Alcohol Tincture

Hobbes said:

Cold Method with Ethanol

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 flavor extracts may be added (vanilla, raspberry, etc.). Be careful to use only a few drop of flavor extract.

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Huckster79 said:

I am planning on doing the heat method but dont have time today to finish, i put the jar on my dryer as i gotta do laundry and put stuff around it so it wont vibrate off. But figure the vibration will be like a long slow shaking up of it.... ill try the long soak time number two but trying to get something faster for a parkinsons sufferer...

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Huckster79 said:

GB i got an a solution! Tape your jar to your wifes vibrator put some fresh d cells in that baby and leave her for the day.... lol. On serious note, thanks, it was just a random medicated idea, i get a million, most are foolish but once in a while they work out .

Sure hopin this helps parkinsons like the videos iv seen...

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Huckster79 said:

I am planning on doing the heat method but dont have time today to finish, i put the jar on my dryer as i gotta do laundry and put stuff around it so it wont vibrate off. But figure the vibration will be like a long slow shaking up of it.... ill try the long soak time number two but trying to get something faster for a parkinsons sufferer...

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GB in NOLA said:

Yeah so. I AM the wife, but all viable suggestions are appreciated. Unfortunately, your suggestion is crass and crude and in no way helpful, i.e. not viable. Not sure why I came to this site for help with a serious issue. No help, no answers, just a bunch of dopers doping

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budlover13 said:

The long soak on a low temp heat pad works. Well.

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Huckster79 said:

How long is long on a heating pad?

First batch pretty mellow but will be a nice grade for wanting just the edge taken off and not having the mind wander... i really enjoyed the floral flavor...

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true said:

I would just like to say this thread is wonderful! I've been doing research on tinctures too and I would like to add one thing:

Alcohol tinctures have a longer shelf life and kill mold (for those of you who recycled some infected buds) so keep that in mind if you plan on storing your tincture for a long time.

I am wondering, will heating and/or freezing my ALCOHOL tincture increase potency? I've heard mixed reviews.

I am also wondering if anyone has tried using FRESH trim and FRESH buds for their tincture? This is what I am doing because from what I've read, cannabinoids break down as bud dries, and I want to get every last bit of the plant. Is this counterintuitive/fallacious?

I've also read that grape extract can aid in the extraction process? Any word on this?

*One tip when grinding your bud in a coffee grinder: Grind your fresher/greener trim first (to clean out any spent coffee grounds you may have missed) then grind your highest quality material second. This way you can scrape off the resins left along the side of the coffee grinder, its kinda like finger hash Finish by grinding a bit of fresh or dry stem. All of the remaining resins on the sides will have stuck to the fibrous ground stems, making the cleaning process much more efficient and easy.

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SouthCross said:

And it's strong. Really strong. I reduced it to 150ml instead of 100ml. By volume the powdered weed made up 50ml.

One full dropper taken in the early evening will leave a buzz the next morning. 1/2 a dropper works.

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Nouna said:

Great, hit you hard & fast?

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SouthCross said:

Holding the tincture in your mouth for 10mins brings it on 5 minutes later. I'd say an all around 20 mins for full effect.

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