I collected 14cups of yew needles. Should equal to about 1004g. Split between two people is roughly 500g each (we both want to do this). I don't have a food scale so it's an estimate from what I could get off of google.
We chopped it very fine while still fresh. Used 32oz mason jars that were filled about 3/4 of the way with the yew needles. Filled the mason jars up to the neck with everclear. When we got to the third jar we had so little of the needles left that it only ended up about 1/4 of the way filled so I only poured the everclear to about half full. In total it was 1.75 L of everclear (190 proof).
We let the jars sit overnight and in the morning I started the warm tincture method. I heat the water to about 120-130f and let the mason jars sit in it. Once the water temperature drops to about 100f I reheat it again. It's every 30 minutes or so. Alcohol has a boiling point of 174f and it starts putting off gasses at that temperature which creates a massive fire/explosion risk, the gas can also get you drunk in a very not fun way. Because of that I have the big pot of water with the jars sitting in the window with a box fan blowing it outside even though we're under the boiling point.
I also didn't keep the lids screwed on to prevent any pressure buildup. I did keep the middle circle part on the jars just without the screw on part. Just during the infusion part once it's time for the evaporation phase I'll remove it and increase the water temperature to probably 150-160f.
When you do the warm tincture method you wanna heat it for 4-6 hours. I decided to go with 6 hours. I'll let it cool off a little and strain out the plant matter with a cheesecloth to squeeze out as much of the alcohol as I can before starting the evaporation phase. I plan on reducing the liquid to about two shots worth or even less if I can manage it.
Something fun we learned while making this is that the liquid turns so dark green it looks black and you can't even see a flashlight when you shine it through the other side. That change also happened so quickly, it was a faint green while we poured in the alcohol and put the lit on and as soon as we were done shaking it had already turned black.
I'll update when I'm done reducing the liquid and we take it. Were also planning on taking an anti nausea medicine a little while before we take the yew. Its over the counter though so I doubt it'll do much.
We also plan on drinking a little tequila rose to help better absorb the poison but not getting past the point of tipsy
We may also take some trazadone beforehand but I don't know yet
Fun fact, did you know historically yew tinctures were used in assasinations?
We chopped it very fine while still fresh. Used 32oz mason jars that were filled about 3/4 of the way with the yew needles. Filled the mason jars up to the neck with everclear. When we got to the third jar we had so little of the needles left that it only ended up about 1/4 of the way filled so I only poured the everclear to about half full. In total it was 1.75 L of everclear (190 proof).
We let the jars sit overnight and in the morning I started the warm tincture method. I heat the water to about 120-130f and let the mason jars sit in it. Once the water temperature drops to about 100f I reheat it again. It's every 30 minutes or so. Alcohol has a boiling point of 174f and it starts putting off gasses at that temperature which creates a massive fire/explosion risk, the gas can also get you drunk in a very not fun way. Because of that I have the big pot of water with the jars sitting in the window with a box fan blowing it outside even though we're under the boiling point.
I also didn't keep the lids screwed on to prevent any pressure buildup. I did keep the middle circle part on the jars just without the screw on part. Just during the infusion part once it's time for the evaporation phase I'll remove it and increase the water temperature to probably 150-160f.
When you do the warm tincture method you wanna heat it for 4-6 hours. I decided to go with 6 hours. I'll let it cool off a little and strain out the plant matter with a cheesecloth to squeeze out as much of the alcohol as I can before starting the evaporation phase. I plan on reducing the liquid to about two shots worth or even less if I can manage it.
Something fun we learned while making this is that the liquid turns so dark green it looks black and you can't even see a flashlight when you shine it through the other side. That change also happened so quickly, it was a faint green while we poured in the alcohol and put the lit on and as soon as we were done shaking it had already turned black.
I'll update when I'm done reducing the liquid and we take it. Were also planning on taking an anti nausea medicine a little while before we take the yew. Its over the counter though so I doubt it'll do much.
We also plan on drinking a little tequila rose to help better absorb the poison but not getting past the point of tipsy
We may also take some trazadone beforehand but I don't know yet
Fun fact, did you know historically yew tinctures were used in assasinations?
