My First Alcohol Tincture

[deathtodogma]

I got some 190 proof grain alcohol and I plan to soak it for 4 hours at 190° Fahrenheit using a double boiler method.. or my crock pot. I'm not sure yet. Basically, trying to mimic the effects of a Magical Butter Machine. Then I may let it sit for a few days. The question is, do I need to decarboxylate it first?

I was told by my coop that I don't need to. They said it would happen during the 4 hour soak at 190°. But 190° isn't high enough to decarboxylate THCA, is it? Do I need to decarb before combining the marijuana and alcohol? I really don't want to ruin another tincture!

Also, can I make it more potent for my super high tolerance by evaporation or maybe by boiling off some of the alcohol once it's been strained? It is 95% alcohol. I don't want to blow myself up.


NOTE: I've had horrible luck with vegetable glycerin tinctures. I've made a few glycerin based tinctures as well as bought some from dispensaries. None of which were psychoactive, whatsoever. The dispensary told me that it was indeed decarboxylated and that the tincture could not be made psychoactive due to the nature of vegetable glycerin. Yet I see people do it on Youtube all the time and they seem to have good results. I do the same thing, I get something tasty but useless. I really want this alcohol thing to work. I really wanted the glycerin to work so I could put it in an e-cig, but that didn't work out well at all. Way too weak. It got the lightweights stoned, but someone with my tolerance needs something more potent.

 

[Tweak]

The question is, do I need to decarboxylate it first?

Depends on how you are consuming it.

By tincutre do you mean something like a "Green Dragon" where it is ingested?

If you are heating it up to vaporize the oil, then no need to decarb.

 

[Bouldorado]

If you're eating it, decarb would help. Place your oil or bud in the oven @ 250° for 20 min before the alcohol extraction. Everclear boils at 173°, so you don't want it that hot unless you're trying to concentrate it. I would cook for an hr and then let sit for a couple days.

Glycerine tinctures can indeed be psychoactive, but in my experience the THC saturation point is much lower than fat or alcohol, so they are simply less potent. If you want to use with an ecig, I recommend buying concentrates from your dispensary and combining with EJ MIX.