If you've ever wondered how to make a quick THC tincture using cannabis and alcohol, you're in the right place. When I first started making tinctures, I was overwhelmed by all the steps and it seemed like they all needed to steep for so long.
What if I wanted a QUICK THC tincture? Was that possible? I'm here to tell you today that it sure is! I did all the research and testing for you so that by the end of this blog post, you'll be a tincture-making badass!
Today you'll learn what a THC tincture is, how to use it, what the benefits are and I'll answer your FAQs about tinctures. We'll focus on QWET or Golden Dragon today, but if you'd like a longer-steep version, head here to learn how. When you're done, print out a Quick and Easy THC Tincture recipe below so you can begin the process right now! Let's go.
(PS - If you're a YouTube fan, you can watch me make this beautiful creation right here.)
What is a QWET or Golden Dragon THC Tincture?
Let's back up a second and describe what a tincture is by itself. A THC tincture is made by soaking decarbed cannabis in high-proof alcohol and then removing the plant material.
Most of the time, tinctures are left to soak for long periods of time like days, weeks or months. Because they come out dark green in colour and they BURN LIKE FREAKING FIRE, they're sometimes called Green Dragon tinctures.
The end result is a potent tincture but it has some disadvantages. First, ooooh, the taste! Letting the THC tincture soak for so long extracts some of the chlorophyll and plant waxes into your infusion making it taste... horrible! (I do want to note that chlorophyll has many health benefits, but COME ON... why so nasty?)
The other issue is that the resulting tincture is a very dark green colour. For things like canna-sugar and canna-salt, the colour can be really offputting.
That's why we make a super quick QWET or Golden Dragon Tincture instead. QWET stands for Quick Wash Extraction Technique and Golden Dragon refers to the colour of the tincture when you're done.
How to Use a THC Cannabis Tincture (QWET or Golden Dragon Tincture)
You have so many options. Let's take a look at each one.
Take it straight! If you can handle it, you can drop this right under your tongue. I will warn you that for most people, this is a terrible idea. The high-proof alcohol you use to make it burns. (Ask me how I know.)
Put it in juice, a smoothie, coffee or another drink. This allows you to get the medicine without burning a huge hole in your mouth which seems like a major plus to me! If you add a THC tincture to a hot beverage like coffee or tea, some of the alcohol evaporates off with the heat.
Make canna-sugar or canna-salt. Look for a video and blog post this coming up soon!
Make RSO, FECO or CCO. Holy acronyms right? These are all very concentrated cannabis oils that you make by evaporating off the alcohol from the tincture so you're left with a really potent, sticky oil with no alcohol taste or effect.
What are the benefits of THC tinctures?
There are so many benefits from THC that I've already done a video on it (blog post coming soon). But let's take a look at the shortlist:
sleep
pain
stress
depression
nausea or vomiting
appetite stimulation
having a great time on a Friday night with your friends and having a great time on a Tuesday morning with your kids... I'm a huge fan of THC.
We can also talk about the benefits of making a tincture with alcohol over doing something like cannabis butter or oil. There are three main advantages here.
First, when you strain the cannabis out of the butter or oil you ALWAYS lose some of your precious liquid. With an alcohol tincture, you get almost 100% of it back every time.
Second, alcohol captures more of the good stuff than fat. You'll get access to more of the terpenes and even (probably) pull more THC than with fat. Why the "probably"? Because there are so many factors that go into infusions it's hard to say what ends up in there without lab testing.
Finally, you can add different healing herbs like lavender, mugwort and chamomile to make custom herbal blends. This is a new passion of mine and I'll be talking more about it in the months to come.
If you also love cooking with cannabis, make sure you take my quick online class that teaches you every tip and trick I know about creating in the kitchen with cannabis. Head over here to check it out.
FAQs about THC Tinctures (QWET or Golden Dragon Version)
How much potency do you lose doing a QWET tincture over a longer soak tincture?
Without getting your own tincture lab-tested you won't really know, but it looks like in general, you can expect to lose about 10% potency by doing it this way.
Can I smoke THC Tincture?
Hell no. Please don't try.
Does THC tincture expire?
Over a very long period of time, your tincture will lose its potency. But we're talking about years for it to be inactive if you've stored it correctly (in a cool, dark place).
Does THC tincture get you drunk?
Probably not. Like with all things THC-related, you're going to start with a VERY SMALL DOSE of one drop or 2mg of THC if you've calculated the dosage. That means you're starting with one drop of alcohol. Most people won't feel the effects and most people do not need so much THC that they get drunk trying.
Can I do this with CBD or CBG?
You sure can. Just swap out the THC or make a custom blend. The only thing I'll note is that if you have cannabis that tests at 1% or less THC, you're going to want to do a "double decarb" on it which means twice as long in your oven. If you're lucky enough to have an Ardent Flex, there's even a CBD specific setting there for you. (If you want an Ardent FX for $30 off head here and use the code: revealcannabis)
Easy and Fast THC Tincture Recipe (QWET or Golden Dragon Version)
QWET stands for Quick Wash Extraction Technique and it’s also called the Golden Dragon because it turns out golden-coloured. Regardless of what you call it, this quick and easy tincture will mean that you can have your medicine in minutes, not days or weeks.
Ingredients/Prep
1 cup Everclear, Alcool or other high-proof grain alcohol
14 grams of decarbed cannabis (you can increase or decrease this amount so long as the cannabis is fully covered by alcohol)
Glass mason jar
Nut milk bag or cheesecloth
Method
Decarb your cannabis (learn how here)
Put your decarbed cannabis and alcohol in the freezer for 12-24 hours.
Pour cold alcohol over the cold cannabis and shake vigorously for 1 minute.
Return to the freezer for 10 minutes.
Remove from the freezer, shake for 1 minute.
Strain the plant material out using a cheesecloth or a nut milk bag.
Discard the spent cannabis or save it for capsules or body scrubs.
You’re done! You can add it to drinks, put it under your tongue, make canna-infused sugar or salt, the World’s Easiest Infused Gummies or even Full Extract Cannabis Oil (FECO).
Notes
This tincture is slightly less potent than the longer soak methods. Check them out here. The advantage is that this will taste less ‘cannabis-y’ than the other ones.
To figure out how potent your tincture is, make sure you use this dosing calculator.
Store in a glass mason jar in a cool, dark place for up to a year.
Alright, now you're a THC tincture-making expert. Let's review.
A THC tincture is just decarbed cannabis that has been soaked in high-proof alcohol and then strained out.
The reasons for doing a QWET or Golden Dragon are for speed, taste, and colour.
You can use the tincture by placing it under your tongue (OUCH), dropping it into a drink or processing it into something else like canna-sugar or RSO.
The benefits of this THC tincture include not only better sleep, pain management and stress relief, but also getting the full spectrum of the cannabis compounds with less waste and the ability to custom blend your own creations.
Don't forget to check out The Ultimate Guide to EASY Homemade Cannabis Edibles, Drinks, Topicals and More class. It's only $37 and you'll be so impressed with yourself when you start rocking out the canna-creations.
Hit me up below with all your THC tincture-making questions. I answer them all! And thanks for sharing this post with your friends. Let's spread the good word of weed.
Andrea