CBD Cannabis Tincture & How To Make It

What Is Cannabis Alcohol Tincture?

Cannabis alcohol tinctures, also known as green or golden dragon, are alcohol or also glycerine-infused cannabis extracts. Cannabis tincture was one of the main forms of cannabis medicine right up until the United States of America ensured almost Worldwide cannabis prohibition.

What Are The Benefits Of Cannabis/CBD Tinctures?

Let’s break down the benefits of using a cannabis alcohol tincture as opposed to other medical cannabis administration methods. Tinctures are commonly used as a convenient delivery system as the alcohol allows for plant compounds to be absorbed quickly into the bloodstream.

For this reason, taking your cannabis medication in the form of tinctures makes it easier to dose than for example coconut oil or cannabutter based edibles. You can feel the effects quickly and can adjust your dosage as necessary.

The best tinctures are made from concentrated cannabis oil extracts but if you do not have enough plant material to make a batch of oil then dried and decarboxylated plant material can be ground up in a food processor.

Apart from the ease of making your own cannabis tinctures, safely and easily at home, the added benefits to patients are:

Ease of administration by simple placing drops under the tongue known as sublingual dosing
Tinctures absorb quickly and are fast acting
Easily controlled dosage unlike edibles for example
Far healthier administration than smoking and even vaporising

According to The Herbal Medicine-Maker’s Handbook, tinctures will last for many years when stored in a cool, dark place. The extended shelf life allows you to make larger quantities of tinctures at once.

Chossing Your Strain For Cannabis Alchol Tinctures: Cannabis Indica Tincture vs Cannabis Sativa Tincture

The strain you choose to make your tincture from, as in all cannabis medications, will determine the cannabinoid content of your extract.

C.indica dominant strains will exhibit a relaxed state and what is referred to as a body high. This can help with insomnia, pain, nausea, and depression.

C.sativa dominant strains will exhibit a more energetic experience with increased appetite and a more cerebral high.

Hybrid varieties will combine qualities from both of these strains and you can choose from a huge selection.

How To Prepare A Tincture Or An Oil From Cannabis, That Concentrates The Active Compounds Of The Plant

You need decarboxylated marijuana and ethyl alcohol of 96-99% (preferably Everclear), a glass that can be closed (e.g. jam jar), a coffee filter, a deep plate and a bottle with a dropper for storage and administration.

Cannabis must be decarboxylated first if it’s to be used in a tincture. The cannabis plant produces (THC-A) and (CBD-A) the acid forms of these main cannabinoids. Heating cannabis converts the (THC-A) to (THC) and converts (CBD-A) to (CBD).

Because raw cannabis contains primarily (THC-A) eating uncooked cannabis doesn’t have a psychoactive effect and you lose the benefits of (THC). Heat decarboxylates (THC-A) turn it into (THC). As a basic rule of thumb:

For maximum THC-A to THC conversion – heat at 245°F for 60 minutes.

For maximum CBD-A to CBD conversion – heat at 245°F for 90 minutes.

Put your dry cannabis in a glass Pyrex covered casserole dish. This keeps the terpenes and other volatiles from evaporating off. You want to preserve all of the terpenes because they’re an important component in addition to cannabinoids. Decarboxylating will result in a 10% weight loss so 30 grams will yield 27 grams of decarboxylated weight.

Tried and Tested Tincture Recipes

Gallego’s Cannabis Alchol Tincture Recipe

Reduce the cannabis to small pieces and put it into the glass.
Cover it with alcohol.
Keep it in a dark and cool place for about a week.
Shake it every day.
Filter it using a coffee filter.
Press the last drops of alcohol out of the plant material.

You may repeat this process several times, at least once, better twice. You may again put the cannabis into the glass and cover it with alcohol. Finally, put all the alcohol (it will have a green colour) into a deep plate.

Keep it in a tempered and ventilated place so that some of the alcohol will be evaporated increasing the cannabinoids concentration of the tincture. This may take ten days. When enough alcohol is evaporated pour the extract into the bottle with the dropper.

The cannabis alcohol tincture can be used directly, or dissolved in a drink or food, or vaporized. To vaporize the tincture a commercial vaporizer or the old silver paper system can be used.

Form a teaspoon out of silver paper, put some drops of the tincture on it, carefully heat it until the alcohol starts to evaporate – then inhale it using a small tube such as the body of a ballpoint pen. (Gállego JT: Tintura de cannabis. Canamo, No 46, July 2001:76-77).

Tincture dosages are simple to calculate. Start with 1 ml of your finished tincture and put it under your tongue. If you’re happy with the effects, you can maintain that dosage level.

Otherwise, increase to 2 ml the next day and so on until you find the dosage volume you are happy with. This method of administration is called self-titration, which basically means you take as much of the medicine as required and you feel comfortable with.

Master Wu’s Cannabis Alcohol Tincture Recipe

Master Wu’s recipe differs from the traditional method in that it uses heat to speed up the extraction and concentration process. Unlike the traditional method, this tincture is ready as soon as it is strained and has cooled.

Decarboxylate your flower or extract (if you’re using flower, grind it to a fine consistency)
Mix your flower or extract in a mason jar with high-proof alcohol (preferably Everclear)
Simmer the jar in a water bath for 20 minutes at 76°C
Strain the mixture and store in a cool dark place

Simple Golden Dragon Cannabis Alcohol Tincture Recipe

All versions of Green dragon cannabis alcohol tincture are made with high proof grain alcohol and are perfect for making strong edibles as it’s easy to incorporate smaller amounts of tincture without changing the consistency of the mixture.

Grain alcohol recommended for extraction is commonly bottled at 151-proof (75.5% alcohol by volume or ABV) and 190-proof (95% ABV or about 92.4% ethanol by weight).

Equipment Needed

One litre (quart) Mason Jar. You actually require a slightly larger size but can use this with slightly less alcohol
Grinder or Food Processor for finely chopping your dried and decarboxylated cannabis buds
Cheesecloth for straining, however, a coffee filter will remove more of the residual plant material

Ingredients

1 litre (quart) of Grain Alcohol (Everclear)
28 grams (1 ounce) Cannabis (decarboxylated)

Method

Grind the cannabis into small pieces using a grinder or food processor.
Place 1 litre (quart) of grain alcohol and your marijuana into the mason jar.
Close the lid tightly, so no air can get it.
Store in a cool dark place.
Shake the jar every few days.
Wait a least 2 weeks (or longer as desired) then strain the mixture using the cheesecloth.
Keep the tincture in a refrigerator.

Cannabis Coconut Tincture Recipe

Follow the recipe as shown above. Any vegetable oil can be used as a base, but coconut oil has the highest amounts of fatty acid, which binds well with the cannabinoids. It also works well for use in cooking and other uses such as lotions or to fill capsules for easy consumption.

Help and Advise

If you need advice or help with Medical Cannabis, please use the contact form provided. We try to answer all emails within 24 hours and are happy to help and advise on all aspects of medical cannabis treatments in complete confidence.

Disclaimer: Please note that whilst we consider ourselves subject matter experts regarding medical cannabis, we are not medical professionals. We are an information resource and there is still limited evidence that medical cannabis can cure all the illnesses we discuss here. We recommend you do as much research as possible, and where practical seek professional medical advice before proceeding with Medical Cannabis oil.