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

Ben

May 14, 2024 at 3:15 pm Reply

Regular cannabis smoker for 20 years. Tried this the other day. Worked out reasonably well for a first attempt. In my country, I was able to obtain 96% food grade ethanol. My tincture still had a slight green colour in the end, but I reckon that’s because I didn’t decarb for long enough. I also did half the recipe, ending up with around 120ml, which I reduced down to 65ml. Even as an experienced user, I was still cautious so started with a few drops and wasn’t really feeling much. Decided today to do a full dropper (1ml) and boy did I feel it! I had to lay down for half an hour! Now I know my dose, I can venture on! Thought I’d try a different consumption method as I have developed a (non smoking related) lung condition but smoking makes my symptoms worse. Thank you!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  May 15, 2024 at 6:54 am Reply
  
  Hi Ben, so great to hear the tincture worked out so well for you, it really is an efficient way to dose. The green from the chlorophyll may be even more present if the cannabis has been harvest fairly recently as it may contain more chlorophyll than cannabis that has been harvested and curing for a number of months. Glad you enjoyed it and hopefully your next batch is even better!
Dave

May 11, 2024 at 8:11 pm Reply

Can liquid baking flavoring extracts such as mint or maple be added during or after the extraction?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  May 12, 2024 at 7:41 am Reply
  
  Hi Dave, you should be able to add some extracts to the tincture and I would do so after it has fully reduced and you are ready to add it to a dropper bottle. If the mint or maple extract is alcohol based, it should be able to mix fairly well into the cannabis tincture itself. Hope that helps and enjoy!
Kay

May 7, 2024 at 9:34 am Reply

Recipe went fine with 190-proof Everclear. However, the drops burn like hell and quickly cause a swelling reaction in the sublingual area! With an average joint using about 1/3 gram of dried product, this recipe yields the equivalent of about 30 joints concentrated in about 60 ml. So it takes about 2 ml per joint-equivalent: that’s 40 drops! I took just 5, waited 15 mins, took another 5 but then I had to stop due to swelling under the tongue.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  May 7, 2024 at 9:59 am Reply
  
  Hi Kay, if you followed the recipe exactly in terms of grams of cannabis and reducing the tincture by half ending up with close to 2 ounces of finished tincture, you can dose by .25 mL to .5 mL to start but maybe err on the lighter side until you find the effects that suit you. The best way to dose to lessen the burning sensation is to put a small amount of juice or water in a shot glass, add your dose or tincture and take the whole thing in one shot. It will usually start to kick in within 45-60 minutes of dosing this way and you won’t have the burn associated with it either.
  - Kay
    
    May 17, 2024 at 7:36 am Reply
    
    Thanks for the tip, that works very well! Great recipe, thanks a lot!
    - Tigerlily
      
      June 13, 2024 at 8:16 pm Reply
      
      I take a swig of water and then drop it under my tongue so they mix and this still gives me exactly what I need. Alternatively you can put it in a small amount of water and then put that in your mouth and hold it under your tongue.
Jules

May 6, 2024 at 2:28 pm Reply

Firstly Deanna and Aaron, thank you for your wonderfully informative website.

Secondly please could you clarify whether you’re using fluid ounces (i.e. volume) versus ounces by weight when talking about the non-denatured ethanol. You fairly consistently talk about a volume of liquid (ethanol) in terms of ounces, which implies fluid ounces, but don’t say actually say so?

Then you use grams when discussing the weight of decarbed cannabis and then your dropper bottle is measuring in ml – it’s all a bit confusing and I think I might have got the whole thing a bit wrong as a consequence.

I’m sure it would help a lot of people reading this recipe (especially those of us not in the USA) if you offered a metric version of all the weights and measures.

My partner has to manage severe chronic pain and while she has found what I made for her fairly useful, I suspect I might have made some mistakes and I really want to clarify I have the volumes and weights exact before I make the next batch.

Thanks again.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  May 8, 2024 at 7:00 am Reply
  
  Hi Jules, we are sorry about the confusion of different weight/volume measurements. In the US, when we are measuring liquid, even in cup measurements, we are measuring by the fluid ounce. We use grams to weigh/measure the cannabis as it’s more precise and that is typically what measurement people are used to using with cannabis. When we mention the milliliter measurement in dosing with the final product, that is because most droppers use ml’s as their measurement and many droppers have a ml measurement on them. We can’t really provide a dosage in fluid ounces as the amount used is so small. For your conversion in this recipe, you would use 177 ml total for the alcohol portion (split between the two washes) and 7-8 grams of cannabis total. Hope you understand and your partner can find relief in the tincture.
  - Jules
    
    May 21, 2024 at 4:15 pm Reply
    
    Just realised some of my confusion arises from the fact that you state the yield is a 2oz bottle of tincture, but after you’ve halved the volume of alcohol from 177ml (I rounded it up to 180ml) through evaporation to roughly 90ml, you now have quite a bit more that 2oz, since 90ml is a fraction over 3 US fluid ounces. This won’t of course fit in a 2oz or 60ml dropper bottle. That really confused me as I thought I hadn’t reduced it enough.
    
    My work around is simply to double the amounts, in the sense that I’m doing the whole thing with twice the number of jars so I end up with 2 x 3oz or 6 fluid ounces, which splits easily into 3 x 2oz or 60ml bottles for storage.
    
    Anyway, the tincture is really helping manage my partner’s pain, so my comments are intended to be constructive not critical.
Barbara

April 21, 2024 at 9:36 am Reply

Why do you feel removing the lipids and chlorophyll is necessary? Do they compete with the other active constituents in the final tincture?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 21, 2024 at 10:52 am Reply
  
  Hi Barbara, trying to remove more of the plant lipids helps improve the final tinctures color and clarity which may nor may not be important to someone. Trying to reduce the amount of chlorophyll in your final tincture will cut down on the “green plant” flavor as well as the color of the tincture which will be more gold/yellow in color versus green in color due to the chlorophyll. Winterization is the process if you want to delve further into the reasons or possible benefits of it. Hope that helps.
  - Kyle Ladrech
    
    April 26, 2024 at 7:08 am Reply
    
    Great recipe!! And instructions! Had a blast making this variation so thank you both so much for taking the time to write this article.
    
    What would you suggest I do with the leftover residue from the filter? I’m guessing my first wash buds were ground too fine or I shook the jar much too vigorously which made that initial wash filtering veryy concentrated—took over 24 hours to strain the 24-30 grams I used due to filter being caked so heavily with the lipid sand. I also took one lick of a spatula I used and was feeling a special kind of way during a yoga class unexpectedly lol, so that’s why I’m thinking it’s strong. I jarred the residue for now and refrigerated it. Figure I could at the very least use in with a balm?
    
    Kyle
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      April 26, 2024 at 9:28 am Reply
      
      Hi Kyle, so glad the recipe worked out for you and great to hear you enjoyed making it as well! The filtering likely took so long because you used such a large amount to begin with as you quadrupled the recipe most likely, it could have gone faster had you used two or three jars to filter into as it would have dispersed the amount of plant residue that can clog the filter more. You can save the flower from the tincture, lay it out flat on a baking sheet or something and let all of the alcohol fully evaporate from the flower for a number of days, then use the flower in a topical balm. I wouldn’t try and use the concentrated lipid “sand” material as there shouldn’t be many cannabinoids left over in that, it will most likely be in the tincture or flower itself. Hope that helps and reach out if you have any other questions.
Alex

April 10, 2024 at 12:45 am Reply

I’m having the same issues reducing the tincture volume. I ended up using a quart of Everclear over 3 washes and after almost zero reduction over 2 hours i placed the jar in a warm water pot for another 2 hours, but then became concerned that the heat exposure was ruining the THC potency. It has now been uncovered (in front of a fan) for 2 days and still has barely reduced by more than 10%. I keep checking the smell to see if it actually is still smelling of alcohol? do I just keep waiting?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 10, 2024 at 7:25 am Reply
  
  Hi Alex, if you can’t get the tincture to reduce in front of a fan, doing a hot water bath on electric heat will make it reduce without affecting the cannabinoids, ethanol has a boiling point of around 173 degrees F so it will start to reduce before the water starts to boil. Hope that helps and good luck!
- Rich
  
  April 21, 2024 at 3:25 pm Reply
  
  I used a double boiler to reduce the tincure volume and it worked great and I had a tremendous tincture at the end. I also used an instant pot to decarboxolate my buds which saved a majority of the terpines which improved the flavor as well. When using the double boiler, you need to watch it and chase down the temp to keep from boiling too hard. Hope that helps.
Randi

April 7, 2024 at 8:54 am Reply

Do you need to store this in the fridge if it is in an amber dropper bottle or is that just a recommendation?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 7, 2024 at 2:35 pm Reply
  
  Hi Randi, it will have a longer shelf life if kept in the fridge but if you are going to go through your tincture within a few months, you don’t need to refrigerate it if that’s a problem. Hope that helps and good luck!
  - Stephanie
    
    July 13, 2024 at 11:45 am Reply
    
    This is my first time making tincture. I reduced it by half and it’s strong. Tinctures I’ve purchased have additional ingredients like fractionated coconut oil and Sunflower lecithin. What would be the best way to dilute this? Can I add a flavor to it also?
    Thank you
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      July 16, 2024 at 6:32 am Reply
      
      Hi Stephanie, I think the best way to dilute it is to just dilute your dose when you are going to take it. I like to add the dose to a shot glass of water or juice as there will be little to no burn from the alcohol. If the tincture is too potent, just use less per dose. I would be hesitant to add anything to the bottle of tincture itself as it may shorten the shelf life of the tincture. You could reduce the tincture all the way until there is no alcohol left which would leave you with Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO) which is incredibly sticky, you could then add that to a double boiler with MCT oil (2 ounces of MCT oil would make it more or less the same potency, adding 4 ounces of MCT oil would make it essentially half as potent), heat the ingredients until they are fully combined, then add the cannabis MCT oil to dropper bottles. Hope that helps and good luck!
Raven

April 5, 2024 at 10:21 am Reply

Hi!! Used 151 proof Everclear.. are there any benefits to leaving in freezer for 2 weeks and shaking daily? I have seen many freezer recipes suggesting this. Thanks!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 5, 2024 at 1:00 pm Reply
  
  Hi Raven, you may be able to extract more cannabinoids but it’s more likely you will just extract more chlorophyl (which will give the tincture a more “green” flavor) and unwanted plant waxes and lipids. It’s not necessary to wait two weeks while shaking your mixture daily as the recipe we suggest makes a potent tincture in a much shorter amount of time, especially once you reduce the final amount. Hope that helps and good luck!
Shannon okeefe

March 28, 2024 at 8:49 pm Reply

My tincture isn’t reducing? It’s been a few hours and hasn’t went down at all. Any tips?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 29, 2024 at 6:37 am Reply
  
  Hi Shannon, what proof alcohol did you use? You need to have airflow moving over the top of the tincture until there are ripples in the tincture, even doing this, it can take a number of hours for people. If you used lower proof alcohol or airflow isn’t working to reduce it, you can put the jar of tincture into a water bath using an electric slow cooker or rice cooker, heating the water which will help reduce the alcohol (or water if you are using lower proof alcohol) in the tincture. Hope that helps and good luck!
David

February 13, 2024 at 11:53 pm Reply

I just made this for the first time and am looking forward to trying it. I goofed though! I let the evaporation go on for too long. Instead of reducing by half the volume was reduced down to about 1/3 or maybe even 1/4. I guess that just means my potion will be more concentrated? Any suggestions? Thank you.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 14, 2024 at 6:54 am Reply
  
  Hi David, yes your tincture will be much more potent. If you want the potency to be more along the lines as this recipe, you can always add some regular lower proof alcohol to the tincture so your total tincture volume is closer to 2 ounces. I prefer to let the tincture evaporate down to 2 ounces which is sometimes more than half the total volume as it fits easily inside of a 2 ounce dropper bottle. Hope that helps and enjoy!