First thing I would dry the leaves first to crack the cell walls, which will increase the extraction.
As for the saturation this will depend in part on what kind of cider vinegar is being used. Raw cider vinegar is already partially saturated so it will extract less. Distilled vinegars have less dissolved solids and therefore is less saturated and will extract more.
I recommend adding a heaping teaspoon of the dried, crushed herb per cup of vinegar. That should be more than enough to saturate the vinegar.
As for the Master Tonic I generally measure herbs in parts by weight since they have different densities making volume inaccurate. But it sounds like you are using everything fresh and you have one liquid so volume would be a better choice.
Well, my double dandelion is sitting in the cupboard as we speak; so I guess it's too late to dry it. :-) So, you would never use fresh dandelion leaves, chopped up?
Dried will definitely work better. A simple way to understand this is if you have ever tried to make a tea from fresh mint leaves it is pretty much flavorless because the cell walls have not been cracked to release the active constituents. If you dry the leaves first though there is a lot of flavor.
Pounded and blended would crack the cell walls, wouldn't it?
That will crack a lot of the cell walls, but not all. If you are in a rush you can always freeze the leaves first. The ice crystals will also crack the cell walls.
I believe the original vinegar was the distilled kind. It was quite saturated with herb, so I heated it, just to be on the safe side. Then I topped up the chopped leaves with ACV.
Interesting comment about the ACV and its being partly saturated--I never really looked at it like that before.
Makes sense. >>> Probably why Susun Weed used to say just to use the distilled white kind, which I would never ordinarily use.
Distilled will help extract more from the plant. Though she may also recommend the distilled to prevent the plant sugars being fermented by the "mother" in the raw vinegar.
Maybe your body does not like the stronger mint because mint is a smooth muscle relaxant and therefore can lead to acid reflux by relaxing the lower esophageal sphincter muscle.