Cao Dou Kou Tincture & Alcohol-Free Extract

Cao Dou Kou (Alpinia katsumadai, now classified by Kew as Alpinia hainanensis), the Katsumada galangal, is a leafy perennial of the ginger family, Zingiberaceae, native to the forests of Hainan, Guangdong, and Guangxi in southern China and to northern Vietnam. Leafy stems 1 to 2 meters tall rise from a rhizome, with long, narrow, pointed leaves and a dense, erect raceme of white flowers whose broad lip is marked yellow with red veins. The fruit is a round, golden-yellow capsule 3 to 4 centimeters across that holds a tight, three-lobed mass of grey-brown seeds with a sharp, camphor-like, slightly bitter taste. We extract the dried seed.