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Sylvia Rose

Red & White Tartar: Wine Salts of Alchemy

Updated: Oct 3

Red and white tartar are ingredients used by ancients and yet today. Alchemists have great interest in salts, waters, spirits and substances of crystallization due to their connection with essence of life. The main source of red tartar comes from inside wine barrels, where it forms.



making wine

Tartaric acid is a white, crystalline organic acid found naturally in various fruits, with grapes the most notable source, as well as in tamarinds, bananas, avocados, and citrus fruits. During fermentation, its salt, potassium bitartrate (KC4H5O6), or cream of tartar, forms naturally.


Potassium bitartrate combines with sodium bicarbonate as baking powder. Aka potassium hydrogen tartrate, potassium bitartrate is a carboxylic acid. Other carboxylic acids include valerian, named for the plant. Valerian acid stinks until processed to release a floral aroma.



red tartar crystals rough in bowl
Red tartar gets its color from the anthocyanins in grape skins. In ancient times it's collected from wine barrels.

The color of red tartar comes from anthocyanins. Blackberries, blueberries, grapes and other dark berries are especially rich in these medicinal pigments. Anthocyanins bestow significant health benefits, including to


  • aid in the prevention of obesity and diabetes

  • modulate cognitive and motor function,

  • enhance memory

  • preventing age-related declines in neural function.



bountiful berries
bountiful berries

Dietary sources of anthocyanins include red and purple berries, grapes, apples, plums, cabbage, or foods containing high levels of natural colorants. Berries are the best source of this natural wonder.


An official antioxidant (E334), tartaric acid is used in foods for its distinct sour flavor. It has a few aliases which can sometimes make identification difficult.



White Tartaric Acid (Salts)
White Tartar

Due to its natural occurrence tartar is a valuable material for organic chemical synthesis. Tartaric acid, classified fully as an alpha-hydroxy-carboxylic acid, is diprotic, meaning it donates two protons to other acids.


Applications include as:


  • baking powders and baking mixes

  • a mordant in textile dyeing

  • a reducing agent for chromium trioxide in wool mordants

  • a metal processing aid that prevents oxidation

  • an intermediate for other potassium tartrates

  • a cleaning agent when combined with a mild acid like vinegar

  • a reference standard pH buffer



Antimony potassium tartrate or tartar emetic (medical: vomit-inducing)
Antimony potassium tartrate or tartar emetic (medical: vomit-inducing)

In medicine it's used as a cathartic and diuretic. It has historical usage as a laxative and diuretic in veterinary medicine.


In alchemy, salts and crystallized substances are de rigor. These are essential components of the subject substance, purified by transformation. Medieval alchemists make the connection o red and white which appears everywhere in alchemy writings and art.



Medieval Alchemy - Red King and White Queen
Medieval Alchemy - Red King and White Queen

The colors red and white have meaning from Alexandrian alchemy to the froth and frivolity of Renaissance art and alchemical thought. When Maria speaks of joining red and white she refers to the male and female principle inherent in these colors.



Non-Fiction Books:


Fiction Books:

READ: Lora Ley Adventures - Germanic Mythology Fiction Series

READ: Reiker For Hire - Victorian Detective Murder Mysteries





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