Alcohol Infusions?

Smoker's Lounge
#1

(Technically I guess this is sort of like a tincture, but I think of a tincture as something you put under your tongue. What I am going for is something I can make a cocktail with.)

I’ve been thinking a lot lately about how I enjoy mild edibles so much but I rarely get around to cooking them up because it is time-consuming, messy, and it makes the house stink to high heaven.

So I think I’d like to “infuse some booze”. I did some research (yah, right - a quick web search) and found https://herb.co/recipes/cannabis-vodka/

I don’t particularly like vodka so I rarely drink it. I am thinking of doing it with rum. The plan would be to get the dose right so I can have a couple of rum n’ cokes and not be totally fkd off my arse.

Anyway, have any of you made infused booze? Did you use a method like the one in the link, or something different? How did you like it?

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#2

I just did some dosage math on the recipe I linked to:

8 grams = 8000mg
Assuming 15% THC levels, that’s 1200mg of THC !!

750ml = 26 oz.

So each ounce of booze would have 46mg of THC. WAY too much for me.

I will aim for something like 10mg per ounce of booze.

2 grams (2000mg) at 15% THC would equal 300mg THC divided by 26 ounces = 11.5mg per ounce. That’s more like it.

If I use some weed that is roughly 1:1 THC:CBD at around 7-9% each, I might go with 3 grams of it.

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#3

Isn’t this simply a matter of dripping an alcohol based tincture into a drink and prepping for a longer, later ride?

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#4

Sure, you could do that, but you’d still have to prepare an alcohol-based tincture first.

Putting it straight into the booze and waiting a few days seems like less hassle to me. I’d probably forget about it for a month.

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#5

Intereeting, I’m sure Jack or Johnny would fit in perfectly

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#6

You may end up w a lot of chlorophyll and a green/grassy taste if you leave whole buds/plant material in for a month. Might want to do something thats more like a quick wash then use it after for edibles if you dont think you got it all. Or use a concentrate instead of whole plant material.

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#7

I’ve got lots of weed just sitting in jars all lonely - some of it has been there almost a year, so I’m not worried about squeezing every last bit of goodness out of it. The quick wash sounds like a good way to go, and I’ll just dump the leftover solids. By “quick wash” do you mean the 3-4 days stated in the recipe I linked to, or way quicker than that?

I’ll be using 40% (80 proof) booze so its ability to dissolve the cannabinoids and terpenes won’t be nearly as aggressive as other solvents typically used for extractions.

#8

I don’t like either of those, but they sure would work just as well as anything else. :slight_smile:

#9

Yeah with the Qwiso technique I think its a matter of a few hours but its stronger alcohol than what you’re using. Maybe let it sit for a day or 2, try it out & if it isnt strong enough do it for a few more days?

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#10

Decarboxilate the herb.
Soak it in this in the freezer for a few weeks.

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You end up with a couple of these

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Titrate to your taste and drink pot beverages at the drip of a dropper whenever. Have tea totaling friends over and let them drink tea.

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#11

No Everclear available in Canada. Bacardi 151 is the strongest we can get, and I don’t want to use that.

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#12

Bummer. We need the Everclear here to deal with our politics.

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#13

You will get a lot less of the good stuff out using 40% alcohol. I have never seen numbers (would be interesting), I can only say that your calculation with what goes in (THC-wise) will come out won’t work. The amount given in the recipe might not be as high as you think it is in this context.

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#14

Good to know. I won’t be disappointed if it ends up too weak, but I wouldn’t be very happy at all if it is too strong. I think I’ll just experiment with it and dial it in over time - starting off on the very weak side.

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#15

I make tinctures out of everclear for edibles. You want to use as pure of alcohol as you can, the more water in it the more water soluble things you’ll get with it as well. You’ll still need to decarb any material you want to extract tho. A simple alcohol extract doesnt activate it.

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#16

I’m definitely interested in your findings. And I’d also rather have too little than too much. :smiley:

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#17

I can’t get Everclear, and my goal is not to make a tincture or to make an ultra-strong infusion.

I think the linked recipe takes care of the decarb after the soak, by heating the liquid for 30 minutes.

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#18

It has to be heated up to +260°, oven might work better for this procedure

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#19

I tried using squished bud and everclear been soaking the flat slabs for a week now , looks like it’s working has a nice gold colour to the shine .i didn’t debarb thinking the pressed bud was heated already so it’s somewhat of a experiment.

Last run using the same brew but used shake resulted in a golf ball size chunk of resin once I boiled it off ,tried smoking it in a pipe with good results thinking I’ll bake something with some see how that goes.

In the past I’ve used coconut oil and de barbed weed with great results eating it other than over doing it and watching my heart beat in my chest it was quite the experience!

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#20

So what is your end goal? Just getting an alcohol and weed buzz at the same time? Or are you trying to flavor the alcohol?

Personally, I’ve added Green Dragon to all sorts of drinks. Coffee is one of my favorites. I’ve also made an infusion to a homemade eggnog before. The problem with just extracting directly with, say tequila, would be controlling potency. Another issue is taste, it will pull the chlorophyll leaving a grassy taste.

Decarboxylation will need to happen as well, there are several ways to do it. The simplest would be to put the buds in the oven at 250°F for about 40 minutes. This will lead to a popcorn type taste. Another, less known, way would be to let the filtered extract sit in a cool dry place for 90 days. This will activate the THC.

If I were going to do this, i would likely use some extract instead of buds to minimize chlorophyll. Let it set for 90 days and enjoy.

Let us know how it turns out. :+1::seedling:

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