dit da jow

Water is a solvent too...The universal solvent, in fact.

There are serveral reason to add water. Too high an alcohol content can make for a liniment that evaporates too quickly, is mushy, and is more costly (this might not be an issue for you here). All of these thigns are bad, IMO.

Furthermore, some compounds dissolve better in different types of solvents, so having water in there to balance will help with extraction on some level. For example, the non-poar nature of oil tends to extract different types of compounds in an oil-based liniment than something polar like water or alcohol (that is NOT to say that water and alcohol ahve the same dissolving properties), and this is likely why some types of oils used in other arts have water/alcohol AND oil in them...the only thing they are missing is a surfactant/emulsifier! =)

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

"Universal solvent", yeah, i use that phrase all the time, shoulda thought that one through more... ..
Anyhow, great points, i will consider them well. Thanks.

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PD or Dale, what will the herbs cost for this jow recipe?

Bob,

Call me at 617-595-8097

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Be well, train hard and heal quickly.

“	Originally Posted By: PlumDragon Hi Bob, All of those herbs are either currently up on our site, or we carry them but havent listed them yet, with 2 exceptions: Yuan Tong (Is this supposed to be Yuan Zhi Tong?), and luodieda, I dont know what this is referring to either.	”

Based upon feedback from various sources, I have made the following changes to my earlier post:

1) Yuan Tong is now Zi Ran Tong
2) Luo Die Da is now Luo Shi Teng

Other than putting herbs in a jar and simply adding vodka or rice wine, how do others prepare your jow?

Bob,
There are a number of different preparation methods, from processing (calcined, cooked, fried, ground, charred, etc etc etc) single herbs before adding them to your container, to processing the whole batch, cooking or heating the alcohol either with or without herbs in it already, and pre- and post-decoction. Are there any specific herbs youre referring to?

While some herbs work better or differently after processing, some herbs can be damaged by cooking, primarily due to volatile oils that can be destroyed or evaporated by heat or the friction of grinding. So, if youre not sure what to do with each herb, its best to err on the side of caution and simply add them to alcohol, warmed or not.

My experience is that each recipe will have its own little set of nuances and preparation methods that its creator intended when he/she designed the recipe.

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

“	Originally Posted By: Bob Asbridge Die Da Jiu Fang (Trauma Wine/Tincture Formula) Hong Hua 18g Dang Gui Wei 18g Ze Lan 18g San Leng 18g E Zhu 18g prepared Ru Xiang 30g prepared Mo Yao 30g prepared Zi Ran Tong 18g Su Mu 18g Da Huang 18g Niu Xi 18g Hou Po 18g Chuan Shan Long18g Yu Jin18g Xue Jie 30g Wu Yao 18g Sheng Di Huang 18g Tian San Qi 60g Gui Zhi 18g Mu Gua 18g Xi Xin 18g Wei Ling Xian 18g Bai Zhi18g Tao Ren 18g Fang Feng 18g Qiang Huo 18g Du Huo 18g Wu Jia Pi 18g prepared Cao Wu 18g prepared Chuan Wu18g Song Jie18g Ji Xue Teng 18g Mu Dan Pi 18g Zhi Ke 18g Tu Bie Chong 18g Mu Xiang 18g Yan Hu Suo18g Gu Shui Bu18g Xu Duan 18g Luo Shi Teng18g prepared Tian Nan Xing 18g with wine External use only	”

PD or Dale I would like to warm the alcohol before adding it to the above herbal mixture to maximize my extraction from the herbs. But how warm can I safely go before I risk damaging the oils etc.?

Bob,
If youre just warming the alcohol before pouring it over the herbs, you dont have much to worry about as herbs with volatile oils are generally post-decocted; that is, added towards the end of cooking (while the liquid is still hot) and that is essentially what you are doing to these herbs by heating the alcohol and adding. Youll likely be limited in this case by the fact that you wont want to heat your alcohol too much due to the worry of evaporation. Just heat it up for several minutes and pour it over and you should be fine--Its prolonged (meaning more than 5-15 minutes, depending on who you talk to) appliation of high-temp heat that destroys some of the oils.

If you had decided to cook the herbs in the alcohol, you would post-decoct the Mu Xiang and Wu Yao. And while its usually not explicitly stated in Materia Medicas, some of the Exterior-releasing herbs (Fang Feng and Qiang Huo are the only 2 relevant ones I see here) are somewhat aromatic and should probably be post-decocted just to stay on the safe side...

Also, dont forget to break up those resins!

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

I want to start using tinted rather than clear jars for my jow. So, does anyone know of a mail order source for darkly tinted wide-mouth glass jars, preferably quart?

Amber Glass Bottles Not wide mouth as I have never seen wide mouth amber glass bottles but you can always contact them and ask them if they know of anyone who makes them.


You should be getting your herbs very soon Bob.

Let me know how I can be of service to you again.

Be well, train hard and heal quickly

Dale

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Be well, train hard and heal quickly.

“	Originally Posted By: Dale Dugas67 Amber Glass Bottles Not wide mouth as I have never seen wide mouth amber glass bottles but you can always contact them and ask them if they know of anyone who makes them. Dale	”

As always, Dale, thanks for your help.

FYI, I did find wide-mouth amber glass gallon jars at the following websites:

Amber Glass Bottles and Jars
Glass Bottles, Amber Pharmaceutical Rounds with Black Phenolic Lined Caps
Metal Cans/Glass

I don't understand the specs regarding the caps (lids) etc. Does anyone know which jar-lid combo is bested suited for jow?

Personally, I cant stand wide-mouth jars for making jow. They tend to be much more prone to leaking, and are messier, especially when they are full. IMO, stick with the standard 1-gallon jug and cap.

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."

“	Originally Posted By: PlumDragon Personally, I cant stand wide-mouth jars for making jow. They tend to be much more prone to leaking, and are messier, especially when they are full. IMO, stick with the standard 1-gallon jug and cap.	”

PD, I can't find them locally. Can you provide a link to a reputable mail order supplier?

Thanks!

Northern Brewer and Specialty Bottle are one of several places to buy 1-gallon jugs. Caps are separate at Northern Brewer, but you might find shipping is less:

Northern Brewer

Specialty Bottle

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PlumDragon Herbs: Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm Liniments

"When a handshake passes the elbow, it becomes Judo."