Question about the tincture I'm making

[hogger]

Does the Bud have to be Dry?? Also does it have to be Cured first???

I got a bottle of EverClear and need a simple way to make some some day... Thanks guys...!

[Toastyroadie]

Grind it and bake it, I've used buds and trim right off the branch.

:stoned:

[farmermo]

Wow, you guys let your tincture "steep" a long time. I only do a couple days with the jar sealed, and shake it a couple times a day. Then I strain it into a measuring cup (a coffee filter put inside a regular strainer - takes awhile, but works).

Now my measuring cup let me knows how much liquid I started with. (You can draw a line with a sharpie, if you are forgetful - it comes off with alcohol on glass) To get a tincture that doesn't burn, just let the alcohol evaporate on it's own, in the glass measuring cup until it is 1/4 to 1/2 of the volume you started with. Or, even stronger concentration, by letting it sit evaporating for 10 days. Heating it sounds dangerous at that proof! You can leave it out and open, because the alcohol kills bacteria, etc. When you're done, store it in a dark bottle, in a dark place. I keep mine in the fridge.

[ThaiBuddhaMan]

Does the Bud have to be Dry?? Also does it have to be Cured first???

I got a bottle of EverClear and need a simple way to make some some day... Thanks guys...!

Dry - yes
Cured - no

Like Toasty mentioned - a lot of people grind and bake in their oven to speed the drying process. Supposedly it also converts THCA to THC (or something like that). Temps & times vary. I myself place it in a unheated oven and set the temp gauge to 250 degrees F. After the preheat buzzer goes off (meaning it's reached 250 or at least close to it), I let it dry for about an hour, then I raise my oven's temp control knob to 325. When the preheat buzzer goes off - I take it out (just takes a couple of minutes). Some just do 325 for 5 minutes in a preheated oven. Others - 325 in a unheated oven, and after preheat buzzer goes off, then wait another 5 minutes. For me, the slower longer lower temps seem to work best.

Drying also helps get rid of a lot of the chlorophyll too - which if you have ever have a tincture with lots of chlorophyll - is nasty tasting!

[hogger]

Interesting...Thanks Guys.. Wasn`t sure if it had to be dry or not and all

[warpedideals]

do not add water as it will not mix completely, if you want you can add lemon juice or lime juice now (it can actually be used to make tinctures it has a very high alcohol content) and it will help increase potency and improve the taste..
or you can add it later just to help with the taste

[Westley0907]

I have a good amount of strongly medicated coconut oil- I've been cooking with it but my Mom is in severe pain so I was hoping to make a tincture. I have Everclear. (151% tho)

Can I just use the coconut oil or will I need too much, causing it to be too thick, or else horrible?

Coconut oil is my favorite way of making edibles- I'm surprised how few people take advantage of it- it's much easier to work with than butter, it's vegan friendly, it tastes good, and it's healthy(er).

And, hell, while you're on the subject of grinding and baking the nug- is that beneficial for cooking as well? Aren't lipids necessary for the chemical change in pot when heat is applied?

[melodious fellow]

Hey Westley, I wanted to ask you about making medical coconut oil. What is your recipe? I tried it once and it came out pretty nice, but wasn't very strong at all
Do you decarboxylate first? At what temperature and for how long do you cook the ganja in the coconut oil? Thanks bro! Peace!

[ISmotPoke]

I have a good amount of strongly medicated coconut oil- I've been cooking with it but my Mom is in severe pain so I was hoping to make a tincture. I have Everclear. (151% tho)

Can I just use the coconut oil or will I need too much, causing it to be too thick, or else horrible?

Coconut oil is my favorite way of making edibles- I'm surprised how few people take advantage of it- it's much easier to work with than butter, it's vegan friendly, it tastes good, and it's healthy(er).

And, hell, while you're on the subject of grinding and baking the nug- is that beneficial for cooking as well? Aren't lipids necessary for the chemical change in pot when heat is applied?

the reason people bake their cannibus is to convert the THCA into THC. This occurs when smoking and vaping but without this step in tinctures, the end products is not potent. Lipids are not necessary for this step

[melodious fellow]

If you have a limited amount of bud or you are looking for something more intense, you might want to consider decarboxylating your bud before grinding and soaking. 255F for 25 minutes is a good way to do this.

Anyway, you must be patient to do a month-long cold extraction!! Cold extractions seem much cleaner and tastier to me, but I don't have the patience to wait that long.

By the way, I wouldn't bother heating to evaporate the alcohol. Just leave the cap off of the bottle and it will evaporate by itself very quickly due to the high volatility of 190 proof ethanol. If you were going to bother with all the heating mess, you could have saved all that time and done a hot extraction to begin with.

Regarding dilution with water in order to not burn your tongue: It is best to store your green dragon in the 190 proof state. But you should dilute individual servings with water or juice right before drinking.

First, the background, then the question.

I have some ground up bud soaking in 190 proof grain alcohol right now. Been soaking 20 days. I'm going to let it go 10 more days, then start evaporating off the alcohol so I'm left with mostly the canna-oil. I'm going to heat the tincture very slowly, safely, and carefully to about 170 degrees and let the alcohol boil off.

Okay, here's the question. I want to be able to take this tincture under my tongue. However, the alcohol is *very* strong and can burn. I don't want to evaporate all the alcohol off to make sure I don't burn the oil, so I'm just going to evaporate most of it. My question is this:

If I add water to what is left of the tinture so that it dilutes the remaining alcohol, will adding water to the canna-oil harm the tincture? In other words, if I just put the oil itself under my tounge, would that be "stronger" than if I added a few tablespoons of water and swished it around in my mouth, let it soak under my tongue, etc. and swallowed it. I just want to make sure I don't ruin my 30 days worth of work. This is my first time making a tincture.

Thanks and Peace!



P.S. - note to moderators since I know this place gets legalistic about certain drugs... I'm not *drinking* the alcohol, I'm only using it to extract the medical compounds from the cannabis.