# Sublingual Tincture



## Hobbes (Oct 3, 2010)

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Index: *Tincture*

Tags: *alcohol, distill, grape seed oil, spray, sublingual*

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I'm compiling my *Tincture* thread into a chapter for *Weed Science*, I'm only going to post my recipe for sublingual tincture as the original thread is as long as this one and Weed Science is currently over 500 pages. The entire tincture thread will be organized with a linked index in the ebook but it will be a week before it is completely uploaded.







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Tincture is an almost mystical creature, time consuming to make, the potency hit and miss, and the taste vile. This procedure will give you the most potent tincture that can be made with the bud that you have. The best tasting tincture, the most highs from the tincture. The fastest.

A tincture expert might still produce more potent tincture with their own bud or through more skilled curing with your bud - *but* - this method will give you the most potent that you can make because we are going to separate the tincture process into two simple parts: *Extraction & Solution* . By extracting the maximum resin possible then separating the resin/trichs from the solvent we know exactly how much resin we have and there are no water soluble solutes. We add only the amount of solvent (oil, glycerine, alcohol, etc) that we want to get the number of doses that we know the resin can provide (only experience can tell you this, start with as little solvent as will hold the resin in solution).

Extracting the trichomes can be done through: *hash making* (I have a portable washing machine and *bubble bags*; *subcritical fluid extraction* (butane honey oil and CO2 extraction); *Iso*; *alcohol* . Each of these extraction methods will be covered in the ebook, if there is one that anyone would like to go over in this thread please post. They are all very simple but most require safety procedures because of explosive gas and toxic fumes. Making good ice water hash is an excellent high purity and safe method of separating the trichomes from most of the plant matter and washing out the water soluble and foul tasting chlorophyl and terpins.

My favourite solvent is grape seed oil - fast, easy, great results. Grape seed oil has a very light taste, when mixed with high proof alcohol and sprayed under the tongue some of it will be absorbed by the blood vessels.

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*"When a chemical comes in contact with the mucous membrane beneath the tongue, or buccal mucosa, it diffuses through it. Because the connective tissue beneath the epithelium contains a profusion of capillaries, the substance then diffuses into them and enters the venous circulation. In contrast, substances absorbed in the intestines are subject to "first pass metabolism" in the liver before entering the general circulation.

Sublingual administration has certain advantages over oral administration. Being more direct, it is often faster, and it ensures that the substance will risk degradation only by salivary enzymes before entering the bloodstream, whereas orally administered drugs must survive passage through the hostile environment of the gastrointestinal tract, which risks degrading them, either by stomach acid or bile, or by the many enzymes therein, such as monoamine oxidase (MAO). Furthermore, after absorption from the gastrointestinal tract, such drugs must pass to the liver, where they may be extensively altered; this is known as the first pass effect of drug metabolism." *

*Wikipedia - Sublingual*








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*"what's the most efficient {extraction} method with grape seed oil {tincture}?"*

Kief from your grinder or from hash making, an *alcohol extraction*, Isopropyl alcohol rinse, a *subcritical fluid extraction with butane* or *with CO2*. Any safe method that you are comfortable doing - that gives you a high purity resin - is great. Then mix hot grape seed oil into the resin. 







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Butane boiling off in a water bath. 







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Heat the extract in it's pyrex extraction tray in the oven - *AFTER THE BUTANE IS BOILED OFF OUTDOORS* - 250F in the oven is good. Warm water to boil off the butane works well outdoors even on the coldest winter day. 

Add grape seed oil - I used 2 teaspoons (10 ml), I'll try 5 ml next time. Glycerine can be used instead of oil to make an excellent one part tincture.

Honey oil from 28 grams of baked trim.







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I tip the pan back and forth to spread the oil, then let it sit in the oven at 250 F for 5 minutes.

Take the pyrex tray out of the oven and use a fork to mix grape seed oil and honey oil. A couple of minutes will completely dissolve the resin.

Tip the Pyrex tray on a side and squeegee the base to get all of the oil and resin. I use a plastic card.

Use a spoon to scoop the oil, pour the oil into your spay bottle. 

I bent a spoon with plyers - to have a spout on both sides - to use as a ladle.







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Use the highest proof alcohol available. If you cannot get Everclear or an equivalent *you can distil your own alcohol in your kitchen with a simple crock pot or french press distiller*. You can also use the same apparatus as an alcohol reflux extractor for resin.







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This flame is from a teaspoon of refined vodka, the first alcohol I distilled. It was amazing to watch it burn. That distillation experiments was one of my simplest but the most fun and exciting at the same time. It was one of the first that I measured results and had both defined goals and a road map. Alcohol will only burn when its percentage in a solution with water is greater than 50% - or 100 proof that the rum isn't watered down.







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I use a Chloraseptic soar throat spray bottle, I like the extended nozzle to get each spray exactly where I want it.







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The alcohol floats on top of the oil.







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After mixing the alcohol quickly comes out of solution.



















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Before shaking again I like to unscrew the top and spray out anything that is in the tube, the alcohol and oil will column in the tube as well. Last spring I was wondering how I could keep the oil mixed up in the spray inlet tube when it dawned on me how easy it is to build an oil skimmer to make money from oil spills. Gotta love weed science >>> I built a model using a toy power boat and a plastic funnel that I bent with a my soldering gun (which I also use for topical operations) and floated with styrofoam packaging. And a clear plastic tennis ball case as the separation column and clear hydro tubing to feed the skimmed oil from the funnel into the tennis ball tube. The model worked perfect, of course they stopped the leak before I got my Universal Pipe Clogger designed on SketchUp so I said "Screw it, I'm doing something else." 







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The effects of this tincture are rapid, a couple of minutes. The influence of a set of sprays doesn't last long, 10 - 15 minutes for me, but the cumulative effect of repeated spray sets produces experiences of both longer duration and more complex sensations. It's a nice way to titrate the cannaboids to control effects while being fast acting and giving my throat a break from the irritating vaporizer mist. Very heady, much more powerful than a couple of Volcano bowls, very rapid onset. The effects are much more in the head than that from cannaboids ingested through the gastrointestinal tract.

For surfers or people who spend time on the ocean - taking a sublingual hit is like standing between swells: at first it's calm and nothing is happening, then the force of the next wave comes in and the water starts to rise, lifting you, and finally crashing over you. You take the spray under the tongue, a slight stinging to which you build immunity. Then nothing. A warm fuzzy feeling in the head and ... whoosh ... the wave hits you intensely, you tumble, its fun and peaceful. One of the nicest highs I've had, very powerful and clean.







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With a little practice this recipe is easily made, I can go from plant to tincture in half an hour. The canna-grape seed oil can be used to make brownies from trim in an hour. You can make this to knock yourself out the first time, there is no more potent way to make tincture. No tastier way, no quicker way, no more economical way, no method as sure of producing success first time every time. 

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Plant to Tincture in 30 Minutes

Without harvesting the plant.

*0:00* 

- Preheat convection oven to 300 F
- Trim leaves
- clip leaves into tiny pieces

*3:00*

- Bake leaves in a thin layer in a convection oven, on screens for air flow

*10:00*

- Pour the leaves into a mesh kitchen strainer with a bowl below the strainer
- crumble the leaves through the strainer into the bowl, hand or piece of wood
- pour the ground baked leaves onto a pre-cooled cookie sheet, thin layer
- put in freezer

*12:00*

- cool, improves yield

*15:00*

- Load pre-cooled extraction tube
- extract
- boil off butane (skip for CO2) in hot hot water

*25:00*

- Put the extraction tray and honey oil in an oven pre-heated to 300 F
- Use a laser thermometer and remove when it is 200 F
- Pour in Grape Seed Oil preheated to 300 F
- Stir with fork until the resin is completely dissolved.

*29:45*

- spray with CO2 to cool to 98.6 F

*30:00*

*Grape Seed Oil Tincture*

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## Hobbes (Oct 3, 2010)

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Please post any questions in my *Grow Lab* thread. Thanks.

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## akgrown (Oct 3, 2010)

This is a great post and should be stickied. I made some 4x potency butter last night. My friend just told me he got so fucked he threw up so maybe I will cut down the dosage.


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## Hobbes (Oct 18, 2010)

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Index: *Extraction*

Tags: *alcohol distilaton*

RUI: *TheDude*
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*DIY Crock Pot Alcohol Distiller*

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*"In order to make this design more efficient you can add some copper mesh to make the column more of a fractionating column which will cause some of the vapor to condense and fall back into the liquid before it hits your condenser (the lid). Using this method will slow the vapor down and give you slightly more precise control of your tempratures and more effectively separate your distilate giving you a higher % of alcohol and a more pure final product. Adding some mesh (which you can buy under the name "copper mesh", or if you buy those copper dish scrubbers (the ones for washing dishes if you make sure they are made from 100% copper, some are just clad which wont work properly)) or increasing the height of the column will both help your final product. If you take the copper mesh and pack the path where the vapor travels up to the lid you will achive this and gain some true reflux in this deisgn."
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*TheDude* that is fantastic, thank you! So effective and so simple to do, and I understand the physical changes, a bonus!

I'll add some mesh during my next extraction. Rather than building the most efficient design I think of ways that people can plug and play with things from around their kitchens - food quality parts. I've made a simple distiller from one 2 litre mason jar, one 250 ml mason jar and a plastic bottle top. Some stainless steel kitchen mesh bent as a stand. Ice goes in the pop bottle cone to act as a condenser for the alcohol vapour. The alcohol vapour condenses on the cold pop bottle and drips off the tip into the glass collection jar.

*{TheDude I know that your know all of this, I'm going into the detail that I can for other's reading the thread. If you can expand on my limited knowledge please do, everyone reading will appreciate it. Including me.}*

How would you suggest adding mesh to this design - and could we add an extension of some kind to the jar to add column height as you suggested - while staying "plug 'n play"? I've got some one gallon pickle jars but I'm not sure if they're designed for thermal shock. Is there a simple column that we could attach to the glass heating chamber with the screw on lid, while still allowing for simple cooling for vapour condensing. Or a design that you can conceive made of other plug 'n play parts.







I do two washes on 80 proof vodka for the solvent in my sublingual tincture. I use a French Press coffee filter as a stand so the 1 litre glass jar alcohol heater isn't sitting directly on the hot plate, to be sure that the water is never boiled. I wrap aluminum foil around the jar and crock pot as a lid to keep the heat in, and use a floating candy thermometer to be sure that the water doesn't get too hot. I have it set to run about 90 degrees celsius. 







I'll switch to a 125 ml jar and insert a food quality mesh between the glass jar collector and the plastic bottle condenser. As I understand the physics - the mesh will make the high boiling point water vapour (100 C) collect on the metal while the cooler boiling point alcohol vapour (78 C) continues up to the condenser. Absolutely brilliant, thank you.







How does aluminum react with alcohol? Aluminum has a higher coefficient of thermal conductivity and Aluminum mesh is much more readily available than copper. Which makes me suspect that there is a reason that aluminum isn't used. I'll do a search.

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"What you have there is essentially a continuous distillaton apparatus not truly a reflux still."*

Thank you! I don't know much about distillation, I just learned enough to make high proof alcohol for tincture and moved on. If you could offer some advice for simpler and more efficient designs I would appreciate it greatly! I'm going to include your ideas in Weed Science and the Sublingual Tincture thread linked below.

Thanks again, kudos!

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## Hobbes (Nov 21, 2010)

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Since the above pictures I've added a mesh above the alcohol reservoir - it cools water vapour so there is a higher concentration of alcohol to water in the above column. Really increases efficiency, like having a taller 4D column in 3D space. An RUI member gave me the idea, I'll look back through my threads and find his name, post it here later.

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## thedude27 (Nov 23, 2010)

Hey Hobbes, 

Glad to see I could help you some. I'm a little buzzed at the moment  so I'm gonna try and answer your questions but also make this quick. Anyways, as far as your mesh I would not only put it below but I would wrap the jar and even possibly extend slightly above it you want a good amt of mesh the more the better since you have REALLY short column (the jar). I think thats what you said you did. I'm not sure about alumninum, nobody that does distillation would use that, the 2 materials they would use are copper and stainless steel. There is a lot of concern about leeching materials becuase alcohol is a very good solvent. They would probably also have some concern about using plastic. I would say you are probably ok with it as long as you arent going much above 100-120 proof (which if you start with 80 proof vodka, with a short still like that you are probably safe. That being said I have seen first hand acrylic based plastic graduated cylinders melt from 185 proof alcohol, its a smell you wont forget. So if you start getting up there you need to be certain the plastic you are using will be ok.

Now if I were doing this from scratch and wanted to build it in a simple manner I would probably just build a simple pot still possibly with some kind of cooled worm so that I didnt have to have a lot of tubing. Ok picture something like this:

Start with your mason jar and drill a 1/2'-3/4" hole through the lid. Figure out a way to put a flange onto the mason lid. Then extend say 12-18" of 1/2 to say 3/4" copper tube up off the top of the mason jar (be sure to put the mason jar lid holder ring on before you finish building the entire thing). So now you have a mason jar with a tube sticking out of the top of it, then throw a 90 copper elbow at top of the tube. extend maybe an inch off the 90 and put a reducer into some small copper tubing (maybe 3/8" or so). Then take your water bottle and punch a 3/8" hole in the lid and also cut the bottom off the water bottle. Invert it (like you have in the pic and push the 3/8" tube through it. extend the tubing nearly to the ground but leave a couple inches so you can slip a glass or whatever you want to collect the tincture with. Now fill the bottle with crushed Ice (that will cool your vapor and condense it) and rig up somethig to steady the device. You can use whever you like to heat it. 

When you solder up the copper make sure you are using non toxic flux and non lead based solder.

If you dont want to use the bottle/ice you can just coil the small copper tubing, but considering the small amount of liquid I would try for a reasonably short run of pipe. Also you could probably epoxy the bottle cap onto the tubing to seal it and prevent melted ice from dripping down and also to hold it in place. So expoxy it then screw the bottle onto the lid (be sure the bottle is above the cap before you epoxy it, lol)

You will need to rig up something to steady/hold it but that shouldn be too hard.


Just a simple/cheap solution for you. If we want to get hardcore with it there is more that can be done but I think this is a good balance of easy and effective.



Another mod you could do it put a "T" where the elbow is, then cap the top part of the T and drill a small hole that you put an instant read thermometer into. That way you can see what your column vapor temp is. Make it just fit, and if you need you can seal it with a flour/water mixed into a paste (moonshiners do this).


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## poplars (Nov 24, 2010)

so you haven't had any success with using straight bud or straight sugar shake??? I just don't like to have to extract before I do anything ya know.


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## Viagro (Dec 4, 2010)

Regarding tinctures. Never use iso alcohol, use grain alcohol. The most potent is Everclear, but a less gnarly and much better tasting tincture can be made using a strong dark rum, or a bourbon like high octane Wild Turkey. Much nicer. Vodka is ok, but weaker, and doesn't do anything to help the flavor.


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## Hobbes (Dec 6, 2010)

thedude27 said:


> Hey Hobbes,
> 
> Glad to see I could help you some. I'm a little buzzed at the moment  so I'm gonna try and answer your questions but also make this quick. Anyways, as far as your mesh


You helped A LOT and I'm always buzzed so I'm glad that I'm in company. The mesh addition is amazing, the distillation takes 2x - 3x longer but the alcohol stings when applied sublingually so I know it's more potent. I cut a mesh disk, cut a round hole in the middle to let the alcohol drip into the collector dish, and sat the mesh disk on top of the pyrex 125 ml mason jar collector. Works like a charm, seamless.

I'm absorbing the new material you gave me, and I've figured out a Gilliagan's Island method of ball parking the alcohol percentage within a small sample. You're credited in Weed Science, thank you so much for the help. A little thing like using a piece of scrap stainless steel mesh makes an incredible difference.

+ rep AGAIN!

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## Hobbes (Dec 6, 2010)

poplars said:


> so you haven't had any success with using straight bud or straight sugar shake??? I just don't like to have to extract before I do anything ya know.


I never havw Poplars. I think that single step tincture takes a lot of patience and a very experienced hand to get consistent potency. Think of one step tincture makers as the CFL growers of the tincture world - they work under more difficult conditions so they have to have more skill to get the same results - they may even get better results because there is more to tincture than simply extracting resin and mixing it with a solvent, but that's a great place to start. It's as far as GW Pharmacuticals has gotten and they sell a few cents of raw materials for $1,000.

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*"I just don't like to have to extract before I do anything ya know."*

Its a learning curve that I've never been able to climb so I took the elevator.

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## Hobbes (Dec 6, 2010)

Viagro said:


> Regarding tinctures. Never use iso alcohol, use grain alcohol. The most potent is Everclear, but a less gnarly and much better tasting tincture can be made using a strong dark rum, or a bourbon like high octane Wild Turkey. Much nicer. Vodka is ok, but weaker, and doesn't do anything to help the flavor.


Good advice Viagro. 

Something so simple but it cannot be repeated enough. Iso alcohol will make you retch'dly sick at best but most likely will kill you. It should be used as a solvent for cleaning and extract only as a solvent if you have a stronger stomach than mine. Disgusting stuff, but really cool red crystals when used for extractrion.

+ reg Viagro

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## Viagro (Dec 6, 2010)

Yeah, Hobbes, it dries out mucous membranes, and should never be put in the mouth. When I saw the mention of iso, I had to chime-in.

I'll probably use 150 proof Dark Rum, or maybe Wild Turkey, but if I can find some Ron Centennario (Costa Rican medium dark rum), I'm going to use that. 
It's not nearly as strong, but it is really delicious.

Cheers!


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## Hobbes (Oct 12, 2012)

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BUMP for science lovers!

It never hurts to have one more way to get high, especially when your throat is itchy.

I LOVE tincture, just love the stuff.

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## coffee97459 (Jan 7, 2016)

my favorite FAST ACTING tincture is green dragon in a half cup of hot water with honey


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