The Definitive Green Dragon (Cannabis Tincture)

Hello Friends,

1. How much is in an Eyedropper
An eyedropper holds about one milliliter of liquid, depending on how hard you squeeze the little bulb. For water based solutions one milliliter weighs about one gram. Thus each full eyedropper contains about one gram of liquid. Since there are about 29 grams in one ounce, you get about 29 full eyedroppers in every ounce. The eyedropper I initially used measured 34 full droppers in an ounce.

Also I use the nice blue two-ounce dropper bottles from the health food store that are used for essential oils, tinctures, and/or other extracts.

2. Leaf vs. Bud
I have not tried the extraction with leaf. But you would obviously need loads more. The problem is you will also need much more alcohol. My guess is you should use somewhere on the order of 10 parts alcohol to 1 part leaf. Then once you are finished you will want to remove the spent leaf, and then concentrate the alcohol by boiling off most of it (using the water bath of course) until you have one ounce of GD remaining.

3. When is it Ready
Right away. That is one of the nice things about this extraction process.

4. Taste
I find that after a week in the fridge (that's where I store mine) the flavor seems to mature into a heady, slightly floral elixer with bud overtones. I find it rather pleasant.

Master Wu

master Wu
thanks for your information re: leaf versus head (bud as you gus call it)
now! i would like to know when heating the dope in the oven,to turn the thca into thc. should the dope be dry as its ready to smoke or can it be wet? when i used the leaf most of it was wet. i cooked the leaf in the oven for 5-8 minutes at 150c. degrees
i did end up useing more rum than your recipe i can not tell you what the end mixture was as i kept adding until the leaf was just covered. the length of cooking time was the same as yours. but i did not reduce the liquard
when i reduceing the liquard i wonder if it will thicken?
master wu, were are you from? this "1 ounce" thing! ha ha i am gussing in my language thats around 30mil!
one more question. when reduceing the liquard iam i loseing thc along with the alcohol? i dont mind loseing the alcohol but the thc is another thing

this is a really good thread recipe thing... i think it should be stickyatized

sounds like a plan once i have more room to make such concotions (rents)

This sounds great. What a good idea.

I'm assuming heating 7 grams in the oven for 20 minutes smells up the entire house? Anyone have information about the smell when making this? I'm talking extent of smell, time it stays in the air, how bad, etc.

I haven't tried this yet, but I plan to do so. This is one of the best-formatted, most concise and clear recipes of any kind that I have seen anywhere, by the way. Thank you very much, Master Wu, for sharing this with us!

One question: if I want to use a whole ounce of good pot on this, can I just increase the alcohol amount correspondingly? E.g., one ounce of good pot, 16 ounces of strong alcohol? Seems like it would work okay. I'd rather just make a bunch at once, because I'm a lazy sumbitch. ;)

Great thread Master Wu!

One question, could this be done using Isopropanol alcohol? It must be nearly 100% proof and probbaly more likely to combust/ignite.

Anyone have any experience with Iso alcohol?

peace
Knotter

I have drank rum and everclear components of Green Dragon.
But I would never drink Isopropyl alcohol. So why would you make green dragon with it? It is a drink.

Isopropyl alcohol

Safety
Isopropyl alcohol vapour is heavier than air and is highly flammable with a very wide combustible range. It should be kept away from heat and open flame. When mixed with air or other oxidisers it can detonate[citation needed].

Isopropyl alcohol is oxidized by the liver into acetone. Symptoms of isopropyl alcohol poisoning include flushing, headache, dizziness, CNS depression, nausea, vomiting, anesthesia, and coma. Use in well-ventilated areas and use protective gloves while using. Poisoning can occur from ingestion, inhalation, or absorption.

Long term application to the skin can cause defatting.

Medicine/Toxicology
Isopropyl alcohol is about twice as toxic as ethanol. Isopropyl alcohol does not cause an anion gap acidosis (like ethanol or methanol). It produces an elevated osmolal gap, but generally no abnormal anion gap (though this may be seen as a result of hypotension and lactic acidosis). Overdoses may cause a fruity, acetone-like odor on the breath.

Yeah dude, don't use rubbing alcohol. That shit will blind you. (Even with throat-application, ;))

Hello Friends,

I have made a few more batches since I last wrote. Here are some answers to questions as well as a few more tips.

1. Isopropyl Alcohol
DON'T USE IT!

2. Using an Ounce
The recipe should scale nicely from 1/8 to whole ounce. But, unless you have experience with smaller batches I'd recommend sticking with the recipe as written. It would be a shame to have something go wrong with a large batch. I strongly recommend making the GD a couple of times before trying to scale up.

3. Pre-Baking the Pot - Color Changes and Vapors
Bake the pot at 325 degrees fahrenheit for 5 minutes. I chop mine in a mini-prep (or chop by hand) until it is quite fine. Then I spread it out on a piece of aluminum foil which is placed directly on the oven rack. If you place the foil on a baking pan you will need to account for the additional mass of the pan which will increase your baking time. Pre-baking should stink up the house. I turn on the stove vent fan. I also do all my cooking at night after neighbors are in bed.

I look for two indicators that the pot is properly pre-baked. First, I look for the pot to change color from it's initial shade of green to a much darker greenish-brown (or brownish-green). I assume this represents not browning (burning) of the leaf but rather the denaturation of the chlorophyll in the leaves.

Second, I look for a slight amount of vapors to rise off the pot. Since the temperature is well below the vaporization temperature of THC, these vapors probably consist of compounds that vaporize at lower temperatures (like water).

4. Extraction Temperature (revised)
I've had good success with extractions at 170 degrees fahrenheit. You'll note that my initial recipe called for maintaining temperature between 150 and 165. At 170 the alcohol mixture will be slightly boiling. Note that this is alcohol boiling not water boiling. Alcohol boils with very fine bubbles as opposed to the rolling boil of water. After 20 minutes the alcohol should be reduced by about half.

5. Green Dragon Final Color and Smell
The green dragon should be a greenish-brown color (more brown than green). If it is emerald green and smells like grass (from the cholorphyll), it will be weak. Emerald green indicates that the pre-baking was not sufficient. The GD should smell like bud, somewhat floral.

6. How To Recover The Green Dragon
When you are done extracting you will have one ounce (or so) of GD. But it is mixed up with the 1/8 oz of spent plant material. Here is how I recover the maximum amount of my extract.

First, I strain it through a regular kitchen mesh strainer. I use the back of a spoon to force out as much GD as possible.

Next (this is the cool part) I use a garlic press to squeeze the remaining leaves. My preference is a Zylis Garlic Press because it has a plunger mechanism, but any press should do. I then put the squeezings into the plunger in batches, and squeeze the holy GD out of it. This trick has increased my overall recovery by about 15%.

Master Wu

man i totally gottamake one :D

damn hash in hand, use your common sense. when your brain registers "drop alcohol in your eyes" from the word eye dropper, i think you got some problems.

master wu first off this recipe looks to be the best and most effeicient tincture i have seen. I just need to know about the dosage. In one of your last posts you said to take a dropperful which is about a gram. About how many actual drops would that be and also once you have done the dry heat convirsion could you then just let the tincture sit instead of placing in a 165 degree bath for 20 minutes or would this change the effect

sticky!!!!!!!!!! plz mods plz

see im that good :D

master wu
i had trouble with the extraction when i made your tincture. it was in a bath of 165 degrees for over 20 minutes and barely anything boiled off. after this i just put the mason jar in a dark place to wait for 2-3 weeks. will this method work instead since the extraction did not work well? i dont know what im doing wrong but if there is anything that might help me please let me know

The first time I made it barely .5 of a oz of liquid boiled off. It is fine. It just isn't has concentrated. Master Wu talks about this in this thread.

Each batch can be a lil different. You will prolly just need to dose a little extra. You have to Self Titrate as Master Wu would say. Or in Okie talk try it out and see how strong it is.

You don't have to wait the 2-3 weeks in a dark place. I made a batch then stored it for a month shaking every few days. It didn't seem that much stronger then the batch I made and used the next day.

You aren't doing anything wrong unless u take a few dropperfulls and don't feel nothing then u messed somewhere else in the process.

I would think the easiest place to screw this up is in the prebaking conversion of THCA to THC.

I like to bake for 20-25 min @ 200 or so. Oven tempatures can fluctate alot so I would personally prefer the safer but longer lower tempature conversion method.

oksmokey

thanks for the reply. originally i used a microwave for 2 minutes which i read worked but obviously not becuase one of my friends took about 3ml which is the same as 3 dropperfuls of tincture that was 1/8 ounce of pot and 2 oz of 88% alcohol content orange extract and didnt feel a thing. and i did the extraction at 170 degrees for 20 min like i said before. i just want this to work and not waste an 1/8 of pot. since i may have made a mistake in the pre-baking, could i strain the weed and then re bake it at the temperature and time that you have suggested?(after rinsed and dried)

Only use Master Wu's recipe!

I used the microwave on 1 batch but I watched it REAL carefully! Checking and turning it and cooking it for prolly a total of 1 1/2 min. If u just stuck it in for 2 min on high u prolly burnt of the THC and ended up with bunkness.

I don't know about this orange extract. I used everclear. If you can't get that get 151.

I like Wu's recipe with a 200 degree for 25 min conversion and a 165-170 degree water bath for 20 min. Then I don't strain! I usally make a double or triple batch and put it back in the everclear bottle and sip on it off and on :)

ok that all sounds legit
it seems so hard to make this shit without messing it up but yeah i think i messed it up in the microwave.

the orange extract is 88% alcohol by content and i dont think that is the problem. green dragonsoda.com said it worked and they seem like a legit site. but i might get 151 just to be safe. the extract is so much cheaper

i just want this to work so i can get high w/out smoking. It seems like the easiest way.

do you know any other pretty easy recipes to get high w/ out smoking.the only other one i have heard of is a honey based extraction where u just put some honey in a pan with the weed and add water as it slowly cooks i dunno though master wu's seems to be the very best and most efficient

also does baking the pot at 200 for 20-25 minutes really stink up the house because it seems like it would and i dont want it to smell strong.

if it does leave a quite strong smell would 5 min at 325 be adequite

"the orange extract is 88% alcohol by content and i dont think that is the problem. green dragonsoda.com said it worked and they seem like a legit site. but i might get 151 just to be safe. the extract is so much cheaper"

I know it list the extract on the site. It also say not to use a microwave on the site lol. But you went there anyway.


"do you know any other pretty easy recipes to get high w/ out smoking.the only other one i have heard of is a honey based extraction where u just put some honey in a pan with the weed and add water as it slowly cooks i dunno though master wu's seems to be the very best and most efficient"

Firecrakers are ez and there is no smell if made right.
http://crackers.kisps.net/

Honestly just reading the recipe section here gives tons of different things to try.


"also does baking the pot at 200 for 20-25 minutes really stink up the house because it seems like it would and i dont want it to smell strong.if it does leave a quite strong smell would 5 min at 325 be adequite"

Both will leave a strong smell. So I guess your underage. Which means. Sorry no more advice from me. Nothing personal just how it is. Good luck man!

well thats cool man its been real and thanx for all the help i appreciate it

Totally going to make the Green Dragon just like you described! That is awesome.

Thats sick dude. Also you dont need that much money for it.

I just want to make a few clarifications and add my own experience to the GD manufacturing process. I have followed diligently the instructions provided by Master Wu for a number of batches now, an my experience adds to the following:

1. Pot baking time: The conditions of your week will modify the cooking time considerable. I keep mine in a humidor, and it is always fresh and ready to be smoked, with a high level of humidity. If you weed is in that condition, the first vapors you will see rising from the pot will be very early, and with almost no odor, corresponding mainly to evaporating water. After approximately five minutes those vapors will subdue, and they will be followed, after about one or two minutes, by more dense, stronger smelling vapors. I believe those are the ones that Master Wu refers to. So, if your weed has a high degree of moisture, you need to add around two minutes to your baking time. After proper baking has occurred, not only the color changes but the weed feels â??toastyâ?�.
2. Simmering time: The longer the simmering time, the more concentrated the tincture will be, to a certain degree. I believe that the 20 minutes recommended amounts to the effective alcohol simmering, boiling time, which is not attained until after 10 minutes in the double boil bath. This makes a total time of approximately 30 minutes, from which 20 are real alcohol boiling time.
3. To get the most of the tincture, I still leave it resting in a cool dark place for about one week before separating the weed. I use a piece of surgical gauze as a filter, which I later press using a lime squeezer.

Hope this helps. Greetings, Master Wu!

Sorry. I had saved the wrong link for the official thread.

i tried this method and another one mentioned here (Green Dragon Recipes (Marijuana Drink)), i also tried a conventional vodka tincture (waited 4 weeks long). neither did work for me. first of all, they didn't get me high a bit. one dropper, five droppers, one shot glass... but not getting high wasn't the problem. the horrible aftertaste however was... they all tasted like i am poisoning myself (no pun intended), it burns your mouth and stomach, makes you nauseous... and the taste lasts 8 painful hours. horrible... and the droppers, pots, pans etc. makes you feel like you are doing "drugs".
so, within the last month, i wasted ~1 oz high grade weed.

my advice would be, smoke the thing, don't play with it.

Dont give up only because you still hadnt any sucess... it works, i assure you... i went HIGHHH several times drinking it... so there must be something you were doing wrong... anyway... if once you succeed, you will LOVE it... cause the high can be HIGHHHH :stoned::stoned::abduct:

I've tried it twice now, with no results, and think I may be going wrong at the baking stage.

Even on a very low (180F) setting, my powdered bud goes brown very quickly and there's a burnt smell about it. Even after just a few minutes it turns.

This results in a brownish, burnt smelling product at the end of the water bath stage, and a pungent alcohol mix.

Tastes bad and there's no effect.

Any ideas?

i do not currently have a oven fan at this time. do you think it is still safe to cook the tincture??? please advise

Check the sticky at teh top of 'concentrates'. The OP on this thread updated and fixed it to make it more useful, and this one is the old version that is outdated.