Wine preparation

Also wine. Any preparation made by steeping medicinals in grain wine or liquor.

Method: There are two methods of making wine preparations, cold steeping and hot steeping.

Cold steeping: The medicinal materials are cut, crushed, or ground, and steeped in white liquor (liquor distilled usually from sorghum or maize) or yellow wine (wine made from rice or millet) in a sealed large stone jar. The preparation is stirred each day, either with a ladle or by joggling the jar. When ready to drink, which is after a minimum of 30 days, but ideally for most wines much longer, the clear wine near the surface may be removed and strained to be made ready for drinking. Grubs are almost inevitably brought out from the materials by the liquor. It suffices that these should be filtered out in the process of straining. Some formulas allow the materials to be reused.

Hot steeping: The materials and wine are placed in a receptacle and brought to the boil either in a steamer or double-boiler before they are placed in the jar to steep. In this method, the clear wine may be removed and strained for use after 15–20 days. Medicinal wines promote flow in the blood vesselsand are used in wind-damp impediment (bì) patterns (rheumatism) and other chronic conditions.