Tincture Questions

[Paperback Writer]

I have played around with tinctures for years and finally have made a sublingual tincture that works very well. I have made tinctures in the past by mixing herb/concentrates in my solvent, usually ever clear but have tried PG and VG, place in a fondue pot in a hot oil bath trying to use several heat cycles (achieving temp for 15 mins and then cooling, then reheating...).

Those came out "alright". The PG and VG seemed to give me headache. The ABV has way too heavy for me personally and felt it in the next morning when i got up!

I recently followed a cold extraction that went very well and this how I did it. My intentions were to use shatter for this method, but only had 1/2g. So in addition to that I used roughly 3g of kief from my spacecase and decarbed both in the oven @252 for 27 min (per skunkresearch). I then mixed roughly 30ml of everclear with my botanicals. Realized that the only available dropper was a 15ml, i reduced my mix by ways of natural evaporation down to rougly 10-12ml. Filled the bottle and then put in a little honeycomb honey from Oak Glen and proceeded to freeze. It was in the 5 days and I shook it vigorously twice a day. Came out great in my opinion and 5 drops sublingually provides a nice headchange and relaxed body feeling.

Still experimenting and would like tincture to be my exclusive way to medicate. Going to try 1g or 2 of shatter in a small beaker and decarb with heat then freeze. The shatter is just too messy to decarb separately IMO

 

[GenYHippie]

@Paperback Writer thanks for sharing. So if i read correctly your cold infusion process aside from evap time only took 5 days? The tinc i am considering buying is an alcohol honey tinc so this seems right up my alley. Shatter is expensive at home and not many places sell by .5 gram but the do where my sister lives so i could get it when i visit.

 

[Paperback Writer]

@Paperback Writer thanks for sharing. So if i read correctly your cold infusion process aside from evap time only took 5 days? The tinc i am considering buying is an alcohol honey tinc so this seems right up my alley. Shatter is expensive at home and not many places sell by .5 gram but the do where my sister lives so i could get it when i visit.

yes exactly, the recipe i followed called for 5 days in the freezer after the initial decarb. I have spent too much reading into tinctures and how-to's and this is the method I chose, it was initially a recipe for kief tincture but i added a bit of shatter (http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/how-to-make-cannabis-tinctures/)

What i struggled with is the idea behind how long to let the alcohol infuse with the botanicals. With heat (decarb and extraction at same time) the infusion is instant and you can filter out your material. But with the cold method there are a couple different schools of thought. I personally feel that the 5 days in the freezer is plenty for the extraction, because my opinion is that this happens rather quickly. I will have to do a side by side and let one sit for a month to see if there is any difference, but i believe this tincture i made will get better with age (if it lasts that long).

There are some good recipes out there, and ultimately you will have to study and see what makes sense/tried and true. My next extraction I believe will be a hot extraction due to the consistency of the shatter if I choose to go this way again.

The .5 of shatter was actually an accident, initially i had a gram before i started by wasted a good amount of it due to my handling of it (first timer here) and i was determined to get a tincture going so i gathered all the saved kief from my grinder.

Not sure exactly what is making it work well, the kief or the .5 shatter or both. I will try next time with one g of the shatter and see how it goes and then try one with only kief. Lots of trial and error and sometimes $$$ wasted. All in the name of science!

Best of luck and let us know how you create it and the effects. We need to share best practices, i truly believe for me personally, tincture is where its at

 

[Snappo]

yes exactly, the recipe i followed called for 5 days in the freezer after the initial decarb. I have spent too much reading into tinctures and how-to's and this is the method I chose, it was initially a recipe for kief tincture but i added a bit of shatter (http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/how-to-make-cannabis-tinctures/)

What i struggled with is the idea behind how long to let the alcohol infuse with the botanicals. With heat (decarb and extraction at same time) the infusion is instant and you can filter out your material. But with the cold method there are a couple different schools of thought. I personally feel that the 5 days in the freezer is plenty for the extraction, because my opinion is that this happens rather quickly. I will have to do a side by side and let one sit for a month to see if there is any difference, but i believe this tincture i made will get better with age (if it lasts that long).

There are some good recipes out there, and ultimately you will have to study and see what makes sense/tried and true. My next extraction I believe will be a hot extraction due to the consistency of the shatter if I choose to go this way again.

The .5 of shatter was actually an accident, initially i had a gram before i started by wasted a good amount of it due to my handling of it (first timer here) and i was determined to get a tincture going so i gathered all the saved kief from my grinder.

Not sure exactly what is making it work well, the kief or the .5 shatter or both. I will try next time with one g of the shatter and see how it goes and then try one with only kief. Lots of trial and error and sometimes $$$ wasted. All in the name of science!

Best of luck and let us know how you create it and the effects. We need to share best practices, i truly believe for me personally, tincture is where its at

I just use the standard Green Dragon recipe and it kicks major ass! Amounts can be adjusted for desired potency i.e., more or less herb:alcohol:evaporation time. Decarbing temps & times differ greatly depending on whom you ask - 240 degrees/60 minutes works great; 325 degrees/5 minutes also works great. Fold your evenly spread out ground herb into aluminum foil and close it like an envelope before placing in the oven: http://boards.cannabis.com/concentrates/58414-definitive-green-dragon-cannabis-tincture.html

 

[Paperback Writer]

Thanks @Snappo. I tried the GD before and it did not come out too well, will have to take a crack at it again. I understand that heat will speed the extraction process, but after this current tincture i made i am not sure if it is necessary (except for fast results). I am most likely going to follow this decarb method for my hash tincture http://skunkpharmresearch.com/decarboxylation/.

I will definitely revisit Master Wu's technique and concentrate so it can be administered sublingually. What is your herb to alcohol ratio and how much do you reduce it? Do you take it sublingually or by dropper full?

Thanks

 

[GenYHippie]

yes exactly, the recipe i followed called for 5 days in the freezer after the initial decarb. I have spent too much reading into tinctures and how-to's and this is the method I chose, it was initially a recipe for kief tincture but i added a bit of shatter (http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/how-to-make-cannabis-tinctures/)

What i struggled with is the idea behind how long to let the alcohol infuse with the botanicals. With heat (decarb and extraction at same time) the infusion is instant and you can filter out your material. But with the cold method there are a couple different schools of thought. I personally feel that the 5 days in the freezer is plenty for the extraction, because my opinion is that this happens rather quickly. I will have to do a side by side and let one sit for a month to see if there is any difference, but i believe this tincture i made will get better with age (if it lasts that long).

There are some good recipes out there, and ultimately you will have to study and see what makes sense/tried and true. My next extraction I believe will be a hot extraction due to the consistency of the shatter if I choose to go this way again.

The .5 of shatter was actually an accident, initially i had a gram before i started by wasted a good amount of it due to my handling of it (first timer here) and i was determined to get a tincture going so i gathered all the saved kief from my grinder.

Not sure exactly what is making it work well, the kief or the .5 shatter or both. I will try next time with one g of the shatter and see how it goes and then try one with only kief. Lots of trial and error and sometimes $$$ wasted. All in the name of science!

Best of luck and let us know how you create it and the effects. We need to share best practices, i truly believe for me personally, tincture is where its at

Thank you appreciate all the help. Ive seen the Jillybean keif for cheap a few times i could try it out with on a smaller scale so next time i see it i shall grab some . I have had my card since mid january and my ABV pile is barely moe than a fluffy teaspoon lol so you can imagine i dont have much keif on hand. I like the idea of the freezer its reasonably fast, i cant forget it since i get in there alot, and i dont have to worry about anyone messing with it.

 

[Paperback Writer]

Thank you appreciate all the help. Ive seen the Jillybean keif for cheap a few times i could try it out with on a smaller scale so next time i see it i shall grab some . I have had my card since mid january and my ABV pile is barely moe than a fluffy teaspoon lol so you can imagine i dont have much keif on hand. I like the idea of the freezer its reasonably fast, i cant forget it since i get in there alot, and i dont have to worry about anyone messing with it.

I am happy with the results GenYHippie, I think it came out potent and it is my best thus far (and I have been playing around with tinctures for some time now). Best of luck and many blessings

 

[Snappo]

Thanks @Snappo. I tried the GD before and it did not come out too well, will have to take a crack at it again. I understand that heat will speed the extraction process, but after this current tincture i made i am not sure if it is necessary (except for fast results). I am most likely going to follow this decarb method for my hash tincture http://skunkpharmresearch.com/decarboxylation/.

I will definitely revisit Master Wu's technique and concentrate so it can be administered sublingually. What is your herb to alcohol ratio and how much do you reduce it? Do you take it sublingually or by dropper full?

Thanks

I think "sublingually" is more hype than help. Leaving it sit under my tongue never really worked for me. I take about 1-1/2 cc tinc measured in a syringe, shoot under tongue and quickly follow with a good spoonful of high grade unrefined virgin coconut oil to cool the alcohol sting and smooth it out going down. I do hold it in my mouth for about a minute before swallowing in order to mix in saliva for better absorption. On an empty stomach the tinc starts to take efect in about 30 minutes. With food on stomach about 60-90 minutes. Either way my tinc hits hard, and lasts a good 6-9 hours. I use a little over 1/8th ounce herb, decarbed. Mix with about 2 ounces Everclear 190, shake in small jar like crazy for awhile, put jar w/o lid in pan with 2 inches water, heat at about 178 for as long as it takes to reduce mixture to a little less than half what it started out at. Let cool then strain into small dark glass bottle. Keep in fridge and use as desired. Good times! I might also add that I sometimes take a few cc's and evaporate completely leaving just the raw oil. Great for dabs in the vape...and VERY VERY POTENT that way!!!

 

[Paperback Writer]

Cool method, sounds like your concoction is very similar to Fred's THC pills and kicks in roughly in the same amount of time. My ultimate tincture goal is to make a batch so potent, it only takes one or two drops under the tongue to take you Babylon in a shorter time frame, like a vapor hit. I will try the GD method again one of these days when I make tincture from flowers. Although I wonder what the difference is between decarbing before you mix with everclear vs. decarbing in the everclear. Will have to experiment and see what happens.

Cold tincture update: I tried roughly 1-1/2 cc of my blend described in earlier posts and I am feeling pretty nice. Different from my usual 5 drops under the tongue which i would describe as a working man' s high, and now from the 1-1/2 (under tongue for as long as i could) I can almost touch the sky.