Do I Decant My Jow

Do I decant my Jow? That is a question often asked, personally I never decant any of the Jows we make. I follow some of the old masters who felt that leaving the herbs in the jar until the Jow was exhausted was the best way to get a good solid aged Dit Da Jow or other external liniment. Decanting is generally only done for tinctures, infusions or decoctions, where the end product is to be taken internally. Since we are using A Jow for external use only then it is not necessary.

Obviously the longer the herbs sit in alcohol the stronger it becomes, but we will not be discussing the aging benefits in this article, most active customers who participate in a contact sport go thru a gallon of liniment in a year or two, never reaching that so called aged status.

Decanting For Bottling

Some people like to decant before they put the Jow in a small bottle, I believe that would more for aesthetics than anything else, I like to have a little sediment in my small bottle, it gives some extra essence to the Jow. While it is not necessary to have I feel it adds something to the healing property in the small bottle. I have heard of people decanting an entire batch of Dit Da Jow into small bottles then they throw out the herbs, I would never do that.

Other Reasons Not To Decant

One advantage not decanting is when the liquid portion of the liniment is exhausted you can use the remaining damp herbs as a poultice if the need arises. Classically, a poultice (a.k.a. cataplasm) is a soft, mushy preparation composed of the herbs that have been soaked in the alcohol which has absorbed a large amount of this alcohol and due to the consistency of the herbs they can be applied to the skin and wrapped.

The aged herbs have a good consistency and do not need to be made into a paste. You spread this thickly upon cloths or you can fill a cotton sock with the herbs and apply either directly to the body.  Some poultices work well when heated and applied hot to the skin with Dit Da Jow I do not use heat as I do not want to lose any of the aromatic nature of the Jow.

Another reason not to decant as mentioned above is that the moist herbs left after the liquid has been used still contain a lot of alcohol which also contains all the healing compounds, alkaloids and tannin’s that can be squeezed out with a wine press or combined with a new batch of herbs to help with a second batch.

A fruit press used to squeeze out all the powerful liniment left by the herbs

Squeezing out the herbs with a wine or fruit press is a great way to get some powerful liniment that is rich in all the healing compounds, once squeezed the herbs can then be discarded as they have exhausted all of their healing properties. If you choose not to do that you can start a new batch with a new pack of herbs. The jar should be large enough to handle all the herbs. Just add the new pack with the aged damp herbs and then add your alcohol. This is a great way to have a stronger second batch, so no need to decant your Jow unless you must.