Cannabis tincture and cannabis oil

[DANZIG]

Cannabis tincture and cannabis oil

By Doctor Fankhauser (a Swiss pharmacist)

Old formulas on medicines of cannabis suggest the following procedure (if you have no special pharmaceutical equipment). This information is provided for educational purposes only.

Cannabis tincture:

Take about 3-5 parts of alcohol (e.g. brandy or ethyl alcohol from the pharmacy, 40-70%) and 1 part cannabis leaves/flowers (e.g. 25 g marijuana and 100 ml alcohol). Keep it in a dark and cool place for about 10 days. Shake it from time to time. Filter it using a sieve or by using coffee filter papers. Store in a cool dark place.

Cannabis oil:

Take some dried cannabis, reduce it to very small pieces, and add edible oil (e.g. olive oil) so that the plant material is completely covered with the oil. Keep it in a dark and cool place for about 3 weeks. Shake it a little every day. Filter it using a sieve or by using coffee filter papers. You may use this oil for internal and external application.

José T. Gállego

It is easy to prepare a tincture or an oil from cannabis, that concentrates the active compounds of the plant. You need marijuana and ethyl alcohol of 96-99% (e.g. from the pharmacy), a glass that can be closed (e.g. jam jar), a coffee filter, a deep plate, a bottle with a dropper.

Reduce the cannabis to small pieces and put it into the glass. Cover it with alcohol. Keep it in a dark and cool place for about a week. Shake it every day. Filter it using a coffee filter. Press the last drops of alcohol out of the plant material. You may repeat this process several times, at least once, better twice. You may again put the cannabis into the glass and cover it with alcohol. Finally, put all the alcohol (it will have a green colour) into a deep plate. Keep it in a tempered and ventilated place so that some of the alcohol will be evaporated increasing the cannabinoids concentration of the tincture. This may take ten days. When enough alcohol is evaporated fill the extract into the bottle with the dropper.

The cannabis tincture can be used directly, or dissolved in a drink or food, or vaporized.

To vaporize the tincture a commercial vaporizer or the old silver paper system can be used. Form a teaspoon out of silver paper, put some drops of the tincture on it, carefully heat it with a candle until the alcohol evaporates. Than inhale it using a small tube (e.g. the body of a ball point pen).

According to: Gállego JT: Tintura de cannabis. Canamo, No 46, July 2001:76-77

Tincture Cold Method with Ethanol

Jay R. Cavanaugh, Ph.D. AAMC, National Director

Making tincture cold preserves the integrity of cannabinoids. To be potent, this method requires starting material high in cannabinoid content such as flowers or kief made from trim and leaf. The material must be mold free and dry. Drying can be accomplished in the freezer (-4-10 degrees Celsius) or better yet by placing in a liquid proof bag into a dry ice/ethanol ice bath (-70 degrees Celsius). Once water has been removed then the surface area of the starting material requires expansion. This can be accomplished a number of ways but two ways stand out:

Using flowers (bud)- Place dried buds in a coffee grinder and pulse until thoroughly ground but not powdered.

Making kief - Rub dry trim and leaves over a silk screen. Collect the powder the comes through the screen. It should be a very pale green. "Kiefing" is an age old way of extracting trichomes from plant material.

Whether kief or ground bud is used both should kept ice cold for this preparation. Similarly, the ethanol to be used should also be ice cold throughout the process.

Selection of alcohol- ethanol or ethyl alcohol is the form of alcohol that can be used by humans. The proof listed on commercial alcohol refers to the percentage of ethanol that the beverage contains. The proof is twice the percentage, so 80 "proof" means that the mixture contains 40% ethanol. The higher the alcohol content used, the better the extraction will work. Ideally, 200 proof ethanol would be best except that ethanol cannot be distilled to this proof so benzene is used to remove the last vestiges of water. This makes "pure" ethanol poisonous.

Many folks use "Everclear" which stands at 190 proof or 95% ethanol. Everclear has no taste. Apparently, Everclear is not available in all States. A close second choice is 151 proof rum. This is a light amber liquid that is 75% ethanol that has a sweet taste. One of our caregiver writers will use nothing but Korbel brandy because she likes the taste. Others use iced Russian vodka. These "normal" distilled spirits are 40% to 50% ethanol. Some patients find that the higher proofs ethanols like Everclear and 151 rum burn too much under the tongue. If burning is a concern consider a high quality 90-100 proof Vodka.

Cold Extraction and purification- Use at least one ounce of starting material to each pint of ethanol. Place cold powdered kief or ground cannabis flowers together with ethanol in a glass quart-mixing jar. Close the jar tightly and vigorously shake for five minutes then return to the freezer. Continue to agitate the mixture every few hours with refreezing. Continue for a period of two to three days.

Pour the cold mixture through a double thickness of sterile cheesecloth. Save the cheesecloth "ball" for topical uses or use the material to make bud butter once dried. The liquid collected through the cheesecloth should then be filtered twice through a paper coffee filter. Use gloves throughout the process, as it is necessary to squeeze the cheesecloth and coffee filters to facilitate the extraction. Without gloves some of the material will be absorbed on the skin.

If Everclear is used the tincture will be pale green to golden. If 151 rum is used an amber tincture results. Dark green tinctures mean that excess plant material is present. This does not mean that the tincture will not be potent, just taste nasty. When Everclear is used, various flavour extracts may be added (vanilla, raspberry, etc.). Be careful to use only a few drop of flavour extract.

[daisy]

any rough indication of how much cannabis to oil for the cannabis oil?? Just for a starter..

daisy

xx

[grobag]

The higher proof ethanols are the best as the resin dissolves in this more readily. Especially if making your tincture from an already extracted product ie. hash or oil.

This reduces the time the cannabis needs to be in the alcohol before it is all absorbed.

I will then mix this with a drinking alcohol after the fusion has taken place ie I'll pour the tincture into a bottle of bourbon for drinking.

If trying to dissolve cannabis straight into a drinking alcohol - it takes ages!

Just a few thoughts, Gro

[daisy]

understood.

Questions is though How Much Cannabis to What Amount Oil for the cannabis oil (the BB capsules I'm finding to be great on my IBS and back pain and would like to make a homemade version of this) Is it the same as the suggested amount for tincture (25g cannabis to 100ml alcohol)

[DANZIG]

(the BB capsules I'm finding to be great on my IBS and back pain and would like to make a homemade version of this) 

391618[/snapback]

Why not try making a version of homemade medi-weed first

[daisy]

Why not try making a version of homemade medi-weed first

391640[/snapback]

what, you suggesting I may be getting ahead of myself or something! Nowt wrong with having some ambition..

well Im wondering what would be the best use of this grow if it all goes well enough. If I get some fresh bud - Id rather not smoke it all, but want to be able to make something with it that will help last through the winter months a bit..(and of course allow you to get a break from my long rambling feedback forms for your reading horror!!)

Edited July 15, 2005 by daisy

[DANZIG]

what, you suggesting I may be getting ahead of myself or something!

391685[/snapback]

[daisy]

Ive just thought of my latest dumbass question

if Im going to infuse a pile of homegrow in a bottle of, say, Hemp Seed Oil. Does the grow need to be dried a it first??? Or can it go in fresh out the garden??

(oh and probably same question for infusing into alcohol for tincture)

[dikki]

Ive just thought of my latest dumbass question

if Im going to infuse a pile of homegrow in a bottle of, say, Hemp Seed Oil. Does the grow need to be dried a it first??? Or can it go in fresh out the garden??

(oh and probably same question for infusing into alcohol for tincture)

when I've made tinctures, I've always used dry bud. Always been a little nervous that the chlorophyl would colour & taste it

Cannabis oil:

Take some dried cannabis, reduce it to very small pieces, and add edible oil (e.g. olive oil) so that the plant material is completely covered with the oil. Keep it in a dark and cool place for about 3 weeks. Shake it a little every day. Filter it using a sieve or by using coffee filter papers. You may use this oil for internal and external application.

This may work but would be better to warm the oil / cannabis mixture over a period of hours & the cannaboids & terpines would have help binding together with the oil

This method would surely give the resulting oil a higher concentration of cannaboids & terpines??

hmmm....

Jeff?

[grobag]

I reckon so Dikki mate. Heating both speeds up the process and helps with efficiency. Be carefull not to over-heat it though as this will then start to degrade the cannabinoids - it is a fine line. As I usually say - you want to warm it, not heat it.

I always dry bud first for making tinctures and oils (in the form of BHO and QWISO rather than dissolving in cooking oil). The addition of moisture slows the process.

Jeff's description of tinctures in the initial post is good. Ethanol is obviously the best and Americans always harp on about 'Everclear' and 'grain alcohol', but ethanol is extremely hard to come by in this country. Anyone had the good fortune to come by any?

Therefore, just the higher proof drinking alcohols are the best through being widely available. Revisiting this post has made me want to make a tincture again. I don't currently have any so I think that I will lay some down today for a rainy day in the future.

[daisy]

anyone know where I can buy ethyl alcohol online??

[Guest FD]

I reckon so Dikki mate. Heating both speeds up the process and helps with efficiency. Be carefull not to over-heat it though as this will then start to degrade the cannabinoids - it is a fine line. As I usually say - you want to warm it, not heat it.

I always dry bud first for making tinctures and oils (in the form of BHO and QWISO rather than dissolving in cooking oil). The addition of moisture slows the process.

Jeff's description of tinctures in the initial post is good. Ethanol is obviously the best and Americans always harp on about 'Everclear' and 'grain alcohol', but ethanol is extremely hard to come by in this country. Anyone had the good fortune to come by any?

Therefore, just the higher proof drinking alcohols are the best through being widely available. Revisiting this post has made me want to make a tincture again. I don't currently have any so I think that I will lay some down today for a rainy day in the future.

have u ever done this but with hash not bud Gro? how long should u leave hash in brandy for example?

[stuwyatt]

I remembered reading about glycerine tinctures in an old book a few years back. It allows for people who cannot take alcohol (for whatever reason) to take cannabis tincture. Its a long old process though, taking about 6 months or longer to make a decent batch.

A bit of googling came up with this:

* 1 x Bubble Hash 5 grams (Chopped)

* 1 x Quality Heads 5 grams (Chopped)

* 1 x Glycerine (100ml)

* 1 x Brown Glass Bottle (200-250ml)

* X x Brown Glass Eye Dropper Bottles

* 1 x Coffee Plunger

Step 1. This is the easiest extraction you can do it's as simple as pouring half the glycerine into the 200-250ml Brown Glass Bottle, followed by your now 10 grams of mixed hash and heads. Then add the rest of your glycerine and put the lid on shake and stir for a while and then leave to sit in a dark cool area for as long as you like, I wouldn't go to step 2 for at least 6 months, I left mine for almost 2 years giving it occasional stirs to help bring out more in the extraction.

Step 2. Get your clean eye dropper bottle/s and coffee plunger now grab your sitting brew and pour it all into the coffee plunger leaving it to drip as long as you can as glycerine is thick, once this is done plunge your brew and begin to pour into your eye dropper bottle/s until you cant get anymore out of it and cap them all up and store in fridge. Now you got a Glycerine Cannabis Tincture you can have straight with your eye droppers or add to foods.

You can also add food flavourings to glycerine to make it tastier when putting straight under your tongue.

Edited March 19, 2007 by Arnold Layne

[Digit]

sorry if someone already made mention of it...

.. if you're going to make the oil... use hemp oil! as it has many beneficial qualities and ingredients too... most notably, ALL the omega oils (3,6, GLA6, 9) in the perfect quantities for optimum human usage. (not to mention its bloody tasty, does wonders for the skin, great lubricant, etc etc etc etc etc)

just a suggestion.

anything to help the cannabis industry.

[dikki]

sorry if someone already made mention of it...

.. if you're going to make the oil... use hemp oil! as it has many beneficial qualities and ingredients too... most notably, ALL the omega oils (3,6, GLA6, 9) in the perfect quantities for optimum human usage. (not to mention its bloody tasty, does wonders for the skin, great lubricant, etc etc etc etc etc)

just a suggestion.

anything to help the cannabis industry.

I used hemp oil in my topical cream

far superior product imo

it did take alot more essential oils to mask that typical 'nut roast crossed wi hash' smell you get when making it

I used spearmint oil this time....

nowt worse than being eaten alive by a vegan