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

J.

March 15, 2023 at 7:55 pm Reply

I accidentally evaporated too much alchol from my jar and I have about 2 ounces left instead of 3. Is it too concentrated now? can I just mix another ounce of alcohol to dilute it a bit? Thanks!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 16, 2023 at 7:17 am Reply
  
  Hi J, getting down to 2 ounces is actually what we want here as there can be some alcohol (tincture) loss during the process of making it, plus, all of it will easily fit inside of a 2 ounce amber dropper bottle. Enjoy your tincture!
Amer

March 12, 2023 at 9:59 am Reply

Hi.

I’m curious about your choice to use a more dilute ratio for the extraction/wash part of the process and then to evaporate to make it more concentrated/stronger. Could you initially just use a stronger ratio (more cannabis to less alcohol) for the extraction/wash phase and then not evaporate the extract?

Thanks for sharing about your experience.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 12, 2023 at 10:22 am Reply
  
  Hi Amer, you can likely use more cannabis and not evaporate off half the liquid but I am not sure at what point (or amount of cannabis), if any, it reaches a full saturation point where the alcohol can’t hold anymore cannabinoids than it has already stripped. I have made a few recent batches using homegrown CBD flower and have used 15 grams of cannabis to 6 ounces of alcohol and have still reduced the tincture by half at the end, however, I have not done any cannabinoid testing to compare the different batches to see how they compare with one another. Hope that helps and let us know how it works out for you.
Mark

March 11, 2023 at 8:29 pm Reply

Hi. Could I then go and make gummies with this (do you have a recipe)? And if yes, how many would I potentially be able to make with the amount of tincture in your recipe? Thanks!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 12, 2023 at 7:47 am Reply
  
  Hi Mark, yes you can make gummies with your finished tincture, we are still working on a recipe so we don’t have anything to share in that regard just yet unfortunately.
chinaski

March 3, 2023 at 1:49 am Reply

Hello! thanks for this sharing!

I have stupid 2 questions:)

1) can i use 140 proof alcohol?
if yes, how long to put in the fridge?

2) in other recipes, the authors advise keeping the staff in alcohol for 2 months. why is there only 24 hours in yours?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 3, 2023 at 7:46 am Reply
  
  Hi Chinaski, yes you can use 140 proof alcohol, although there will be more water in the alcohol compared to higher proof types so it may take a bit more time or effort to reduce it by half to increase the potency of the tincture. As far as your second question we advise freezing the cannabis and alcohol for at least 24 hours prior and this proceeding process is called “QWET” or quick wash ethanol extraction and we discuss the benefits of this process in the article, here is the blurb from the post: “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.”
  
  You can infuse the cannabis in alcohol and let it sit for two months at room temperature, however, your tincture will have a lot more chlorophyll and other plant lipids in it and the flavor will be more “green”, the QWET process produces a potent and medicinal tincture in a way shorter period of time. Try it both ways and see which one your prefer. Hope that helps and enjoy!
mark

February 22, 2023 at 4:13 pm Reply

How does this method compare to using the machines that use heat in terms of strenght and quality?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 23, 2023 at 7:08 am Reply
  
  Hi Mark, heat isn’t necessary for making tincture and keeping the alcohol and cannabis in the freezer helps the trichome heads “break” off easier when the two are combined. The all in one machines like Ardent and the Magic Butter Machine are great for making butter, oil, and possibly other infusions. However, we have an older Ardent that is only used for decarbing cannabis flower as it doesn’t have the added capability of being used to make oil or butter in addition to decarbing. Hope that helps and good luck!
Dave

February 20, 2023 at 7:41 am Reply

I just discovered that I can use my PAX3 leftovers for edibles/tinctures (after discarding the used plant matter for the last 13 months, that still makes me so sad). I’ve been saving it .3 grams at a time and after a few weeks, I had enough to try out a recipe for edibles. The problemn with edibles is that most of them involved some sort of sugary ingredient and I am trying to live sugar free. I came across this recipe and thought it would be the perfect fit! I grabbed some mason jars off my local freecycle and got to work. I bought a 750ml bottle of 190 Proof Everclear for $18.99 from the local shop and had the other supplies on hand!

***DO NOT BUY FOOD GRADE OR HIGH ALCOHOL FROM AMAZON, THEY ONLY SELL ALCOHOL USED FOR INDUSTRIAL USES, NOT HUMAN CONSUMPTION. I’m in Illinois so I was unable to order the culinary product advertised in the recipe. I ordered a product off Amazon that they claimed was food grade and after I read the label I realized this would have killed me or made me wish i was dead. So I got a refund and went to buy Everclear isntead ***

OK back to the recipe! I followed instructions and decided to implement a little bit longer of a freezer time with the de-carbed green and everclear mixed together. So I let that marinate for 48 hours in the freezer, shaking it every time I wqent to the kitchen. After that marinated, I started filtering the plant material out, it was a very quick process to get it strained and onto the evaporation stage. Admittedly, I was suspicious that half the jar of strained tincture would everaporate in less than a day. Well, it sure as hell did. I put it on a closed windowsill facing the sun with a fan blowing at 9:45am, and by 6pm half of it had evaporated and I was ready to bottle the final product. I was so excited to try it. I put a few drops under my tongue and immedietly regretted that. It is EVERCLEAR, so it will burn the crap out of the insdie of your mouth and it doesn’t taste good at all. So I went to the cupboard and grabbed some peppermint extract. I put 2 drops of Peppermint Extract into each 1oz filled tincture bottle and gave it a few good shakes! So the next dose I put a dropper half filled with water in my mouth to take away the alcohol burn ,then a half dropper of my minty cool tincture and BAM, perfection!

Thank you so much for this recipoe and easy instructions! I am going to be a tincture guy from here on out! And what a cool plant that I get to use it for dry herb vaping after a long day and then a tincture at bed time.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 20, 2023 at 11:26 am Reply
  
  Hi Dave, glad you have found use for your AVB (already vaped bud), we really should add that caveat for people that use dry herb vaporizers (as we even do ourselves) as it is a great second use for the vaporized plant material. And yes, even after the tincture is evaporated, it can still burn quite a bit, I now just keep a little water in my mouth while I take the dose to dilute it and that works great for me, there is no burn and you can still taste the terpenes. Glad to hear you enjoyed the tincture recipe and are now a convert, it really is an incredibly efficient way to medicate using cannabis. Enjoy!
john

February 9, 2023 at 8:34 am Reply

can you increase the ratio of bud to alcohol for increased concentration?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 9, 2023 at 10:30 am Reply
  
  Hi John, yes you can. Although, if your cannabis is 20% THC, this recipe will provide roughly 20 mg THC per 1 ml dropper, 5 mg of THC being considered a common dose. If you know how much you can safely consume, then proceed as you choose, however, we always recommend starting out with small doses until you know what amount is right for you. I have made a few recent batches containing homegrown CBD flower and I have been using 12-15 grams of cannabis to the 6 ounces of ethanol to increase the amount of CBD per mg.
- Stacey
  
  February 11, 2023 at 1:08 pm Reply
  
  Hi! Sorry if this has been answered already. Does the second wash also go in the freezer for 2 hours?
  - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
    
    February 11, 2023 at 1:53 pm Reply
    
    Hi Stacey, no, the second wash doesn’t go into the freezer for two hours, it just gets the 5 minute shake before filtering.
  - Hali
    
    March 14, 2023 at 12:28 pm Reply
    
    What does it mean if it’s clear but a greenish tint ? It was gold after the straining of the first wash but is turning a greenish gold as the second round strains.
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      March 14, 2023 at 2:42 pm Reply
      
      Hi Hali, everything sounds normal thus far. I wouldn’t be too worried about the color if you followed the steps as even different cannabis strains can result in a slightly different color of finished tincture. Usually, more green means more chlorophyll in the finished tincture which will just add a slightly more “green” flavor to the tincture. Cannabis that has been properly dried and cured will also have less overall chlorophyll content. Hope that helps and good luck1
Alaina

February 7, 2023 at 7:48 am Reply

My tincture has been left out over night without a fan and it has barely reduced at all. Is that normal? I used 190 proof everclear.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 7, 2023 at 8:24 am Reply
  
  Hi Alaina, using a fan to move air over the top of the tincture is key to helping the alcohol evaporate off. Some people in humid areas have trouble with this step as the air in their house doesn’t allow for easy evaporation. Get a fan going in front of your jar of tincture and hopefully it will evaporate more readily, I just made a batch a month ago and I was able to evaporate the tincture down in 3 or 4 hours, if that doesn’t work, let us know and we can give you another suggestion. Good luck!
Erin

February 6, 2023 at 12:25 am Reply

Do you recommend keeping the ratios this small or could you double the recipe for a larger batch at once?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 6, 2023 at 8:11 am Reply
  
  Hi Erin, you can make a larger batch at once, if you double the recipe, you may want to filter into two separate jars to be able to handle the extra volume of tincture. When doing the single recipe and filtering into a pint jar with a regular sized coffee filter, I am not sure it can handle double the liquid at once. Hope that helps and good luck!
John

February 2, 2023 at 1:08 pm Reply

Can you please help me understand the part in step 4 about returning the remaining cannabis to freezer. What I understand is pour in step 3 is pour all but 3 oz of ethanol over all the cannabis and return the mix and remaining ethanol to the freezer. (So there is no remaining cannabis just ethanol). But in step 4 it says remaining cannabis.
In step 5 it says grab the remaining jar of cannabis from the freezer.
Can I just add 16.5oz of ethanol to 44 grams of decarbed cannabis and wash twice adding the remaining 16.5 afterwards.
I’m confused about the part of returning the cannabis to the freezer if you can help me understand that part would be most helpful.
John
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  February 3, 2023 at 8:04 am Reply
  
  Hi John, for this recipe you should have 3 glass containers, 1 contains your ethanol, 1 contains the cannabis, and the other is an empty glass with a coffee filter. After the freezing, shaking, freezing again for two hours, another 5 minute shake you have 1 jar that has the remaining ethanol that should be back in the freezer until you need it for the second wash, 1 jar that has the cannabis and half the ethanol mixed together, and one glass that has the coffee filter. Pour your jar with the cannabis and ethanol into the coffee filter, the filtering process may take 30 minutes or more to complete, so in this time, we place the jar with the cannabis that has just been washed and strained into the freezer along with the jar that contains the remaining ethanol until the coffee filter has finished filtering the initial first wash. Once the coffee filter doesn’t have any more liquid in it, you can change out the filter for a new one and the next step of filtering the second wash will go quicker. From there, get both jars out of the freezer and combine the remaining ethanol with the jar of cannabis that is leftover from the first wash, shake that for 5 minutes before filtering through the coffee filter. Hope that helps and good luck!
- Stacey
  
  March 14, 2023 at 5:53 am Reply
  
  Help!! Ok so I started the process before finishing my morning coffee and accidentally mixed the decarbed cannabis and ethanol together as the first step. I realized this right away and strained it through cheesecloth and put them both in the freezer seperately as instructed. What will this error do to my final product?
  - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
    
    March 14, 2023 at 7:36 am Reply
    
    Hi Stacey, even with the minor mis-step, you should be good to start from the beginning once it’s in the freezer for the allotted amount of time. Let us know how it turns out once you are finished, hope that helps and good luck with your tincture!
    - Stacey
      
      March 14, 2023 at 8:13 am Reply
      
      Thanks! From what I understand, I may have extracted unwanted compounds, and hopefully not too much since it didn’t sit.
      
      I’m less concerned about the unwanted compounds affecting the taste of the final product, but more concerned about the shelf life. Do you think that this error has significantly impacted the shelf life?
      - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
        
        March 14, 2023 at 8:29 am
        
        Hi Stacey, it shouldn’t effect the shelf life at all, alcohol is a great preservative and you could have even likely made the tincture without freezing it first but most tinctures that are made this way at room temperature, the cannabis infuses in the alcohol for weeks or months at a time. Although it will pull out a lot more chlorophyll and other unwanted plant compounds. You should be good to proceed with the process once you pull it out of the freezer.