Decarboxylation for Alcohol Tincture?

[Nuphile]

I have made both alcohol and glycerin tinctures in the past and am going to try the method 'herbgirl' posted about, linked here:

http://fuckcombustion.com/viewtopic.php?id=4697

I plan on using a cold infused alcohol extraction method. Does anyone know if decarboxylation is required for an alcohol tincture? I have tried both decarboxylating the cannabis in the oven prior to starting the tincture, and also not using decarboxylation. The decarboxylation method seemed to produce a stronger tincture, but there could have been so many other variables, that it is difficult to discern.

I think the alcohol may do the trick without using heat, but I am not sure.

Anyone?

 

[AGBeer]

I would say if you are using fresh, make 2 batches. One decarb'd and one not.
Be sure to freeze BOTH (pre-measured) amounts of cannabis for an hour before and alcohol 3 hours before. Hopefully your end result (liquid) will be similar.

Do a pepsi challenge.

 

[Nuphile]

I may have to do that. Why do you freeze the alcohol?

 

[AGBeer]

Similar to when people make bubble hash with icewater. (I would think)

Plus, when you freeze the alcohol as well, you are working with a consistent temp for your whole medium. Shake for no more than 20 seconds, and having the alcohol cold as well you pull less chlorophyll from the plant material. (Colder = cleaner tasting in the end)

 

[Tuck]

Everything I've read says be sure to decarboxylate for green dragon. But personally, I can't fathom baking my bud in the oven. So I've only made swamp water/golden dragon. I know my abv is decarboxylated.

I have considered doing what the vapor brothers guy did on that old youtube video. I believe the video has been pulled, so I'll explain what he did.

He had a Vapor Bros Vaporizer and he dialed it in a couple notches lower than he'd be vaping. He took a gram of grinded fresh bud and loaded a little in the wand. He took a few puffs and then would empty and reload the wand. Basically you are heating your bud up but not quite to vaping temps. IIRC, he said you'll taste it but shouldn't be getting any active ingredients.

If you are going to do the pepsi challenge, I'd start small.

 

[VapeHead.com]

Does anyone know if decarboxylation is required for an alcohol tincture?

Required, no, but you're wasting your herb if you don't - it will be noticeably stronger.

 

[Nuphile]

Does anyone know if decarboxylation is required for an alcohol tincture?

Required, no, but you're wasting your herb if you don't - it will be noticeably stronger.

Thanks for the insight! I think I will go with decarb-ing. It only takes a few minutes anyway.

 

[Nuphile]

I have considered doing what the vapor brothers guy did on that old youtube video. I believe the video has been pulled, so I'll explain what he did.

He had a Vapor Bros Vaporizer and he dialed it in a couple notches lower than he'd be vaping. He took a gram of grinded fresh bud and loaded a little in the wand. He took a few puffs and then would empty and reload the wand. Basically you are heating your bud up but not quite to vaping temps. IIRC, he said you'll taste it but shouldn't be getting any active ingredients.

If you are going to do the pepsi challenge, I'd start small.

This is interesting. The only issue I have with it is, it would take forever. I generally make batches using 1 to 4 oz of trim.

 

[Nuphile]

Similar to when people make bubble hash with icewater. (I would think)

Plus, when you freeze the alcohol as well, you are working with a consistent temp for your whole medium. Shake for no more than 20 seconds, and having the alcohol cold as well you pull less chlorophyll from the plant material. (Colder = cleaner tasting in the end)

Thanks for clarifying the reason for the cold temperatures.
Hmmm....I have always let it steep for at least 10 days, shaking often. I have heard of the quick method, but I just don't know if that is really all it takes to get all the goodness out. Also, I don't mind the plant flavor. Am I wasting my time letting the tincture go for that long?

Maybe this is the real Pepsi challenge.

 

[brandonkerk]

i decarbed my first that i made about 20 mins ago (for about 4mins at 375 until it just smoked for a second) then boiled at 170 for 20 mins and strained through a coffee filter licked my fingers a little in the process gotta titrate and as of right now i am very optimistic (feeling a little bit lighter) but have nothing to gauge it to since i haven't eaten in years. gonna wait 30mins and probably take more

read on the green dragon site that if it was emerald green it would be weak any one car to comment on that?

 

[Nuphile]

When I first decarboxylated cannabis in the oven, I used a temp of 350 for five minutes, as I had read somewhere online. However, that was before I understood what decarbing really is.
For THC-A to transform to THC, the molecule needs to loose its carboxyl group; this releases as CO2 and water. This can be done at about 220F for 30 minutes or so. During this process, the cannabis will lose some volume, but will not vaporize or smoke. When the cannabis smokes or vaporizes, you are losing precious substances.

Here is a website with a little more information:
http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2794.html

 

[Beezleb]

Bake at 220F for 30 minutes is the best for my vote.

 

[OO]

Similar to when people make bubble hash with icewater. (I would think)

when you use cold water you're trying to discourage the resin from dissolving.

when you do a solvent extraction, you're trying to encourage the resin to dissolve, so more heat is better.

please refer to wikipedia if you need to learn more about chemistry.

 

[Rottweiler1080z]

Just joining this interesting thread. Made my first tincture and am pretty happy, but from what i've just read, I could do better than air drying after grinding it. Also I didn't freeze it. I'll get it right with the help from here. Thanks already, and in advance!!

 

[Vicki]

I just strained my newest batch of tincture this afternoon. I activated my herb in my MFLB, but not enough to brown it. My recipe this time was as follows:

3 grams of finely ground, high grade medical cannabis
1 ounce of Bong Spirit vodka (1 small shot)
1 ounce of sour apple schnapps (1 small shot)

All ingredients added to a small mason jar. Shaken daily for 7 days, and stained through a coffee filter and cheesecloth. I used 1/2 a dropperful this afternoon, and it's very potent. It also tastes very good.

 

[OptimoPrimegazm]

Hey I just bought a vaporizer to replace my nasty cigarette habit, and mechanical mods is where its at! But of course i wanted to know if you could use vape pens to get stoned... and holy hell did I open up a floodgate of online information, googling how to make tinctures, what is decarboxilation, all of that stuff. Much learning. Anyway, a few days after i bought the vape pen I ruined 4 grams of perfectly amazing weed by trying to make a vegetable glycerine e juice. No joke, the stuff that came out is so weak I barely feel anything. Still not sure what went wrong, other than im pretty sure mixing weed with vegetable glycerine just doesnt get the job done. Definitely thinking about trying this out again but instead of steeping the plant in glycerine, make a potent everclear tincture and try to mix that with glycerine (first i will test it orally of course). I want something that is mega strong so i can dilute it with my favorite e juice flavor to adjust the potency and ninja vape thc to my hearts content. I also read that vaporizing alcohol can got you drunk... imagine vaporizing weed and alcohol at the same time... mind = blown. Anyway, any input would be nice, hoping to revive this thread! Im scared to put my weed in the oven again, and i feel like i need to let it sit for like weeks to get potent. Much science, patience, and learning. Trying to do this for my health, but if I cant get this tincture thing to work well then screw it, gonna just load up a bowl and smoke the herb, I know that works!

 

[CarolKing]

I decided to make a tincture the other day. I started with 1/8 oz bud finely ground and 1/4 cup of Everclear 190 proof.

I decarbed my cannabis in the oven 220 degrees for 25 min. I then ground the material. I put it all in a jar and shook it every hour for four hours. I then put it in a small canning jar, with the lid off. I used a thermometer and kept the heat at 170 degrees water bath for 25 min. After it was done it had cooked down to half the liquid. By the time I strained I had maybe 1/8 of a cup.

Thinking it would be super powerful. I put four drops in my mouth and then drank water. After 4 hours I felt nothing the next day I tried 10 drops of the tincture. I felt nothing after four hours and nothing later on.

I still have some left of the tincture and will try more today.

I sorta used the green dragon recipe (varied a bit) but maybe should try it again. Anything that anybody could add that I didn't do or should have done differently. This was my first try. I would appreciate any feedback.

The green dragon recipe calls for a 5 min decarb at 325 degrees that's the part I changed. Maybe I shouldn't have? I thought it didn't sound like a long enough decarb process.

I first checked the temp of a crock pot with water in it - it didn't get hotter than 130 degrees. I was going to use that for my water bath. I ended up using water in a saucepan with a canning jar. I wanted to use the 170 temp as suggested in the green dragon recipe.

 

[KnotKnox]

@CarolKing Try putting some under your tongue and see how that works. You did the correct thing changing the decarb time closer to 250 for 30 minutes.

 

[cptchronic]

I did some rough math and if you saw no potency loss during extraction and ur material was around 20% I'd say like 1 milliliter is about 25mg, if you've got 1/8 of a cup.

If you still don't feel anything with an increased dose just evaporate it all and mix ur remaining oil with coconut oil.

 

[sickmanfraud]

I decided to make a tincture the other day. I started with 1/8 oz bud finely ground and 1/4 cup of Everclear 190 proof.

I decarbed my cannabis in the oven 220 degrees for 25 min. I then ground the material. I put it all in a jar and shook it every hour for four hours. I then put it in a small canning jar, with the lid off. I used a thermometer and kept the heat at 170 degrees water bath for 25 min. After it was done it had cooked down to half the liquid. By the time I strained I had maybe 1/8 of a cup.

Thinking it would be super powerful. I put four drops in my mouth and then drank water. After 4 hours I felt nothing the next day I tried 10 drops of the tincture. I felt nothing after four hours and nothing later on.

I still have some left of the tincture and will try more today.

I sorta used the green dragon recipe (varied a bit) but maybe should try it again. Anything that anybody could add that I didn't do or should have done differently. This was my first try. I would appreciate any feedback.

The green dragon recipe calls for a 5 min decarb at 325 degrees that's the part I changed. Maybe I shouldn't have? I thought it didn't sound like a long enough decarb process.

I first checked the temp of a crock pot with water in it - it didn't get hotter than 130 degrees. I was going to use that for my water bath. I ended up using water in a saucepan with a canning jar. I wanted to use the 170 temp as suggested in the green dragon recipe.

First, I would suggest that you decarb at 240 F for 40 minutes. This is the result of extensive testing done by PsychedelicSam over at GrassCity.

In my experience heating ethanol with the cannabis will give you a GD that tastes at least 10 times worse than no heat until the reduction.

To find the technique I am referring to go to GrassCity then forums then Marijuana smoking and usage then to incredible edible herb then to Another Tincture Thread, try it you'll like it.

Read the first 2-3 pages to understand the basic technique then ask any questions before you start and I am sure that you will have a Green Dragon tincture to be admired.