Dear Cheri,
I recently signed up for your online cooking course and I’m interested in making an alcohol tincture. My question involves cannabis tincture soak time.
You say that you pour the 1 cup of Everclear into the cannabis and then let it sit for 3 or 4 days minimum. I have a friend that puts the jar in the freezer for one hour and then strains it into a dish. Do you know of this method and what is your knowledge on it? Is it less effective than letting the tincture sit for 3 - 4 days?
When it comes to cannabis tincture soak time, it all depends on what you intend to use the tincture for. In the cooking course, I assume people are going to use it when making edibles. Or perhaps they will use it sublingually, meaning placed under the tongue. This is a great method of ingestion for tinctures that is almost, but not quite, as fast as smoking or vaping, which is a topic for another video.
If, however, I planned to turn my alcohol tincture into a cannabis concentrate for smoking, vaping, or dabbing, I would do definitely do what your friend did and do a quick wash and use the freezer. In fact, I would even use dry ice if this was the intended purpose. I would then filter the tincture multiple times. This is the method I use when I make concentrates using The Source by Extractcraft. That’s because when you are making such concentrates, you want it as pure as can be with as little extra other compounds in there as possible.
However, for cooking and for tinctures I let it go far longer because I don't need the purity of a tasty dab hit. I want to get as many cannabinoids and terpenes as possible for their medicinal benefits. Hence the longer infusion time. Sometimes I even let my edibles tinctures infuse longer.
I hope this helps clear up any confusion.
More Info on Marijuana Tinctures and Concentrates
I have a question about USING tincture that I can’t find an answer to, and hoping you can help. I was told that the tincture I bought at a dispensary was too intense to use straight, sub-lingually (it would “burn”). Recommendation was to put the dose in a little water first. I do that, but no matter how long I hold it under my tongue before swallowing, it doesn’t seem to be absorbing there, but is being digested after I swallow the water (indicator is that it takes a couple hours to feel any “side effect.” I may just try it straight, but the recommended dosage is a whole dropper full, which would be a lot of “burn.” Any thoughts or suggestions?
I am guessing this is made with an Everclear type alcohol which would definitely burn. if you can handle it without water it could work sublingually, but hard for me to make a recommendation as I do not know exactly what you are using. But that alcohol is pretty harsh.
I would use it as an edible instead of sublingually if that is the case. Yes it will take longer to feel the onset of the effects, but they should last longer.
Hi Cheri. I’m interested in making my own tincture using vegetable glycerin. I purchased the Ardent decarboxylator after watching your videos. However, I haven’t found a single article or video explaining if this is even a possibility. Have you done this before? And if so, how?
Thanks so much!
Yes you can use the Ardent Nova or FX to infuse anything except alcohol. That said I usually just soak my glycerin tincture cold. Know that glycerin tincture will never be that potent, however, as they can only absorb about 1/3 of the amount as oils or butter do. This article, while wonky, is the best instruction on glycerin tinctures I have found.
https://skunkpharmresearch.com/glycerin-extraction/
Hi Sheri, Thanks for your great work with cannabis! I live in Argentina and would like to make a tincture. We don’t have Everclear alcohol here. The highest proof I could find was a Tanqueray gin with 95. Or I could order absinthe via our equivalent of ebay at 140 proof. Is it a good idea to make a tincture with absinthe? Thanks!
Not sure about absinthe, but yes use the high alcohol gin and you should be fine.