Making Dit Da Jow...

[EternalSpring]

Long story short: I've recently been doing a lot of reading into making dit da jow and basically many things regarding chinese medicine. Simply put, it's something I'd want to learn in an accredited school, but if that happens, it's going to be at a slow pace and not as my main priority (because ive already been in school for another field for my career). That said, in the meantime, I've been doing as much studying as I can and have come to a few questions regarding making Dit Da Jow.

The First thing I should mention is that I'm currently planning on working with a recipe from "A Tooth from the Tiger's Mouth" by Tom Bisio. My main reason being that it seems simple and I've heard good things about it. Plus I bought the book and **** well better get something cool out of it (but seriously speaking, it's a great book so far)

After doing some more reading (internet and books, ps, if anyone can recommend good books or anything to read to prepare to eventually learn chinese medicine, please feel free to help out and mention them), I've come across a few questions, and was hoping that perhaps someone here could offer some insight.

-What are some good (effective) but cost efficient glass jars to store my herbs+alcohol in?

-What would be the best type of way to bottle the Jow after at least a 6-12 month period?

-Is grinding herbs good or bad for the process of making Jow?

Sorry if these questions have been answered, and if so, please link the thread. Thanks.

[Dale Dugas]

You will learn very little about making Dit Da Jow at a graduate school for Chinese Medicine. You will learn about the herbs and what they do but not much about dit da jow unless they have a good Dit Da Ke class or department.

You can use glass carboys to store your liniments in. They are 3-6 gallon glass jars that will last lifetimes if properly cared for. You can find them at beer and wine making supply stores.

You do not have to wait 6 months before bottling liniments. Anyone who tells you this is misinformed. You can usually decant from your larger bottle into a smaller portable bottle(many people like Grolsch beer bottles as they are easy to open with one hand) and leave your liniment in the storage container. Most of the time you can decant 6-8 weeks after you have added the alcohol.

A rough grind is good but you can grind finer if you want to. Its all about getting more surface area of the herbs exposed to the solvent(alcohol & water) so that you get more of the active chemicals from the herbs into the solution.

Let me know how I can be of service.

[Empty_Cup]

You will learn very little about making Dit Da Jow at a graduate school for Chinese Medicine. You will learn about the herbs and what they do but not much about dit da jow unless they have a good Dit Da Ke class or department.

You can use glass carboys to store your liniments in. They are 3-6 gallon glass jars that will last lifetimes if properly cared for. You can find them at beer and wine making supply stores.

You do not have to wait 6 months before bottling liniments. Anyone who tells you this is misinformed. You can usually decant from your larger bottle into a smaller portable bottle(many people like Grolsch beer bottles as they are easy to open with one hand) and leave your liniment in the storage container. Most of the time you can decant 6-8 weeks after you have added the alcohol.

A rough grind is good but you can grind finer if you want to. Its all about getting more surface area of the herbs exposed to the solvent(alcohol & water) so that you get more of the active chemicals from the herbs into the solution.

Let me know how I can be of service.

Good Guy Dale.

[EternalSpring]

You will learn very little about making Dit Da Jow at a graduate school for Chinese Medicine. You will learn about the herbs and what they do but not much about dit da jow unless they have a good Dit Da Ke class or department.

You can use glass carboys to store your liniments in. They are 3-6 gallon glass jars that will last lifetimes if properly cared for. You can find them at beer and wine making supply stores.

You do not have to wait 6 months before bottling liniments. Anyone who tells you this is misinformed. You can usually decant from your larger bottle into a smaller portable bottle(many people like Grolsch beer bottles as they are easy to open with one hand) and leave your liniment in the storage container. Most of the time you can decant 6-8 weeks after you have added the alcohol.

A rough grind is good but you can grind finer if you want to. Its all about getting more surface area of the herbs exposed to the solvent(alcohol & water) so that you get more of the active chemicals from the herbs into the solution.

Let me know how I can be of service.

I'm semi relieved that Dit Da Jow making has to be learned separately in many cases rather than from a graduate school. Perhaps that means I can learn a significant amount about it through other means. Are there any good sources to learn about making Jow that you would recommend ? I know most would say to go to the sifu but I'm trying to save that option for later because I wanted to show my sifu i had some initiative and did some research and experimenting before just coming out of nowhere trying to learn more about how he makes his Jow. Also, I'd want to learn more to hopefully improve our recipe through trial and error over time.

And the glass carboys definitely look like the best thing to go for, thanks for that advice. As for the 6 month wait period for bottling, that was actually my own silly conclusion. I read about decanting after 6 weeks and about waiting 6 months and sided with the latter because I thought it's be a superior or more potent Jow because of the longer wait, but if that's not the case then 6 weeks sounds way better. Do you have any recommendation for what kind of bottles to look for in the 8oz size?

[Raipizo]

Maybe this could help.

http://www.specialtybottle.com/amber...bottlesmi.aspx

[EternalSpring]

Maybe this could help.

http://www.specialtybottle.com/amber...bottlesmi.aspx

Thanks! Those are actually exactly the type of bottles I was looking for

[Raipizo]

Thanks! Those are actually exactly the type of bottles I was looking for

No problem , just a quick google search.