April 24, 2025 • 48 mins
Ever wondered why cannabis tinctures have stood the test of time? From ancient apothecaries to modern dispensaries, these potent liquid extracts have remained a cornerstone of cannabis medicine for centuries.
Making your own tinctures at home is surprisingly straightforward. Whether you choose the traditional steeping method, which extracts more compounds but requires patience, or the quicker freezer method for a cleaner taste, the process requires minimal equipment and expertise. My recent experiments showed significant extraction happens in just 10 minutes, though longer steeping times do increase potency. A 24-hour soak nearly doubled the potency compared to a 10-minute extraction, offering flexibility based on your timeline.
Beyond the standard sublingual approach, tinctures shine in the kitchen. Add them to beverages, drizzle over desserts, mix into dressings, or blend into homemade topicals. Their adaptability makes them an essential component of any cannabis enthusiast's collection, especially those who enjoy exploring creative consumption methods.
Ready to transform your cannabis experience drop by drop? Discover why tinctures have remained beloved for generations.
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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 1 (00:06):
Friends, welcome to episode 296.
Today we are exploring thetopic of tinctures.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedgonger, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here.
(00:26):
Welcome back, friends.
I'm so glad you're here.
Thank you for joining me todayon this exciting topic of
tinctures, and I'll get into asecond as to why we're doing
this subject Aujourd'hui.
Yes, je peux parler un peu defrançais, not to toot my own
horn, but I am a product of theFrench immersion school program,
one of the first kids to do ithere in Canada, because we are
(00:51):
an officially bilingual country,we have two official languages,
so it does occasionally come inhandy that je peux parler un
peu de français.
And if you are an actual Frenchperson, please don't be
offended by my Québécoise or mypoor Québécoise, because when I
was going to school, all theFrench immersion teachers were
typically Québécoise and I haveheard often that Québécoise is
(01:15):
quite different than laFrançaise de France.
Also, my grammar is terrible.
That's one thing that I havelost over the years, even though
my comprehension and vocabularylevels remain relatively
impressive, considering howoften I do use it.
I don't know why I starteddoing that, maybe because, like
(01:36):
I said, when I am recordingthese, it sometimes feels like
I'm talking to myself a littlebit and you feel a little bit
crazy.
But that's also why I startedthe Bite Me Cannabis Club and I
hope that you will considerchecking it out.
I would love to have you joinme over there where we can
continue this conversation in atwo-way format instead of just
me talking at you, because Ireally do love the folks that
(01:58):
listen to this podcast.
We seem to be a prettylike-minded bunch and I think
that's really special.
So I'm really happy that you'rehere today.
If you're just joining for thefirst time, welcome to the
podcast that explores theintersection of food, culture
and cannabis, and if you've beenhere for a while, you are one
of those amazing people thatlikes to take control of your
(02:19):
high life, take your world intoyour own hands, and that's what
we're exploring here as well.
So what are we making today?
We're making tinctures, and Ithink I last covered the subject
of tinctures.
This is episode 296, probablylike 290 episodes ago, give or
take, and no, I have not goneback to listen to that episode.
(02:40):
I really should, but I haven'tlistened to a lot of those
really old episodes, partlybased on fear because I think it
would probably be incrediblycringy.
I like to think that I'veimproved over the five years
that I've been doing this show,and maybe part of the reason I
don't listen to it is, a becauseit might be so cringy, and B
what if I haven't improved asmuch as I think I have.
(03:02):
I encourage you to share thisepisode.
I'm going to do this nowinstead of later, but I'm going
to encourage you to share thisepisode with somebody that you
think would benefit fromlearning about cannabis-based
tinctures.
Actually, before I get into it,one last thing.
I was recently hacked.
(03:23):
My Instagram account,specifically got hacked, and it
happened so quickly and I almostknew as soon as it happened,
because I had gotten a DM, adirect message from somebody,
somebody that I know I've knownfor years, a decade probably and
they sent me this innocuousquestion and I didn't really
(03:44):
think anything of it and Iclicked the link that they sent
because they were asking aquestion about, about something,
asking me to do something forthem and, of course, being the
kind hearted person that I am, Iwas like, of course I'd love to
help out.
And as soon as I opened thelink, I was like, oh shit, I
closed it, logged out of myInstagram and I wasn't home at
(04:05):
the time.
But I was home probably 20minutes later and by that time
my one of my daughters sent me amessage saying hey, mom, I
think you got hacked and sent mea screenshot of what I was
supposedly pushing online, whichwas a new cryptocurrency, get
rich quick, get rich quickscheme.
(04:26):
And I guess I spammed a bunchof people and I posted it on a
post and in my stories and allthe rest of it.
And what a nightmare.
It wasn't really a nightmare toget it back, it was just
frustrating because I didn'thave two-factor authentication
turned on and the hackers didturn it on and perhaps that was
also a mistake that they made ontheir end, because when they
(04:49):
turned it on, I later, becauseobviously the post got reported
a lot of people reached out tome and I said please report the
post.
It's obviously not me, I havenot started an exciting new
career in cryptocurrency and sothey did and of course, I had to
go in and make note or whateverit is you do with Instagram to
(05:12):
let them know that you've beenhacked and you have to reset
your password and all that kindof thing.
But it took a little bit longerbecause they had turned on this
two-factor authentication,which I should have had on in
the first place, which may haveprevented me from getting hacked
.
And ironically I havetwo-factor authentication turned
on for most of my things now,most of my accounts, where I
have to put in a username andpassword.
But I just didn't really thinkof Instagram and Facebook for
(05:37):
whatever reason.
And later I did get a textmessage from supposedly
Instagram although the name wasdecidedly not an Instagram
related name and they weresaying hey, if you've gotten a
reset email from Instagram,please reply to this text with
(05:57):
the word help and the six digitcode that you got, because they
were obviously trying to getback into the account and they
had put on two-factorauthentication, which sent a
notification to my phone withthe code and of course I thought
idiots and deleted and reportedthe messages as well.
But these hackers, they reallymove quickly.
You have to be cautious andthis is my PSA of the day.
(06:19):
Have you changed your passwordlately?
Are your passwords all the same, because they really need to be
different.
It's getting more sophisticatedout there today, folks I'm sure
I don't need to tell you thatand if there is the option for
some kind of two-factorauthentication, it is a pain in
the ass a lot of the times.
I log into so many accountswhere they're like yeah, I have
to go to the authorization appand get the code, or I have to
(06:40):
get an email sent, a code sentto my email or my text messages
and it really is a huge, a hugeinconvenience sometimes, but
it's an inconvenience until it'snot.
And this was a lesson learnedover the weekend where, suddenly
, that two-factor authenticationkind of saved me a little bit
(07:00):
from them getting in deeper intomy account and perhaps wreaking
even more havoc.
So that inconvenience.
It's a small price to pay for alittle extra security when it
comes to our online accounts.
So that is my PSA of the dayChange your password, set up the
two-factor authentication.
(07:23):
Now let's get into today's superfun subject of tinctures.
And there's a reason why I'mcovering this particular subject
today, and that's because, ifyou haven't yet listened to the
episode that I did with VanessaLavorato, we covered so much in
that conversation and I havebeen really excited.
I've re-listened to the episode.
I need to listen to it againbecause I pulled so much in that
conversation and I have beenreally excited.
(07:44):
I've re-listened to the episode.
I need to listen to it againbecause I pulled so much out of
it.
And, of course, if you feellike you want to pull more out
of that episode that perhaps youdidn't get the first time
around, listen to it again.
Or you can also head over toactually it's in your show notes
or the time transcripts sorry,are in the podcast player, but
(08:06):
I'm transcripts, sorry, are inthe podcast player, but I also
have transcripts and timestampsand full show notes over on
bitemepodcastcom where you canfind the breakdown of that
episode so you can tease outsome of the things that you
wanted to get from it withouthaving to necessarily listen to
the whole conversation again,even though I thought it was a
fantastic conversation one of myfavorites to date, I'm sure,
although I probably say thatabout many of the interviews
that I do, because I love doingthe interviews.
(08:27):
That's one of the things Ireally love about doing this
show is the opportunity to talkto really cool people about
edibles, about cannabis, aboutall the things related to those
things and then sharing thatinformation with you so we can
all learn together.
So we're talking abouttinctures, because she did bring
up tinctures in her bookspecifically and this is a
really fun book how to Eat Weedand have a Good Time which she
(08:50):
just released very recently, andI'm hoping to introduce
tinctures because there is.
With her permission, I amsharing a recipe or two from her
new book on upcoming episodesand I thought I would choose
tincture-based recipes asopposed to the traditional,
because I just wanted to mixthings up a little bit and give
(09:12):
you folks some new options, andI don't do alcohol tinctures
very often.
I tend to stick to the prettytraditional edibles or, sorry,
infusions, your fat-basedinfusions.
That's what I find.
They're super versatile, butthe nice thing about alcohol
tinctures is they're just notgoing to.
(09:33):
They're definitely more.
They have a really great shelflife and we'll get into the
whole thing as we dive into thisepisode, because we are diving
into the wonderful world ofcannabis tinctures liquid gold
as many people like to call it.
Well, I don't know how manypeople like to call it that, but
(09:54):
I like to think of it as liquidgold.
Now, my first experience withtinctures myself.
I made a tincture, oh God, longbefore I probably started this
show.
I say probably, but I wasmaking edibles for several years
before I started this show.
It's now actually closer to sixyears than it is five since I
started it, but I discoverededibles a few years before the
(10:16):
show and in large part because Ifound that I'm very sensitive
to inhaled THC.
I remember making my firsttincture and dropping it under
the tongue and it stung.
It did definitely sting.
I remember that in particular.
But you didn't have to wait aslong and the best part was that
(10:37):
I was making it myself at homeand it's a pretty forgiving
tincture.
So today's episode is packedwith everything you need to know
about cannabis tinctures.
We're going to explore whattinctures actually are and how
they differ from other cannabisproducts.
We'll break down the impressivebenefits that make tinctures a
staple in many cannabis users'collections, and then we'll get
(11:00):
hands-on with two differentmethods for making tinctures at
home the traditional way and thequicker freezer method for
those of us who aren't blessedwith patience but I do have a
note on that and of course,we'll wrap up with some dosing
information and creative ways touse your tinctures.
But that will also be coming inupcoming episodes, because the
standard under the tongueapproach, while it works,
(11:23):
sometimes we like to do things alittle more creatively.
And again, under the tongue canoften sting because you're
putting alcohol under yourtongue and that doesn't
necessarily taste that nice.
So are you ready to transformyour cannabis experience drop by
drop?
Excellent, let's get started,friends.
(11:46):
First off, let's answer thequestion what exactly are
cannabis tinctures and why havethey been a trusted method of
consumption for centuries?
Yes, the tinctures have beenaround for a hot minute.
They are not new and I'm suremany of you listening to this
over time have probably learnedthis alongside me as well that
(12:10):
tinctures have been around for awhile.
They might seem like a moderninnovation, but they're actually
one of the oldest forms ofcannabis medicine.
Before prohibition, tinctureswere the primary form of
cannabis medicine used in the USof A.
In fact, they were listed inthe US Pharmacopeia from 1850
until 1942.
(12:31):
And the concept dates back evenfurther, with documentation of
medical texts as early as 1025in the canon of medicine.
So what exactly is a tincture?
At its most basic, a cannabistincture is a concentrated
liquid extract wherecannabinoids are infused into a
carrier liquid.
(12:52):
The cannabis plant materialsoaks in the liquid
traditionally alcohol, and aftera period of steeping, the plant
matter is drained out.
What remains is a potent liquidcontaining all those beneficial
cannabinoids, terpenes andother compounds from the plant.
So remains is a potent liquidcontaining all those beneficial
cannabinoids, terpenes and othercompounds from the plant, so it
is considered a full spectrumextract.
Now you might be wondering howtinctures differ from other
(13:16):
cannabis products, like ediblesor oils.
While both tinctures andedibles are ingested, they enter
your bloodstream throughdifferent pathways, and this is
the big difference here.
Edibles go through yourdigestive system, you eat them
and then they go through thedigestive system, processed by
our liver, which transforms theTHC into its more potent form,
(13:38):
and that's why edibles can hitso hard and last so long.
Tinctures, on the other hand,are absorbed directly through
the tissues under your tongue,bypassing the digestive system
and going straight into yourbloodstream, and this means
faster onset so think 15 to 30minutes versus an hour or more
for edibles, but also generallya less intense experience.
(14:03):
Tinctures are whole plantextracts and even when made from
hemp, they may contain traceamounts of THC and the full
spectrum of the plant compounds,and that will include some of
the things that we don't alwayswant as much of.
Like the chlorophyll, thethings that make things green.
It can give it that sort ofgreen flavor that we might be
(14:24):
familiar with when using certaintinctures.
But let's talk about thedifferent types of tinctures
that you might encounter.
Technically speaking, the termtincture specifically refers to
an alcohol-based extract, andthere's also glycerin or oil as
your base, and if you're usingglycerin or oil, it's more
accurately called an infusion.
(14:46):
But most people use the wordtincture as an umbrella term for
all of these.
Alcohol, glycerin or oil.
Alcohol-based tinctures are thetraditional form and generally
the most potent.
Glycerin-based tinctures offersweeter tastes and are gentler
on sensitive mouths.
Serum-based tinctures offersweeter tastes and are gentler
(15:07):
on sensitive mouths.
Oil-based tinctures usingcarriers like MCT or coconut oil
or olive or any of those oilsthat we all know and love,
provide a milder experience andcan double as a topical product.
Now, in my personal experiencethat milder experience that is
perhaps a misnomer, becausetolerances vary so widely.
What is mild for one personmight not be mild for another,
(15:28):
so you have to take that with agrain of salt.
Glycerin, interestingly, is theone, the sole ingredient
infusion that I have never made,and this came up recently in
the Bite Me Cannabis Club therewas a discussion about glycerin
and one of the members hadposted in the club about making
a glycerin-based infusion andhow easy it was.
(15:50):
It was quite easy and thedifferent applications for it,
and I think perhaps and sheexplained later that I guess I
don't always understand whatglycerin is, and she said it's
often a byproduct from bath andbody care products and that kind
of thing, which makes sense,because I have glycerin in my
cupboard, because I do like tomake a lot of bath and body care
(16:11):
products myself at home.
It's something I really enjoydoing.
A lot of them do turn intotopicals because I add cannabis
to it, because, like many peopleof a certain vintage, I have
aches and pains.
Topicals are so wonderful andthat's my understanding of
glycerin is from that world, butit can be made into a food safe
compound that is great forinfusing and has lots of
(16:33):
applications.
So it is something I'm going tohave to try one of these days
soon.
Stay tuned for an episode nearyou because obviously if I'm
experimenting with it in mykitchen, I'm going to bring it
to you as well.
But another reason to considerjoining the Bite Me Cannabis
Club because we talk about allkinds of cool things over there
because there's lots of peopledoing their own kitchen
experiments and being able toshare their findings, their
(16:55):
results, their happy accidentsand all the rest of it.
Tinctures usually come in thoselittle one ounce glass bottles
with the droppers for precisedosing and, unlike edibles,
which often have a cap on howmuch THC will be in the package,
in many markets Currently inCanada it's not very high.
I'm not going to say it becauseI'm hoping that this evergreen
episode will mean one day it is.
(17:17):
They'll relax the rules on thata little bit but tinctures can
contain much higherconcentrations since they're not
considered food items.
So that's how they sort of getaround some of those THC caps
that you may find in somejurisdictions.
I know that doesn't apply toeverywhere.
Now the magic of tinctureshappens under your tongue, as we
already talked about.
(17:37):
Your mouth has absorbent tissuecalled the oral mucosa,
essentially a mucus membranethat lines your cheeks, lips and
under your tongues, and thistissue is highly vascular,
meaning it's packed with bloodvessels that can quickly absorb
the cannabinoids and deliverthem directly into your
bloodstream.
This sublingual absorptionmethod bypasses your digestive
(17:59):
tract and liver, resulting infaster onset times than edibles,
but a potentially less intenseexperience, since the liver
doesn't get the chance totransform the THC like it does
when you're eating edibles.
Now, something you should keepin mind is when you are dropping
it under your tongue.
They do recommend holding itthere for as long as you can
like say up to a minute, beforeswallowing, and that can help
(18:20):
absorb even more of thosecannabinoids into your
bloodstream.
Now that we understand whattinctures are, let's explore why
they've become such a popularoption for both recreational
users and medical patients alike.
So cannabis tinctures may not beas trendy as the latest vape
pen or as fun as a colorfulgummy, but there's a reason.
(18:42):
They've endured for centuriesin apothecaries, and now they're
making a comeback indispensaries.
Well, did they ever really goaway, though?
Let's explore the impressivebenefits that make tinctures a
must-have in your cannabistoolkit.
First up is the discretion.
For many of us, this is apretty important factor.
Tinctures at a glance resemblea skincare product or wellness
supplement.
(19:02):
There's no telltale cannabissmell when sealed, no smoke, no
vapor to attract attention, andusing them as simple as putting
a few drops under your tongue.
The discretion is a big factor,and they're very portable.
A small one ounce bottle willeasily fit into your purse,
pocket, travel bag and, unlikeflour that can get crushed or
edibles that are perishable orcould melt, tinctures are
(19:26):
durable and travel friendly, sothey're perfect for those
moments when you need relief butyou don't necessarily want to
announce it to the entire world.
And one of the most significantadvantages of tinctures is the
ability to precisely controlyour dose.
We've all heard the ediblehorror stories.
These edibles ain't shit.
And then you eat more, and weall know how that ends.
(19:49):
And with tinctures, you canliterally dose down to the drop.
Most tinctures come withmeasurements on the dropper,
allowing for a consistent,repeatable experience.
And if you just want tomicrodose for focus, maybe you
need a few drops.
Maybe you need a little moresubstantial relief to deal with
something that's ailing, you adda few more drops.
You can build on it.
(20:10):
And this precision isespecially valuable for medical
patients who need to maintainspecific cannabinoid levels
throughout the day.
And here's one of the thingsthat's often overlooked when it
comes to tinctures is thatthey're one of the cleanest ways
to consume cannabis.
While some brands might addflavoring, if you're making your
own, you're probably not addingflavorings, and if you do, you
(20:31):
know exactly what's in thoseflavorings, which is why I love
making my own edibles, tinctures, infusions.
At their core, tinctures onlyneed two ingredients cannabis
and the base liquid.
That means no sugar, no gluten,no gelatin, no artificial
colors, no artificial flavors,none of the other ingredients
that might trigger allergies orsensitivities, and you're not
(20:53):
inhaling anything into yourlungs, which is a really big
consideration for a lot ofpeople as well, especially, I
find, those who are new andcoming to cannabis for the first
time, perhaps ever, or after alengthy pause in their
consumption, and for those withdietary restrictions or those
who simply are mindful aboutwhat they put into their bodies,
(21:13):
tinctures offer a verystraightforward option.
Now, we touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating.
Tinctures often offer a middleground between the immediate
effects of inhalation and thedelayed onset of edibles, and
when used sublingually, theeffects typically begin within
15 to 30 minutes, compared to anhour or more that you might
(21:34):
have to wait for an edibles tokick in, and the faster onset
means that you can more easilygauge if you need more or if
you've reached your desiredeffect.
It's also perfect for thosesituations where you don't want
to wait an hour for relief butdon't want to step outside and
smoke.
A lot of these tinctures makeme think a lot about also
(21:55):
cannabis beverages in a verysimilar way, and I do find often
a beverage or in this case atincture is sometimes good when
you're out and about, becausethey kick in faster and don't
necessarily last as long.
They're good for socialsituations where maybe you want
a little bit of the fun but youhave to drive later, which is
(22:18):
often what I find, because Ikind of live out in the country
and when I go into town to hangout with friends and go to
events and things like that, Ihave to drive home and I don't
like to drink very much and if Itake a beverage or I can now
that I've made some I can take atincture and enjoy the benefits
of the cannabis high and thenbe fine to drive home when I'm
(22:42):
ready to leave a little whilelater.
Now, another advantage oftinctures is that you typically
preserve the full spectrum ofthe plant's compounds and when
you make a tincture, you'reextracting not just the THC or
CBD but all the cannabinoids,terpenes, flavonoids that
(23:02):
contribute to the entourageeffect, and that's the theory
that cannabis compounds workbetter together than in
isolation.
This full spectrum approach canprovide a more well-rounded
experience and potentiallygreater therapeutic benefits
than isolated compounds alone.
I think when you talk toanybody who's been using
cannabis for a while, when youcompare full spectrum versus the
(23:22):
isolated compounds and ifyou're in a dispensary, you'll
see that often labeled as likedistillate, which is an isolated
compound People do talk abouthow the experience is quite
different and sometimes it mayfeel a little bit subtle, but
those differences can be thatthe high is just more robust, it
lasts longer.
You don't necessarily get likeshoot sky high really fast and
(23:44):
then drop really quickly,because you will find that in a
lot of products like vape pensthat you're getting isolated
compounds that can get the userlike really high really quickly
but it doesn't last as long andit just doesn't feel.
I just describe it as robustand I feel like, if you know,
you know, and an interesting wayto experiment with this would
be to try both and see how youfind it.
(24:06):
But tinctures are obviouslyincredibly versatile, which is
why we're talking about themtoday, and while the sublingual
method is the most common, youcan also add your tinctures to
food beverages after cooking.
They can be incorporated intohomemade topicals or even used
in aromatherapy.
One product, multiple usesisn't that great value.
(24:27):
That's the kind of shit that Ilove to talk about on this show,
because we are getting morebang for our cannabis buck.
So now that we understand whytinctures deserve a spot in your
cannabis pantry, let's roll upour sleeves and learn how to
make them at home using thetraditional method.
This is interesting becausesome of the thoughts have
changed around this, but we'llget into that in a second here.
(24:48):
So one of the most empoweringaspects of cannabis tinctures is
that you can make them at homeyourself.
You don't need dispensarytinctures.
I understand the convenience,but when you see how easy these
are to make, you may change yourmind about that, because, also,
if you're buying from adispensary, you have to make
sure that you're buying from areally reputable brand, but they
(25:09):
are one of the easiest cannabisproducts to make at home.
So if you're already makinginfusions with your traditional
fats like coconut oil, butter,olive oil, then you can do this
and you'll find it even easier.
It requires minimal equipment,no advanced plant science degree
.
You may need a little bit ofpatience, but we'll get into
(25:29):
that too.
So let's start with what youneed.
The beauty of tinctures istheir simplicity.
For ingredients, what you'llneed is cannabis flower decarbed
and your base liquid, foodgrade ethanol or Everclear.
Now for the folks listening,everclear, depending on where
you live, may or may not bereadily available.
(25:52):
Now I used to know a fellowthat made his own homemade hooch
and had over the years sort ofbuilt up a whole distillery and
all the rest of it.
So I got a giant bottle.
I remember I traded him infusedcannabis cookies for this huge
bottle of basically pure alcoholand I'm like at the bottom of
(26:14):
this bottle and I haven't talkedto him quite sometimes.
A long story.
This was quite a while ago, butI need to get a new supply
because in Canada it's a lotharder to get.
Was quite a while ago, but Ineed to get a new supply because
in Canada it's a lot harder toget Everclear.
Now I did learn recently thatyou can get food grade ethanol
from the local where I am inOntario, lcbo, but you have to
go in and ask for it.
So if you can't get ethanol orEverclear, then get the highest
(26:35):
proof alcohol that you can.
Vodka is often what'srecommended because it doesn't
have as much flavors Otheralcohols.
The highest proof, the better.
That might be.
The biggest challenge for thosewho are making this is that you
can't just go out and buy abottle of Everclear.
Where I am, you can't.
I know a lot of people that can, so that really depends.
Alcohol is the most efficient atextracting cannabinoids, so
(26:56):
that's why you do find mosttinctures are made with alcohol.
For your equipment, you'regoing to need a couple of clean
glass mason jars with lids.
You're going to needcheesecloth, or maybe coffee
filters for straining or a finemesh sieve.
You're going to need yourbaking tray and parchment paper
for your decarboxylation andfinally, you're going to need a
(27:18):
one ounce glass bottle with adropper cap for your finished
product Nowation and finally,you're going to need a one ounce
glass bottle with a dropper capfor your finished product.
Now, if you don't have thatlast thing, I mean you can work
around that.
That's not a big issue andthose are often easy to pick up.
I mean, obviously Amazon hasthem.
If you're trying to avoidAmazon, a lot of places around
town will sell this kind ofstuff.
Before we dive into the process,let's talk about an essential
(27:38):
first step, of course, isdecarboxylation, or decarbing
for short, and if you did againlisten to this episode from last
week.
Vanessa recommends decarbing ina little parchment paper pouch
or in a silicone little bag tohelp contain some of those turps
, if possible.
It also helps contain some ofthe smell a little bit.
Raw cannabis can contain THCAor CBDA, which are
(28:03):
non-intoxicating acid forms ofthose cannabinoids, and they
convert to their active forms byremoving that A acid molecule
when we apply heat.
And the same thing happens whenyou light a joint or vape.
You're applying heat and that'swhen the conversion process is
happening.
It's just happening a lotfaster when you're vaping or
smoking a joint or a bowl orwhatever.
(28:25):
However, it is that you'reconsuming it.
And since we're not applyingheat during the tincture making
process, you need to decarb itfirst if you want the
psychoactive effects.
I mean, you could do it withoutthat, but you're going to have
a very different tincture thanyou otherwise would.
So let's break down thetraditional step.
First you're going to decarbyour cannabis.
So once it's cooled, you'regoing to transfer your decarb
(28:47):
cannabis to a clean glass masonjar and then you're going to add
your chosen amount of alcoholand then you're going to seal
the jar and give it a good shakeuntil all the plant material is
submerged and now this is wherethe waiting game potentially
comes in.
But this is why I'm alsoreferencing this episode with
Vanessa, because she was talkinga lot about how a lot of these
(29:08):
things don't necessarily seem totake as much time as we
previously thought.
I've had some people say youknow, you store your tincture in
a cupboard for two months, fortwo weeks, for however long it's
not necessarily necessary andyou are going to agitate the jar
once a day, regardless of howlong you let it sit for agitate
(29:31):
the jar once a day, regardlessof how long you let it sit.
For Now, after listening to theepisode again with Vanessa and
some of the experimentationshe's been doing, I decided to
try some experiments myself andI'm going to be reporting on
more of these as they come in.
But, as she was saying that youdon't necessarily need to let
it sit for as long to extract asmany cannabinoids, there are
(29:51):
differences, but it's kind ofmarginal after that first little
bit and I need to do one moreexperiment to really see how
this goes in my end.
I mean, obviously she was doingthe experiments in the book,
which is a really interestingaspect of the book that she has
written.
But I did a tincture and I addedthree and a half grams of CBD,
because I had some CBD flourthat I wanted to use.
(30:13):
I decarbed it and I added threeand a half grams to a third of
a cup of alcohol.
Maybe not a lot, but I was notworking with a large stock of
alcohol so I had to sort ofpreserve it a little bit.
I did two tinctures like that.
I did one that was a 10 minutetincture, as she talks about in
her book, and then I also did a24 hour tincture just to compare
(30:36):
the results.
And what I found was the 10minute tincture in this
particular instance.
And you know, you put it, youput it in the jar and then you
give it a swirl every twominutes for up to 10 minutes and
it it ended up being 2.6milligrams per milliliter.
Now, when I did it for 24 hoursbecause that was the next
(30:56):
experiment that I did it didalmost double it.
I did the same three and a halfgrams of CBD flour in the third
cup of alcohol and what I endedup with?
5.3 milligrams per milliliter.
So maybe letting it sit for alittle bit longer could give it
a higher potency, of course, butif you're really looking to
(31:17):
make something in a pinch, youare going to be extracting
cannabinoids within those first10 minutes.
The next thing that I wouldlove to do is try it for a week.
So I am going to be trying thatfor a week next and just to see
what the results are, becauseaccording to a chart in her book
, the infusion or the tincture15 minutes, and then she
compares it to 7 days, 14 days,28 days, 21 and 28 days, and
(31:41):
once you get past that sort of14-day mark, the results are
rather minimal.
I mean, maybe if you're reallylooking to extract as much as
possible out of your tincture,then it's worthwhile, but just
remember, you're also extractingall the other compounds out of
that cannabis plant, thatcannabis that you have in there.
So you're going to be gettingflavonoids and terpenes, but
(32:04):
also a lot of the chlorophyllthat makes it taste very green
and whatever else happens to bein that cannabis plant.
So I mean, it's up to you.
You can let it sit for a monthand if that's your preference,
the process is the same.
You're just going to give it abit of a swirl every day to
agitate it, and that helps withthe extraction process and then,
after the steeping period,you're going to strain the
(32:25):
mixture through your cheesecloth, fine mesh, sieve into a clean
glass jar, squish it until youget every last drop of that
liquid gold and what's left isyour tincture, and that is full
of cannabinoids and terpenes.
So if you have one, you'regoing to transfer it to your
dropper bottle and label anddate it with the contents.
(32:46):
Always label, as I say adnauseum on this show.
And this homemade tincture willlast for years if you store it
properly.
So you just keep it in a cool,dark place.
Dark, amber or blue glassbottles will help protect it
against light degradation.
Some people store it in therefrigerator.
I don't know if that's necessary, especially if you're using it
(33:06):
pretty regularly.
So I know what you're thinking.
You're like four weeks.
I don't have that kind ofpatience.
But don't worry, there isanother extraction method that
we can look at and that's oneI'm actually currently
conducting right now, and, asI've already mentioned, you
could wait 24 hours or you couldwait 10 minutes.
It's really all up, it reallyis up to you.
(33:26):
Extraction possible.
Then you might want to wait alittle bit longer, but I do
think the difference between 24hours and one month is going to
be more negligible than what Isaw with the 10 minutes to the
24 hours.
And this is where theexperimentation is fun.
But I've got great news there'sa faster way to make cannabis
tinctures and that can have youfrom your plant to dropper in
just a day.
(33:47):
It's called the freezer methodand it's a bit different from
the traditional approach, but itcan produce excellent results
with significantly less waiting.
Why would you consider thefreezer method?
Well, you need your tincturequickly.
You want to minimize the planttaste.
As I already talked about, thatcan sometimes come with longer
infusions and tinctures.
You're making alcohol-basedtincture because this won't work
(34:10):
with glycerin or oils, and youwant to experiment with a
different extraction technique,just because it's fun to
experiment.
And it works on a fascinatingprinciple when you freeze
cannabis and alcohol separatelybefore combining them, the
freezing temperature makes thetrichomes, those tiny
crystal-like structures on theplant that contain the most
goodies, the cannabinoids.
They become more brittle andeasier to separate from the
(34:30):
plant material.
The cold also slows down theextraction of the chlorophyll
and plant waxes, which meansless of the raw green taste that
some people find unpleasant andcan lend a flavor if you're
using it for things other thanjust dropping it under your
tongue, and the result is oftena cleaner tasting tincture,
though potentially with aslighter different cannabinoid
(34:51):
and terpene profile, than theslow steep method or the quick
steep method.
And let's just walk through thisreally quickly.
So, just like with thetraditional method, you'll still
need to decarb your cannabisfirst.
So take care of that as yourfirst step.
And once the cannabis iscompletely cooled, you place it
in a mason jar.
But in the freezer and in aseparate mason jar, you place
(35:11):
your high proof alcohol, yourEverclear, whatever it is you're
using.
You put that in the freezer too, and you let them get ice, ice
cold maybe, and then, working tokeep everything cold, you're
going to combine the frozenalcohol which obviously won't be
frozen and the cannabis in onejar and you're going to seal it
and shake it vigorously forabout a minute.
And then you're going to sealit and shake it vigorously for
(35:35):
about a minute and then you'regoing to return it to the
freezer.
Now you can leave it in thefreezer for five minutes, take
it out again, shake again foranother minute, or you can let
it sit in the freezer for abouta week and take it out and give
it a shake every so often, onceagain strain the mixture through
a cheesecloth and a fine meshsieve and voila, you have
another tincture that is readyfor bottling.
It would be really interestingto do the potency testing to see
.
So I do have some.
(35:55):
I have alcohol in the freezerright now getting ready for this
purpose, and I will be veryinterested to see how this
differs as far as potencycompared to the first two
tinctures that I've already made, and I'm hoping to do the exact
same thing.
I'm going to do the three and ahalf grams of CBD flour,
because I still have some ofthat CBD flour and I have enough
(36:16):
of it so that I can be usingthe same flour.
So I don't know how potent itis, because I got it from a
friend, but this means it's fromthe same batch, so it's going
to have around the same potencylevel and the same amount of
alcohol and see how it turns out.
So how does the freezer methodcompare to a traditional
tincture?
It's generally they're going tobe lighter in color and have a
(36:38):
milder taste, and they may beslightly less potent than
traditional tinctures.
We'll see about that.
I'm using my trusty tea checkfor these particular experiments
.
A lot of people find thetrade-off in time and energy is
worth it, so it's really up toyou.
Some people, like myself, willmake both types because the
flavor is intense.
(36:59):
As strong, it may lend itselfwell to other types of recipes
you're going to be using it tolater, like if you're going to
be using it for food or addingit to beverages, because you
don't necessarily want thatsuper green taste that comes
with a traditional alcoholtincture, traditionally made.
Now that you know how bothtinctures are made, let's talk
(37:21):
about how to use themeffectively and some safety and
essential dosing and usage tips.
So, whether you've purchasedyour tincture from a dispensary
or crafted your own at home,knowing how to use it properly
is essential for a positiveexperience.
So we're going to talk aboutdosing, administration
techniques and some creativeways to incorporate tinctures
(37:42):
into your routine and of course,I have some exciting episodes
coming up around that.
But the golden rule withcannabis, especially in
concentrated forms liketinctures and really any kind of
cannabis, no matter how you'reconsuming it, is to start low
and go slow, particularlyimportant for beginners or those
trying a new tincture or a newconsumption method.
(38:02):
For context, let's start.
Let's use a standard 300milligram tincture and a one
ounce bottle as a reference andin this case, a microdose would
be about a 0.1 milliliter orthree milligrams of THC, and
that's great for very subtleeffects.
Now, of course, that's going todepend.
A microdose would be a goodplace to start for anybody.
If you're a beginner and you'reuncertain, then that's a good
(38:26):
place to start a three milligramdose of THC to see how it
affects you, because I have metpeople where three milligrams of
THC could be a lot.
It varies so widely.
A standard dose might be a 0.5or 15 milligram dose of THC.
For me, that's getting into therealm of psychoactivity.
20 milligrams, 25 milligramsand around.
(38:47):
There is where I'm going to befeeling it more acutely.
But again, it really depends onthe person, and this is where
taking notes is really helpfuland experienced users might take
a whole milliliter dropper.
So 30 milligrams or more and,of course, depending on that,
experienced users I know peoplewho can double or triple that
and that's when they're startingto just starting to see relief,
based on what effects they'relooking for.
(39:09):
Everyone's endocannabinoidsystem responds differently to
cannabis, which is what makes itso exciting but also requires a
little extra patience whenyou're figuring this stuff out.
Accurate measurement is key toconsistent experiences with
tinctures, and most dropper capshave measurement markings, but
if yours doesn't, one milliliteris a typical full dropper.
So when you squeeze the bulband release, it will naturally
(39:31):
drop about one milligram or onemilliliter of liquid.
And for smaller doses you canestimate half a dropper is going
to be your 0.5 milliliter and aquarter is 0.25, and so on.
And if you're very concernedabout your precision, you can
purchase a small oral syringefrom any pharmacy, so that will
have the appropriate markings onit so you can know what you're
taking.
(39:51):
If you're making homemadetinctures, it's harder to know
the exact potency.
But just start with a few drops, wait a few hours and then
decide if you want to continuewith more.
And of course, there is thecalculator on my website that
will help you decide how strongit is.
With give or take, I mean.
Obviously it's not a perfectsystem, but it certainly helps
(40:12):
to give you at least a benchmarkand then start with a little
less and go from there.
Now fill the dropper with yourdesired dose, squeeze it under
your tongue and hold it therefor 30 seconds to a minute
without swallowing, and thisgives the cannabinoids time to
absorb through the mucusmembranes and then you can
swallow any remaining liquidafter that.
(40:32):
But that really does help toabsorb as much as possible.
It allows for faster onset andmore efficient absorption
compared to simply swallowingthe tincture directly and, as
I've mentioned a few times, youcan expect to feel the effects
within 15 to 30 minutes, peakeffects happening around 60 to
90.
The experience will typicallylast three to four hours, though
this is going 60 to 90.
The experience will typicallylast three to four hours, though
this is going to vary based ondosage and other individual
(40:54):
factors, as I've mentioned.
So this is faster thantraditional edibles, but slower
than smoking and vaping, andit's a nice middle ground.
That will give you time togauge the effects before they
fully kick in.
And if you swallow the tincturedirectly or mix it with food,
you can expect a timeline moresimilar to edibles.
So your 45 to 90 minute windowonset time, with effects lasting
(41:15):
six to eight hours, whilesublingual administration is the
standard, tinctures areincredibly versatile and here's
some creative ways to use themso you can add a few drops to
beverages like a morningsmoothie.
You can incorporate them intosauces, dressings, condiments
after cooking.
A cannabis-infused saladdressing can transform a regular
meal into a whole newexperience.
(41:37):
Could create custom topicals bymixing alcohol-based tinctures
with lotions or creams forlocalized relief.
You could add it to ice cream,drizzle it over fresh fruit.
So those are a few ideas andnext week and the week after I'm
going to have a couple ofrecipes for you that you can use
your freshly made tincture.
A lot of people like to makeFICO and RSO.
(42:00):
Fico is full extract cannabisoil or Rick Simpson oil.
You may have heard of both ofthese.
They are concentrated tincturesessentially, where you're
basically cooking off thealcohol.
That's a whole other thing, ifyou will, and I'm going to refer
to a podcast episode I didquite some time ago now with my
friend Temple Grower, who makesall kinds of these FICO oils.
(42:23):
A lot of people find them superhelpful, really useful in
making a lot of edibles oradding to foods and infusions.
But there are some caveats withthat because obviously there
are some issues with heatingyour alcohol-based tincture that
you have to be mindful of.
So I'm going to link to thatepisode because the show notes
alone are worth a read, even ifyou don't want to listen to the
whole episode.
(42:43):
But we break down how to makeconcentrates from your tincture
in depth in that particularepisode, so I'm not going to get
that into it today.
Of course, avoid taking too muchtoo quickly.
Start low and go slow, asalways.
Don't store your tinctures inplastic containers.
The alcohol can leach chemicalsfrom the plastic.
Always use glass.
I mean, I feel like, wheneverpossible, always use glass, even
(43:06):
when outside of tinctures.
I usually try and use glass asmuch as possible, but this seems
particularly important.
We're all full of enoughmicroplastics as it is.
We don't really need any morewhen we're trying to take our
medicine.
And perhaps most importantly,don't forget to label your
homemade tinctures Date,contents, potency.
Wow, that was a lot.
With these dosing and usagetips in mind, you are now well
(43:29):
equipped to explore thewonderful world of cannabis
tinctures safely and effectively.
Let's wrap up with some finalthoughts, shall we?
So we covered a ton in thisepisode today.
Let's recap what we learned.
So we learned that tincturesare one of the oldest forms of
cannabis medicine, dating backoh centuries, and consist of
cannabis compounds extractedinto a liquid base In the case
(43:53):
that we're talking about today,alcohol.
We explored the impressivebenefits that make tinctures
stand out their discretionprecise dosing, allergen-free
nature, faster onset compared toedibles, full spectrum effects
and versatility.
And we walked you through a fewdifferent methods for making
tinctures at home, using aslower steep method and also a
(44:16):
freezer method.
I also actually did an episodewhen I first talked about
tinctures.
It was called the green dragonmethod, and that's when you use
like a whipped cream dispenserto sort of do a really quick
infusion.
I'll link to that as well,because I thought that was
interesting and I haven'trevisited that in a while, but
it is another way to sort ofaddress the issue of speeding up
the infusion process.
(44:37):
So there's a whole bunch ofways to do a thing.
And finally, we covered someessential dosing information and
creative ways to incorporatetinctures into your lifestyle
beyond the standard sublingualapproach, which works just well
but maybe sometimes a little bitboring.
Keep a journal of yourexperiences with different doses
and types of tinctures, becausethis is useful data to you
later.
And again, I cannot stress thisenough you think you'll
(44:59):
remember and you will not fromone stoner to another.
And of course, experimentationis everything.
So in our next episode we'regoing to be exploring using your
tinctures and one of thoserecipes.
I almost don't want to say,okay, I'm going to say it.
(45:19):
I'm going to say it Because Isometimes hate to let the cat
out of the bag too early.
But marshmallows I've nevermade marshmallows before and
we're going to try that outtogether.
So, if you are able, go out,make your tincture, find a
method that works for you,report back.
I would love to hear it.
Join the Bite Me Cannabis Cluband share your experiences over
there, or message me some otherway.
(45:41):
Tag me on Bite Me Podcast, onInstagram or Blue Sky, and then
the following week I'm going tobe using a tincture to make a
beverage.
I've done a beverage in a while, so we're going to be trying
that as well.
And if you want to learn moreabout all that we talked about
today, this episode was a littlebit longer than I intended, but
it just seemed to flow headover to bitemepodcastcom, where
(46:05):
you'll find the episode page forthis particular episode, with
all the detailed show notes andlinks to things that I've
mentioned.
So thank you for joining me ontoday's wonderful world of
cannabis tinctures.
So, whether you're seekingrelief, relaxation, just a new
way to enjoy your cannabis, Ihope you'll give tinctures a try
.
They might just become your newfavorite method and until next
(46:27):
time, my friends.
I am your host, margaret, stayhigh.
Friends, welcome to episode 296.
Today we are exploring thetopic of tinctures.
Welcome to Bite Me, the showabout edibles, where I help you
take control of your high life.
I'm your host and certifiedgonger, margaret, and I love
helping cooks make safe andeffective edibles at home.
I'm so glad you're here.
(00:26):
Welcome back, friends.
I'm so glad you're here.
Thank you for joining me todayon this exciting topic of
tinctures, and I'll get into asecond as to why we're doing
this subject Aujourd'hui.
Yes, je peux parler un peu defrançais, not to toot my own
horn, but I am a product of theFrench immersion school program,
one of the first kids to do ithere in Canada, because we are
(00:51):
an officially bilingual country,we have two official languages,
so it does occasionally come inhandy that je peux parler un
peu de français.
And if you are an actual Frenchperson, please don't be
offended by my Québécoise or mypoor Québécoise, because when I
was going to school, all theFrench immersion teachers were
typically Québécoise and I haveheard often that Québécoise is
(01:15):
quite different than laFrançaise de France.
Also, my grammar is terrible.
That's one thing that I havelost over the years, even though
my comprehension and vocabularylevels remain relatively
impressive, considering howoften I do use it.
I don't know why I starteddoing that, maybe because, like
(01:36):
I said, when I am recordingthese, it sometimes feels like
I'm talking to myself a littlebit and you feel a little bit
crazy.
But that's also why I startedthe Bite Me Cannabis Club and I
hope that you will considerchecking it out.
I would love to have you joinme over there where we can
continue this conversation in atwo-way format instead of just
me talking at you, because Ireally do love the folks that
(01:58):
listen to this podcast.
We seem to be a prettylike-minded bunch and I think
that's really special.
So I'm really happy that you'rehere today.
If you're just joining for thefirst time, welcome to the
podcast that explores theintersection of food, culture
and cannabis, and if you've beenhere for a while, you are one
of those amazing people thatlikes to take control of your
(02:19):
high life, take your world intoyour own hands, and that's what
we're exploring here as well.
So what are we making today?
We're making tinctures, and Ithink I last covered the subject
of tinctures.
This is episode 296, probablylike 290 episodes ago, give or
take, and no, I have not goneback to listen to that episode.
(02:40):
I really should, but I haven'tlistened to a lot of those
really old episodes, partlybased on fear because I think it
would probably be incrediblycringy.
I like to think that I'veimproved over the five years
that I've been doing this show,and maybe part of the reason I
don't listen to it is, a becauseit might be so cringy, and B
what if I haven't improved asmuch as I think I have.
(03:02):
I encourage you to share thisepisode.
I'm going to do this nowinstead of later, but I'm going
to encourage you to share thisepisode with somebody that you
think would benefit fromlearning about cannabis-based
tinctures.
Actually, before I get into it,one last thing.
I was recently hacked.
(03:23):
My Instagram account,specifically got hacked, and it
happened so quickly and I almostknew as soon as it happened,
because I had gotten a DM, adirect message from somebody,
somebody that I know I've knownfor years, a decade probably and
they sent me this innocuousquestion and I didn't really
(03:44):
think anything of it and Iclicked the link that they sent
because they were asking aquestion about, about something,
asking me to do something forthem and, of course, being the
kind hearted person that I am, Iwas like, of course I'd love to
help out.
And as soon as I opened thelink, I was like, oh shit, I
closed it, logged out of myInstagram and I wasn't home at
(04:05):
the time.
But I was home probably 20minutes later and by that time
my one of my daughters sent me amessage saying hey, mom, I
think you got hacked and sent mea screenshot of what I was
supposedly pushing online, whichwas a new cryptocurrency, get
rich quick, get rich quickscheme.
(04:26):
And I guess I spammed a bunchof people and I posted it on a
post and in my stories and allthe rest of it.
And what a nightmare.
It wasn't really a nightmare toget it back, it was just
frustrating because I didn'thave two-factor authentication
turned on and the hackers didturn it on and perhaps that was
also a mistake that they made ontheir end, because when they
(04:49):
turned it on, I later, becauseobviously the post got reported
a lot of people reached out tome and I said please report the
post.
It's obviously not me, I havenot started an exciting new
career in cryptocurrency and sothey did and of course, I had to
go in and make note or whateverit is you do with Instagram to
(05:12):
let them know that you've beenhacked and you have to reset
your password and all that kindof thing.
But it took a little bit longerbecause they had turned on this
two-factor authentication,which I should have had on in
the first place, which may haveprevented me from getting hacked
.
And ironically I havetwo-factor authentication turned
on for most of my things now,most of my accounts, where I
have to put in a username andpassword.
But I just didn't really thinkof Instagram and Facebook for
(05:37):
whatever reason.
And later I did get a textmessage from supposedly
Instagram although the name wasdecidedly not an Instagram
related name and they weresaying hey, if you've gotten a
reset email from Instagram,please reply to this text with
(05:57):
the word help and the six digitcode that you got, because they
were obviously trying to getback into the account and they
had put on two-factorauthentication, which sent a
notification to my phone withthe code and of course I thought
idiots and deleted and reportedthe messages as well.
But these hackers, they reallymove quickly.
You have to be cautious andthis is my PSA of the day.
(06:19):
Have you changed your passwordlately?
Are your passwords all the same, because they really need to be
different.
It's getting more sophisticatedout there today, folks I'm sure
I don't need to tell you thatand if there is the option for
some kind of two-factorauthentication, it is a pain in
the ass a lot of the times.
I log into so many accountswhere they're like yeah, I have
to go to the authorization appand get the code, or I have to
(06:40):
get an email sent, a code sentto my email or my text messages
and it really is a huge, a hugeinconvenience sometimes, but
it's an inconvenience until it'snot.
And this was a lesson learnedover the weekend where, suddenly
, that two-factor authenticationkind of saved me a little bit
(07:00):
from them getting in deeper intomy account and perhaps wreaking
even more havoc.
So that inconvenience.
It's a small price to pay for alittle extra security when it
comes to our online accounts.
So that is my PSA of the dayChange your password, set up the
two-factor authentication.
(07:23):
Now let's get into today's superfun subject of tinctures.
And there's a reason why I'mcovering this particular subject
today, and that's because, ifyou haven't yet listened to the
episode that I did with VanessaLavorato, we covered so much in
that conversation and I havebeen really excited.
I've re-listened to the episode.
I need to listen to it againbecause I pulled so much in that
conversation and I have beenreally excited.
(07:44):
I've re-listened to the episode.
I need to listen to it againbecause I pulled so much out of
it.
And, of course, if you feellike you want to pull more out
of that episode that perhaps youdidn't get the first time
around, listen to it again.
Or you can also head over toactually it's in your show notes
or the time transcripts sorry,are in the podcast player, but
(08:06):
I'm transcripts, sorry, are inthe podcast player, but I also
have transcripts and timestampsand full show notes over on
bitemepodcastcom where you canfind the breakdown of that
episode so you can tease outsome of the things that you
wanted to get from it withouthaving to necessarily listen to
the whole conversation again,even though I thought it was a
fantastic conversation one of myfavorites to date, I'm sure,
although I probably say thatabout many of the interviews
that I do, because I love doingthe interviews.
(08:27):
That's one of the things Ireally love about doing this
show is the opportunity to talkto really cool people about
edibles, about cannabis, aboutall the things related to those
things and then sharing thatinformation with you so we can
all learn together.
So we're talking abouttinctures, because she did bring
up tinctures in her bookspecifically and this is a
really fun book how to Eat Weedand have a Good Time which she
(08:50):
just released very recently, andI'm hoping to introduce
tinctures because there is.
With her permission, I amsharing a recipe or two from her
new book on upcoming episodesand I thought I would choose
tincture-based recipes asopposed to the traditional,
because I just wanted to mixthings up a little bit and give
(09:12):
you folks some new options, andI don't do alcohol tinctures
very often.
I tend to stick to the prettytraditional edibles or, sorry,
infusions, your fat-basedinfusions.
That's what I find.
They're super versatile, butthe nice thing about alcohol
tinctures is they're just notgoing to.
(09:33):
They're definitely more.
They have a really great shelflife and we'll get into the
whole thing as we dive into thisepisode, because we are diving
into the wonderful world ofcannabis tinctures liquid gold
as many people like to call it.
Well, I don't know how manypeople like to call it that, but
(09:54):
I like to think of it as liquidgold.
Now, my first experience withtinctures myself.
I made a tincture, oh God, longbefore I probably started this
show.
I say probably, but I wasmaking edibles for several years
before I started this show.
It's now actually closer to sixyears than it is five since I
started it, but I discoverededibles a few years before the
(10:16):
show and in large part because Ifound that I'm very sensitive
to inhaled THC.
I remember making my firsttincture and dropping it under
the tongue and it stung.
It did definitely sting.
I remember that in particular.
But you didn't have to wait aslong and the best part was that
(10:37):
I was making it myself at homeand it's a pretty forgiving
tincture.
So today's episode is packedwith everything you need to know
about cannabis tinctures.
We're going to explore whattinctures actually are and how
they differ from other cannabisproducts.
We'll break down the impressivebenefits that make tinctures a
staple in many cannabis users'collections, and then we'll get
(11:00):
hands-on with two differentmethods for making tinctures at
home the traditional way and thequicker freezer method for
those of us who aren't blessedwith patience but I do have a
note on that and of course,we'll wrap up with some dosing
information and creative ways touse your tinctures.
But that will also be coming inupcoming episodes, because the
standard under the tongueapproach, while it works,
(11:23):
sometimes we like to do things alittle more creatively.
And again, under the tongue canoften sting because you're
putting alcohol under yourtongue and that doesn't
necessarily taste that nice.
So are you ready to transformyour cannabis experience drop by
drop?
Excellent, let's get started,friends.
(11:46):
First off, let's answer thequestion what exactly are
cannabis tinctures and why havethey been a trusted method of
consumption for centuries?
Yes, the tinctures have beenaround for a hot minute.
They are not new and I'm suremany of you listening to this
over time have probably learnedthis alongside me as well that
(12:10):
tinctures have been around for awhile.
They might seem like a moderninnovation, but they're actually
one of the oldest forms ofcannabis medicine.
Before prohibition, tinctureswere the primary form of
cannabis medicine used in the USof A.
In fact, they were listed inthe US Pharmacopeia from 1850
until 1942.
(12:31):
And the concept dates back evenfurther, with documentation of
medical texts as early as 1025in the canon of medicine.
So what exactly is a tincture?
At its most basic, a cannabistincture is a concentrated
liquid extract wherecannabinoids are infused into a
carrier liquid.
(12:52):
The cannabis plant materialsoaks in the liquid
traditionally alcohol, and aftera period of steeping, the plant
matter is drained out.
What remains is a potent liquidcontaining all those beneficial
cannabinoids, terpenes andother compounds from the plant.
So remains is a potent liquidcontaining all those beneficial
cannabinoids, terpenes and othercompounds from the plant, so it
is considered a full spectrumextract.
Now you might be wondering howtinctures differ from other
(13:16):
cannabis products, like ediblesor oils.
While both tinctures andedibles are ingested, they enter
your bloodstream throughdifferent pathways, and this is
the big difference here.
Edibles go through yourdigestive system, you eat them
and then they go through thedigestive system, processed by
our liver, which transforms theTHC into its more potent form,
(13:38):
and that's why edibles can hitso hard and last so long.
Tinctures, on the other hand,are absorbed directly through
the tissues under your tongue,bypassing the digestive system
and going straight into yourbloodstream, and this means
faster onset so think 15 to 30minutes versus an hour or more
for edibles, but also generallya less intense experience.
(14:03):
Tinctures are whole plantextracts and even when made from
hemp, they may contain traceamounts of THC and the full
spectrum of the plant compounds,and that will include some of
the things that we don't alwayswant as much of.
Like the chlorophyll, thethings that make things green.
It can give it that sort ofgreen flavor that we might be
(14:24):
familiar with when using certaintinctures.
But let's talk about thedifferent types of tinctures
that you might encounter.
Technically speaking, the termtincture specifically refers to
an alcohol-based extract, andthere's also glycerin or oil as
your base, and if you're usingglycerin or oil, it's more
accurately called an infusion.
(14:46):
But most people use the wordtincture as an umbrella term for
all of these.
Alcohol, glycerin or oil.
Alcohol-based tinctures are thetraditional form and generally
the most potent.
Glycerin-based tinctures offersweeter tastes and are gentler
on sensitive mouths.
Serum-based tinctures offersweeter tastes and are gentler
(15:07):
on sensitive mouths.
Oil-based tinctures usingcarriers like MCT or coconut oil
or olive or any of those oilsthat we all know and love,
provide a milder experience andcan double as a topical product.
Now, in my personal experiencethat milder experience that is
perhaps a misnomer, becausetolerances vary so widely.
What is mild for one personmight not be mild for another,
(15:28):
so you have to take that with agrain of salt.
Glycerin, interestingly, is theone, the sole ingredient
infusion that I have never made,and this came up recently in
the Bite Me Cannabis Club therewas a discussion about glycerin
and one of the members hadposted in the club about making
a glycerin-based infusion andhow easy it was.
(15:50):
It was quite easy and thedifferent applications for it,
and I think perhaps and sheexplained later that I guess I
don't always understand whatglycerin is, and she said it's
often a byproduct from bath andbody care products and that kind
of thing, which makes sense,because I have glycerin in my
cupboard, because I do like tomake a lot of bath and body care
(16:11):
products myself at home.
It's something I really enjoydoing.
A lot of them do turn intotopicals because I add cannabis
to it, because, like many peopleof a certain vintage, I have
aches and pains.
Topicals are so wonderful andthat's my understanding of
glycerin is from that world, butit can be made into a food safe
compound that is great forinfusing and has lots of
(16:33):
applications.
So it is something I'm going tohave to try one of these days
soon.
Stay tuned for an episode nearyou because obviously if I'm
experimenting with it in mykitchen, I'm going to bring it
to you as well.
But another reason to considerjoining the Bite Me Cannabis
Club because we talk about allkinds of cool things over there
because there's lots of peopledoing their own kitchen
experiments and being able toshare their findings, their
(16:55):
results, their happy accidentsand all the rest of it.
Tinctures usually come in thoselittle one ounce glass bottles
with the droppers for precisedosing and, unlike edibles,
which often have a cap on howmuch THC will be in the package,
in many markets Currently inCanada it's not very high.
I'm not going to say it becauseI'm hoping that this evergreen
episode will mean one day it is.
(17:17):
They'll relax the rules on thata little bit but tinctures can
contain much higherconcentrations since they're not
considered food items.
So that's how they sort of getaround some of those THC caps
that you may find in somejurisdictions.
I know that doesn't apply toeverywhere.
Now the magic of tinctureshappens under your tongue, as we
already talked about.
(17:37):
Your mouth has absorbent tissuecalled the oral mucosa,
essentially a mucus membranethat lines your cheeks, lips and
under your tongues, and thistissue is highly vascular,
meaning it's packed with bloodvessels that can quickly absorb
the cannabinoids and deliverthem directly into your
bloodstream.
This sublingual absorptionmethod bypasses your digestive
(17:59):
tract and liver, resulting infaster onset times than edibles,
but a potentially less intenseexperience, since the liver
doesn't get the chance totransform the THC like it does
when you're eating edibles.
Now, something you should keepin mind is when you are dropping
it under your tongue.
They do recommend holding itthere for as long as you can
like say up to a minute, beforeswallowing, and that can help
(18:20):
absorb even more of thosecannabinoids into your
bloodstream.
Now that we understand whattinctures are, let's explore why
they've become such a popularoption for both recreational
users and medical patients alike.
So cannabis tinctures may not beas trendy as the latest vape
pen or as fun as a colorfulgummy, but there's a reason.
(18:42):
They've endured for centuriesin apothecaries, and now they're
making a comeback indispensaries.
Well, did they ever really goaway, though?
Let's explore the impressivebenefits that make tinctures a
must-have in your cannabistoolkit.
First up is the discretion.
For many of us, this is apretty important factor.
Tinctures at a glance resemblea skincare product or wellness
supplement.
(19:02):
There's no telltale cannabissmell when sealed, no smoke, no
vapor to attract attention, andusing them as simple as putting
a few drops under your tongue.
The discretion is a big factor,and they're very portable.
A small one ounce bottle willeasily fit into your purse,
pocket, travel bag and, unlikeflour that can get crushed or
edibles that are perishable orcould melt, tinctures are
(19:26):
durable and travel friendly, sothey're perfect for those
moments when you need relief butyou don't necessarily want to
announce it to the entire world.
And one of the most significantadvantages of tinctures is the
ability to precisely controlyour dose.
We've all heard the ediblehorror stories.
These edibles ain't shit.
And then you eat more, and weall know how that ends.
(19:49):
And with tinctures, you canliterally dose down to the drop.
Most tinctures come withmeasurements on the dropper,
allowing for a consistent,repeatable experience.
And if you just want tomicrodose for focus, maybe you
need a few drops.
Maybe you need a little moresubstantial relief to deal with
something that's ailing, you adda few more drops.
You can build on it.
(20:10):
And this precision isespecially valuable for medical
patients who need to maintainspecific cannabinoid levels
throughout the day.
And here's one of the thingsthat's often overlooked when it
comes to tinctures is thatthey're one of the cleanest ways
to consume cannabis.
While some brands might addflavoring, if you're making your
own, you're probably not addingflavorings, and if you do, you
(20:31):
know exactly what's in thoseflavorings, which is why I love
making my own edibles, tinctures, infusions.
At their core, tinctures onlyneed two ingredients cannabis
and the base liquid.
That means no sugar, no gluten,no gelatin, no artificial
colors, no artificial flavors,none of the other ingredients
that might trigger allergies orsensitivities, and you're not
(20:53):
inhaling anything into yourlungs, which is a really big
consideration for a lot ofpeople as well, especially, I
find, those who are new andcoming to cannabis for the first
time, perhaps ever, or after alengthy pause in their
consumption, and for those withdietary restrictions or those
who simply are mindful aboutwhat they put into their bodies,
(21:13):
tinctures offer a verystraightforward option.
Now, we touched on this earlier, but it bears repeating.
Tinctures often offer a middleground between the immediate
effects of inhalation and thedelayed onset of edibles, and
when used sublingually, theeffects typically begin within
15 to 30 minutes, compared to anhour or more that you might
(21:34):
have to wait for an edibles tokick in, and the faster onset
means that you can more easilygauge if you need more or if
you've reached your desiredeffect.
It's also perfect for thosesituations where you don't want
to wait an hour for relief butdon't want to step outside and
smoke.
A lot of these tinctures makeme think a lot about also
(21:55):
cannabis beverages in a verysimilar way, and I do find often
a beverage or in this case atincture is sometimes good when
you're out and about, becausethey kick in faster and don't
necessarily last as long.
They're good for socialsituations where maybe you want
a little bit of the fun but youhave to drive later, which is
(22:18):
often what I find, because Ikind of live out in the country
and when I go into town to hangout with friends and go to
events and things like that, Ihave to drive home and I don't
like to drink very much and if Itake a beverage or I can now
that I've made some I can take atincture and enjoy the benefits
of the cannabis high and thenbe fine to drive home when I'm
(22:42):
ready to leave a little whilelater.
Now, another advantage oftinctures is that you typically
preserve the full spectrum ofthe plant's compounds and when
you make a tincture, you'reextracting not just the THC or
CBD but all the cannabinoids,terpenes, flavonoids that
(23:02):
contribute to the entourageeffect, and that's the theory
that cannabis compounds workbetter together than in
isolation.
This full spectrum approach canprovide a more well-rounded
experience and potentiallygreater therapeutic benefits
than isolated compounds alone.
I think when you talk toanybody who's been using
cannabis for a while, when youcompare full spectrum versus the
(23:22):
isolated compounds and ifyou're in a dispensary, you'll
see that often labeled as likedistillate, which is an isolated
compound People do talk abouthow the experience is quite
different and sometimes it mayfeel a little bit subtle, but
those differences can be thatthe high is just more robust, it
lasts longer.
You don't necessarily get likeshoot sky high really fast and
(23:44):
then drop really quickly,because you will find that in a
lot of products like vape pensthat you're getting isolated
compounds that can get the userlike really high really quickly
but it doesn't last as long andit just doesn't feel.
I just describe it as robustand I feel like, if you know,
you know, and an interesting wayto experiment with this would
be to try both and see how youfind it.
(24:06):
But tinctures are obviouslyincredibly versatile, which is
why we're talking about themtoday, and while the sublingual
method is the most common, youcan also add your tinctures to
food beverages after cooking.
They can be incorporated intohomemade topicals or even used
in aromatherapy.
One product, multiple usesisn't that great value.
(24:27):
That's the kind of shit that Ilove to talk about on this show,
because we are getting morebang for our cannabis buck.
So now that we understand whytinctures deserve a spot in your
cannabis pantry, let's roll upour sleeves and learn how to
make them at home using thetraditional method.
This is interesting becausesome of the thoughts have
changed around this, but we'llget into that in a second here.
(24:48):
So one of the most empoweringaspects of cannabis tinctures is
that you can make them at homeyourself.
You don't need dispensarytinctures.
I understand the convenience,but when you see how easy these
are to make, you may change yourmind about that, because, also,
if you're buying from adispensary, you have to make
sure that you're buying from areally reputable brand, but they
(25:09):
are one of the easiest cannabisproducts to make at home.
So if you're already makinginfusions with your traditional
fats like coconut oil, butter,olive oil, then you can do this
and you'll find it even easier.
It requires minimal equipment,no advanced plant science degree
.
You may need a little bit ofpatience, but we'll get into
(25:29):
that too.
So let's start with what youneed.
The beauty of tinctures istheir simplicity.
For ingredients, what you'llneed is cannabis flower decarbed
and your base liquid, foodgrade ethanol or Everclear.
Now for the folks listening,everclear, depending on where
you live, may or may not bereadily available.
(25:52):
Now I used to know a fellowthat made his own homemade hooch
and had over the years sort ofbuilt up a whole distillery and
all the rest of it.
So I got a giant bottle.
I remember I traded him infusedcannabis cookies for this huge
bottle of basically pure alcoholand I'm like at the bottom of
(26:14):
this bottle and I haven't talkedto him quite sometimes.
A long story.
This was quite a while ago, butI need to get a new supply
because in Canada it's a lotharder to get.
Was quite a while ago, but Ineed to get a new supply because
in Canada it's a lot harder toget Everclear.
Now I did learn recently thatyou can get food grade ethanol
from the local where I am inOntario, lcbo, but you have to
go in and ask for it.
So if you can't get ethanol orEverclear, then get the highest
(26:35):
proof alcohol that you can.
Vodka is often what'srecommended because it doesn't
have as much flavors Otheralcohols.
The highest proof, the better.
That might be.
The biggest challenge for thosewho are making this is that you
can't just go out and buy abottle of Everclear.
Where I am, you can't.
I know a lot of people that can, so that really depends.
Alcohol is the most efficient atextracting cannabinoids, so
(26:56):
that's why you do find mosttinctures are made with alcohol.
For your equipment, you'regoing to need a couple of clean
glass mason jars with lids.
You're going to needcheesecloth, or maybe coffee
filters for straining or a finemesh sieve.
You're going to need yourbaking tray and parchment paper
for your decarboxylation andfinally, you're going to need a
(27:18):
one ounce glass bottle with adropper cap for your finished
product Nowation and finally,you're going to need a one ounce
glass bottle with a dropper capfor your finished product.
Now, if you don't have thatlast thing, I mean you can work
around that.
That's not a big issue andthose are often easy to pick up.
I mean, obviously Amazon hasthem.
If you're trying to avoidAmazon, a lot of places around
town will sell this kind ofstuff.
Before we dive into the process,let's talk about an essential
(27:38):
first step, of course, isdecarboxylation, or decarbing
for short, and if you did againlisten to this episode from last
week.
Vanessa recommends decarbing ina little parchment paper pouch
or in a silicone little bag tohelp contain some of those turps
, if possible.
It also helps contain some ofthe smell a little bit.
Raw cannabis can contain THCAor CBDA, which are
(28:03):
non-intoxicating acid forms ofthose cannabinoids, and they
convert to their active forms byremoving that A acid molecule
when we apply heat.
And the same thing happens whenyou light a joint or vape.
You're applying heat and that'swhen the conversion process is
happening.
It's just happening a lotfaster when you're vaping or
smoking a joint or a bowl orwhatever.
(28:25):
However, it is that you'reconsuming it.
And since we're not applyingheat during the tincture making
process, you need to decarb itfirst if you want the
psychoactive effects.
I mean, you could do it withoutthat, but you're going to have
a very different tincture thanyou otherwise would.
So let's break down thetraditional step.
First you're going to decarbyour cannabis.
So once it's cooled, you'regoing to transfer your decarb
(28:47):
cannabis to a clean glass masonjar and then you're going to add
your chosen amount of alcoholand then you're going to seal
the jar and give it a good shakeuntil all the plant material is
submerged and now this is wherethe waiting game potentially
comes in.
But this is why I'm alsoreferencing this episode with
Vanessa, because she was talkinga lot about how a lot of these
(29:08):
things don't necessarily seem totake as much time as we
previously thought.
I've had some people say youknow, you store your tincture in
a cupboard for two months, fortwo weeks, for however long it's
not necessarily necessary andyou are going to agitate the jar
once a day, regardless of howlong you let it sit for agitate
(29:31):
the jar once a day, regardlessof how long you let it sit.
For Now, after listening to theepisode again with Vanessa and
some of the experimentationshe's been doing, I decided to
try some experiments myself andI'm going to be reporting on
more of these as they come in.
But, as she was saying that youdon't necessarily need to let
it sit for as long to extract asmany cannabinoids, there are
(29:51):
differences, but it's kind ofmarginal after that first little
bit and I need to do one moreexperiment to really see how
this goes in my end.
I mean, obviously she was doingthe experiments in the book,
which is a really interestingaspect of the book that she has
written.
But I did a tincture and I addedthree and a half grams of CBD,
because I had some CBD flourthat I wanted to use.
(30:13):
I decarbed it and I added threeand a half grams to a third of
a cup of alcohol.
Maybe not a lot, but I was notworking with a large stock of
alcohol so I had to sort ofpreserve it a little bit.
I did two tinctures like that.
I did one that was a 10 minutetincture, as she talks about in
her book, and then I also did a24 hour tincture just to compare
(30:36):
the results.
And what I found was the 10minute tincture in this
particular instance.
And you know, you put it, youput it in the jar and then you
give it a swirl every twominutes for up to 10 minutes and
it it ended up being 2.6milligrams per milliliter.
Now, when I did it for 24 hoursbecause that was the next
(30:56):
experiment that I did it didalmost double it.
I did the same three and a halfgrams of CBD flour in the third
cup of alcohol and what I endedup with?
5.3 milligrams per milliliter.
So maybe letting it sit for alittle bit longer could give it
a higher potency, of course, butif you're really looking to
(31:17):
make something in a pinch, youare going to be extracting
cannabinoids within those first10 minutes.
The next thing that I wouldlove to do is try it for a week.
So I am going to be trying thatfor a week next and just to see
what the results are, becauseaccording to a chart in her book
, the infusion or the tincture15 minutes, and then she
compares it to 7 days, 14 days,28 days, 21 and 28 days, and
(31:41):
once you get past that sort of14-day mark, the results are
rather minimal.
I mean, maybe if you're reallylooking to extract as much as
possible out of your tincture,then it's worthwhile, but just
remember, you're also extractingall the other compounds out of
that cannabis plant, thatcannabis that you have in there.
So you're going to be gettingflavonoids and terpenes, but
(32:04):
also a lot of the chlorophyllthat makes it taste very green
and whatever else happens to bein that cannabis plant.
So I mean, it's up to you.
You can let it sit for a monthand if that's your preference,
the process is the same.
You're just going to give it abit of a swirl every day to
agitate it, and that helps withthe extraction process and then,
after the steeping period,you're going to strain the
(32:25):
mixture through your cheesecloth, fine mesh, sieve into a clean
glass jar, squish it until youget every last drop of that
liquid gold and what's left isyour tincture, and that is full
of cannabinoids and terpenes.
So if you have one, you'regoing to transfer it to your
dropper bottle and label anddate it with the contents.
(32:46):
Always label, as I say adnauseum on this show.
And this homemade tincture willlast for years if you store it
properly.
So you just keep it in a cool,dark place.
Dark, amber or blue glassbottles will help protect it
against light degradation.
Some people store it in therefrigerator.
I don't know if that's necessary, especially if you're using it
(33:06):
pretty regularly.
So I know what you're thinking.
You're like four weeks.
I don't have that kind ofpatience.
But don't worry, there isanother extraction method that
we can look at and that's oneI'm actually currently
conducting right now, and, asI've already mentioned, you
could wait 24 hours or you couldwait 10 minutes.
It's really all up, it reallyis up to you.
(33:26):
Extraction possible.
Then you might want to wait alittle bit longer, but I do
think the difference between 24hours and one month is going to
be more negligible than what Isaw with the 10 minutes to the
24 hours.
And this is where theexperimentation is fun.
But I've got great news there'sa faster way to make cannabis
tinctures and that can have youfrom your plant to dropper in
just a day.
(33:47):
It's called the freezer methodand it's a bit different from
the traditional approach, but itcan produce excellent results
with significantly less waiting.
Why would you consider thefreezer method?
Well, you need your tincturequickly.
You want to minimize the planttaste.
As I already talked about, thatcan sometimes come with longer
infusions and tinctures.
You're making alcohol-basedtincture because this won't work
(34:10):
with glycerin or oils, and youwant to experiment with a
different extraction technique,just because it's fun to
experiment.
And it works on a fascinatingprinciple when you freeze
cannabis and alcohol separatelybefore combining them, the
freezing temperature makes thetrichomes, those tiny
crystal-like structures on theplant that contain the most
goodies, the cannabinoids.
They become more brittle andeasier to separate from the
(34:30):
plant material.
The cold also slows down theextraction of the chlorophyll
and plant waxes, which meansless of the raw green taste that
some people find unpleasant andcan lend a flavor if you're
using it for things other thanjust dropping it under your
tongue, and the result is oftena cleaner tasting tincture,
though potentially with aslighter different cannabinoid
(34:51):
and terpene profile, than theslow steep method or the quick
steep method.
And let's just walk through thisreally quickly.
So, just like with thetraditional method, you'll still
need to decarb your cannabisfirst.
So take care of that as yourfirst step.
And once the cannabis iscompletely cooled, you place it
in a mason jar.
But in the freezer and in aseparate mason jar, you place
(35:11):
your high proof alcohol, yourEverclear, whatever it is you're
using.
You put that in the freezer too, and you let them get ice, ice
cold maybe, and then, working tokeep everything cold, you're
going to combine the frozenalcohol which obviously won't be
frozen and the cannabis in onejar and you're going to seal it
and shake it vigorously forabout a minute.
And then you're going to sealit and shake it vigorously for
(35:35):
about a minute and then you'regoing to return it to the
freezer.
Now you can leave it in thefreezer for five minutes, take
it out again, shake again foranother minute, or you can let
it sit in the freezer for abouta week and take it out and give
it a shake every so often, onceagain strain the mixture through
a cheesecloth and a fine meshsieve and voila, you have
another tincture that is readyfor bottling.
It would be really interestingto do the potency testing to see
.
So I do have some.
(35:55):
I have alcohol in the freezerright now getting ready for this
purpose, and I will be veryinterested to see how this
differs as far as potencycompared to the first two
tinctures that I've already made, and I'm hoping to do the exact
same thing.
I'm going to do the three and ahalf grams of CBD flour,
because I still have some ofthat CBD flour and I have enough
(36:16):
of it so that I can be usingthe same flour.
So I don't know how potent itis, because I got it from a
friend, but this means it's fromthe same batch, so it's going
to have around the same potencylevel and the same amount of
alcohol and see how it turns out.
So how does the freezer methodcompare to a traditional
tincture?
It's generally they're going tobe lighter in color and have a
(36:38):
milder taste, and they may beslightly less potent than
traditional tinctures.
We'll see about that.
I'm using my trusty tea checkfor these particular experiments
.
A lot of people find thetrade-off in time and energy is
worth it, so it's really up toyou.
Some people, like myself, willmake both types because the
flavor is intense.
(36:59):
As strong, it may lend itselfwell to other types of recipes
you're going to be using it tolater, like if you're going to
be using it for food or addingit to beverages, because you
don't necessarily want thatsuper green taste that comes
with a traditional alcoholtincture, traditionally made.
Now that you know how bothtinctures are made, let's talk
(37:21):
about how to use themeffectively and some safety and
essential dosing and usage tips.
So, whether you've purchasedyour tincture from a dispensary
or crafted your own at home,knowing how to use it properly
is essential for a positiveexperience.
So we're going to talk aboutdosing, administration
techniques and some creativeways to incorporate tinctures
(37:42):
into your routine and of course,I have some exciting episodes
coming up around that.
But the golden rule withcannabis, especially in
concentrated forms liketinctures and really any kind of
cannabis, no matter how you'reconsuming it, is to start low
and go slow, particularlyimportant for beginners or those
trying a new tincture or a newconsumption method.
(38:02):
For context, let's start.
Let's use a standard 300milligram tincture and a one
ounce bottle as a reference andin this case, a microdose would
be about a 0.1 milliliter orthree milligrams of THC, and
that's great for very subtleeffects.
Now, of course, that's going todepend.
A microdose would be a goodplace to start for anybody.
If you're a beginner and you'reuncertain, then that's a good
(38:26):
place to start a three milligramdose of THC to see how it
affects you, because I have metpeople where three milligrams of
THC could be a lot.
It varies so widely.
A standard dose might be a 0.5or 15 milligram dose of THC.
For me, that's getting into therealm of psychoactivity.
20 milligrams, 25 milligramsand around.
(38:47):
There is where I'm going to befeeling it more acutely.
But again, it really depends onthe person, and this is where
taking notes is really helpfuland experienced users might take
a whole milliliter dropper.
So 30 milligrams or more and,of course, depending on that,
experienced users I know peoplewho can double or triple that
and that's when they're startingto just starting to see relief,
based on what effects they'relooking for.
(39:09):
Everyone's endocannabinoidsystem responds differently to
cannabis, which is what makes itso exciting but also requires a
little extra patience whenyou're figuring this stuff out.
Accurate measurement is key toconsistent experiences with
tinctures, and most dropper capshave measurement markings, but
if yours doesn't, one milliliteris a typical full dropper.
So when you squeeze the bulband release, it will naturally
(39:31):
drop about one milligram or onemilliliter of liquid.
And for smaller doses you canestimate half a dropper is going
to be your 0.5 milliliter and aquarter is 0.25, and so on.
And if you're very concernedabout your precision, you can
purchase a small oral syringefrom any pharmacy, so that will
have the appropriate markings onit so you can know what you're
taking.
(39:51):
If you're making homemadetinctures, it's harder to know
the exact potency.
But just start with a few drops, wait a few hours and then
decide if you want to continuewith more.
And of course, there is thecalculator on my website that
will help you decide how strongit is.
With give or take, I mean.
Obviously it's not a perfectsystem, but it certainly helps
(40:12):
to give you at least a benchmarkand then start with a little
less and go from there.
Now fill the dropper with yourdesired dose, squeeze it under
your tongue and hold it therefor 30 seconds to a minute
without swallowing, and thisgives the cannabinoids time to
absorb through the mucusmembranes and then you can
swallow any remaining liquidafter that.
(40:32):
But that really does help toabsorb as much as possible.
It allows for faster onset andmore efficient absorption
compared to simply swallowingthe tincture directly and, as
I've mentioned a few times, youcan expect to feel the effects
within 15 to 30 minutes, peakeffects happening around 60 to
90.
The experience will typicallylast three to four hours, though
this is going 60 to 90.
The experience will typicallylast three to four hours, though
this is going to vary based ondosage and other individual
(40:54):
factors, as I've mentioned.
So this is faster thantraditional edibles, but slower
than smoking and vaping, andit's a nice middle ground.
That will give you time togauge the effects before they
fully kick in.
And if you swallow the tincturedirectly or mix it with food,
you can expect a timeline moresimilar to edibles.
So your 45 to 90 minute windowonset time, with effects lasting
(41:15):
six to eight hours, whilesublingual administration is the
standard, tinctures areincredibly versatile and here's
some creative ways to use themso you can add a few drops to
beverages like a morningsmoothie.
You can incorporate them intosauces, dressings, condiments
after cooking.
A cannabis-infused saladdressing can transform a regular
meal into a whole newexperience.
(41:37):
Could create custom topicals bymixing alcohol-based tinctures
with lotions or creams forlocalized relief.
You could add it to ice cream,drizzle it over fresh fruit.
So those are a few ideas andnext week and the week after I'm
going to have a couple ofrecipes for you that you can use
your freshly made tincture.
A lot of people like to makeFICO and RSO.
(42:00):
Fico is full extract cannabisoil or Rick Simpson oil.
You may have heard of both ofthese.
They are concentrated tincturesessentially, where you're
basically cooking off thealcohol.
That's a whole other thing, ifyou will, and I'm going to refer
to a podcast episode I didquite some time ago now with my
friend Temple Grower, who makesall kinds of these FICO oils.
(42:23):
A lot of people find them superhelpful, really useful in
making a lot of edibles oradding to foods and infusions.
But there are some caveats withthat because obviously there
are some issues with heatingyour alcohol-based tincture that
you have to be mindful of.
So I'm going to link to thatepisode because the show notes
alone are worth a read, even ifyou don't want to listen to the
whole episode.
(42:43):
But we break down how to makeconcentrates from your tincture
in depth in that particularepisode, so I'm not going to get
that into it today.
Of course, avoid taking too muchtoo quickly.
Start low and go slow, asalways.
Don't store your tinctures inplastic containers.
The alcohol can leach chemicalsfrom the plastic.
Always use glass.
I mean, I feel like, wheneverpossible, always use glass, even
(43:06):
when outside of tinctures.
I usually try and use glass asmuch as possible, but this seems
particularly important.
We're all full of enoughmicroplastics as it is.
We don't really need any morewhen we're trying to take our
medicine.
And perhaps most importantly,don't forget to label your
homemade tinctures Date,contents, potency.
Wow, that was a lot.
With these dosing and usagetips in mind, you are now well
(43:29):
equipped to explore thewonderful world of cannabis
tinctures safely and effectively.
Let's wrap up with some finalthoughts, shall we?
So we covered a ton in thisepisode today.
Let's recap what we learned.
So we learned that tincturesare one of the oldest forms of
cannabis medicine, dating backoh centuries, and consist of
cannabis compounds extractedinto a liquid base In the case
(43:53):
that we're talking about today,alcohol.
We explored the impressivebenefits that make tinctures
stand out their discretionprecise dosing, allergen-free
nature, faster onset compared toedibles, full spectrum effects
and versatility.
And we walked you through a fewdifferent methods for making
tinctures at home, using aslower steep method and also a
(44:16):
freezer method.
I also actually did an episodewhen I first talked about
tinctures.
It was called the green dragonmethod, and that's when you use
like a whipped cream dispenserto sort of do a really quick
infusion.
I'll link to that as well,because I thought that was
interesting and I haven'trevisited that in a while, but
it is another way to sort ofaddress the issue of speeding up
the infusion process.
(44:37):
So there's a whole bunch ofways to do a thing.
And finally, we covered someessential dosing information and
creative ways to incorporatetinctures into your lifestyle
beyond the standard sublingualapproach, which works just well
but maybe sometimes a little bitboring.
Keep a journal of yourexperiences with different doses
and types of tinctures, becausethis is useful data to you
later.
And again, I cannot stress thisenough you think you'll
(44:59):
remember and you will not fromone stoner to another.
And of course, experimentationis everything.
So in our next episode we'regoing to be exploring using your
tinctures and one of thoserecipes.
I almost don't want to say,okay, I'm going to say it.
(45:19):
I'm going to say it Because Isometimes hate to let the cat
out of the bag too early.
But marshmallows I've nevermade marshmallows before and
we're going to try that outtogether.
So, if you are able, go out,make your tincture, find a
method that works for you,report back.
I would love to hear it.
Join the Bite Me Cannabis Cluband share your experiences over
there, or message me some otherway.
(45:41):
Tag me on Bite Me Podcast, onInstagram or Blue Sky, and then
the following week I'm going tobe using a tincture to make a
beverage.
I've done a beverage in a while, so we're going to be trying
that as well.
And if you want to learn moreabout all that we talked about
today, this episode was a littlebit longer than I intended, but
it just seemed to flow headover to bitemepodcastcom, where
(46:05):
you'll find the episode page forthis particular episode, with
all the detailed show notes andlinks to things that I've
mentioned.
So thank you for joining me ontoday's wonderful world of
cannabis tinctures.
So, whether you're seekingrelief, relaxation, just a new
way to enjoy your cannabis, Ihope you'll give tinctures a try
.
They might just become your newfavorite method and until next
(46:27):
time, my friends.
I am your host, margaret, stayhigh.
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