Rose petal tincture is easy to make and this sort of medicine making is good for the soul. A tincture is a combination of your herb, alcohol and water that is left to macerate for a set period of time. The alcohol / water medium encourages plant chemicals to move from the plant into the liquid resulting in a tincture.
I prefer Rosa damascena as my rose petal of choice. It grows really well in the Wairarapa and smells heavenly. When my rose bushes are full of blooms, I know it’s time to get tincturing.
Here’s how to make rose petal tincture
Begin by adding your rose petals to a clean, sterilised mason jar.
Rose petal tincture uses an alcohol by volume (AbV) of around 25%. This means for every 1000mls of liquid, 250mls of it will be alcohol. I made my tincture using a vodka that had an AbV of 40% so I added 600mls of water to 1 litre of vodka to reduce the alcohol concentration from 40% to 25%.
When you add the vodka and water, make sure all the rose petals are covered and soaked in the liquid. I use a spoon to push them under and make sure they get a good soaking. You don’t want any rose petals exposed to the air.
Leave your rose petals, vodka and water to macerate for 2 days, then strain off and bottle the liquid. A short maceration period allows the volatile oils to be absorbed into the liquid without bringing across too many of the tannins.
Ta dah! Rose petal tincture.
