundled it
up with an ice pack and shipped it to me UPS Overnight by 10AM the same
morning. I received the bundle by 11AM the next day (the New Moon), and
by 4 PM of that day had 10 gallons brewing in one gallon jars.

Now, I make my tinctures the same way Doc Schulze does. 3/4 (three
quarters) of that gallon jar is crammed packed with Echinacea plant
matter and the first gallon wasn't opened and pressed until the Full
Moon two weeks later. It was top notch. Since then, I've pressed it on
the Full Moon as needed by my clients. I've got 3 gallons left and the
last one I pressed was so potent that my mouth was numb for an half an
hour after I took one dropperful.

You are probably splitting hairs after a tincture has brewed for more
than six months to a year, but you can leave it in as long as you want
with it only getting better.

Make several bottles so that you can use some within two weeks of
brewing and then press the remainder as needed on subsequent Full Moons.

Hope this helps.

Ian "Doc" Shillington