Advanced Dit Da Jow Preparation Methods
If you are a lab geek like me then you might want to try some advanced Dit Da Jow preparation methods if you are in a hurry and want to save a week or more of the brewing time. These methods will yield a liniment just as strong if you brewed it the normal method for 4-6 weeks.
Even though the title says advanced preparation methods for Dit Da Jow you can apply the following methods for Iron Palm and Yangshang Tieda Yao. These methods take the double soak and triple soak methods which might have read about a step further.
Step One
You will need a couple of extra jars that are at least 1.75 liters (59 oz) in size or larger. The first step is to add your herbs in the big gallon jar and add one 1.75 liter bottle of vodka, which technically is called a solvent and after it is added to the herbs it is called the Menstruum. Seal up the jar and shake twice daily for 7 days, for about 2 minutes each time.
Step Two
After the seventh day pour ONLY the Menstruum from the big jar into your smaller jar. You will not get the full 1.75 liters out because the herbs will have absorbed some of the alcohol.
Get what you can and then seal up the jar and place it in a dark cool location. The next step is important but you must be careful, you need to heat up the second bottle of vodka so it is warm to hot anywhere from 85-100 degrees is good.
Step Three
The easiest way to do this is to pour your second 1.75 liter bottle of vodka into your extra 1.75 liter jar, seal it up and place in a water bath. A water bath is just a pan or pot of water that is being heated up on the stove and then a jar or other type container is placed inside and then is warmed up by the heated water. USE SAFETY GOGGLES AND GLOVES FOR THE NEXT STEP!
Heat up your jar of Vodka( solvent) until it gets warm to the touch or by using a thermometer (90-110 degrees)then while the Vodka is still hot pour it into the jar with the herbs. Seal up the jar and shake vigorously for a couple of minutes.
Step Four
The last step is to shake daily twice daily for 7 days. After the seventh day you can pour the contents of the first jar that you tucked away into the big jar with the herbs. For the next seven days shake twice daily, after the seventh day it is ready to use.
What you have done is called a double maceration(double soak). By removing the solvent after seven days then adding fresh new hot solvent you have sped up the extraction process. Solvents(alcohol), as they add the molecular compounds from the herbs and become the Menstruum, slow down in their ability to absorb the compounds. Adding fresh solvent that has been warmed up starts the extraction process up again at full speed allowing the solvent to absorb more compounds at normal or faster speeds.
One last step can be taken, depending on the size kit you are preparing you might be able to add a little more alcohol if you wish. Our Dit Da Jow and Iron Palm kits can use 4.25 liters of alcohol if your jar is large enough. So far in the advanced preparation methods we have discussed, we have only used 3.50 liters so another 750ml can be added if you have the room in the jar.
Additional Advanced Dit Da Jow Preparation Method
If you want to increase the extraction process even faster you will need two more small jars. What you need to do is cut the amount of solvent used in the first step in half and use only.875 liters(29.58 ounces) soak and shake for a week then pour the menstruum into a glass jar and then store in a dark cool place.
Repeat this same process two more times, the fourth and last time you will heat up the remaining solvent and add it to the herbs as in step three above. Now combine the contents from the three smaller jars into the big jar with the herbs and the warm solvent. Seal up the jar shake well for a minute and you can use your liniment.
So in a nutshell you just completed a quadruple maceration. The constant replenishing of fresh solvent increases the speed of the extraction process by exhausting the herbs faster of their constituents just as if the jar was sitting for a couple of years.
Water To Dilute
Some ancient Chinese herbalists substituted water in the first step instead of distilled high percentage alcohol, they did this to lower the alcohol percentage so the liniment did not evaporate quickly on the skin, permitting the liniment to soak a little longer into the skin. If you are going to try this try to maintain a final product percentage in the 20 to 40 percent range.
One great analogy I heard was compare it to cleaning dye (constituents) out of a shirt (herbs) with water (menstruum). Macerating is putting the dyed shirt into a jar of water and leaving it. A certain amount of dye will come out, but as soon as it comes out of the shirt, it’s in your water and lessens the drawing power of the water for the rest of the dye.
On the other hand, by running clean water over the shirt, you can potentially get the shirt cleaner, almost like using the rinse cycles on your washing machine. So we essentially doing the same thing as we add new solvent each time.
One thing you will notice is that the color of the menstruum from each jar week to week will become lighter. This is a good indication that you are exhausting the herbs properly.
The Most Important Key To Strong Dit Da Jow
The most important key of making a strong Dit Da Jow in a short period of time is agitation or shaking the jar. Without it you will never pull all the compounds out of the herbs in a timely manner, the ancients did not worry about how long it took, they just buried the vessel and left it for a year or longer.
By following these more advanced methods for preparing your Dit Da Jow you will save yourself at least 7 days if not more and have a stronger Jow in a shorter period of time.
If time is not a issue the standard maceration method will work the same, it will just take about a week or two longer but the end result will be the same.
But shaking your jar the first 3-4 weeks is crucial no matter what method you use to have a powerful Jow.
We will discuss additional methods in the future so check back in the as we add more methods. Read our article on making Zheng Gu Shui style liniment at home for other ideas.