The Rev

Tincture of Cannabis is a cure-all tonic from the 19th century. Known today as "green dragon," it is made from high powered alcohol (like everclear) and ground up buds. The old time recipe is approx 1 ounce of cannabis to 1 pint of alcohol.

I'm going to make an 8oz batch, and I'll let you all know how it is.



The Rev

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The Rev

Here's a follow up:

I made, I drank, I waited....Nuthin

In my searches of the net, I have found that in order for THC in weed to be psychoactive (for purposes of ingestion, rather than inhalation) it needs to be heated. The heating converts THCA (the acidic form of THC that the plant forms, but which is not psychoactive) into THC (our good friend that you all know well from smoking). I can't, however, find the temperature at which to heat it.

Anybody know the answer to this riddle?

If worse comes to worst, I suppose I can just pour the tonic into some butter and make cannabutter. The alcohol will evaporate off, and the dissolved THC will just make friends with the butter. Still, the "magic potion" quality of the emerald green tonic is so...you know.



The Rev

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Harry Pothead

Thanks for this post

I was ready to try that this weekend with the 190 proof grain alcohol, you saved me some trouble. I was really looking forward to trying a green dragon after hearing so much about them on the net.Now that I know how complex it is to make them, I wonder if anyone really drinks them.

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I don't even really like looking at Vaginas that much.
-toastyroach

BUDFORCE

I have tried many forms of tinctures, and some do work. The ones that offer the best therapudic benefit were made with keif, not bud. As far as heating it, I'll check my archive, but I don't believe I have ever heard of a tincture process using heat. One recipie a friend gave me actually used a hash oil, but this involves a few more steps and some safety precautions. BUDFORCE.

germination

They use to sell actuall buds in america called "american cannabis". I believe this was in the 20's and early 30's. Back then I don't think too many people knew what pot was, so it was probably no big deal. I bet when someone tried it though they came back for more! I wonder how it was advertised? Wonder who grew that shit! It was supposedly medicinal grade type weed.

kitch

germ, any marijuana around back then was what mexicans pulled off of wild plants and sold for a nickel a piece. Rev, for some reason the number 108* fahrenheit comes to mind, but I'm not sure why.

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rizlahemp

In vaporizers the magic number is 360F. That's when the THC and cannabinoids are seperated from the plant matter and are viable for inhalation. What temperature does alcohol combust at?

kitch

I'd say it would have to be activated by 250* or less but 108* stands out in my mind.

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germination

I'd buy some pot for a nickle.

triggerhappy42

108 came to my mind too

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half-brained teen-aged shit-pooper

Brash

I had a bottle of Tincture in my fridge which we had been playing around with. Tried putting drops on porous candy - allowing the alcohol evaporate then adding more tincture. These were then put under tongue for absorbation. Not a great deal of success. Mints proved too strong for sublingual use and other candy not strong enough in flavour to mask the powerful herbal taste. But hey, we battled on

On Xmas day went to a party with a few medical cannabis patients and we decided to try a tonic - 2mls of tincture (99% alcohol by volume) diluted with 100mls of brewed (but non-alcoholic) ginger beer. 2 or 3 of these tonics worked a treat, patients happy and asking where they can get on this same trial as me.

Tincture was produced by my cannabis specialist (medical doctor who loves to push the envelope so to speak) and to the best of my knowledge NO HEAT is involved in production.

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Mr BRASH
Medical Cannabis Smokesperson
"I have HIV - but suffer from cannabis prohibition"
PO Box:308 Surry Hills NSW AUSTRALIA 2010
cannabismedicineinoz @me.com

budbuddy.biz

Here's a great article on tinctures from Cannabis Culture:

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/3005.html

I should start offering tinctures for sale soon, and hash, and brownies... but for now I'll stick to bud.

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Bud Buddy's Mail Order Marijuana
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Canada's source for quality cannabis!

SmokeSomeDoja

i was under the impression that you dont need to heat it, just leave it for a few weeks and shake it every day or something

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fotoz fo yo azz



"I've run over black cats that were luckier than me."

budbuddy.biz

No heating is required...



How to make tincture

The philosophy behind tincture is to capture the spiritual and physical essence of the plant. This is done by using the power of ethyl alcohol to dissolve and preserve the herb in question, in our case cannabis.

Ethyl alcohol, known as ethanol, is used for countless applications. Produced biologically by the fermentation of either sugar or starch, ethanol may be used as a solvent for organic chemicals, or as a starting compound for manufacturing dyes, drugs, perfumes, and explosives.

Different plant species demand different strengths of solvent or alcohol. For example, opium requires 70% pure grain for effective alkaloid leaching. Resinous plants such as cannabis, along with countless other alkaloid-rich botanicals, are ideally suited for extraction in high-proof spirits such as 90% pure grain alcohol (such as Everclear).

The cannabis used for soaking must be dry. When fresh bud is used, the end result is disappointing. Scissoring up the plant material effectively facilitates extracting all psychoactive constituents.

Cannabis should soak anywhere from one to 10 days. Some folks soak it for up to four weeks, following that up with a secondary five day soak in fresh ethanol just to ensure all cannabinoids have been leached.

However, some others insist that the buds remain in the solvent no longer than six hours. They claim that solvents instantly grab onto THC molecules, and anything after this time frame benefits only terpene, oils, and chlorophylls, contaminating the final product.

From my personal experience seven days is adequate, but you should experiment with different time frames to see what works for you and your buds.

The recommended minimum cannabis-to-alcohol ratio is one gram of bud per 35ml (one fluid ounce). Some prefer up to seven grams per 35ml but others might find this too strong. Individual needs vary. Cautious experimentation is the key.

Throughout the soaking period use only enough ethanol to cover the plant material and occasionally agitate. In a nod to the Goddess, herbs still in solution at this stage are referred to as the "Menstruum."

After you've soaked the bud for the desired time, shake and strain the plant material. After filtering the cannabis solution, it is ready to be stored. This is done best within a blue apothecary medicine bottle. This will protect the precious mixture from degradation by light, while also imbuing mystery to the potion.

For further protection, the tincture should be kept in a cool, dark place. Yet cannabis preserved in ethanol has a long shelf life. Tincture medicines do not come with an expiry date. The fragrance and bouquet of mature tincture is floral akin to perfume.

As the mother tincture matures, new cannabis solution is added, and the final evaporated concentrate extract becomes a composite of many superior cannabis flowers.

The test for making sure all THC has been transferred into ethanol is to smoke the discarded plant material. If it tastes terrible, has a straw color, and is inactive, the operation has been successful.

The spent bud should be collected in a porcelain bowl for drying before mulching. Over several deposits, however, you will notice a residue mark from essential extracted cannabinoids adhering to the sides of the collection bowl. Simply add a small amount of alcohol, swirl, and redissolve this valuable material back into the original mother tincture. Waste not want not!

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Bud Buddy's Mail Order Marijuana
www.budbuddy.biz - buds@budbuddy.biz
Canada's source for quality cannabis!

SmokeSomeDoja

"Location: The land of OZ - there's no place like homo"

hahaha

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fotoz fo yo azz



"I've run over black cats that were luckier than me."

MacGyver(BB)

Will you be sipping that from your 1 gallon Moonshine jug?

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High Posters - Beware of Carpal Tunnel Syndrome!

Justin Brash

Due to my high profile (pun intended) I have been offered more tincture from a varity of sources and it has been quite fun sampling. The best to date was made from bubble hash redisolved with a sweetish slovent (not sure what it was). Worked a treat for thoses occasions when smokin is not an option, although my doctor siad he believes the cannabis naive patients will benefit most as the result was a lesser feeling of wellbeing (stoned) but the medi benefits were still present - hunger, pain refief and better sleep.

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Justin Brash
Clinical Pothead
'21 years with HIV and going strong thanks to cannabis'
Brash's Med-pot homepage
youTUBE • myspace

Medicalman

Ok folks,
here is the scoop on heating or not. Heat is a method used to decarboxylate and "activate" thc. The same results can be achieved by merely drying the material. By dry, I mean bone dry. As in if you touch it, it turns to dust kind of dry.

Also remember, in the medical sense, activating the thc isn't the whole story. Many illnesses are "treated" by compounds other than thc in the cannabis. For some folks, getting a good dose of cbd or other contained compound without the associated "high" is a good thing.

Another thing to consider with things orally administered is that they are processed differently in the body than smoked goods. When you smoke (or vaporize), the compounds go directly into the bloodstream from the lungs. When you eat cannabis products, the digestive juices destroy or alter some compounds and many are also processed in the liver further changing the effects.

My "recipe" for tincture is to first normally dry the plant material. Then I gently soak the material overnight in a bath of distilled water. I carefully drain and repeat this process. This leaches out chlorophyl and other water soluble items from the plant material. After this, I dry super thoroughly. Usually I stick the material on cookie sheets and stick it in the oven overnight over the pilot light. Then I grind it fine and soak in the alcohol for about 8 hours or overnight, then filter the material out.

The distilled water bath makes the flavor of the tincture much milder.

Finally, I evaporate off about 3/4 of the alcohol and replace 1/4 of that with water. I do this to concentrate it x2 and the water is to dilute the alcohol. Remember, 190 proof alcohol can cause damage to mouth and throat tissue.

Just my thoughts and what works for me.

Best
MM

spankiee

Just was wondering if any of you used a herb press to press the tincture out or just did it by hand. I own the one listed above and it works great! just the half oz in a mason jar put everclear to half let set for two weeks and strain off then put it in the herb press high concentration tincture.. pressing it by hand wasnt enough but im only 114lbs this press pushes something like 1000lbs. just a little input for a post thats not had any post for over 4 years lol.

If the link doesnt work just type herb press in google and its the cheepst one around $79 or something.

José

that's pretty cool.

So rev, you ever figure that out?