Further to this point, microwaving finely powdered MHRB on low (10% power) in vodka (well, actually Doppelkorn, but still grain alcohol @38%abv) makes a deep wine-red extract. The beaker was covered with a piece of parafilm to hinder evaporation, minimising the explosion risk.

SAFETY NOTE: ONE SHOULD ALWAYS BE WARY OF HEATING FLAMMABLE SOLVENTS! The microwave is not necessarily intrinsically safe, so careful consideration was given to heating rates and vapour confinement. If in doubt, use a warm water bath instead! NEVER HEAT A SEALED CONTAINER without incorporating a fail-safe pressure relief system! (Parafilm achieves this in this particular instance, but the temperature remained below 70ᵒC.)

50g bark with 300mL vodka resulted, after filtering and washing of the marc with 4×50mL unheated vodka, in 350mL of extract. Some evaporative losses will have occured, and the powder retains a significant volume of solvent both through absorption and interstitially. This process may be amenable to use of a Soxhlet apparatus, despite prior opinions to the contrary…

It remains to be decided whether to proceed with tannin precipitation using lime, or simply to keep the tincture in its present form.