How to Make a Cannabis Tincture: Easy Cold Alcohol Extraction
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!
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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 organic 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.
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!
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!
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.
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.
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).
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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
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:
- How to Grow Organic Cannabis at Home: Seeds, Soil, Containers, and Care
- Homemade Cannabis Oil Recipe
- Homemade Cannabis Salve Recipe
- How to Feed Cannabis, Organically: Top-Dressings, Teas & More
- Organic Cannabis Pest Control: How to Keep the Bugs Off Your Nugs
- How to Harvest, Dry, Trim, Cure and Store Cannabis
Homemade Cannabis Tincture Recipe
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
- **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.
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
Rachel
After one week gathering everything togheter and reading this recipe a million times, I’ve just placed the jars in the freezer. So excited for the next steps! Just one question: the final plant matter can be used for anything else after the 2nd wash and strain? It’s so hard to get good weed around here, that I feel bad already to throwing out a single tiny soaked petal 🙂
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Rachel, yes you can use the leftover cannabis material for other things although it won’t be quite as potent or have as many cannabinoids as before after using the alcohol to extract these properties. If you want to use the leftover material from your tincture, you must first let all of the alcohol evaporate off of the pulp, spread it out on a plate or parchment paper and let the alcohol fully evaporate before storing it in an airtight container in the fridge (if you intend on using within a week) or store it in the freezer for longer term storage. You can make cannabis oil for edible use or to be made into a topical salve, if you don’t feel like making something else with it, you can always make tea with it, add it to smoothies, add it into capsules to be taken in pill form. If you intend on consuming the cannabis as an edible, be safe on how much you ingest as to not accidentally overdue it until you know how strong of an effect a specific amount has. There are also many hemp companies online that are now offering flower that contains THC if that is what you are after, WNC-CBD being one of them if you need more options or accessibility. Hope that helps and good luck with making your tincture, you will do great!
Lennart Andersson
Hi there,
I followed your tincture technique, well almost. I used rubbing alcohol, by mistake, and it just tastes awful now.
So I was thinking to replace the isopropyl alcohol, let it evaporate dry, then add some cognac instead.
Do you think that would work?
Great site btw!
Lenny
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Lenny, DO NOT consume rubbing alcohol internally. We do not recommend using isopropyl alcohol for extraction as it contains toxic additives and is not as safe to use compared to food grade ethanol. If you have to use isopropyl alcohol, it is best to use 99% isopropyl alcohol (not sure which one you used?) But yes, you have made ISO or QWISO (Quick Wash Isopropyl Extraction, however, using isopropyl alcohol to extract cannabinoids, you must let all of the alcohol evaporate off as it should not be consumed internally. Once it has fully evaporated, you need to use a blade or sharp object to scrape the extract from the container. From there, you can either dab the material or add small amounts to a bowl or joint. As far as adding any of the extract for edible consumption, I would steer clear of that for now and make another batch using food grade ethanol as that is the safest and recommended way to do it. Hope that helps and be safe!
Sam
Second time making a tincture. Never before even attempted before this article! Thanks so much for demystifying this process!!! Easy and fun and feels a little sciencey!!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Sam, it’s great to hear you have had such success making the tincture! We just made another batch with about 80% CBD flower and 20% THC flower, there are all kinds of things you can do depending on what you have available. Enjoy your medicine!
Chris
Thank you for posting the recipe! For reference, I started with about 12g of cannabis and 7g of hemp flower in efforts to make a nice mix thc + cbd tincture mix. Fyi for others, decarb times differ – I cooked in an electric oven at 215F for 30m (cannabis) and 45m (hemp). I did it at a lower temperature since I ground the flower really finely, which I later found that this could make it more susceptible to burning. Anyhow, with that, I was hoping to make 3 mild 2oz tinctures from the above. My question is, should I try to follow the above recipe 3 different times (needing 6 jars), or, would it suffice to scale the amounts proportionately in 2 larger jars?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Chris, I would just use the two jars and divy up the tincture you end up with after straining. Also note that you will typically have less than 6 ounces after mixing and straining the cannabis, even before evaporating off excess alcohol. Although if you want a more mild tincture, you may not want to reduce any of the tincture as it will end up quite potent anyway, especially so if you are using 12 grams of regular THC dominant cannabis. Hope that helps and reach out if you have any other questions, good luck!
BenP
Thank you. These instructions are excellent. Clear and well written. Many others I found while searching did not include the concept of additional washes, or evaporation to concentrate.
Great job!
I recently made my first tincture following your instructions and “it works”!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Ben, we appreciate your input and glad to hear you had an easy and successful experience making the tincture, enjoy!
Joan
I made tincture with the magical butter machine. My first time. I then realized it burned way too badly under my tongue to be usable so I ended up finding out about FECO, fully extracted cannabis oil, which is what’s left after all the alcohol dehydrates out of the tincture. We have a woodstove here and it’s pretty dry air. I put the tincture in a glass dish and it evaporated fully in two days. Now I have the black, gooey FECO in the dish. I just put a tiny bit under my tongue and felt it. Then I did a tiny bit more and my brain is wide awake after barely doing any. I found out after it’s fully dehydrated I can add refined coconut oil into it to make it usable because right now it’s stuck to my dish. It’s not supposed to get over 230 degrees fahrenheit when heating so be careful of that. Slow air dehydration would preserve it the best. What a journey of discovery. I hate the smell of smoking pot which started this adventure. Never knew what FECO was before. It’s really strong and I need to google more to learn more.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Thanks for sharing Joan, we will typically add a dose of tincture into a small amount of water or juice (you can even add it to a beverage) to help mask the heat from the remaining alcohol in the tincture. You did end up with FECO after letting the alcohol fully evaporate, you just have to be careful of your dosage as a small amount goes a long way. Reconstituting it in coconut oil sounds like a good idea but don’t be afraid to try tincture again, just add it to a beverage of choice. Good luck!
Kal
Just wondering, since mine didn’t seem to evaporate at all despite leaving it out for 8 hours (used 75.5% Everclear as that is all I could find), is that normal?
Mine did not seem to scale well but I did use around 30g of dried herb (before decarb as I figured that would end up with about 20g). However, I ended up with 9oz from the 12oz of Everclear. I thought it would evaporate down to 4oz but that didn’t seem to happen.
Haven’t tried it yet but I was just wondering if you could chime in about the lack of evaporation (stayed a nice golden colour but definitely is sticky and strong smelling).
Thanks!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Kal, the temperature and humidity of your house can play a role in how well the alcohol evaporates, even if placed in front of a fan. Since you are using 75.5% Everclear, it contains even more water which doesn’t evaporate as quickly or as readily as pure alcohol. If you have an electric stove or a crock pot or slow cooker, you can create a double boiler and reduce the tincture that way by placing the jar in water and letting it simmer to reduce it further. Do not try this if you do not have an electric heating appliance as the Everclear is extremely flammable and should not be around open flames. You could always opt to leave it out for a longer period of time in front of a fan as well to see how much you can get it to reduce, even in the summer in our temperate and warm climate, the tincture still takes at least 3-4 hours to reduce in volume so it’s not surprising if it would take yours longer than 8 hours to evaporate further. Hope that helps and good luck!
Kal
Thanks for this; I opted to just bottle it as is knowing it may not be as potent as if it would have reduced. I certainly do not wish to cause a fire trying to reduce the water content from the alcohol so it is what it is.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
It seems you made it fairly strong to begin with and at least got some evaporation to occur so it should still be plenty potent, may be worth a shot just leaving it uncovered in front of a fan for a day or two and see if you can reduce it further that way. Good luck and let us know how it turns out.
Pami
I had nearly NO evaporation after 16 hours, so I stuck my open (wide mouth pint) jars in the dehydrator for 6 to 10 hours at 95°. I did 4 different strains and every one of them was ready at a different time.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Pami, that’s a great idea and a great way to introduce some warm air to help with your evaporation! That may be my go to way from now on being that we have a couple Excalibur dehydrators that would be perfect for this. Thanks for sharing and glad you had success!
Joanne
Can you double this recipe or should you keep it as is and just make two separate batches?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Joanne, yes you can double the recipe. Good luck!
B
After the washes, is there any harm in leaving it in the freezer for more than two hours? Like a full day? Because of my schedule, I can’t follow this to a T.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi B, leaving it longer than 2 hours will still be fine, you might end up with some more chlorophyll in the tincture but not a big deal in the end. Good luck!
B
I was wondering why the cheesecloth and coffee filter?
I have a fine mesh/muslin bag that I use to filter solids and liquids when cooking, and was going to use that, but wanted to know if there was a reason for this double straining method besides just making sure all solids were filtered out.
If that’s the only reason, then I think my muslin bag would be fine. Thanks for the help!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi B, a muslin bag should be fine as a replacement for the cheesecloth but the coffee filter really does filter out a bit of extra unneeded plant lipids and waxes as you can see from our photo after filtering. However, it isn’t entirely necessary even though your tincture will likely have a bit more solids in it. Hope that helps and good luck!
Tony
How long does the reducing normally take? I’ve had a batch at room temp for around 5 hours and can’t see any reduction. Using Everclear
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Tony, the temperature and humidity of your house can play a role in how well the alcohol evaporates as warmer temps and less humidity help with evaporation, even if placed in front of a fan. Even during our warm and dry summers, the tincture can still take 3-5 hours for it to reduce by half. What proof is the Everclear you are using? If you have an electric stove or slow cooker, you can create a double boiler to simmer the jar of tincture in water to help speed up the evaporation process. This should not be done with gas appliances as the alcohol is extremely flammable. Another option is just to leave it in front of a fan for as long as it takes to evaporate and it should in time if you have used a higher proof alcohol (190 proof or higher). Hope that helps and good luck!
Elizabeth H.
I thought it was a good product but it burned a bit. Gave some to a friend and it burned under his tongue so bad and it left ulcers. Effective but possibly dangerous lol
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Elizabeth, it can still burn a bit being that it is made with high proof alcohol, even after letting it evaporate by half. I suggest dropping your dosage in some water, juice, coffee, or tea to offset the burn of using it on its own. Hope that helps and glad you found the tincture effective.
Amber Jones
I followed the recipe to a T and my tincture came out dark green and not golden brown. It’s also very thin. Is this normal? What did I do wrong? Seemed pretty straight forward?
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi Amber, the tincture is “thin” because it is made with alcohol, it is not an oil (unless you reduce all of the alcohol until there is none left) or other thick substance so not sure what you were expecting there… Your tincture came out more dark green because it pulled out more chlorophyll from your plant material. It may have occurred due to the flower or alcohol not being at freezing temperatures or the alcohol and plant material was combined for a longer amount of time than recommended. It could have also just been the cannabis you used as the outcome can vary in final color depending on the plant material used. In the end, both of your concerns are mostly cosmetic and have no effect on the final products medicinal value aside from your tincture maybe having a slightly more green flavor due to the excess chlorophyll. Hope that helps and enjoy your tincture.
Mike
I make CBD for my wife and full THC tincture for me using ABV bud. Stretching out the mileage of my homegrown and boy does this knock me on my butt when I take a full dropper! Thanks for the easy and straightforward recipe and direction to purchase culinary alchohol.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
So great to hear Mike! It is an incredibly easy recipe that does get really good results and the Culinary Solvent product is top notch. We just harvested our first batch of CBD dominant plants and we are excited to make some tincture with them.
Amber Jones
Thank you so much! I wasn’t sure what I was expecting either to be honest. I wasnt sure if I was supposed to get a thicker liquid or not. I was more asking so I knew if I totally messed up or not. Sounds like I’m ok either way! I appreciate your response!
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
No problem Amber, it sounds like you did everything correctly and are on the right track, enjoy.
John
Preparing 70gs of trim for tincture, when changing the quantities in the recipe the bottom instructions remain the same for quantities in step 2,3,4 and 5. I was thinking pour half the amount of alcohol (25 oz) into the 70gs of trim, then adding the remaining 25oz alcohol as directed in step 5. Would this be the same process or must it be done in smaller increments.
Can you clear up step 5 for me, (grab the jar of cannabis that was in the freezer) as I’m confused because step 3 says put the alcohol in all of the cannabis and in step 4 it says return the cannabis to the freezer whereas also in step 4 its referred to as mixed cannabis and alcohol.
Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
Hi John, you can increase the ratios and make larger batches at once, but since you are going to be filtering so much through a coffee filter, you may be better off having 2 or 3 jars with coffee filters that you pour your tincture washes through as it will take time for the tincture to filter through the coffee filter. The part you are confused about is after pouring off your tincture form the first wash, you should have a jar full of the cannabis that was just washed, the tincture is filtering through the coffee filters. Put the jar back in the freezer as it will take possibly 30 minutes to an hour for the tincture to filter through, thus returning the jar of cannabis to the freezer, allows it to get colder again before you proceed with the 2nd wash. Which I will typically do once all of the tincture from the first wash has been filtered through the coffee filters. You can always change out the filters in between washes as well as it can get clogged up with waxes and lipids making the filtering of the second wash take a little longer than the first. Hope that helps and good luck!