Adapta-Cap with Straw: An Herbal Medicine Maker's Dream Tool!

A few weeks back, I ordered a few "tools" from AromaTools that I'd been eyeing because I noticed that there was FINALLY another shipping option besides UPS - USPS Flat Rate!  I got an essential oil stick (looks kind of like a back scratcher, but without the scratcher and with two holes in it) so
that I could put oils on my own back, four adapta-caps for my 32 oz amber bottles, and two 5-ml and two 20-ml syringes to use with the adapta-caps.

Let me just say that I went out on a limb when I ordered the adapta-caps and hoped and prayed that they and the syringes would work like I needed them to - for dispensing my homemade elderberry syrup and plantain elder cough syrup.  The description says they're for measuring and re-bottling essential oils, so I wasn't completely certain they'd work.  My thought process was that it would probably work similarly to how the Target pharmacy does their liquid children's medicine - with the plastic insert in the mouth of the bottle and a syringe for easier dispensing and giving the medicine to the child - only better.

If you haven't seen them, some of the adapta-caps come with a straw.  Why, oh WHY anyone would purchase one without a straw is beyond me.  Since there's a straw, no upside down tipping of the bottle is required.  I shelled out the extra $ and got all four with straws.  Thankfully, I'd ordered my 32-oz amber bottles from them as well, so I knew they'd fit.  Note: There are different sizes of adapta-caps for different size bottle openings.  Be sure you order the right size or they won't fit.  

I placed my order, and several days later it came in. We'd just moved, so I opened it and put everything away.  After all, no one was sick, and we weren't taking the elderberry syrup on a regular basis, so I had no immediate need to try them out.

Earlier this afternoon, I heard my daughter cough.  Thinking she'd just had some food go down the wrong pipe, I ignored it. She called, from the living room, for me to bring her the "cough stuff".  I didn't think she needed it, so I went in to ask her if she'd choked or if she really needed it.  She said she needed it.  So off I went to the fridge to pull out the elder/plantain cough syrup.

For a minute, I completely forgot that I had these new caps and syringes, and fumbled through the drawer to find something that would work.  Then I remembered that I had these, so off I went to find them.  Thankfully, I'd put them in the drawer with my other EO tools, so I pulled them out, went back to the kitchen to grab my kitchen shears, and sat down at the dining room table.

I measured approximately how long the straw would need to be to reach the bottom of the bottle.  I then took my shears and cut the straw at an angle.

I then removed the lid to the cough syrup, inserted the straw...

and screwed on the adapta-cap.  Perfect fit!

Since her dosage is 1 tsp, I grabbed the 20-ml syringe.  Why not the 5-ml (which is exactly 1 tsp) you ask?  I was taking into account that nothing had been sucked up the straw yet, so there would be a bit of air in the syringe ahead of the medicine.  I removed the cover from the end of the syringe...

 put the tip of the syringe into the cap...

and slowly drew it up until the medicine reached the 5-ml mark. See the air in there?

Once the medicine reached the 5-ml mark, I pulled the syringe out of the cap, inverted it, and slowly pushed the air back out the end of the syringe for a perfect dose.

I then took it to my daughter, and she happily took her medicine.  She asked for more (NEVER happens) so I repeated the process for the regular elderberry syrup (giving it its own adapta-cap with straw) and gave her some of that as well for an extra immunity boost.

As an added bonus, I'm able to leave the adapta-cap/straw contraptions on the bottles as lids because they have a little lid that flips over to open/close.  AND since there is now medicine in the straws, I'll be able to use the 5-ml syringes from now on with no worries about excess air.

I am absolutely IN LOVE with these adapta-caps with straws.  I got four of them because I've actually made four herbal medicines with them (two we've used and two we haven't yet).  They're all stored in the 32-oz bottles because of how much each recipe made.  And because they'll last practically forever, why make a smaller batch??  If you have a chance, I'd suggest you get some of these...especially if you're delving into making your own elderberry syrup or other medicine.  It makes dispensing it and giving it to little ones a TON easier...especially in the middle of the night.

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