What do I do with all this ABV?

Frederick McGuire

Aggressively Loungey
Why extract? Grab a spoon, some cookie butter, and go to town.
My understanding was that generally you want to extract the actives out of the plant matter
(Into fat for edibles,
Alcohol for a tincture,
and any easily purged solvent for dabbable oils)

Perhaps I need a wee bit of a crash course in edibles/decarboxilation?

My currently hazy understanding was along these lines:
  • In fresh bud, most of the THC is actually THC-A, which has relatively low psycho-activity. THC-A turns into THC through the process of decarboxilation, which can happen naturally, over a long period of time, or we can speed up the process by adding heat. This is why smoking and vaping work, as they're basically decarbing the THC-A as you hit it.
    (Yadda Yadda Yadda, chemistry stuff about a carbon atom, but that's the basic gist)
^^^I'm fairly confident about that bit^^^
  • The digestive system isn't particularly good at absorbing THC, so that's why we try to bind it to a fat or alcohol - our digestive system can handle those carrier mediums very well, so if the THC is already bound to them it just gets sorta pulled along for the ride
^^^Not too sure about that bit, I'm pretty sure the 2nd half is right, but not so sure about the 1st half^^^
  • ABV is already decarboxilated so... you can technically eat it straight?
    But then why don't we just decarb fresh herb in the oven and eat it straight?
    This is where I get a bit lost...

At this point I'm thinking I'll do either a coconut oil or butter extraction of the ABV (So should leave the ABV in the final mix or strain it out?), then I'm thinking I'll make a batch of brownies, and freeze the rest of the canna-fat to be used later for either more brownies/edibles, or caps...
 
Frederick McGuire,

Frederick McGuire

Aggressively Loungey
While that wasn't my experience with my one attempt at firecrackers, I have read others having the same experience as you say @lwien...

But assuming it's because ABV is already decarbed, why doesn't anyone just decarb fresh bud and eat that?
It seems odd to me that the whole edibles side of MJ is even a thing if we can just decarb fresh herb and eat it straight up...
I understand it's probably not the most appetizing way of doing things, but I literally cannot recall a single mention of anyone doing it anywhere... At the very least, it's firecrackers where the fresh herb is mixed in with peanut butter (fat source) and baked in the oven for a bit (heat to decarb).



I'm missing something here...
 
Frederick McGuire,

hoptimum

Well-Known Member
Hey guys,

I know this has been asked before, but I'm currently asking again:

I have a massive buildup of ABV - I haven't weighed it, but it's a year or 2s worth of buildup for me, so I can only assume it's a couple of hundred grams...

It's all been vaped pretty hard, mostly through my solo and LSV, but there's be some ABV from all my different vapes in there.

Here is a pic of my ABV stash jar next to my solo for reference:
aZ2HpY.jpg


My main aim here is extracting the most remaining actives possible...

The only options I can really see available to me are:
1 - make some kind of concentrate - QWISO, BHO or similar.
2 - make some kind of fat extraction - canna butter, canna coconut oil or similar, and make some kind of edible.

So uhhh, yeah, any tips for dealing with this large a batch of ABV would be appreciated - if I could make it into some kind of dabbable concentrate it'd be ideal, but I've only been able to produce black goop QWISO from ABV in the past, and I can only imagine how many loads it would take me in my SSTB to blast all of it :lol:

I've also never made edibles before, so I've got no idea how much fat is needed for that much ABV...
I can only assume I'd end up with enough canna-fat to make multiple brownie runs?

I've got somewhere between an 1/8-1/4 of pretty average bud I could throw in there with it if it's really needed, but it's relatively low grade bud and quite a low weight compared to the ABV mountain I'll be working with...

I've got some higher grade buds available to me as well, but I'd rather keep them for vaping ATM.

I'm pretty open to ideas as to what I should do with it, I'm basically just looking for some freebie actives I can share with buddies this holiday season :D
happy-festivus.png


With that amount, I'd do a cannabis coconut oil, using a crockpot. Coconut oil can be stored for months, if not years, and has a pleasant flavor. Grind your abv fine in a coffee grinder and simmer it on low in a crock pot for a few hours. I like to strain out all the plant matter through a coffee filter and squeeze every drop out using a ricer. (That coffee filter can also be re-used to make the stoniest coffee I've ever had.) Once you have that dark green solid coconut oil, you can use it in addition to or instead of butter or oil. P.S.: you'll have to decarb fresh herb first.
 
Last edited:

macbill

Oh No! Mr macbill!!
Staff member
I find ABV coconut oil to be gag-worthy, so I water-cure the ABV prior to infusing the oil, and it tastes better, but still not great.
 

EveryDayAmnesiac

Well-Known Member
With an amount this large, I'd probably send it to America, care of @EveryDayAmnesiac, so that he can more properly, and unscientifically, determine its value through unscrupulous testing by himself and any number of his closest, most fairest of his fair-weather friends. We'll figure out what to do with it, rest assured.

But don't worry. He'll get back to you. Eventually. Different time zones and all...

:tup:
 

Mrmrmrmr

Well-Known Member
With an amount this large, I'd probably send it to America, care of @EveryDayAmnesiac, so that he can more properly, and unscientifically, determine its value through unscrupulous testing by himself and any number of his closest, most fairest of his fair-weather friends. We'll figure out what to do with it, rest assured.

But don't worry. He'll get back to you. Eventually. Different time zones and all...

:tup:
You sir are a true gentlem.... Aw hell look who I'm talking to :lmao:
 

slick

Well-Known Member
My understanding was that generally you want to extract the actives out of the plant matter
(Into fat for edibles,
Alcohol for a tincture,
and any easily purged solvent for dabbable oils)

Perhaps I need a wee bit of a crash course in edibles/decarboxilation?

My currently hazy understanding was along these lines:
  • In fresh bud, most of the THC is actually THC-A, which has relatively low psycho-activity. THC-A turns into THC through the process of decarboxilation, which can happen naturally, over a long period of time, or we can speed up the process by adding heat. This is why smoking and vaping work, as they're basically decarbing the THC-A as you hit it.
    (Yadda Yadda Yadda, chemistry stuff about a carbon atom, but that's the basic gist)
^^^I'm fairly confident about that bit^^^
  • The digestive system isn't particularly good at absorbing THC, so that's why we try to bind it to a fat or alcohol - our digestive system can handle those carrier mediums very well, so if the THC is already bound to them it just gets sorta pulled along for the ride
^^^Not too sure about that bit, I'm pretty sure the 2nd half is right, but not so sure about the 1st half^^^
  • ABV is already decarboxilated so... you can technically eat it straight?
    But then why don't we just decarb fresh herb in the oven and eat it straight?
    This is where I get a bit lost...

At this point I'm thinking I'll do either a coconut oil or butter extraction of the ABV (So should leave the ABV in the final mix or strain it out?), then I'm thinking I'll make a batch of brownies, and freeze the rest of the canna-fat to be used later for either more brownies/edibles, or caps...

After some light research, I found 3 things worth mentioning:

1) Your first point seems dead on, the thc is in some carboxylic form that isn't ready absorbed in its natural state.

2) Vaping/combusting/time does de-carboxilate (sp?) the thc into the more bioavaliable form.

3) I couldn't find any mention of the de-carboxilate thc being less ready available if not mixed with some vehicle. BUT it is more bioavaliable when administered rectally.

http://www.marijuanagrowershq.com/decarboxylating-cannabis-turning-thca-into-thc/

http://europepmc.org/abstract/MED/8897084
 

pakalolo

Toolbag v1.1 (candidate)
Staff member
While that wasn't my experience with my one attempt at firecrackers, I have read others having the same experience as you say @lwien...

But assuming it's because ABV is already decarbed, why doesn't anyone just decarb fresh bud and eat that?
It seems odd to me that the whole edibles side of MJ is even a thing if we can just decarb fresh herb and eat it straight up...
I understand it's probably not the most appetizing way of doing things, but I literally cannot recall a single mention of anyone doing it anywhere... At the very least, it's firecrackers where the fresh herb is mixed in with peanut butter (fat source) and baked in the oven for a bit (heat to decarb).



I'm missing something here...

You've answered your own question: it tastes bloody awful. As you say, the closest thing to what you suggest is a fresh bud firecracker, and I found the only one I tried to be gagworthy even with all the peanut butter.
 

sixtysix

Well-Known Member
I just make edibles with mine, i'll have to give the caps a try. Crockpot would for sure be the easiest.. But you have enough to experiment, which is what I would probably do.
 
sixtysix,

Jethro

Well-Known Member
I made my first batch of cannabutter this weekend and made chocolate chip cookies with it. Holy shit were they potent. I've never had brownies from my friends that did what these did. 2 cookies was a serious ride and I have a pretty heavy tolerance. It was very easy, I took 3 sticks of butter and added it with an equal amount of water (1-1/2 cups) and threw it with about 20 grams of ABV in a crock pot. Simmered on low for 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Then I poured it in a glass bowl and let it set up in the fridge. The butter all collects at the top. 2 things I was surprised at... 1, the butter turned out very green. My ABV wasn't totally roasted, but it certainly wasn't bright green anymore. 2nd, the cookies did not have any hint of burnt popcorn flavor or smell. They smelled and tasted like very fresh, kind bud. I was very impressed and happy my efforts of saving all that duff was worthwhile.
 

puddleglum

Well-Known Member
I made my first batch of cannabutter this weekend and made chocolate chip cookies with it. Holy shit were they potent. I've never had brownies from my friends that did what these did. 2 cookies was a serious ride and I have a pretty heavy tolerance. It was very easy, I took 3 sticks of butter and added it with an equal amount of water (1-1/2 cups) and threw it with about 20 grams of ABV in a crock pot. Simmered on low for 12 hours, stirring occasionally. Then I poured it in a glass bowl and let it set up in the fridge. The butter all collects at the top. 2 things I was surprised at... 1, the butter turned out very green. My ABV wasn't totally roasted, but it certainly wasn't bright green anymore. 2nd, the cookies did not have any hint of burnt popcorn flavor or smell. They smelled and tasted like very fresh, kind bud. I was very impressed and happy my efforts of saving all that duff was worthwhile.

Interesting... I make my oil/butter without using any water. Wondering what are the pro's/cons? The tutorials I follow (BadKatSmiles on grasscity) are vehemently anti-water, but then again, she doesn't typically use ABV... maybe the water rinses out some of the "popcorn" taste?

I agree with you that none of my friends mind the flavor of my ABV edibles. :)

Last night I made a tray of 16 brownies using 5g ABV (but my ABV has a lot of hash in it ;)) and that was a good dosage for me to be able to eat 2 or 3 brownies over the course of an evening to get a good night's sleep. (I weigh 140lb and put the brownies in my mouth this time.) I was feeling lazy so I just put the ABV in the brownie mix, rather than extracting it to oil like I usually do.
 
puddleglum,
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Jethro

Well-Known Member
The only real reason I used the water was because I was using a crock pot, and the heating elements only wrap around the sides. It seemed like the butter was not really heating well at all, so I added some water to raise the level and get some conductive heating. No matter what, I will do the same thing again next time as they came out super potent.
 

puddleglum

Well-Known Member
I put the oil+material in a mason jar, then put the mason jar in a crock pot full of water. Instant double boiler. :)

Although, as mentioned above, I skipped the oil-making step completely this time, and the brownies still turned out nice.
 

4tokin

Well-Known Member
Spent a little time turning my budder into chocolate cup cakes.
They actually turned out OK but still taste like arse.
WOW one CC and I didn't hit the solo for over 4 hours.
Not wasting any more time with coconut oil it is butter all they way for ABV.:rockon:
 
4tokin,

smokum

I am who I am and your approval isn't needed!
I wonder how it would work to grind into powder, add to garlic butter, and dip lobster/crab/shrimp in ? Or mix into that white garlic sauce and plaster a shawarma with ?

I'm not an edible fan (actually IT'S not a fan of ME), as the times I've played... it's always been a matter of 'not strong enough' or... OH FUCK :uhoh:

Gawd Damnit !! not I've got the munchies... AGAIN ! :freak:
 
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