What is a cannabis tincture and how do you make it?

If you are open to using cannabis, but would rather not smoke it, then a weed tincture is the solution. This allows you to benefit from the advantages of weed and feel the pleasant effects, but you do not have to deal with the disadvantages of smoking. In this blog we explain exactly what a tincture is and how you can make it yourself.

What is a weed tincture?

It is known that smoking is harmful to your health. This applies just as much to weed as to regular tobacco. By using a weed tincture, you can use cannabis in a safer way. And the great thing is that you can easily make a tincture yourself.

A tincture is a herbal extract, in which a herb, resin or parts of a plant are dissolved in alcohol or glycerine. This requires a special preparation, so that the most important components, in this case cannabis, are bound to the solvent. This allows you to consume the weed tincture directly.

As mentioned, a tincture can be made with alcohol or with edible glycerine. What is the difference between these two? The advantage of alcohol is that the cannabinoids in weed, such as THC, CBD and the like, easily bind to it. The disadvantage is that if you need a lot, alcohol naturally has a certain side effect. But then you have to use a lot.

The alternative is glycerine. This is a colorless and odorless liquid, which comes from plants. This is safe to use, but the strength of the tincture will be less than when you use alcohol. But by repeating the steps that you will find later in the text several times, you can also make a glycerine tincture stronger. So you can decide for yourself which substance you want to use for your weed tincture.

Using alcohol for weed tincture

If you are going to use alcohol to make a cannabis tincture, it is good to know that the alcohol percentage makes a big difference. The higher the alcohol percentage, the more powerful the solution will be. Ethyl alcohol is very suitable. This can be used for food and to make tinctures. You cannot buy this in the supermarket, but you can buy it online or at your pharmacy. But other alcoholic beverages with a high alcohol percentage are also suitable, such as Bacardi Rum or vodka.

Glycerine as a base for your tincture

Glycerine is usually made from vegetable oil, such as coconut, soy or palm oil. You can also use this substance as a base for your tincture, but the cannabinoids do not bind to it as effectively as they do to alcohol. It may be a good idea to take the middle ground and make a tincture with both alcohol and glycerin.

How to make a cannabis tincture?

So what do you need to make a tincture? Below we list the supplies you will need.

Ingredients:

• 5 to 30 grams of weed
• 60 ml of alcohol (at least 75.5%)

Requirements:

• 2 preserving jars
• Baking paper
• Baking tray
• Coffee filter
• Filter holder
• Grinder
• Measuring cup
• Pipette bottles

Prepare all of this in advance. Below you will see the different steps you need to follow to make your own homemade tincture.

First step: decarboxylation

First, it is necessary to decarboxylate the weed. This is a complicated term for heating cannabis to convert certain cannabinoid acids. For example, CBDA becomes CBD and THCA becomes THC. Carboxylation is done as follows:

Turn on the oven to 110 degrees Celsius. Place a sheet of baking paper on a baking sheet. Use the grinder (or a coffee grinder) to grind the weed and, once that is done, place your ground weed on the baking paper. Place the baking sheet in the oven and let the weed decarboxylate for 40 minutes. Then remove the plate and let everything cool down.

Second step: Infusion

Put the weed in the clean preserving jar. Now add alcohol (or glycerin), enough so that the weed is completely covered. Usually you need at least 480 ml. Shake well, so that the alcohol is well distributed.

Third step: Shake and let steep

You can put the jar in a cool and dark place. Let the mixture sit for at least 6 to 8 weeks. Shake the jar and its contents well every day for a minute.

Fourth step: filtration

Now it's time to sieve the plant particles from your tincture. You can use a coffee filter or cheesecloth for this. Now you need the second preserving jar. Place the filter or cheesecloth over the opening of the second jar and pour the tincture through it. This will leave all the plant particles and other impurities in the filter. Now you can fill your pipette bottles (use a funnel), so that you have a supply of tincture that you can use immediately. Store the bottles in a cool and dark place.

Using cannabis tincture

How do you use your homemade cannabis tincture? It is wise to start with a low dosage. Take 1 to 3 drops under the tongue and hold it in your mouth for about a minute before swallowing. After that, you can take an extra drop every ten minutes until you feel the effect you want. This tincture can also be added to food or drinks very well.