Yesterday I dispensed my batch of Horehound (Marrubium vulgare) glycerite tincture. I used a 1:2 fresh plant/glycerin ratio and let it macerate for four weeks. The extract is a speckled light brown, very much like the color of horehound candy you can rarely find these days.

The taste is superb, considering how nasty horehound is. For a mint, it's an unpleasant one. But the glycerin makes it more than palitable... it's quite good!

I'm unsure of the medicinal value. I used straight glycerin for the extraction, which works well for tannins, minerals, alkaloids and vitamins. But glycerin doesn't extract volatile oils, resins or mucilage worth a tinkers fart.. so what do I have?

Well, I know that water will dissolve mucilage quite well. Since I used a fresh plant marc, I'm fairly certain the water content of the plant itself brought out the mucilage. Horehound does contain resins and volatile oils... but not very much. Yes, it's a mint, but an oderless one. I'm thinking these constituents are in awfully low levels... just not certain how much the contribute to the synergistic medical qualities of the plant. I guess we'll see...