How do I make a Marijuana Tincture?

Advanced Techniques GrowFAQ
1

Contributed by: MarcusVonBueler Thanks to: ixnay007 submitted: 03-06-2003

A marijuana tincture is a solution of alcohol and THC. Tinctures are a much more concentrated version of the traditional drink known as “The Green Dragon.”. The higher the ratio of alcohol to weed is, the greater the potential for THC to be drawn out is. And since all that extra grain alcohol isn’t appetizing to anybody but mental patients,I always evaporate off the excess.

How do I make it?

  • If you want to make a marijuana tincture, you should use one whole bottle of everclear (a fifth) and at least an eighth of buds, but no more than a half ounce or you will be wasting weed.

    (ixnay007) You need to use PGA (pure grain alcohol) because the more water present in your alcohol, the more nasty stuff ends up in your green dragon like tanins, etc (it’ll end up brown).

  • Grind the buds up well before mixing them with the alcohol.
  • Let the mixture steep (covered) for anywhere from a week to a month. Shake the covered container (I use Tupperware, but the original bottle will work fine) once or twice a day, and remove the cover once a day to prevent any gases from building up. Beware though, if you steep for a month, (and I've known people who steep for longer) chances are the drink is just going to knock you out cold.
  • After the mixture has been steeped to your satisfaction, strain out the plant material with cheese cloth (squeeze the cloth to get the remaining liquid out)
  • Pour the liquid in a saucepan and heat on LOW heat using either a hot plate or an electrical stove. If you try doing this with a gas stove, you will burn your nuts off. Just continue heating until it has evaporated down to the amount of liquid you want.

    Note: make sure you’re doing this on LOW heat, as you don’t want to burn yourself by boiling the alcohol. Also be aware that this process is very stinky, and will make your house smell like weed for a couple of hours, unless it is extremely well ventilated. That’s why I always do this in my backyard with a hotplate and an extension cord.

    (ixnay007) When you have green dragon that you aren’t going to drink, you need to remember to store it in cool very dark places, as alcohol-extracted THC is fairly unstable, and will degrade quickly in light or when exposed to heat.

    You can drink it straight, or mix it. The potency is high, and is similar to eating oil-extracted THC, yet is different at the same time. You’ll just have to try it!