Earlier today I checked on my ceremonial oil and noticed a large air bubble in the quart jar. You can see it above covering the left side of jar's curved base. Brought both jars out to the kitchen in order to rectify and take these pics. Thought it might be helpful if you're getting ready to check your own brews or simply appreciate more encouragement by way of information concerning what you can expect as an overall process when doing this for yourself.
As soon as I unsealed the jar band on the quart jar I could smell the white pine. Once I lifted the lid I also smelled juniper and lavender in equal measure. It was only after I walked away to grab my camera that my brain registered the after-note of tulsi just as true to itself as a small crushed leaf in my hand.
a visual aid of what you can expect due to oil seepage. The outside of the infusion bottle may also have a sheen of oil. I use a cotton dishcloth with a tiny amount of grease cutting liquid dish detergent to swipe clear then polish everything clean with some warm water rinsed through the cloth and over the dish.
note: I don't include this oil with lid leavings (see below) because it isn't remotely clean. It's been sitting around in the open air collecting everything that's passed through the room. By default that means it's holding a much lower vibrational frequency than sequestered lid leavings.
Here's what full to the brim should look like. Note the surface tension of the oil is still holding its own weight. Nothing should be dripping before you do this:
You can see oil seeping like something in a cave, and also dots of infusion material. That means you'll need to get everything clean and clear of oil. Yes I realize that sounds redundant but oil's relatively heavy. That can be a royal pain if you've got a lot of it to deal with at one time and your cleaning cloth becomes over-saturated too soon.
pro tip: The surface tension smush-down pictured above makes its own case for the advantages of working with banded lid canning jars. Although it's by nature a messy maneuver this particular way of getting the jar re-sealed with confidence is simple and effectively fool-proof.
When you check on your own oil's welfare you'll probably have a lid with some thoroughly oil saturated infusion materials clinging to the lid's underside. Usually I use a small rubber spatula to scoop everything back in the jar. But today I had the inspiration to try scooping everything into the bottom pan of the enamel pan I use for all my herbal concoctionary needs. Once the water was simmering I placed it on the stove's warming burner. This had the whole downstairs smelling refreshed and revitalized in 20 minutes or so.
The smaller half pint bottle I prepared didn't need additional oil. When I took a deep inhalation of its scent I discovered the imprint was exactly opposite to the larger jar. The tulsi hit me right in the third eye as soon as the lid was unsealed. But the general scent's olfactory after-glow came from white pine. In both jars the elder lavender buds mellowed the sharp edges of the juniper. Which in turn enlivened and bolstered the lavender.
If you're doing this - or still actively planning something out at the recipe level please share in comments or drop me an email.
LOVE