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.

Would you like to save this?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

Disclosure: Homestead and Chill is reader-supported. When you purchase through links on our site, we may earn an affiliate commission.

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

Nicole

May 6, 2023 at 7:36 am Reply

Hi I think I did something wrong. Mine didn’t reduce.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  May 6, 2023 at 9:19 am Reply
  
  Hi Nicole, did you set it in front of a fan and what proof alcohol did you use for the tincture? If you live in a humid area, the alcohol may not readily evaporate as well and if you used anything less than 190 proof alcohol, it will contain more water which doesn’t evaporate as well as alcohol. Please fill me in on what you did and used and it will be easier to find a solution to get it to reduce.
  - Zane Nelson
    
    May 8, 2023 at 5:31 pm Reply
    
    You are very thoughtful in providing this information.
    The medical marijuana in my state is too expensive for me. And, it did not meet my expectations. Being a total rookie at this, I don’t even have a reference point. But, I feel that it should have provided some type of effect.
    
    You have given me hope in trying this method. Surely, there must be something that will provide a bit of relief.
    Thanks again for your time and effort in providing this info.
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      May 9, 2023 at 7:34 am Reply
      
      Hi Zane, we hope you find the tincture to be medicinal and effective, good luck and reach out with any other questions.
Pamela Scott

May 2, 2023 at 7:20 pm Reply

I wish to speak to your nervous readers. I have my first batch, 2nd wash, processing in the freezer. It sounds like a magical process, but it’s just chemistry – like baking a cake or making a good cup of coffee. There’s a science behind it, sure, but it’s very forgiving. I’m talking about weed only, please, I have not experienced “cooking” anything else. Anyway, I used your cannabutter recipe doing a whole bunch of stuff wrong – I decarbed an ounce of homegrown on a tray in a dry turkey roaster, then mixed that with a fat made up of half coconut oil and half land-o-butter with salt and canola oil in a mason jar water bath in the same turkey roaster. I used your quick calculations to figure that, at 10% THC ditchweed it would yield 35mg per tblsp, which is my happy place. It was perfect. I cannot tolerate smoking enough to get that dosage, and it gets expensive to buy as ingestibles. Readers need to understand that you are taking the THC in your grams of weed and you are reducing it down and down to 30 doses of tincture of this strength. You are not losing THC here, you are simply converting it into a different form.
Harvey Burns

April 26, 2023 at 12:35 am Reply

Just a quick thank you for the crystal clear instuctions with pics etc. 👍👍👍👍 👍👍👍👍
Never tried tincture before so am looking forward . . . . . . . .
🙏
jamie

April 14, 2023 at 1:13 pm Reply

what could i do with the residue in the filter? I’ve accumulated a lot of it and its like a powder, i was wondering if it could be used!
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 14, 2023 at 1:53 pm Reply
  
  Hi Jamie, most of the residue should be plant waxes and lipids so it isn’t really worth using as most, if not all of the cannabinoids will be in the alcohol. You could always save the leftover cannabis itself, lay it out on a flat sheet to allow all of the alcohol to evaporate, then use the cannabis in topical salves or even steep some for tea, however, it will have a lot fewer cannabinoids than when you first started. Hope that helps and enjoy!
Laila

April 14, 2023 at 5:19 am Reply

Hello! I would love to try making this tincture. I went to order the food grade alcohol or everclear but came to find out it’s illegal in Michigan! I was wondering if you have any other recommendations for alcohol to use? Thank you in advance 🙂
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 14, 2023 at 7:59 am Reply
  
  Hi Laila, unfortunately each state has its own weird laws in regards to high proof alcohol so it can vary depending on the state in which you live. Here in California, we can’t buy 190 proof Everclear but we can buy higher proof alcohols online and have them shipped to us. I believe higher proof alcohols are available in Indiana and Canada if you happen to live close to either border, if all else, you can try and find 151 proof alcohol in MI and use that for the tincture recipe. Since it is slightly lower proof, there will be some water which needs a little more time to evaporate compared to higher proof alcohol but it is doable. Hope that helps and reach out if you have any other questions.
Chris

April 2, 2023 at 8:09 pm Reply

Hi there, If all i had was leaf from this strain will this work as well or is it the buds that we need.
Thank you
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  April 3, 2023 at 7:41 am Reply
  
  Hi Chris, if by leaf you mean the trim or shake from the plant then yes, you can use that as well. However, since trim has much fewer cannabinoids per weight compared to flower, you likely want to use 3 to 4 times the amount in weight that is recommended in this recipe, so you will likely want to use 24-30 grams of trim. Yet, you may end up needing to add a little more alcohol depending on how well the original 6 ounces of alcohol covers the trim. The freezing cold ethanol usually breaks down the frozen plant material really well and turns the mixture into a slurry quite easily. Hope that helps and good luck!
Bill

March 22, 2023 at 10:08 pm Reply

So I did the math, my dropper bottles are 1Oz each, the droppers are not marked, but it take 13.5 dropper per bottle as I tried it to see. So each dropper would have about .20 of a Grams worth of thc, so it takes 2.5 dropper to be the same strength as a medium strength brownie. Is that typical for you? It seems like it should be about 3z as strong, so I can take .5-1 full drpper, not 3 droppers.
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 23, 2023 at 7:37 am Reply
  
  Hi Bill, without knowing exactly how much THC is in the cannabis you use and not having an exact way to test the tincture, it is hard to say exactly how much THC is in the tincture. If your cannabis is roughly 20% THC and you follow the recipe exactly, your finished product should be close to 20 mg of THC per 1 ml, 5-10 mg of THC is widely considered to be a single dose. If you consume edibles on a regular basis or use tincture on a daily basis, your body will gain a tolerance and the dose may need to be adjusted with time.
  
  I have yet to hear any comments stating that the tincture wasn’t strong enough so I would just make the tincture as described, try the tincture (I would start off with .5 ml first to find a baseline) and see how it ends up working for you. You could always make another batch if it isn’t to the strength you desire and increase the amount of decarbed cannabis to make it stronger, hope that helps and good luck!
- Phil
  
  March 29, 2023 at 9:04 am Reply
  
  Hi, I read your post and I must say I agree with you, it does seem very weak! I’m gonna try the tincture method and double up on the weed 😊 have you made it yet?
  - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
    
    March 29, 2023 at 9:14 am Reply
    
    Hi Phil, if you want to start with more cannabis feel free to do so, however, if you haven’t made cannabis tincture before, it doesn’t seem like you have much to go by for comparison. This recipe also gets reduced down to 2 ounces from the original 6 ounces of ethanol that you start with, which in turn, increases its potency. Let us know how it turns out for you and good luck!
Bill

March 22, 2023 at 9:56 pm Reply

Well I have not tried this yet, although I am in the process of making it, it’s in the freezer now until tomorrow. But here is my quesiton/concern; this seems kind of weak to me, how much of this tincture would it take to be about as strong as medium strength edibl brownie? I use .5 G of bud per brownie is the minimum I want. So how much cannabis in 6 oz of liquid would it take?

My dropper bottles are small, 1 ounce each, and my math says it would take about 20.25 grams to make it strong enough. I mean with these recipe you have, it would take several full droppers to get the same as 1 brownie. So is that common? People like taking several droppers of weak tincture?

Am I missing something here cause it just seems weak.
Ollie

March 22, 2023 at 10:46 am Reply

Trying this for my first time this weekend! How would you recommend then using this in edible recipes such as your own gummies for dosage?
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 23, 2023 at 7:55 am Reply
  
  Hi Ollie, .5 ml would be considered a single dose but you may want to try it first before using it in gummies as you can increase or decrease the amount of tincture used in each gummy depending on the strength you are looking for. If you use .5 ml as a dose per gummy and use the full 2 ounces of tincture or 60 ml, you would end up with 120 gummies with .5 ml of tincture each. Hope that helps and good luck!
  - Kyle Egbert
    
    March 29, 2023 at 10:17 am Reply
    
    If I wanted to make the tincture stronger after the process… would I be able to just do a another wash using the tincture (before evaporation, and after being in the freezer) in place of the pure alcohol and a new batch of fresh frozen bud and just repeat the process? If so, how many times could i repeat? Is there a point which I wouldn’t be getting everything out of the bud? Thanks for the help!!
    - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
      
      March 29, 2023 at 10:30 am Reply
      
      Hi Kyle, I think even doing more than a second wash, you will start to see a loss of cannabinoid extraction with the possibility of extracting more chlorophyll and other unwanted plant lipids and waxes. If you want to make the tincture stronger, you could either use more cannabis at the beginning of the process or further reduce the tincture down to less than two ounces as reducing it further from two ounces down to even 1 ounce, you would be doubling the potency, although the tincture will get thicker and likely darker the more it is reduced. Have you made the tincture yet and know you want to make it stronger or are you only trying to make a back up plan if you indeed want it stronger?
Esther

March 17, 2023 at 12:08 am Reply

Hi, I’m not used to weight and scale with ounces, and I know you have ounces and liquid ounces. So, when you say 6 ounces of alcohol, is it weight or volume?
I want to make gummies with this tincture, do you have any guess of how much tincture I could use in the making?
Thanks
- Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
  
  March 17, 2023 at 7:49 am Reply
  
  Hi Esther, the 6 ounces recommended for this recipe is liquid ounces, which would be just over 177 milliliters. If you want to make gummies and consider .5 ml a dose, 30 ml would essentially be half of your finished tincture after it evaporates. That would make 60 gummies that would each contain about a .5 ml dose of tincture. I would try the tincture on its own before using it in your gummy recipe so you know what type of dose you prefer and you would have a better idea of how much tincture you want to use per amount of gummies. Hope that helps and good luck!
  - Esther
    
    March 18, 2023 at 4:06 am Reply
    
    I’ll first test the tincture.
    Thank you vey much!
    - Viridian
      
      April 17, 2023 at 12:06 pm Reply
      
      Will 151 proof everclear work okay, either with or without doing the extra steps you mentioned for something 80 proof? If it needs it, what are the extra steps? The 151 proof is what I have.
      - Aaron (Mr. DeannaCat)
        
        April 17, 2023 at 1:39 pm
        
        Hi Viridian, yes you can use 151 proof, it still contains some water so the evaporation process may just take a little longer as it takes water longer to evaporate than alcohol alone. If the tincture doesn’t reduce by half within a day or two (due to the extra water), you could heat the jar in a water bath using an electric stove or slow cooker, the heat will make the water leftover from the 151 evaporate more quickly. If you need to do this step, please do so in a well ventilated area and be sure that the heating element is electric as you DO NOT want to be working with high proof alcohol around flames. Hope that helps and let us know how it turns out for you, good luck!