Our Story
Back in 1980 prior to developing the TincTract® process for making completely alcohol-free liquid herbal products, L. Carl Robinson had determined that liquid delivery of herbs was far more efficient than what dried herbal products were capable of, however, he asked two question, "Why is alcohol still the primary solvent used for liquid herbal tinctures/extracts in the liquid herbal products industry?" And, "Why are the process methodologies used for tincturing herbs so antiquated and not current to known science proven concepts?"
Carl's recalled that his studies in high school chemistry had taught him that alcohol (i.e. grain based ethanol) possess the intrinsic effects of denaturing and rendering inert many organic compounds, many in fact that are present in herbs, and the fact that different compounds, to retain their intrinsic biological nature, require different methodologies to effectively extract them from a raw material.
Out of these considerations, Carl developed a multi-step serialized process that utilizes the non-alcohol solvent glycerin for making liquid herbal concentrates. He would name this unique technology the TincTract® process.
Simply put, the TincTract® process is geared towards extracting heat sensitive water soluble compounds and compounds requiring more dynamic processes being done in an all in one serialized process.
A multi-step liquid processing approach had never before been done in the liquid herbal products industry to the degree Carl had developed, and the TincTract® process still holds the distinction of being the most thorough liquid herbal extraction technology in the herbal products industry.
What are the benefits of a botanical that has been subjected to the TincTract® process?
They are many:
No alcohol is used at any time in the making of a 'Genuine TincTract® Made' product. This means the components extracted from a botanical are not subjected to alcohol's denaturing and/or inert rendering effects. For instance, aromatic compounds are not denatured by glycerin, that when alcohol is used results in their diminishing or loosing their efficacy, and many polysaccharides, especially the linked and cross-linked ones, are able to be extracted with glycerin and not crystalized (denatured) and rendered inert as alcohol does to many polysaccharides as seen in the chitin matrix of mushrooms and mycelium for instance.
There is an emerging controversy in the liquid herbal products industry concerning the fact that single pass distilled alcohol being made from grains also contains pass-through gluten particles that can set off gluten sensitivity issues. What is known is that only grain alcohol that has been double, and even better, triple distilled, can be deemed to be completely free of pass through gluten factors. Some companies using grain alcohol may utilize the cheaper single distilled variety as the double/triple distilled variety is much more expensive. To be sure, many reputable alcohol-based liquid herbal products do use the double/triple distilled variety of alcohol, but it is those that don't that one has to be careful of regarding this issue. Because no alcohol is ever used in a TincTract® process, all the resulting products are 'absolutely' gluten-free!.
The intrinsic taste quality of an herb is retained, indicating that the biological viability remains intact, so much so that a finished TincTract® made liquid herb possesses a taste quality remarkably similar to the fresh harvested botanical itself. No other liquid herbal processing technology possesses this quality in the industry and it has become a hallmark of our 'Genuine TincTract® Made' products.
TincTract® liquid herbal products are the most 'concentrated' glycerin-based herbal extracts of a 'whole' herb based nature available in the marketplace. The generational improvements and enhancements to the proprietary TincTract® process have resulted in the recommended per dose amount going from generation one's 1 teaspoonful down to the current generation's ¼ teaspoonful. This means that on a per dose basis 'Genuine TincTract® Made' products are one of the most economical liquid herbal products for day-to-day use.
All 'Genuine TincTract® Made' products are FDA cGMP inspected, Kosher certified by an OU recognized kashrus certifying organization, Halal compliant and Vegan certified.
Our 'Genuine TincTract® Made' products are not only in our flagship Cedar Bear retail brand product lines, but are private labeled and contract manufactured for other retail brands, and included as ingredients in other companies products – that's how effective and trusted our Genuine TincTract® Made products are.
