Cannabis Tincture Cold Method

Sure, buying cannabis tincture is easy, but where's the fun in that? Personally, we would rather make our own cannabis tincture. That said, the methods that most people are familiar with, the hot methods, require a lot of cooking, know-how, and effort. For most people, it's just too much work.

However, there is another way of making cannabis tinctures that does not require much work or effort at all, known as the cold method. The cold method of making cannabis tinctures involves just a few tools and ingredients, a few quick steps, and just a little bit of patience.

It's super easy, and fast, and literally anybody can do it at home. Today, we will first take a quick look at what a cannabis temperature is, then will provide you with a detailed analysis of the cold method. Keep reading to find out how to make a cannabis tincture using the cold method in a clear detailed step by step manner.

Key Takeaways

• A cannabis tincture consists of high-proof alcohol infused with cannabinoids.
• The cold method for making a cannabis tincture is the easiest and safest.
• The cold method for making a cannabis tincture involves soaking your plant matter in high-proof alcohol for several days until the cannabinoids infuse into the alcohol.

What is Cannabis Tincture?

A cannabis tincture is a special type of liquid, usually very high-proof alcohol, that is infused with cannabinoids. Here, we are talking about a basic cold method cannabis tincture. This means that to make this particular type of tincture, you use dried cannabis flower.

You more or less just soak the cannabis flower in high-proof alcohol for several days, until the alcohol absorbs the cannabinoids. The plant matter is then strained out of the liquid, and you're left with cannabis tincture. It really doesn't get much easier than that.

These tinctures can have a wide variety of potential benefits depending on the exact types of cannabinoids contained in them. Many people prefer tinctures because they are very easy to take, both sublingually and by ingesting them, plus it's really easy to dose how much cannabinoid content you get with every dropper full.

What is the Cold Tincture Method?

Many people might know how to make cannabis tincture the hot method. This essentially involves cooking the cannabis plant matter in alcohol. As you can imagine, this is quite dangerous, because cooking alcohol creates super-combustible alcohol fumes.

It would not be the first time that somebody blew up their own house trying to make a cannabis tincture using this hot method.

However, we then have this cold texture method, which is much safer. This method does not involve any cooking or heating up of flammable or combustible alcohols.

Rather, you simply soak the plant matter in high-proof alcohol for several days, while constantly mixing and stirring it, which results in the cannabinoids from the plant matter being absorbed by the alcohol. As you can tell, this method is perfectly safe, it requires minimal effort, and you don't need many ingredients or tools either.

How to Make Cannabis Tincture Using the “Cold Method”

Let's now take a quick look at exactly how to make a cannabis tincture using this cold method.

Ingredients and Tools Required

• 30 G (About 1 OZ) of Cannabis of Your Choice: You can choose any cannabis you like here. You can go for a high THC strain or something with CBD. You can also choose to use a Sativa or an Indica, or even a hybrid. Something like our own Botany Farms Strawberry Banana Kush might be a great option to try.
• 950 ml (1 QT) of High-Proof Alcohol: You will require some sort of high-proof alcohol, whether this be extremely potent vodka, Everclear, or even something like ethyl alcohol.
• Mason Jar with a Lid: You will need a large Mason jar, something large enough to hold all of the alcohol and cannabis for the duration of the process.
• Grinder: Your cannabis has to be ground, so a grinder is required.
• Glass Dropper: You'll need a glass dropper to manipulate the tincture.
• Coffee Filters or Cheesecloth: To strain the plant matter out of the tincture when the cannabinoids have been absorbed by the alcohol, you'll need a cheesecloth or coffee filter.

If you’re interested, here we have a recipe for a Delta-8 Tincture, and here’s a recipe for MCT Oil CBD Tincture.

Steps to Make Cold Method Cannabis Tincture

As you are about to see, making a cannabis tincture using the cold method is very easy and only requires a few simple steps.

1. Get your cannabis of choice and use your grinder to break it down. It must be relatively fine for this process to be as effective as possible. You must now decarboxylate the buds before they can be used for anything of this nature.
2. Place the broken-down cannabis buds into your glass Mason jar. You can use as much cannabis as you want. Just remember that the more you use, the more potent the tincture will be. On a side note, make sure that the bud you use is dry and not fresh.
3. Take your alcohol and pour it into the Mason jar, enough to completely cover all of the plant matter. Generally speaking, you'll need about 1 gram of plant matter for every fluid ounce of alcohol.
4. Put the lid on the Mason jar and shake everything very vigorously for two or three minutes. You can now put this jar in the freezer, and leave it there for around five days. No, the alcohol will not freeze, so it will not expand or cause the jar to explode.
5. As the days go on, you should notice the plant matter dissolving and the alcohol taking on a distinctly green color. Every single day, take the jar out of the freezer every few hours and give it a good shake for about a minute each time. This will allow the process to work better.
6. After roughly five days, or some people even go for seven days, you just need to strain the mixture. Use your coffee filters or cheesecloth to separate the plant matter from the liquid tincture. You can now put the liquid tincture inside of a dropper bottle.

If this all sounds too complicated for you, checking out this Botany Farms Live Resin CBD Tincture is always another option.

What Alcohol is Best for Tinctures

Generally speaking, the higher proof of the alcohol, the better this process works. Most people use something like ethyl alcohol, with Everclear working very well. However, you can technically use any alcohol of your choosing as long as it is very high-proof.

Usually, anything over 60% is recommended, which means that even a very strong vodka might be suitable. Remember that the type of alcohol used here will also determine the overall flavor of the end result. Using something like whiskey or bourbon probably isn't the best choice here.

How to Decarboxylate Cannabis in the Oven: Step by Step

Don't forget to decarboxylate your cannabis before using it to make a tincture. If you do not decarboxylate it, the THC will not be active, and therefore will not produce any notable high. This is because cannabis flower contains what is known as THCA, which is the precursor to THC.

THCA is inactive in terms of being intoxicated or psychoactive. THCA does not get you high. To activate THCA, or in other words, to turn it into THC, it has to be decarboxylated, which in simplest terms means applying heat to it. Follow the simple steps below to decarboxylate your cannabis buds.

1. Break down the cannabis into small buds.
2. Place these buds on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
3. Place the baking sheet with the cannabis buds into an oven that has been preheated to 220 degrees Fahrenheit. Be sure that the oven is no hotter than this, or else you will kill the cannabinoids.
4. Bake this for 30 to 40 minutes, and make sure to stir the buds around a couple of times during this process. This will allow for even decarboxylation. Once again, don't allow this mixture to bake for longer, or else you might kill the cannabinoids.

Final Thoughts on Cannabis Tincture Cold Method

As you can see, making your own cannabis tincture using the cold method is super easy. It takes barely any tools, ingredients, or effort. It's definitely something we recommend trying for yourself because it might just be the best tincture that you've ever had. Even if you don’t like THC, making a CBD tincture could be something worth trying!

Look for Ingredients or Want to Try Our Tinctures Before Making Your Own

If you are looking for the best ingredients to make tinctures with, the Delta-8 flower and CBD flower we have here at Botany Farms both make for great options. If you’d rather skip the hard part, you can always just get our Botany Farms Delta-8 Live Resin Tincture.