Lion's Mane has gathered more serious attention over recent years than nearly any other functional mushroom. The research interest clusters around two compound groups: hericenones in the fruiting body, which stimulate Nerve Growth Factor, and erinacines in the mycelium, which can cross the blood-brain barrier. Neither of these is accessible by eating the mushroom raw or grinding it into a capsule. They require extraction, and the quality of that extraction is determined first
There is a consistent omission running through most extraction guides, whether the subject is cannabis oil or medicinal mushrooms. They describe ratios, timing, and equipment in considerable detail. The solvent gets mentioned briefly, often with a vague reference to "high-proof alcohol," and then the guide moves on. That is backwards. Understanding how to make RSO correctly means understanding what the alcohol actually does. 95% ethanol dissolves cannabinoids, terpenes, and a
Ask any experienced tincture maker which single variable they refuse to negotiate on, and the answer is almost always the same: the solvent. Not the herb. Not the steeping time. The alcohol. Specifically, the concentration of it. 190 proof alcohol is 95% ethanol. That 5% gap from absolute purity is not accidental. It represents the minimum water content that remains after conventional distillation, and in most extraction applications, it is barely relevant. What matters is wh
