Dear Cheri,

Can you please address how to make cannabis honey?  I saw some at the dispensary and want to make it myself.  I just think it would be so handy. Can I just infuse honey like I do butter or oil?

Well, you CAN make cannabis honey.  However it is different than infusing cannabutter or cannaoil.  If you used the methods for these with honey you will likely get little to no effects from the finished edibles.

Why Infusing Cannabis Honey Does Not Work

Infusing cannabis honey does not work for the same reasons infusing cannabis corn syrup does not work. Because cannabinoids like THC and CBD bind to fats and honey, corn syrup, maple syrups, molasses, and other syrups are all fat free foods. 

The cannabinoids like THC and CBD cling to fats like butter and oil. 

Alcohol is a fat-free solvent that is effective at extracting cannabinoids.  But honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, molasses, et al are not.

Ardent cannabis even put it to the test in their excellent article The Truth About Cannabis Honey. The also give better methods for infusing honey and other syrups, which I will outline below.

How to make cannabis honey (effectively)

These techniques will work for infusing honey, corn syrup, maple syrup, and molasses. 

I have to say though, even when infusing with concentrates, I like to consume the honey or syrup with something containing fat, or use it in a recipe that contains fat, for the best results.  For instance, biscuits with infused honey AND butter.

Use Concentrates to Infuse Cannabis Honey

Why does this work?  

Because you are not infusing the cannabinoids into the honey, you are simply adding them to it.  You will not want to strain the mixture, but rather consume all of the concentrate you add.

If you want to infuse honey with THC using concentrates, know that it does not require a long infusion.  Simply gently heat the honey over warm heat and stir in a cannabis concentrate until dissolved. 

This method will work with kief, hash, rosin, hash oils, FECO, etc.

Stirring in a little lecithin will help everything emulsify.  I prefer powdered Sunflower lecithin to soy as it has been minimally processed but either will work.

How to Make Cannabis Honey Butter

Another option is to make honey butter.  This is a handy spread to put on toast, biscuits, waffles, pancakes, etc.  To make it you whip softened cannabutter with honey.  Depending on dosage needs, you may want to mix in some regular butter as well.  I do this in the recipe below.

As written below the Cannabis Honey Butter will have 20 mgs THC per 1 tablespoon serving IF you made your cannabutter from cannabis containing 10% THC and used 14 grams to make 1 cup of cannabutter.

To adjust the dosage for your personal needs and to reflect the strength of the marijuana you are using and the amounts you used to make your infusion,   take my FREE 10 minute online Dosing Class that will teach you how to do it.  Even better, use my handy dosage calculator tools that do all the math for you (see below).