How to Make Herbal Vinegar

5 from 1 vote

Chop fresh herbs as finely as possible
Put dried herbs in a mortar and smash them up a bit
Fill a glass jar one quarter full of dried herbs or three quarters of the way full with fresh herbs
Pour vinegar over the herbs, filling the jar to the top with vinegar
Make sure that the vinegar covers the ingredients by at least three inches

If the spice is in whole form, put it in a mortar and use the pestle to break the spice open a bit
Dried spices are stronger than fresh, leafy herbs; use less of them in the vinegar
Fill a glass jar one quarter of the way full with dried spices
Pour vinegar over the spices, filling the jar to the top with vinegar

If your vinegar contains only dried herbs and spices, they can be left in the jar for the duration of the vinegar use
Fresh ingredients need to be strained out after one month
Vinegars made for cosmetic uses can be concocted with fresh or dried herbs but be sure to strain the herbs out of any vinegar that will be used topically
Place a funnel into the opening of a clean, sterilized jar and lay cotton muslin over the top of the funnel
Pour the contents of the jar with the infusing vinegar through the muslin, being careful not to let the contents fall out of the side of the muslin
Let all the vinegar drain through the muslin cloth and funnel into the clean jar
If your vinegar is made with fresh ingredients, don’t squeeze what is in the muslin, or water will squeeze out of the fresh ingredients giving you a cloudy vinegar with a shorter shelf life. Just let liquid drip on its own
Discard the strained-out ingredients into the compost. The liquid left behind is your herbal vinegar

Store herbal vinegar in a clean container in a dark cabinet out of heat, light and temperature variation. Your vinegar should last for about a year. Make sure you store the vinegar in a container with a plastic or cork lid. The vinegar will eat any metal it comes into contact with.