The Definitive Green Dragon (Cannabis Tincture)

[Master Wu]

Here is the very successful result of a considerable amount of research into the elusive and magical Green Dragon.

This is a simple and efficient 4 Step process.

Ingredients:
1/8oz high quality cannabis
2 oz Bacardi Rum â?? 151 proof


Process Summary:

1. Chop cannabis very fine (coffee grinder works great)

2. Place in a shallow pan (pie pan with aluminum foil works great) and bake at 325°F for 4-5 minutes.

3. Remove from oven and place cannabis and place in 2 oz of rum (use a small wide mouth mason jar)

4. Simmer in a water bath for 20 minutes. Maintain temperature of the rum/cannabis mixture between 150°F â?? 165°F.

5. Strain the mixture and store.


Dosage:
One eyedropper is very nice. Two puts you in space. But you should self-titrate. Effects take about 1.5 hours to begin (at least in myself) and lasted for 5 hours (1 dropper) to 7-8 hours (2 droppers).


Process detailsâ??references and rationalizations:
1. Chop the cannabisâ??more surface area gives means a faster and more efficient extraction.

2. Bake the cannabis.

In whole-plant cannabis, THC content is expressed as THCA (tetrahydrocannabolic acid) prior to decarboxylation into THC, which takes place when cannabis is heated during cooking, and smoked or vaporized ingestion. THCA is a mild analgesic and anti-inflammatory but does not have good affinity with our CB1 receptors, so in order to make a THC-rich tincture that has many of the same therapeutic effects as smoked ingestion (including rapid absorption, quick relief and ease of self-titration), we must convert the THCA in the plant matter into THC prior to extracting it through an alcohol soak. (from Vancouver Island Compassion Society http://thevics.com/cannamist.htm)

THC vaporizes at about 380°F. We want to heat the cannabis to convert THCA to THC, but keep the temperature under 380°F. That is why 325°F is used. Between four and five minutes your oven (and house) will start to smell very strong. This is the time to remove the cannabis from the oven.

Notice also that there is considerable misinformation regarding heating the cannabis. It is true that you don't have to heat it to extract both THC and THCA, but the amount of THC in whole plant preparations is relatively small compared to after decarboxylation of the THCA. So if you want to maximize the strength of your tincture you must heat the cannabis prior to extraction.

3. Use the highest proof alcohol available. In my area this was Bacardi 151. The more alcohol the more efficient the extraction will be.

4. Simmer the mixture.
This is one of the areas that seems to be most debated. Many recipes call for placing the cannabis (unbaked of course) into the alcohol and waiting 2 â?? 6 weeks. The main concern with heating the alcohol is that it is â??explosiveâ?� (not exactly true...it is however flammable).

The purpose of the simmering is to heat the alcohol mixture to improve extraction rates and efficiencies. Heating during extraction increases the motion of the molecules (basic physics/chemistry) and drastically decreases extraction times. The boiling point of pure ethanol is 173°F (78°C). We will use the water bath to heat the rum/cannabis mixture to just below the boiling point of ethanol.

Heating the alcohol mixture can be done very safely using a hot water bath. You will need an accurate candy or quick read thermometer. Place about 1 inch of water in a wide, vertical-edged pan (9â?� wide x 3â?� high). Bring the water to a low simmer. The rum/cannabis mixture should be in a small (1 pint) mason jar. Do NOT cover the jar.

Put the thermometer into the mason jar and place into the simmering water bath. Bring the temperature of the rum/cannabis mixture to about 165°F (I maintain it between 150°F and 165°F). You want the alcohol mixture to be just barely moving (not boiling, but showing active convection within the mixture). If the mixture starts to bubble too much, just turn down the water bath.

You should have the oven fan on high. You will notice that any alcohol fumes are mixed with water vapor from the water bath and vented out the fan. This combined with the fact that you are trying not to boil the ethanol makes the process quite safe.

5. Strain, titrate, and store.
When you are finished with the extraction you will be left with about 1oz of green dragon tincture. Note that one ounce of the alcohol has evaporated.

Now you should test your eyedropper. In my test 34 full droppers equaled one ounce of liquid (this is a little less than one gram of liquid per dropperful as 29g equals 1ounce).

The liquid should be dark green and smell like cannabis.

6. Dosage.
Everybody is probably different. It takes me 1.5 hours to feel the effects of eating cannabis. Similarly this tincture also takes 1.5 hours to take effect.

I had tried a tincture someone had made using the cold extraction method with the same amount of cannabis and found that 5 droppers did pretty much nothing.

Using my Green Dragon technique I find that one dropper will bring effects on in 1.5 hours and last 5 hours with 1.5 hours of lingering aftereffects.

Two droppers gave me a "spiritual dose" (as strong as any brownie I ever had). Effects lasted 7-8 hours with lingering effects for 2 more hours.

This means that 1/8oz of good cannabis yields about 30-34 doses of tincture (1 dropperful is really all I need). And is much more pleasant than smoking (which really is bad for you and your lungs and the reason I've stopped smoking entirely).


This link might be helpful.
Metric Conversion: http://www.worldwidemetric.com/metcal.htm


Enjoy and let me know of your success and/or questions.

Master Wu

Master Wu Reviewed by Master Wu on 03-28-2006. The Definitive Green Dragon (Cannabis Tincture) Here is the very successful result of a considerable amount of research into the elusive and magical Green Dragon. This is a simple and efficient 4 Step process. Ingredients: 1/8oz high quality cannabis 2 oz Bacardi Rum â?? 151 proof Process Summary: Rating: 5

[notrightquite]

I will definitely try that ...

[hash in hand]

i prefer the easy way...1/8 per 100ml of 40%+ vol. chop add alcohol and weed.......seal in a jar..store in a warm dark place...fro 10-20 days...shake every day...
but dropper in the eye?? you say that smoking is bad yes...but so is dropping alcohol and plant chemicals/resins into your eye.....i jus take a shot of it....so much better if you smoke a joint an hour in...fucked me for about 10 hrs.....all the way through a gig and into the next morining....

[scream]

i hope that he doesnt mean dropping it in your eye. that would make you go blind. bad call

[hash in hand]

oh yeh didnt think otherwise...well master wu du yu drop that shit in ur eye......? something about the mention of eyedroppers makes me think of eyes....

[Master Wu]

Drop in eye??? That would be stupid.

Use eyedropper to measure amount to put into mouth (thought that was obvious). Had I intended you to place alcohol in your eye I would have included another step...

6. Place in eye. Scream madly while running around in circles. Cry like baby for 1 hour. Go to doctor.

But this step is missing because you put the liquid in your mouth

[notrightquite]

... he said use an eyedropper. He never said to put it in your eyes. Hahahahah

[hash in hand]

is it only me who thinks of eyes when eyedroppers are mentioned then?? i did find it weird that you said that it takes an hour and a half to take effect....

[Master Wu]

In my body it takes 1.5 hours. In yours it might be shorter or longer, but it would be similar to eating a brownie (brownies take me 1.5 hours as does tincture). The rate of effect with ingestion is really determined by the speed and efficiency of your own metabolism.

Master Wu

[reeferizer420]

thats some great reads right there... thanks. I've been considering an idea for a while. I'm gonna cook up some greed dragon, get some empty pills for like those herbal supplements, and i'll put the green dragon in there. thus making... weed pills... do u think it'll work??