The Definitive Green Dragon (Revised, Updated, Combined)

well lets see, I've made another batch, this time paying attention to the smell, while the bud is in the oven , 'activating it's thc' or w/e, and then trying to as quickly as I can transfer it to the 151 on the stove already being at 175-80 degrees tho so I took it out of the pan and then put the bud in then put it back.. thing rose again to 175-80 all fast and I took it out like 2-3 times. then it lowered to 170 or lower and Im keeping it there for 20 minutes.

I noticed a smell that was gone in my last batch when I was making it , the alcohol didn't tingle my nose anymore when I came up to smell it. I thought maybe by going too high in temperature, I might've lost that smell which may be whats needed for the alcohol to activate the thc..

I'll let ya'll know how it goes..

k I took 4 dropperfuls of this stuff...

hopefully it worked even tho I let the temp be a little lower than 170 but since I read that you had done 160-65 before so I thought it may work. I just didn't want to go over 170 at all. If it's necessary to be 170 then in my next batch I won't start counting down the 20 minutes until I reach a steady exact temperature of 170.

I also thought maybe the tingly smell of the 151 should be more of a 'well done' heated smell, instead of just smelling tingly as if there was alcohol left not heated up thoroughly enough to 'activate' the thc. I was left with more alcohol 'tincture' this time, more than 1 ounce.

Next time I'll try to exact 170 temperature for exactly 20 minutes. If this works I want to master it. I just hope I can be a little flexible.

well this last one did not work well either...

so the decarboxylation should leave it looking a bit brown? I sometimes think I might burn it and the thc into the air. should it be browned a bit or can I leave some color, I just notice how much my bud smells from warm to burning and it smells nice just being heated and not looking too burned or brown and dry. so I take it out of the oven from 4-5 minutes still having a little green left.

browned a littled charred or what?

I really want to find a way to extract thc into alcohol to make tincture without having to wait weeks... this green dragon method hasn't worked for me and I tried all variations...

Try using some higher quality bud possibly, if you're using 'schwag' or something similar, that may be why. Unluckily, almost every recipe you'll read will call for an 8th of 'fine quality bud', meaning you need something better than you're using, most likely.

yeah. I was using lots of twigs and leaves (schwag).. "shake" you know.

I wanted to add some facts here I found on decarboxylation which some may find useful.



Heating dried marijuana makes the carboxyl group convert into water (H2O) and carbon dioxide (CO2). When marijuana is smoked, the burning eliminates the carboxyl group. There are several ways to decarboxylate marijuana for use in extracts. A layer of marijuana buds or leaf can be placed in an oven at 150 degrees for 15 minutes. This is far below the boiling point of THC yet warm enough to evaporate the carboxyl group. Another method of releasing the COOH is by placing a bowl of buds in the microwave for 2 minutes. The waves will boil away the water. The boiling point of marijuana's active cannabinoids ranges from 260-392 degrees F.

Decarboxylation

and

The liquid THC and other cannabinoids have a boiling point of between 180-200° C (355-392° F). Before they turn gaseous, at around 106° C (220° F), the carboxyl group is released from the molecule as carbon dioxide and water vapor.

Decarboxylation

I bought a better non meat candy thermometer with the bulb at the bottom for this recipe..

I made a couple batches of this stuff using schwag and Everclear. The first batch I made I had to take 3 doses before I felt a little bit of a body high. The second batch I made I think I might have knackered. I got a little distracted and let the alcohol boil for a little too long so now I just have some damp stuff at the bottom of the jar. Is there any way I can maybe add some more Everclear to this to rescue some of it or should I just try and squeeze what I can out of it?

Also, does the mixture have to boil at 170F or would it be possible to decrease the temperature a little (say 160F or so) and boil it for longer? My stovetop sucks.

I just made my first batch of GD with Everclear and an eighth of Trainwreck. I tested it out and it takes about 2 droppers to work as oposed to Master Wu's one dropper full.

My question for Master Wu is:

How important is it for the simmering temperature to be 170 degrees for 2 minutes?

As I see it, since the vaporization temp for THC is around 380F, does it really matter if you go over 170F? So long as you dont get anywhere near 380, I would think the THC would remain in the mixture and not degrade.

I ask the question because I was a dummy and used 4 oz. of Everclear instead of 2 oz. (I filled a measuring cup to 1/8 line but later realized that I was using a pint based measuring cup!). Anyhow, I simply boiled off 3 oz. of Everclear instead of only 1oz. It took me about 50 minutes of boiling the mixture at 170-175 degrees to reduce the mixture down to a little more than 1 oz.

So I'm wondering if the reduced potency of my mixture is due to: (a) increased simmering temperature and time; (b) inadequate decarboxylation; (c) poor quality bud; or (d) a combination of a,b or c.

Thanks for your guidance and advice Master Wu!