An amber colored dropper bottle has the dropper portion positioned next to it, the dropper if full of golden liquid, beyond are a few flowers that are scattered about.

How to Make a Cannabis Tincture: Easy Cold Alcohol Extraction

March 29, 2022 /

Last Updated on August 9, 2023

Come learn how to make your own homemade cannabis tincture using a simple cold alcohol (ethanol) extraction method with our step-by-step guide. I’ve included plenty of photos to make the process as clear and easy to follow as possible. There is also a printable summary at the end – though I don’t think you’ll want to miss the extra tips in the body of the post.

Tinctures are a convenient, discreet, and easy way to enjoy your plant medicine. It’s kinder to your lungs than smoking or vaporizing, and offers more controlled and consistent dosing compared to smoking or homemade edibles. (I love that I can take just a few drops if needed.) You can use this homemade cannabis tincture recipe with any of your favorite cannabis strains, with CBD hemp only, or like we do – with homegrown herb!

What is a cannabis tincture?

A cannabis tincture is a concentrated alcohol-based cannabis extract, often referred to as “Green Dragon” among the cannabis community. High percentage alcohol is used as a solvent to extract the medicinal compounds (cannabinoids and terpenes) from the plant flower or “buds”. Though tinctures are essentially cannabis-infused alcohol, you do not get drunk since only a tiny amount is consumed.

Cannabis tinctures are highly therapeutic. Studies show that cannabis can be used to soothe a wide variety of physical and mental ailments, including sleep disorders, stress, anxiety, ADD/ADHD, muscle tension, joint pain, migraine headaches, inflammation, seizures, cancer, chronic pain and more. Cannabis tinctures can contain THC only (such as THC isolate), a blend of THC and CBD, or CBD alone.

When it comes to CBD, I always use my favorite certified organic full-spectrum CBD oil from NuVita. It’s federally-legal and is the most effective, potent and pure CBD oil I’ve ever tried. It does wonders for my anxiety, TMJ, and sleep issues! (Use code “deannacat” or this link to save 10% off) But if we want something with THC, we make our own tinctures using homegrown cannabis. It’s fun, rewarding, and a great way to save money!

A birds eye view of an amber glass dropper that is laying on its side with various cannabis flowers surrounding it on all sides.

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What type of alcohol to make homemade cannabis tincture?

It is best to use either 190 to 200-proof food grade ethanol (aka ethyl alcohol) or 190-proof Everclear alcohol for this cannabis tincture recipe. Both are strong natural solvents that will effectively strip and separate the desired cannabinoids from the plant material. We use this USDA o rganic ethanol. It is pure food-grade grain alcohol, and doesn’t contain any additives or water.

Lower-proof alcohol (e.g. 80 proof vodka) is a weaker solvent and also has a higher water content than ethanol, which can interfere with the extraction and tincture-making process. You technically can make homemade cannabis tincture with vodka or other lower proof liquor, but it requires additional steps that we aren’t going to cover in this article.

Do not use rubbing alcohol.

A birds eye view image of a hand holding a quart jar of Culinary Solvent organic 200 proof non denatured ethyl alcohol. Flanking the top of the bottle are two separate containers, one is filled with decarbed cannabis and the other is full of the ethyl alcohol.

What type of cannabis should I use?

It’s important to use decarbed cannabis in this homemade cannabis tincture recipe. If you’re not familiar with decarboxylation, it’s essentially the process of heating cannabis to “activate” it (explained more below). When exposed to heat, raw forms of THCA, CBDA, and other cannabinoids are converted to their active forms of THC and CBD – making it psychoactive as well as more therapeutic. (It’s the same reaction that occurs when you heat cannabis via smoking or vaporizing, and why eating raw bud doesn’t get you high).

Aside from that, use whatever cannabis you prefer or have on hand! Choose a strain (or combination of a couple) with traits you personally desire from your homemade cannabis tincture. We use what we grow: well-rounded sativa/indica hybrids that also offer a good amount of CBD. Learn how to grow your own organic cannabis at home here, and shop for seeds here.

For the most therapeutic tincture, I recommend using strains with a well-balanced THC to CBD ratio. If you’re looking for daytime relief with less mental effects, choose a CBD-dominant strain. Yes, you can totally use this cannabis tincture recipe with CBD hemp alone!

A chart diagram that shows the different benefits that different cannabinoids have with many physical and mental health problems people can have. Between CBD, THC, CBG, CBN, and other less known cannabinoids, CBD is the only only one that helps with every condition on the chart such as anti inflammatory, relieves pain/anxiety, antibacterial, inhibits cell growth in tumors/cancer etc. The only condition it doesn't help is stimulating appetite.

Why freeze alcohol and cannabis for extraction?

This homemade cannabis tincture recipe uses a cold ethanol extraction method, also referred to as quick wash ethanol extraction or “QWET”. Freezing the cannabis makes the trichomes detach from the plant material more efficiently. When mixed with cold ethanol, the desirable cannabinoids and terpenes readily extract and combine with the alcohol – resulting in a stronger, better tincture.

Furthermore, keeping the mixture at a very low temperature helps reduce the amount of undesirable compounds in your tincture, such as lipids and chlorophyll. It’s a chemistry thing, but basically the freezing temperature influences the polarity of the lipids and chlorophyll so they’re more likely to stay bound to the plant material (and therefore get filtered out) rather than combining with the ethanol.

When done right, the resulting filtered tincture wash will be clear and golden in color rather than cloudy or green.

Supplies Needed to Make a Homemade Cannabis Tincture

8 grams of decarbed cannabis
6 ounces of 190 to 200-proof food grade ethyl alcohol (ethanol ) or 190 proof Everclear
Freezer-safe glass containers, such as wide-mouth pint mason jars or half-pint jars with lids.
Small unbleached coffee filters, like these ones
Cheesecloth
Digital Scale
Dropper bottles to store your finished tincture. We like these 2-ounce amber bottles; the droppers have mL markers on them for accurate dosing.

Yields: 2 ounces of homemade cannabis tincture

Please note that this is a two-day process, though ingredients are just sitting in the freezer for 97% of that time.

INSTRUCTIONS

Step 1: Decarb your cannabis

To decarb cannabis, start by tearing up the buds into fairly small pieces. Then spread it out evenly on a baking sheet. For THC-dominant strains, heat the cannabis in the oven at 250°F for 25 to 30 minutes. For high-CBD strains, bake it for 40 to 50 minutes at the same temperature. (It takes slightly longer for CBDA to convert to CBD than THCA to THC does.) If you’re using a well-balanced THC:CBD strain, meet in the middle at 30 to 35 minutes. See this article for a more in-depth look at decarbing cannabis.

Don’t want to stink up the house? Consider using an Ardent Nova device for an easy, nearly odor-free decarboxylation experience. We just got one recently and love it!

Note that your cannabis will decrease in weight slightly during the decarb process (as it gets more dry). So, start with a few extra grams so you’ll end up with the 8 grams needed for this cannabis tincture recipe. Or, bake plenty so you have enough leftover to make homemade cannabis oil or topical salve!

A pint mason jar is on its side with decarboxylated cannabis flowers spilling out of it onto a washed concrete surface. The flowers have a darker golden brown hue to them after decarboxylation. The cannabis is now ready to make homemade cannabis tincture.

Step 2: Freeze Cannabis and Alcohol (separately)

Use a scale to weigh out 8 grams of decarbed cannabis. Add the cannabis to a freezer-safe glass container with a lid. We like to use a wide-mouth pint glass jar. (Even though it seems more than large enough, the extra room in the jar makes it easier to shake compared to a half-pint jar.) Next add 6 ounces of ethanol to a separate freezer-safe container. Do not mix the alcohol and cannabis yet. Put both containers in the freezer for at least 24 hours.

A half pint mason jar is on the left filled with ethyl alcohol, to the right is a pint mason jar with 8 grams of decarbed cannabis in it, behind and in between the two mason jars is a quart bottle of 200 proof ethyl alcohol. — 6 ounces of ethanol and 8 grams of decarbed cannabis about to go into the freezer (with lids on).

Step 3: Combine Cannabis and Alcohol (First Wash)

After the initial 24 hours (or longer) is up, remove the cannabis and alcohol from the freezer. Pour ONLY HALF of the cold alcohol (3 ounces) into the container of frozen cannabis. Add a lid and shake vigorously for 5 minutes. Wrap the jar in a kitchen towel if it’s too cold to comfortably hold.

This process extracts the cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant material, and is considered the “first wash”. We’ll do two rounds total.

Now return the cannabis-alcohol mixture as well as the separate remaining 3 ounces of plain alcohol to the freezer for an additional 2 hours.

A four part birds eye view image collage, the first image shows a decarbed cannabis sitting in a mason jar with the word "dry" at the bottom of the image. The second image shows the jar with the decarbed cannabis and ethyl alcohol in it with the words "add alcohol" at the bottom of the image. The third image shows the cannabis and alcohol mixture from the top and the cannabis is broken down into smaller pieces. The words "After 5 minutes of shaking" are on the bottom of the image. The fourth image shows the jar from the side, it shows a greenish liquid with the plant material sitting on the bottom, some of the plant material is stuck around the edges of the jar. — After the first shake, return this to the freezer.

Step 4: Shake and Strain

Once the two hours are up, it’s time for another shake – and then we strain! Remove the jar of mixed cannabis and alcohol from the freezer, and shake it again for an additional 5 minutes. (We don’t need the jar of plain alcohol at this time.)

Next we’re going to strain the tincture through two mediums: cheesecloth first to filter the larger plant material, and then a finer coffee filter to further remove unwanted lipids and other residue.

First set up the coffee filter straining station. We find it easiest to set a small coffee filter in the top of a separate clean pint glass jar, fold it over the rim of the jar, and then screw on a lid ring to hold it in place. The cannabis tincture takes a while to seep through the filter, so holding it by hand isn’t fun.

Next, put cheesecloth over the jar that contains the cannabis-alcohol mixture (we use the ring trick again) and slowly pour it through the cheesecloth and into the coffee filter jar. See the photos below.

Now return the jar of remaining cannabis to the freezer while the first wash liquid is straining through the coffee filter (about 10 minutes).

A four part image collage of the filtering process of making homemade cannabis tincture. The first image shows a pint mason jar, a hand holding a brown coffee filter, and a mason jar ring laying next to the jar. The second image shows two pint mason jars, one has greenish liquid in the bottom with a cheesecloth affixed to the top being secured with a lid ring. The other mason jar has a coffee filter affixed in a similar manner with a lid ring. The third image shows a hand pouring the greenish liquid through the cheesecloth, into the mason jar with the coffee filter. The fourth image shows the lone jar with coffee filter as some liquid is pooled in the coffee filter while what has been already filtered is sitting in the bottom of the jar.

Step 5: Second Wash & Strain

Now it’s time for the second and final wash. This step helps extract any final remaining cannabinoids from the plant material into your homemade cannabis tincture.

Grab the jar of cannabis that was in the freezer while the first wash strained (for about 10 minutes) and then repeat the washing/straining process from steps 3 and 4. Add the remaining 3 ounces of cold plain alcohol to the cannabis jar, add a lid, shake vigorously for 5 minutes, and strain through the cheesecloth and coffee filter once again – pouring it into the same filter and jar as the first wash.

A pint mason jar with a cheesecloth attached to the rim of the jar is pouring liquid into another pint mason jar with a coffee filter around the rim of the jar. There is some golden liquid at the bottom of the jar with the filter. — Adding the second wash to the same jar/filter as the first wash.

A two part image collage, the first image is a birds eye view of the top of a mason jar. It has a coffee filter sitting in the top of it with the lid ring attached around the outside of the jar. Homemade cannabis tincture is a pool in the filter, it is slowly being filtered through the coffee filter. The second image shows a birds eye view of the top of a mason jar. It has a coffee filter sitting in the top of it with the lid ring attached around the outside of the jar. The homemade cannabis tincture has filtered through the coffee filter, leaving behind brown residue (lipids, fats, and other residue). — Check out all the fats, lipids, and other residue left behind in the coffee filter after straining!

Step 6: Reduce

After all the liquid has strained through the coffee filter into the jar, it’s time to reduce it by about half the volume. Excess alcohol will easily evaporate off, and the result is a more concentrated and effective homemade cannabis texture.

Do this by simply allowing the jar to sit out at room temperature with the lid off for several hours. We place the jar in front of a fan to help expedite the process. Note the volume of liquid in the container when you start (use a rubber band around the jar, or a glass marking pen). Keep an eye on it! Once it reduces by half, add a lid to stop further evaporation – or go ahead and bottle your final homemade cannabis tincture.

A two part picture collage, the first picture shows a pint mason jar filled to about the 5 ounce line with golden brown liquid, a rubber band is wrapped around the fill line to mark where the top of the liquid is. The second image shows the same pint mason jar a number of hours later. The liquid is much darker in color now and has reduced to just over 2 ounces.

Step 7: Bottle and Store

Once it’s reduced by half, transfer the strained cannabis extract to a final storage bottle – such as these amber glass dropper bottles. Amber bottles are ideal since they reduce light exposure, which degrades cannabinoids. Store the bottle in the refrigerator for the best long-lasting quality. Congratulations, you just made a homemade cannabis tincture! Keep reading for usage and dosing information.

Homemade cannabis tincture being poured from a pint mason jar through a small stainless steel funnel into an amber glass dropper bottle.

How to Use or Take a Cannabis Tincture

You can consume your cannabis tincture either under your tongue (sublingually) or mixed with a beverage (oral ingestion). Sublingual consumption will result in more immediate effects, while oral ingestion will have a slower onset but longer-lasting results. See the graphic below.

However, proceed with some caution! 200 proof ethanol is very strong, and I find it causes a burning sensation when applied straight under my tongue. To avoid that, I put a very small amount of water in my mouth first, squirt in the tincture, hold the diluted mixture in my mouth for a few minutes, and then swallow. Therefore my intake is mostly sublingual, but with a little oral ingestion too.

A diagram showing three ways of ingesting cannabis and the onset and duration of the experience. It shows that inhaled cannabis and sublingual cannabis effects are more similar in their effects while oral cannabis consumption is a slower onset, with a longer peak and duration of effects. — Chart courtesy of Periodic Edibles

Strength and Dosing for Homemade Cannabis Tincture

When first trying your tincture, I suggest to start low and go slow. Without lab testing, it’s difficult to say exactly how potent a homemade cannabis tincture is. There are simply too many factors: the initial cannabinoid concentration and strain you used, how long and hot you decarbed it, the efficacy of your ethanol extraction process, and how much it was reduced at the end.

Start with a few drops, and then gradually increase the amount to find your “sweet spot” and desired results. (But wait a couple hours to see how you feel before taking more.) With this recipe, a quarter dropper is a fairly conservative starting point. I personally like to take .25 mL or a quarter dropper (though I’ve taken more just fine) while Aaron prefers about .5 mL or half a dropper. That’s just enough to take the edge off, relax our muscles, and help us sleep better without being too stony.

A dropper is held suspended over an amber colored dropper bottle, the dropper is filled with more than .5 mL of homemade cannabis tincture which is a clear golden color.

That was fairly simple, right?

Well folks, I hope this tutorial was easy to follow – and will enable you to successfully make your own cannabis tinctures at home now. Let us know if you have any questions in the comments below. If you found this information useful, please consider leaving a rating/review and pinning or sharing this post. We greatly appreciate you tuning in today. Now go have fun making your own medicinal Green Dragon!

Don’t miss these related posts:

Homemade Cannabis Tincture Recipe

Come learn how to make your own homemade cannabis tincture (aka Green Dragon) using a simple cold alcohol (ethanol) extraction method.

4.72 from 281 votes

Print Recipe Pin Recipe

Total Time 1 3

Servings ounces

Equipment

2 freezer-safe glass containers, such as wide-mouth pint mason jars or half-pint jars
1 small unbleached coffee filter
cheesecloth
digital scale
Baking sheet
freezer
bottle for final storage, such as 2-ounce amber dropper bottles

Ingredients

8 grams decarbed cannabis
6 ounces 200-proof food grade eylth alcohol (ethanol) or 190-proof Everclear alcohol

Instructions

Decarb your raw cannabis. Tear it up into fairly small pieces and spread on a baking sheet. For THC-dominant strains, heat the cannabis in the oven at 250°F for 25 to 30 minutes. For high-CBD strains, bake for 40 to 50 minutes and 30 to 35 minutes for a well-balanced THC:CBD strain. (I suggest starting with a few more than 8 grams since it will get lighter as it dries.)
Add 8 grams of decarbed cannabis to a freezer-safe glass container with a lid, and 6 ounces of ethanol to a separate freezer-safe container. Put both containers in the freezer for at least 24 hours.
First Wash: After the initial 24 hours (or longer), remove the cannabis and alcohol from the freezer. Pour only HALF of the cold alcohol (3 ounces) into the container of frozen cannabis. Add a lid and shake vigorously for 5 minutes. Now return the cannabis-alcohol mixture as well as the separate remaining 3 ounces of plain alcohol to the freezer for an additional 2 hours.
After two hours, remove the jar of mixed cannabis and alcohol from the freezer and shake it again for an additional 5 minutes. Then strain the mixture twice: first through a cheesecloth and then through a coffee filter into a separate clean container (as shown in this article). Return the jar of remaining cannabis to the freezer while the liquid is straining through the coffee filter (about 10 minutes).
Second Wash: Grab the jar of cannabis that was in the freezer while the first wash strained (for about 10 minutes) and then repeat the washing/straining process from steps 3 and 4. Add the remaining 3 ounces of cold plain alcohol to the cannabis jar, add a lid, shake vigorously for 5 minutes, and strain through the cheesecloth and coffee filter once again – pouring it into the same filter and jar as the first wash.
Reduce the liquid by half via evaporation. Simply set the jar out at room temperature with the lid off for several hours, or place in front of a fan to expedite the process. Note the volume of liquid in the container when you start. Once it reduces by half, add a lid to stop further evaporation – and/or transfer your finished tincture into it's final storage bottle.
Store your homemade cannabis tincture in an opaque glass bottle in the refrigerator. We recommend 2-ounce amber dropper bottles.
Consume the tincture either under your tongue (sublingually) or mixed with a beverage (oral ingestion). Sublingual consumption will result in more immediate effects, while oral ingestion will have a slower onset but longer-lasting effects. **Please see notes of caution and additional information on usage/dosing below.

Notes

Usage and Dosing:

**Ethanol alcohol is very strong and may cause a burning sensation when applied straight under the tongue. To avoid that, I put a very small amount of water in my mouth first, squirt in the tincture, hold the diluted mixture in my mouth for a few minutes, and then swallow. Therefore my intake is mostly sublingual, but with a little oral ingestion too.
Re: Dosage, start low and go slow. Start with a few drops, and then gradually increase the amount to find your “sweet spot” and desired results. (But wait a couple hours to see how you feel before taking more.) With this recipe, a quarter dropper is a fairly conservative starting point.

Keyword cannabis tincture alcohol, ethanol extraction cannabis tincture, green dragon recipe, homemade cannabis tincture, how to make cannabis tincture

Tried this recipe?Let us know how it was!

Deanna Talerico

Deanna Talerico (aka DeannaCat) is a garden educator and writer with over 15 years experience in organic gardening. She is a retired Senior Environmental Health Specialist, and holds a M.A. in Environmental Studies and B.S. in Sustainability and Natural Resources.

481 Comments

Renee

October 3, 2023 at 1:11 pm Reply

Hi thanks so much for this recipe. I’m unable to get 190 proof locally but found 153 proof. Would that work?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  October 3, 2023 at 2:34 pm Reply
  
  Hi Renee, you could use 153 proof alcohol if you can’t find a higher proof alcohol. When it comes to the evaporation step at the end, your tincture will have more water in it so it won’t evaporate as readily compared to higher proof alcohols. To reduce it further you may need to use an electric crockpot, rice cooker, or if you have an electric stove, create a water bath with the jar of tincture inside. As the water gets closer to a boil, the tincture will evaporate. Hope that helps and good luck!
Greta

October 1, 2023 at 12:34 pm Reply

My end goal is to use the tincture to make CBD sugar, do you think I should still reduce it?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  October 2, 2023 at 9:00 am Reply
  
  Hi Greta, I don’t think you need to reduce the tincture if you are going to make CBD sugar as the extra alcohol will likely evaporate anyways while your sugar dries. If you are using CBD flower to make the tincture, I have used up to 12 grams of homegrown CBD flower in this tincture recipe with 6 ounces of ethanol and it works great, adding more CBD flower will just allow you to extract more cannabinoids so your finished sugar will have more mg of CBD. Hope that helps and good luck!
Sam C

September 30, 2023 at 2:13 am Reply

thanks for posting this! it’s so good!
Alex Johansson

September 29, 2023 at 2:08 am Reply

After all the steps and letting the alcohol evaporate off, my tincture had turned cloudy (prior to evaporation process it had looked exactly as pictured above. Do you all have any troubleshooting suggestions or can tell me where I went wrong in the process to yield these results?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 29, 2023 at 7:32 am Reply
  
  HI Alex, if you ground up your decarbed cannabis really fine beforehand, it could be some fine plant material that made it through the filtering stages, it could be plant lipids and waxes, or it could be excess moisture from the cannabis flower. Once it evaporates down, everything becomes more concentrated so that is likely why you see the cloudiness after the evaporation process and not before. Either way, your tincture is completely safe to consume and there isn’t anything wrong with it. Enjoy!
- Wally
  
  September 29, 2023 at 11:19 am Reply
  
  Mine also did not end with the final results. All looked right till I let it evaporate. It separated and turned milky
  - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
    
    September 29, 2023 at 12:30 pm Reply
    
    Hi Wally, there can be a number of different factors on why it turned more milky, however I would say that it’s purely cosmetic and shouldn’t have a negative effect on the efficacy of the tincture.
Nathan Wood

September 21, 2023 at 2:30 pm Reply

How would you go about knowing the estimated dose, is there a way to calculate this?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 21, 2023 at 3:06 pm Reply
  
  Hi Nathan, there is kind of a roundabout way to get the average dosage but you would need to know or at least estimate the THC or CBD in your flower. The calculation would be as follows: (THC% x mg x efficiency)/ml to determine the strength of the tincture. If your flower is 20% THC multiply that by the milligrams of flower (8000) multiplied by the extraction efficiency of this method which is around 75%, you then divide that number by the ml of tincture which would be 60 ml (2 ounces). .2 x 8000 x .75 / 60 = 20 mg/ml of THC or 5 mg of THC for every .25 ml. Hope that helps and good luck!
Chelsea Flinn

September 17, 2023 at 6:08 pm Reply

Hey! Quick question, what is difference about this process that requires less time before use.
This seems to be approximately 24 hours before consumption. Where most other recipes call for 21 days of soaking.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 18, 2023 at 9:00 am Reply
  
  Hi Chelsea, this is essentially a QWET (Quick Wash Ethanol Extraction) method. The final tincture won’t contain the same amount of chlorophyll, plant lipids and waxes that a longer infusion at room temperature would contain which gives the tincture a less “green” flavor and appearance but it is still highly potent after you finish reducing the tincture. Hope that helps and enjoy!
Rochelle

September 13, 2023 at 9:35 pm Reply

So I didn’t mean to double the recipe – and forgot I could store the decarbed plant on its own. It took longer to evaporate, I used 100 proof vodka and eventually reduced through a careful double boiler method, but it’s good! So good! .25 is dynamite and now I have 472 doses! 🤣
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 14, 2023 at 7:34 am Reply
  
  Hi Rochelle, so glad the recipe worked for you and you were able to get a good extraction out of your 100 proof alcohol. Now you have extra tincture which will store even longer than your decarbed cannabis would, enjoy!
  - Gino
    
    September 19, 2023 at 2:37 pm Reply
    
    If we wanted to cut the alcohol burn/taste as the final product. Could distilled water or citrus juice or even mct/coconut oil/ food safe glycerin?
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      September 20, 2023 at 7:36 am Reply
      
      Hi Gino, yes you can mix the individual dose of tincture into a glass of water, juice, or other beverage to cut down on the flavor, I usually just add the dose to a small shot glass of water. If you wanted to reduce all of the alcohol off until you are only left with the sticky FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil), you could then mix that with a small amount of MCT oil (around 2 ounces would keep a similar potency to this recipe) and still be able to store it in a dropper bottle. Although you may have to lightly heat the ingredients together to get them to fully mix or combine. Hope that helps and good luck!
      - Justin
        
        September 29, 2023 at 6:18 am
        
        Followed this recipe for my last harvest and it turned out amazing. That was for THC, now I have an abundance of CBD this harvest. My question is, would it be plausible to evaporate all alcohol and mix remaining material into carrier oil after? I prefer alcohol tinctures but since I’d like to share with friends and family, I’d like to make as palatable as possible. Or would you suggest to just infuse/cook straight into oil over heat. Looking for the best potency outcome, any suggestion appreciated!
      - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
        
        September 29, 2023 at 7:21 am
        
        Hi Justin, that’s great to hear your previous harvest and tincture turned out so well! You can definitely evaporate all of the tincture and will be left with FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil) which you could then infuse into a carrier oil of choice with some light heat. To keep the same potency you would want to add only around 2 ounces of oil for a regular sized batch and if you want to keep it in a dropper form, using MCT oil would likely be best, hope that helps and good luck!
Shane

September 13, 2023 at 1:12 pm Reply

Hey followed your method, all went well but my tincture won’t reduce even in sun over 2 days. Going for crock pot can I confirm method?

Put tincture in small mason jar (lid off), put in crock pot on low (lid off????), pay attention until reduced by half?

Thanks so much for the help and recipe!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 13, 2023 at 1:34 pm Reply
  
  Hi Shane, yes using the electric crockpot to reduce it further is the correct method and the steps you listed are all correct but add some water into your crock pot to create a water bath for you jar of tincture to sit in. Alcohol will evaporate further at 173 degrees F so you don’t necessarily need to boil the water (water boils at 212 degrees F) to get a good evaporation on your tincture, also be sure your room is well ventilated. If you have a 2 ounce dropper bottle you are going to store your tincture in, reducing to 2 ounces or just under is the way to go so it will all fit inside the bottle. Hope that helps and good luck!
  - Shane
    
    September 13, 2023 at 10:22 pm Reply
    
    Saved me so much stress. Thanks for the recipe and the help you give all your commenters!
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      September 14, 2023 at 7:32 am Reply
      
      Hi Shane, glad you found the recipe helpful and enjoy your tincture!
Rochelle

September 8, 2023 at 7:55 pm Reply

Question about alcohol – I’ve read that cooking the tincture will remove all alcohol. Will this recipe remove the buzzy effects of the liquor? I’d rather not mix the two. Or perhaps it’s a small enough dosage you don’t have effects from the alcohol?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 9, 2023 at 9:26 am Reply
  
  Hi Rochelle, the tincture is taken in small amounts to where to alcohol should have no noticeable effects. You could heat the tincture with electric heat to reduce it in volume (beyond reducing by half or down to the 2 ounces that we recommend), yet if you reduce the tincture all the way to where there is no alcohol remaining, you will be left with FECO (Full Extract Cannabis Oil) which is extremely sticky and is dosed in measurement the size of grains of rice versus the partial ml doses of the tincture itself. Hope that helps and good luck!
- Prometheus
  
  September 9, 2023 at 11:15 pm Reply
  
  I place the tincture in the sun to allow the alcohol to evaporate. If you cook it, the alcohol fumes can start a fire. All the best.
  - Rochelle
    
    September 12, 2023 at 6:38 am Reply
    
    Thanks for your response. I wasn’t able to use the food grade alcohol, and it seems to be taking a bit longer to evaporate than I had thought. It’s been strained for a little more than 24 hours and has reduced by about 1/6. Granted I’m in Alaska and the sunlight is going away and temps aren’t really soaring – so in the house during the day it’s not overly warm. Does this seem reasonable? Is there anything wrong with it if it takes a couple days to reduce?
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      September 12, 2023 at 7:57 am Reply
      
      Hi Rochelle, if you didn’t use food grade alcohol what did you use? If it isn’t food grade, you need to fully evaporate all of the alcohol out of the mixture which would in essence create Rick Simpson Oil which is incredibly potent, thick, and sticky. Its doses are also measured by the size of a grain of rice. You can use an electric slow cooker or electric rice cooker to heat the mixture so it will evaporate more readily, but do so in a very well ventilated area without any risk of flames nearby as it is a fire risk. Hope that helps and good luck!
INDIE

August 31, 2023 at 11:57 pm Reply

Very interesting read. Although I do not have access to food grade alcohol. The bottle I have says “For laboratory use only”. The bottle says >99.9% ethanol and less than 0.05% methanol. So maybe I can use it?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  September 1, 2023 at 8:06 am Reply
  
  Hi Indie, only use food grade ethanol for this tincture recipe, if you have access to high proof alcohol such as Everclear (190 proof), that will work as well. The ethanol you have is not the type you want to use for ingesting as it isn’t safe for human consumption. Hope that helps and good luck!