Taming Tinctures – Liquid Cannabis

Cannabis & ethanol in mason jar (via Medical Jane)

When people refer to marijuana tincture they’re talking about cannabis dissolved into some liquid. There’s two main liquids used in tinctures: alcohol and glycerin. THC may be extracted into other liquids (like chloroform) but these are the two we tend to ingest. Tinctures provide a convenient and discreet method of consuming very potent cannabis. Tinctures are also a great way for the average person to make and experience their own marijuana extracts – most extracts take lots of equipment and skill but to create the perfect marijuana tincture only takes time.

Given enough time, a fair amount of THC and other cannabinoids may be dissolved into alcohol, but glycerin just doesn’t do a very good job. No matter how much pot you put in there, not much will be absorbed. Tinctures made with glycerin should generally be avoided.

When a tincture is made with alcohol, half of the time it still isn’t very potent. When you harvest the marijuana most of the cannabinoids are stuck in proteins that don’t bond to anything in our brain, so they’re mostly useless. Instead of THC the plant is full of THCa. Heat and time convert the THCa to THC, the CBDa to CBD, etc. This is called “decarboxylation“. But if someone just throws flowers into some rum and tries to give it to you a week later, it’s not going to be any good.

Making your own tincture can be quite simple. First you want to find the highest-proof alcohol available, Everclear is excellent for this. For every 750ml of alcohol you will want at least 1/8th oz of plant matter. The more plant matter you use, the more potent the final product will be. Don’t exceed ½ oz per 750ml though or you’ll be wasting weed.

However you’re making tincture the first step is always to grind/chop the marijuana up. You don’t want it a fine powder, but it should be at least small enough you could use it in a joint.

Then mix the alcohol and marijuana together in a mason jar or a lidded Tupperware container.

The safest and easiest way to create a perfectly potent tincture takes about sixty days at ~80F – this will be about the temperature of a sunny spot by a window. Make sure to cover the jar with a thin black cloth though, you don’t want the liquid exposed to light. If you can get it up to 100-120F, you can do it in ~2-4 weeks.

A handy way to do this at home in the summer in a warm area is to put a big ol’ well-capped mason jar full of tincture in a clean, dark-colored plastic trash bin, put the lid on and put it in a sunny spot in the yard. Whatever method you use you’ll want to check in on the mixture daily – crack the lid for a few seconds just to let gas escape and then shake things up. When enough time has passed, strain and serve.

If you’re really short on time you can make tincture in 10 days but it won’t be quite as potent as the methods described above, and it takes a bit more effort. Follow the methods listed above, but after 10 days you’re going to want to cook the solution. On an electric stove or hot plate (never anything with flames), and on LOW, heat the mixture up for 20-40 minutes and then you can strain and serve.

Start with a dosage of a tablespoon or less, this stuff is incredibly potent! You can treat it like an edible and swallow the tincture or place the liquid on the underside of your tongue for quicker effects. But whatever you do, enjoy yourself!