October 9, 2025 • 20 mins
What if your edible didn’t make you wait? We’re diving under the tongue to unpack how sublingual cannabis delivers fast, predictable effects—and how you can craft potent, reliable tinctures right at home. From the science of absorption to practical DIY steps, we share the exact methods, trade-offs, and safety notes you need to feel confident with alcohol and glycerin tinctures.
If you’re curious about faster onset, better predictability, and DIY cannabis that fits your life, this guide is your new playbook. Subscribe, share with a friend who’s tincture-curious, and leave a review to help others find the show. What ratio are you mixing first?
Show your love of Bite Me here. ;)
Visit the website for full show notes, free dosing calculator, recipes and more.
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Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:05):
What happens when you take a love of food, a
passion for culture, and a deepknowledge of cannabis, and you
toss them all into one bowl, youget bite me.
The podcast that explores theintersection of food, culture,
and cannabis helps cooks makegreat edibles at home.
I am your host, Margaret, acertified gangier, a TCI
certified cannabis educator, andI believe your kitchen is the
(00:25):
best dispensary you'll everhave.
Together we'll explore thestories, the science, and the
sheer joy of making safe,effective, and unforgettable
edibles at home.
So preheat your oven and getready for a great episode.
Let's dive in.
Today we are going to be talkingabout the science of
sublinguals.
How do they work?
(00:46):
And why?
And we're gonna get into thenitty-gritty of the science
behind that so you have a betterunderstanding of how this
particular format might work foryou in your life.
Now, before we get into today'sepisode, I just want to say, I
hope the audio for this oneworks well, turns out okay.
I am recording in Nelson,British Columbia.
(01:08):
I'm visiting my friend, and I'mactually at the time of this
recording, I'll be headed homein a couple of days.
But I just wanted to get thisunder this recording under the
belt.
I had an opportunity to do somerecording, and I gotta say,
Nelson is a difficult place toget to.
It is not easy.
The closest regional airports,it's still a couple, no matter
(01:30):
which way you go.
One is a two and a half,three-hour drive.
There is one that's a a30-minute drive, but it is
nicknamed, it's calledCastlegar.
But it's nicknamed Cancelgarbecause it's a small airport,
and oftentimes the weather meansthat flights get canceled on a
regular basis.
So there's logistics withgetting to any of those airports
(01:52):
because there's you can't flydirectly to them.
You have to fly into a placelike Calgary or Vancouver first.
So it's been an adventure.
But as my friend said when Icame out to see her, she's like,
you'll see why Nelson is sospecial and why people stay
here.
Because it's difficult to getto.
And now I can appreciate that.
I had a chance to visit a coupleof pot stores here, which was
(02:12):
really fun.
And we picked up some drinks.
She had plenty of weed.
It's interesting because Nelsonis a place where historically
many, many people were growinglong before the cannabis stores
came along.
So I'm sure there's a lot offeelings about that.
But my friend happens to knowsomeone who is growing and is
(02:32):
regularly gifted weed from thatfriend and other friends,
because a friend with weed is afriend indeed.
Am I right?
Which is why I should maybe makea little plug right here,
friends.
If you haven't yet joined theBite Me Cannabis Club, you can
find some like-minded cannabislovers over there.
It's a really lovely place, anonline place that I've created
for all you wonderful folks, soI can have a more two-way
(02:55):
conversation with you when itcomes to cannabis and all the
other things that are lightingus up in our lives.
So check it out.
You if you can learn more atjoinbiteme.com.
But of course, if you're joiningus for the first time, this will
be a good episode for you to getinto some of the science.
And if you've been listening fora while, thank you for being
here.
It's because of you that I'mstill doing this six years
(03:16):
later.
Can you believe it?
Six years later.
So, Nelson, as I was saying, myfriend was telling me a little
bit about the history of thisplace.
She's lived here for 20 years, Ibelieve, originally born in
Ontario, moved out to Nel out toBC generally a long time ago,
over 20 years ago.
She did come back to Ontarioduring the pandemic because she
(03:39):
wanted to be close to familywhile we were doing lockdowns
and all that fun stuff.
We don't need to talk about thattime in history, but I can say
that I'm grateful because if ithadn't been for the fact that
she came back to Ontario, Iwould never have met her.
And it was during her time, shespent about four years in
Ontario, that I became friendswith her.
And here we are.
So after a time, she did moveback to Nelson and has settled
(04:05):
back into life in small townBritish Columbia.
And even though this is a townof 10,000 people, wow, I gotta
say that this town haseverything.
Every this town has everything.
It's right on a lake, there'smountains all around it, but
it's got all the amenities youcould hope for in a larger town,
except you're going to meet alot of people on the street that
(04:27):
you probably know.
You work with your neighbors,your school, school people, all
the rest of it.
I have been told that there areseveral rules to Nelson that
people abide by.
One is you never ask what peopledo for a living, of course, a
holdover from when cannabis wasvery illegal.
Two, you never ask to seesomebody's basement when they're
(04:48):
giving you a house tour, becauseoftentimes people were growing
in their basements.
And three, if you come acrosssomebody that you know in an
alley, you don't stop and talkbecause there's a whole bunch of
alleys in the downtown area.
From what I've been able to see,we went on a little tour of the
street art and murals that existin this town, of which there are
(05:09):
many.
They actually have like a streetart festival every year, but
they have like all thesebeautiful murals.
And you get so I saw a lot ofthese back alleys where some of
these murals were.
But the idea was that because itis a small town, and if you're
out on the street, you're likelyto run into somebody you know
and you don't always feel liketalking, you take the back
alleys.
That's that's the rule.
(05:30):
So cannabis culture is alive andwell, and it's so interesting
being in a place where so manypeople are cool with cannabis
because uh in Ontario, at leastin a lot of the circles that I
know, you know, there's still alot of stigma around cannabis,
and that just doesn't seem toreally exist here.
And it's so interesting.
So you have this small town thatmy friend has told me started
(05:54):
out way back when, of course, itwas a first First Nations land,
eventually became a mining town.
And then at a certain point, alot of draft dodgers came up
from the US, and many of thosefolks are the ones who started
growing weed, according to thisvery casual history that I got
while we were walking aroundtown.
(06:15):
And here we are today.
There's still a lot of loggingaround, of course, because
there's trees everywhere in themountains.
And uh I think there's stillobviously people growing weed,
but the legal weed industry hascertainly changed things quite a
bit.
But that's a little history foryou of my time spent in Nelson,
(06:36):
British Columbia.
We've done some hiking, we didsome camping, we checked out
some hot springs, which wasamazing.
Uh, some of these natural hotsprings are like hotter than
your hot tub.
It is incredible.
And this is an outdoor lover'sparadise, honestly.
So I'll be headed home verysoon.
It'll be a long, arduousjourney, but it was a very
worthwhile, very worthwhile tospend some time here with a dear
(06:59):
friend.
And I'm looking forward togetting back and seeing my
friends and family back home.
But this has been a beautiful,this has been beautiful.
Thanks for sharing it with me,friends.
Have you ever wished you couldget the predictable controlled
effects of an edible withoutthat long, sometimes
unpredictable wait?
(07:20):
And if you've listened to theepisode on onset times, you will
know what I'm talking about.
There are many factors that caninfluence how an edible takes
effect.
And if you haven't listened tothat episode yet, The Signs of
Onset Times, you may want tocheck that one out as well.
But you know that feeling whenyou're eating a brownie and then
you're wondering for the nexthour or so when it's going to
(07:41):
kick in?
What if you could feel theeffects in 15 minutes instead of
an hour?
Well, today we're going to talkabout that exactly.
We're stepping outside thekitchen to explore a fascinating
and fast-acting alternative totraditional edibles,
sublinguals.
It's a fancy word, but theconcept is simple and incredibly
(08:01):
useful for any home cannabiscook.
We'll get into what they are,the science that makes them work
so fast, and of course, how youcan make your own at home.
Because would it really be biteme if we weren't experimenting
in the kitchen?
Like the mad hatters that we allare.
So, what exactly is asublingual?
The name itself, sublingual,literally means under the
(08:24):
tongue.
And that's precisely where themagic happens.
We're talking about the productslike tinctures, which are the
little dropper bottles ofcannabis-infused liquids, as
well as oral sprays and eventhin disposable strips.
And unlike an edible that youchew and swallow, you administer
a sublingual by placing it underyour tongue and letting it
absorb directly into your body.
(08:46):
The reason this method is sodifferent and so much faster
comes down to the uniqueenvironment inside your mouth.
The area under your tongue isfilled with mucous membranes
that are packed with tiny bloodvessels, blood vessels or
capillaries sitting very closeto the surface.
And when you place a cannabistincture there, the cannabinoids
(09:08):
like the THC, the CBD, can passright through those thin
membranes and enter directlyinto your bloodstream.
This is a total game changerbecause it completely bypasses
what's known as the first passeffect.
When you eat an edible, it hasto travel all the way through
the digestive system and then toyour liver.
Your liver metabolizes the THC,converting it into a more potent
(09:30):
but slower acting compound.
And this journey is why theedible can take so long to kick
in.
And it's also where a lot of theoriginal potency can be lost.
I also did an episode on this,which I think was inventively
entitled The Science of Edibles,which you can check out, and I
get more into that first passmetabolism, first pass effect on
how edibles work in yourdigestive system.
(09:52):
Now, with sublinguals, you skipthat whole digestive tour.
The cannabinoids get a directexpress ticket into your system.
This means that you'll start tofeel the effects in as little as
10 to 20 minutes, which is aworld away from an hour or more
that you might have to waitafter eating an edible.
The trade-off is that theeffects aren't going to last
(10:12):
quite as long, usually aroundtwo to four hours versus the
four to eight you might get froma standard edible.
But for many people, that fasteronset and shorter duration means
more control, which is alwaysour goal here.
Now, if you walk into adispensary, you'll see a few
different kinds of sublinguals,and they're normally defined by
(10:32):
what the cannabis is infusedinto.
The most classic and common formis an alcohol-based tincture.
These have been around forcenturies as a way to make
herbal medicines.
They typically use a veryhigh-proof foo-grade grain
alcohol because it's anincredibly effective solvent for
pulling out all those valuablecannabinoids and terpenes out of
(10:53):
the plant.
The main downside for some isthe strong burning taste of
alcohol.
For those who want to avoidalcohol, there's also a
wonderful alternative (11:02):
glycerin tinctures.
They use foo-grade vegetableglycerin, which is a thick,
sweet plant-based liquid.
It's not quite as efficient asan extraction as compared to
alcohol, but it's much morepalatable and perfect for anyone
with an alcohol sensitivity orthose avoiding alcohol
completely.
And of course, technology hasgiven us modern marvels like
(11:24):
precisely metered sublingualsprays and little dissolvable
strips that look like breathstrips.
And they offer incredibleconvenience and dosing accuracy,
but they are much more complexto create at home.
So for our purposes, tincturesare where the DIY magic is at.
And as you know, here at ByteMe,we're all about empowering you,
(11:46):
the home cook.
You absolutely do not need ahigh-tech lab to create your own
effective and reliable cannabistinctures.
So let's walk through a simplefoundational recipe.
First things first, as you'veheard me say a million times,
decarboxylation is key.
You have to activate yourcannabis, and you do this by
gently heating your flour in theoven.
(12:08):
I like to go with about 240degrees Fahrenheit for about 30
minutes.
And if you need a refresher onthat, you can check out the
website or listen back to theepisodes that I've done on
decarboxylation.
I'll link to those in the shownotes.
Once your cannabis is decarbed,you have your two main pathways
for your infusion.
For the alcohol method, you'llcombine your decarbed cannabis
(12:32):
with a high-proof grain alcoholin a mason jar.
Make sure the alcohol completelycovers the flour, and then you
seal it up and store it in acool, dark place.
The traditional method is to letit sit for several weeks, giving
it a good shake every day.
But if you're impatient like me,you can speed up this process by
creating a warm water bath and acrock pot or a double broiler
and letting it infuse over a fewhours on very low heat.
(12:55):
Never use direct heat withalcohol.
I hope this goes without saying.
And of course, I have done someexperimenting when I interviewed
Vanessa Laverado on the podcast.
We talked about shorteninginfusion times.
This also applies to alcohol.
You don't necessarily have tokeep it in the cool dark place
forever.
You will still extractcannabinoids if you do it for 30
(13:15):
minutes, giving it a shake every10 minutes or so.
Or I found my own experiments.
I would have to go back and lookto see what she found with her
experimentation.
But I did get more, asignificant more amount.
I shouldn't say significant.
I have to like back up my notes,and they're not handy at the
moment, but I did get morecannabinoids pulled out of the
(13:37):
plant material when I let it sitfor 24 hours.
So you don't necessarily have toleave it sitting for weeks to
get that, to get some of thecannabinoids pulled out for the
alcohol method.
So keep that in mind.
You don't necessarily need toheat it up, though that can
help.
For the glycerin method, theprocess is similar, but it
(13:57):
really does, it really doesrequire heat.
You'll combine your decarpedflour and a food-grade glycerin
in a jar and then place that jarin a pot with water or in a
double broiler, and you caninfuse it on low, gentle heat
for a few hours, stirring orshaking occasionally.
You want to give the glycerinplenty of time to absorb all
(14:17):
those cannabinoids.
And after your infusion iscomplete, you'll let it cool and
then straighten out all thatplant material.
I recommend using like a finemesh sieve, and then if you have
a little cheesecloth as well fora second strain, that can help
get it really clean.
And that's it.
You've made your tincture.
All that's left is to pour intoa dark uh glass dropper bottle
(14:38):
for easy dosing and storage.
Make sure you label it clearlywith the date, the ingredients,
and a big warning that it's acannabis product, of course.
You know me, label, label,label.
And one quick note on potency.
It can be tricky to get theexact strength of your homemade
tinctures without lab equipment.
And that's the next uh and thatis why our next topic, dosing,
(15:01):
is so credible, critical.
And that's why our next topic,dosing, is so critical.
The golden rule of ediblesapplies just as much to
tinctures.
Start low and go slow.
And I can't stress this enough.
I know if you've been listeningto this show for any length of
time, you know I mention thisall the time.
We're talking about one or twosingle drops to start, not a
full dropper.
And this technique is just asimportant as the dose.
(15:24):
You want to place the dropsunder your tongue and hold them
there for at least 30 to 60seconds before you swallow.
And this gives those mucousmembranes time to absorb the
cannabinoids.
If you swallow it immediately,you're just turning it into a
slow-acting edible.
So the thing here, this is whenyou notice that the alcohol
tincture can be quite leave aburning sensation under your
(15:46):
tongue, but that's just the costof doing business.
So you're going to wait atleast, the longer you can hold
it under your tongue, thebetter.
Wait at least 30 minutes to seehow you feel before considering
taking more.
In fact, I'd probably give iteven longer than that.
And you'll quickly learn whatthe right dose is for you,
giving you a level of controlthat's hard to achieve with
(16:06):
other methods.
And of course, you cancalculate, even though it is a
little more difficult and maybenot quite as accurate as lab
testing, you can calculate thepotency of your tinctures using
basic math.
And I did a whole episode onthat as well.
And if you check that out, Ihave a handy dosing potency
(16:27):
document that you can access tofigure it out.
I have a dosing calculator on mywebsite as well.
But sometimes it's really smartto know how to do the math
that's behind some of thesecalculators that you'll see
online.
It's pretty easy to do once youknow how to do it.
It's some pretty basic math, butI do recommend that you figure
out the potency of yourtinctures, of course, because
(16:48):
then otherwise, how do you knowhow much it is that you're
taking?
Starting low and going slowdoesn't mean a whole lot.
Like, what's two drops if youhave no idea how potent it is?
Am I right?
Right.
So I'll link to that in the shownotes as well so you can check
that out for when you go to makeyour own tinctures.
And there you have it.
Subblinguals are a fantastictool for any cannabis user's
(17:10):
toolkit, offering a fast-acting,discrete, and highly
controllable experience.
Whether you choose an alcohol orglycerin base, making your own
tinctures is simple andrewarding, and that puts all the
powers right in your hands wherewe want it.
So thank you for tuning in tobite me.
I hope you feel empowered toexplore the science of
sublinguals.
(17:31):
Now that I've done this episode,I don't think I have any
sublinguals or tinctures in mypantry at the moment.
And that is, oh, ooh, I do haveone in the freezer that I've
kind of forgotten about, which Iprobably need to deal with when
I get back from Nelson, BritishColumbia.
But I haven't actuallyexperimented with glycerin at
all yet.
I know some people that have.
(17:51):
That has come up actuallyseveral times in the Bite Me
Cannabis Club, people talkingabout their glycerin tinctures
and how they're using thembecause tinctures can also be
great to use in certain types ofedibles as well.
And of course, you can go on tomake things like uh Rick Simpson
oil or FECO as well.
So it sort of opens up a wholenew world of possibilities.
(18:12):
But I think I'm going to bemaking some new tinctures when I
go home.
Especially for me, the CBD,something I can do.
Actually, I see the value ofhaving both.
I like having CBD and THCtinkers.
And then you can always mix themas well.
Like if you have two separateones, I mean you can always use
a ratioed cannabis as well, butif you have two separate
tinctures, you can always mixthem too.
(18:33):
A little, a little choose yourown adventure, if you will.
So I'm inspired now to createsome new tinctures because I
haven't done it in a little bit.
And it is a great way to getyour medicine easily and
discreetly without having toroll joints or go outside.
I know many of you, myself,well, actually, I don't really
smoke joints very much, but Iknow many of you love the ritual
(18:54):
of joints.
Tinctures can really answer thecall.
So thanks for tuning in, myfriends.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with somebody
that you also think would enjoyit because sharing is caring and
really helps spread the word ofthis show.
And word of mouth is probablythe best way to tell the world
about Bite Me, the show aboutedibles.
(19:14):
And that's it for this week, myfriends.
I'm your host, Margaret.
And until next time, stay hi.
What happens when you take a love of food, a
passion for culture, and a deepknowledge of cannabis, and you
toss them all into one bowl, youget bite me.
The podcast that explores theintersection of food, culture,
and cannabis helps cooks makegreat edibles at home.
I am your host, Margaret, acertified gangier, a TCI
certified cannabis educator, andI believe your kitchen is the
(00:25):
best dispensary you'll everhave.
Together we'll explore thestories, the science, and the
sheer joy of making safe,effective, and unforgettable
edibles at home.
So preheat your oven and getready for a great episode.
Let's dive in.
Today we are going to be talkingabout the science of
sublinguals.
How do they work?
(00:46):
And why?
And we're gonna get into thenitty-gritty of the science
behind that so you have a betterunderstanding of how this
particular format might work foryou in your life.
Now, before we get into today'sepisode, I just want to say, I
hope the audio for this oneworks well, turns out okay.
I am recording in Nelson,British Columbia.
(01:08):
I'm visiting my friend, and I'mactually at the time of this
recording, I'll be headed homein a couple of days.
But I just wanted to get thisunder this recording under the
belt.
I had an opportunity to do somerecording, and I gotta say,
Nelson is a difficult place toget to.
It is not easy.
The closest regional airports,it's still a couple, no matter
(01:30):
which way you go.
One is a two and a half,three-hour drive.
There is one that's a a30-minute drive, but it is
nicknamed, it's calledCastlegar.
But it's nicknamed Cancelgarbecause it's a small airport,
and oftentimes the weather meansthat flights get canceled on a
regular basis.
So there's logistics withgetting to any of those airports
(01:52):
because there's you can't flydirectly to them.
You have to fly into a placelike Calgary or Vancouver first.
So it's been an adventure.
But as my friend said when Icame out to see her, she's like,
you'll see why Nelson is sospecial and why people stay
here.
Because it's difficult to getto.
And now I can appreciate that.
I had a chance to visit a coupleof pot stores here, which was
(02:12):
really fun.
And we picked up some drinks.
She had plenty of weed.
It's interesting because Nelsonis a place where historically
many, many people were growinglong before the cannabis stores
came along.
So I'm sure there's a lot offeelings about that.
But my friend happens to knowsomeone who is growing and is
(02:32):
regularly gifted weed from thatfriend and other friends,
because a friend with weed is afriend indeed.
Am I right?
Which is why I should maybe makea little plug right here,
friends.
If you haven't yet joined theBite Me Cannabis Club, you can
find some like-minded cannabislovers over there.
It's a really lovely place, anonline place that I've created
for all you wonderful folks, soI can have a more two-way
(02:55):
conversation with you when itcomes to cannabis and all the
other things that are lightingus up in our lives.
So check it out.
You if you can learn more atjoinbiteme.com.
But of course, if you're joiningus for the first time, this will
be a good episode for you to getinto some of the science.
And if you've been listening fora while, thank you for being
here.
It's because of you that I'mstill doing this six years
(03:16):
later.
Can you believe it?
Six years later.
So, Nelson, as I was saying, myfriend was telling me a little
bit about the history of thisplace.
She's lived here for 20 years, Ibelieve, originally born in
Ontario, moved out to Nel out toBC generally a long time ago,
over 20 years ago.
She did come back to Ontarioduring the pandemic because she
(03:39):
wanted to be close to familywhile we were doing lockdowns
and all that fun stuff.
We don't need to talk about thattime in history, but I can say
that I'm grateful because if ithadn't been for the fact that
she came back to Ontario, Iwould never have met her.
And it was during her time, shespent about four years in
Ontario, that I became friendswith her.
And here we are.
So after a time, she did moveback to Nelson and has settled
(04:05):
back into life in small townBritish Columbia.
And even though this is a townof 10,000 people, wow, I gotta
say that this town haseverything.
Every this town has everything.
It's right on a lake, there'smountains all around it, but
it's got all the amenities youcould hope for in a larger town,
except you're going to meet alot of people on the street that
(04:27):
you probably know.
You work with your neighbors,your school, school people, all
the rest of it.
I have been told that there areseveral rules to Nelson that
people abide by.
One is you never ask what peopledo for a living, of course, a
holdover from when cannabis wasvery illegal.
Two, you never ask to seesomebody's basement when they're
(04:48):
giving you a house tour, becauseoftentimes people were growing
in their basements.
And three, if you come acrosssomebody that you know in an
alley, you don't stop and talkbecause there's a whole bunch of
alleys in the downtown area.
From what I've been able to see,we went on a little tour of the
street art and murals that existin this town, of which there are
(05:09):
many.
They actually have like a streetart festival every year, but
they have like all thesebeautiful murals.
And you get so I saw a lot ofthese back alleys where some of
these murals were.
But the idea was that because itis a small town, and if you're
out on the street, you're likelyto run into somebody you know
and you don't always feel liketalking, you take the back
alleys.
That's that's the rule.
(05:30):
So cannabis culture is alive andwell, and it's so interesting
being in a place where so manypeople are cool with cannabis
because uh in Ontario, at leastin a lot of the circles that I
know, you know, there's still alot of stigma around cannabis,
and that just doesn't seem toreally exist here.
And it's so interesting.
So you have this small town thatmy friend has told me started
(05:54):
out way back when, of course, itwas a first First Nations land,
eventually became a mining town.
And then at a certain point, alot of draft dodgers came up
from the US, and many of thosefolks are the ones who started
growing weed, according to thisvery casual history that I got
while we were walking aroundtown.
(06:15):
And here we are today.
There's still a lot of loggingaround, of course, because
there's trees everywhere in themountains.
And uh I think there's stillobviously people growing weed,
but the legal weed industry hascertainly changed things quite a
bit.
But that's a little history foryou of my time spent in Nelson,
(06:36):
British Columbia.
We've done some hiking, we didsome camping, we checked out
some hot springs, which wasamazing.
Uh, some of these natural hotsprings are like hotter than
your hot tub.
It is incredible.
And this is an outdoor lover'sparadise, honestly.
So I'll be headed home verysoon.
It'll be a long, arduousjourney, but it was a very
worthwhile, very worthwhile tospend some time here with a dear
(06:59):
friend.
And I'm looking forward togetting back and seeing my
friends and family back home.
But this has been a beautiful,this has been beautiful.
Thanks for sharing it with me,friends.
Have you ever wished you couldget the predictable controlled
effects of an edible withoutthat long, sometimes
unpredictable wait?
(07:20):
And if you've listened to theepisode on onset times, you will
know what I'm talking about.
There are many factors that caninfluence how an edible takes
effect.
And if you haven't listened tothat episode yet, The Signs of
Onset Times, you may want tocheck that one out as well.
But you know that feeling whenyou're eating a brownie and then
you're wondering for the nexthour or so when it's going to
(07:41):
kick in?
What if you could feel theeffects in 15 minutes instead of
an hour?
Well, today we're going to talkabout that exactly.
We're stepping outside thekitchen to explore a fascinating
and fast-acting alternative totraditional edibles,
sublinguals.
It's a fancy word, but theconcept is simple and incredibly
(08:01):
useful for any home cannabiscook.
We'll get into what they are,the science that makes them work
so fast, and of course, how youcan make your own at home.
Because would it really be biteme if we weren't experimenting
in the kitchen?
Like the mad hatters that we allare.
So, what exactly is asublingual?
The name itself, sublingual,literally means under the
(08:24):
tongue.
And that's precisely where themagic happens.
We're talking about the productslike tinctures, which are the
little dropper bottles ofcannabis-infused liquids, as
well as oral sprays and eventhin disposable strips.
And unlike an edible that youchew and swallow, you administer
a sublingual by placing it underyour tongue and letting it
absorb directly into your body.
(08:46):
The reason this method is sodifferent and so much faster
comes down to the uniqueenvironment inside your mouth.
The area under your tongue isfilled with mucous membranes
that are packed with tiny bloodvessels, blood vessels or
capillaries sitting very closeto the surface.
And when you place a cannabistincture there, the cannabinoids
(09:08):
like the THC, the CBD, can passright through those thin
membranes and enter directlyinto your bloodstream.
This is a total game changerbecause it completely bypasses
what's known as the first passeffect.
When you eat an edible, it hasto travel all the way through
the digestive system and then toyour liver.
Your liver metabolizes the THC,converting it into a more potent
(09:30):
but slower acting compound.
And this journey is why theedible can take so long to kick
in.
And it's also where a lot of theoriginal potency can be lost.
I also did an episode on this,which I think was inventively
entitled The Science of Edibles,which you can check out, and I
get more into that first passmetabolism, first pass effect on
how edibles work in yourdigestive system.
(09:52):
Now, with sublinguals, you skipthat whole digestive tour.
The cannabinoids get a directexpress ticket into your system.
This means that you'll start tofeel the effects in as little as
10 to 20 minutes, which is aworld away from an hour or more
that you might have to waitafter eating an edible.
The trade-off is that theeffects aren't going to last
(10:12):
quite as long, usually aroundtwo to four hours versus the
four to eight you might get froma standard edible.
But for many people, that fasteronset and shorter duration means
more control, which is alwaysour goal here.
Now, if you walk into adispensary, you'll see a few
different kinds of sublinguals,and they're normally defined by
(10:32):
what the cannabis is infusedinto.
The most classic and common formis an alcohol-based tincture.
These have been around forcenturies as a way to make
herbal medicines.
They typically use a veryhigh-proof foo-grade grain
alcohol because it's anincredibly effective solvent for
pulling out all those valuablecannabinoids and terpenes out of
(10:53):
the plant.
The main downside for some isthe strong burning taste of
alcohol.
For those who want to avoidalcohol, there's also a
wonderful alternative (11:02):
glycerin tinctures.
They use foo-grade vegetableglycerin, which is a thick,
sweet plant-based liquid.
It's not quite as efficient asan extraction as compared to
alcohol, but it's much morepalatable and perfect for anyone
with an alcohol sensitivity orthose avoiding alcohol
completely.
And of course, technology hasgiven us modern marvels like
(11:24):
precisely metered sublingualsprays and little dissolvable
strips that look like breathstrips.
And they offer incredibleconvenience and dosing accuracy,
but they are much more complexto create at home.
So for our purposes, tincturesare where the DIY magic is at.
And as you know, here at ByteMe,we're all about empowering you,
(11:46):
the home cook.
You absolutely do not need ahigh-tech lab to create your own
effective and reliable cannabistinctures.
So let's walk through a simplefoundational recipe.
First things first, as you'veheard me say a million times,
decarboxylation is key.
You have to activate yourcannabis, and you do this by
gently heating your flour in theoven.
(12:08):
I like to go with about 240degrees Fahrenheit for about 30
minutes.
And if you need a refresher onthat, you can check out the
website or listen back to theepisodes that I've done on
decarboxylation.
I'll link to those in the shownotes.
Once your cannabis is decarbed,you have your two main pathways
for your infusion.
For the alcohol method, you'llcombine your decarbed cannabis
(12:32):
with a high-proof grain alcoholin a mason jar.
Make sure the alcohol completelycovers the flour, and then you
seal it up and store it in acool, dark place.
The traditional method is to letit sit for several weeks, giving
it a good shake every day.
But if you're impatient like me,you can speed up this process by
creating a warm water bath and acrock pot or a double broiler
and letting it infuse over a fewhours on very low heat.
(12:55):
Never use direct heat withalcohol.
I hope this goes without saying.
And of course, I have done someexperimenting when I interviewed
Vanessa Laverado on the podcast.
We talked about shorteninginfusion times.
This also applies to alcohol.
You don't necessarily have tokeep it in the cool dark place
forever.
You will still extractcannabinoids if you do it for 30
(13:15):
minutes, giving it a shake every10 minutes or so.
Or I found my own experiments.
I would have to go back and lookto see what she found with her
experimentation.
But I did get more, asignificant more amount.
I shouldn't say significant.
I have to like back up my notes,and they're not handy at the
moment, but I did get morecannabinoids pulled out of the
(13:37):
plant material when I let it sitfor 24 hours.
So you don't necessarily have toleave it sitting for weeks to
get that, to get some of thecannabinoids pulled out for the
alcohol method.
So keep that in mind.
You don't necessarily need toheat it up, though that can
help.
For the glycerin method, theprocess is similar, but it
(13:57):
really does, it really doesrequire heat.
You'll combine your decarpedflour and a food-grade glycerin
in a jar and then place that jarin a pot with water or in a
double broiler, and you caninfuse it on low, gentle heat
for a few hours, stirring orshaking occasionally.
You want to give the glycerinplenty of time to absorb all
(14:17):
those cannabinoids.
And after your infusion iscomplete, you'll let it cool and
then straighten out all thatplant material.
I recommend using like a finemesh sieve, and then if you have
a little cheesecloth as well fora second strain, that can help
get it really clean.
And that's it.
You've made your tincture.
All that's left is to pour intoa dark uh glass dropper bottle
(14:38):
for easy dosing and storage.
Make sure you label it clearlywith the date, the ingredients,
and a big warning that it's acannabis product, of course.
You know me, label, label,label.
And one quick note on potency.
It can be tricky to get theexact strength of your homemade
tinctures without lab equipment.
And that's the next uh and thatis why our next topic, dosing,
(15:01):
is so credible, critical.
And that's why our next topic,dosing, is so critical.
The golden rule of ediblesapplies just as much to
tinctures.
Start low and go slow.
And I can't stress this enough.
I know if you've been listeningto this show for any length of
time, you know I mention thisall the time.
We're talking about one or twosingle drops to start, not a
full dropper.
And this technique is just asimportant as the dose.
(15:24):
You want to place the dropsunder your tongue and hold them
there for at least 30 to 60seconds before you swallow.
And this gives those mucousmembranes time to absorb the
cannabinoids.
If you swallow it immediately,you're just turning it into a
slow-acting edible.
So the thing here, this is whenyou notice that the alcohol
tincture can be quite leave aburning sensation under your
(15:46):
tongue, but that's just the costof doing business.
So you're going to wait atleast, the longer you can hold
it under your tongue, thebetter.
Wait at least 30 minutes to seehow you feel before considering
taking more.
In fact, I'd probably give iteven longer than that.
And you'll quickly learn whatthe right dose is for you,
giving you a level of controlthat's hard to achieve with
(16:06):
other methods.
And of course, you cancalculate, even though it is a
little more difficult and maybenot quite as accurate as lab
testing, you can calculate thepotency of your tinctures using
basic math.
And I did a whole episode onthat as well.
And if you check that out, Ihave a handy dosing potency
(16:27):
document that you can access tofigure it out.
I have a dosing calculator on mywebsite as well.
But sometimes it's really smartto know how to do the math
that's behind some of thesecalculators that you'll see
online.
It's pretty easy to do once youknow how to do it.
It's some pretty basic math, butI do recommend that you figure
out the potency of yourtinctures, of course, because
(16:48):
then otherwise, how do you knowhow much it is that you're
taking?
Starting low and going slowdoesn't mean a whole lot.
Like, what's two drops if youhave no idea how potent it is?
Am I right?
Right.
So I'll link to that in the shownotes as well so you can check
that out for when you go to makeyour own tinctures.
And there you have it.
Subblinguals are a fantastictool for any cannabis user's
(17:10):
toolkit, offering a fast-acting,discrete, and highly
controllable experience.
Whether you choose an alcohol orglycerin base, making your own
tinctures is simple andrewarding, and that puts all the
powers right in your hands wherewe want it.
So thank you for tuning in tobite me.
I hope you feel empowered toexplore the science of
sublinguals.
(17:31):
Now that I've done this episode,I don't think I have any
sublinguals or tinctures in mypantry at the moment.
And that is, oh, ooh, I do haveone in the freezer that I've
kind of forgotten about, which Iprobably need to deal with when
I get back from Nelson, BritishColumbia.
But I haven't actuallyexperimented with glycerin at
all yet.
I know some people that have.
(17:51):
That has come up actuallyseveral times in the Bite Me
Cannabis Club, people talkingabout their glycerin tinctures
and how they're using thembecause tinctures can also be
great to use in certain types ofedibles as well.
And of course, you can go on tomake things like uh Rick Simpson
oil or FECO as well.
So it sort of opens up a wholenew world of possibilities.
(18:12):
But I think I'm going to bemaking some new tinctures when I
go home.
Especially for me, the CBD,something I can do.
Actually, I see the value ofhaving both.
I like having CBD and THCtinkers.
And then you can always mix themas well.
Like if you have two separateones, I mean you can always use
a ratioed cannabis as well, butif you have two separate
tinctures, you can always mixthem too.
(18:33):
A little, a little choose yourown adventure, if you will.
So I'm inspired now to createsome new tinctures because I
haven't done it in a little bit.
And it is a great way to getyour medicine easily and
discreetly without having toroll joints or go outside.
I know many of you, myself,well, actually, I don't really
smoke joints very much, but Iknow many of you love the ritual
(18:54):
of joints.
Tinctures can really answer thecall.
So thanks for tuning in, myfriends.
If you enjoyed this episode,please share it with somebody
that you also think would enjoyit because sharing is caring and
really helps spread the word ofthis show.
And word of mouth is probablythe best way to tell the world
about Bite Me, the show aboutedibles.
(19:14):
And that's it for this week, myfriends.
I'm your host, Margaret.
And until next time, stay hi.
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