# "Cold Method" Tincture. Please help me. I DID NOT DECARB, options!?!? *Lengthy Post*



## fourHUNDREDtwent (Oct 30, 2012)

Rollitup.org, 

(FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS SECTION)
*./intro-precursor*
Okay so to start things off, the other week I decided I needed to quit* smoking *bud and get my life in order. I am a recently returned home combat vet from Afghanistan with shit loads of anxiety. And since I have been back nearly 4 people from my platoon have killed themselves and last week my father died an early death. Needless to say, I don't know if weed is the best thing for me right now. I think just being sober from everything for awhile is my best bet so I can get my head clear. 



...But on a lighter note. When I came home to go through my dads stuff I noticed he had about 1/2lb of some good shit. Naturally I smoked my grief away until I came to the conclusion that maybe I shouldn't have my head in the clouds right now. For my family and my education. So anyways, the reason I stated all that stuff as a pre-cursor for this "cry for help" I'm about to give, is because I don't really want anyone flaming me, or trying to convince me otherwise that I shouldn't be sober, and that "weed is my answer", I know my body and I know me and I know that I need to face reality. 


So with that bullshit out of the way... heres what my logic was:

Option 1) I'm quitting, so I should throw it out. - HELL NO!
Option 2) Smoke it all -No; I'm a triathlete and I can't smoke anymore, smoking in the winter in Oregon reaps hell on the throat. 
*Option 3)* Make edibles/tincture and have them on special occasions. ***WINNER WINNER CHICKEN DINNER***
*
./endintroduction-precursor*


So heres what went down..

I read this recipe from a website online (I tried to find the link to give credit, but I seriously couldn't find it doing a history search c/p'd): 



> #!: A. Extracting THC in high proof (190 proof) alcohol, typically EverclearFirst - get yourself some high proof alcohol, at least 190 proof... In other words, get yourself a bottle of Everclear.
> [The following instructions were taken from marijuana.com, and I made some adjustments.]
> You will need 1 ounce of marijuana for every pint of alcohol (or half a gram of marijuana for every ounce of alcohol). Some good spirits to use would be Everclear, 151 Rum, or White Lightning due to the high proof. You want an alcohol with 95% ethanol, or a 190-proof alcohol to obtain the best results. The night before you make this, leave your bud in the freezer, completely drying it out. Its also a good idea to put the ethanol in the freezer as well. Once your bud has been in the freezer, grind it up to almost a powder and mix together with ethanol in a glass quart-mixing jar. Close the jar and shake for 5 minutes, then return to freezer. Continue to agitate the mixture every few hours with refreezing. Continue this process anywhere from 3 days to 9 weeks, however patient you are really. Remember, the longer the better (after 3 days it will be pretty potent, so don't feel bad). When you are done with that process, pour the liquid through cheesecloth. You can save the ball of cheesecloth for topical use, or run it through a coffee filter. Make sure to squeeze any remaining liquid out. You might want to wear gloves during this process, as the solution might be pretty strong. The color of your final product is dependent on what percent ethanol you used. If you used a 95% ethanol solution, your tincture should be pale green to golden. If you used 151 rum, it should be an amber color. If your tincture is a dark green that means excess plant material is present. This does not affect the potency though; it just means it wont taste very good. Its a good idea to add some flavor extracts, like vanilla or raspberry, to change the taste of your tincture (If you are making brownies there is no need for the flavor extracts, that is in case you want to drink it straight).


So needless to say *nowhere in that recipe does it say to decarb* the bud. AT ALL. I seriously thought I did my research on the method, but I guess I didn't look hard enough.Once I had bought a galon of 190proof booze, cheesecloth, coffee filters, grinder, mason jars, etc. , I did another search about the tinctures to see if there was more info on actually how to use (take it, ingest it) the tincture. And that still seems ambiguos to me as well....

So heres my situation: 

I followed that recipe word for word and now I have 6 mason jars in my freezer being mixed 2-3 times a day. It was about 2-3 days since I had started the process and I didn't really care about wasting one of the jars to see if the process was doing anything. So I cracked one of them open last night, strained it several times until all I was left with was some dark green liquid in the mason jar. Now heres some *red flags* that something didn't go right.
*
1. The tincture was not a golden or pale green (unless I looked from the bottom of the mason jar pointed towards a light, than it resembled the "Hulk" green. 
2. There was a shit ton of liquid. I thought tinctures were supposed to be in small mL's and be potent. This shit looked diluted and filled with chlorophyl. 
*
So I tried it last night, however I didn't really know what I was doing. I thought about getting a double-boiler so I could evaporate some of the booze out or completely out, but I didn't know if that was a good idea and I couldn't find any definitive information online. 

So what I did was just take the jar to my mouth and swig the solution around in my mouth for as long as I could stand (the shit burns like hell) and then spit it out, and wash my mouth out with water. I don't drink alcohol anyways, so there is no fucking way I'm drinking that...unless I have too haha. So after the mouthwash technique I'm not sure if it worked or not because I was so stressed out from the day and tired that I just said "fuck it" and went to bed; not knowing if I was fucked up or not. Maybe I had a slight buzz, but nowhere near the rockstar status that this method is renowned for. 

So what can I do? Here's my definitive questions that are kinda stressing me over this. 
*
1. Can this be salvaged? 
**2. Is there a way I can still decarb the solution? Like heat up the (strained) solution with a double boiler until I get (not sure what it is supposed to look like) a more concentrated solution?
**3. What is this* *yellow line?* (picture) 
*4. Is mouthwasing the stuff the way you're supposed to do it? *It just seems like a pint of booze is a lot for only an oz of bud. I hate booze, can't stand it. But yet I have to deal with this (in my opinion) diluted solution? From all the google searches I've done there is absolutely no explanation for what to do once you have a pint of this booze/thc extract. Are you supposed to get droppers, or can just taking a gulp off the jar and swigging it around for about 30seconds in your mouth do the same trick? It all seems very ambiguous to me, and a pint of fucking everclear is strong; like my mouth is literally still burning from last night. *Or* is a pint really not that much if you decarbed the bud, because the tincture wont be diluted (like my case) and the tincture will be concentrated - meaning that swigging the tincture from the jar will actually fuck you up, apposed to just giving you a mild buzz wondering if that the melatonin you took or that burning shit you were just swigging. 
*
And any advice from someone thats been in this situation would be so helpful. 

*I really don't want to have faced the reality that I just wasted a 1/2lb of my father dank, that he nor I will ever get to enjoy. In the cosmic sense of things...this just isn't right. My dad wouldn't be pissed, but he would be disappointed that it all went to waste. 
So that's it. The whole story. 

And also, I'd really appreciate if no one talked shit about my service, my dad, or my actions in this matter. I just need some help from some fellow like-minded people. If you have nothing positive to say or have no advice, than just let this post be. I'm at my fucking wits end and flaming really won't help anyone. 

-Thanks ahead of time, everyone.


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## Opm (Oct 30, 2012)

First of all I'd just like to thank you for your service.

The chemistry of getting a buzz is actually quite involved. Number one, The THC found naturally abundant in marijuana is unusable by the body while in that state. The THC the body can use has to be converted by the application of heat. I can't remember which way off hand but there is THC and delta 9 THC. One is in the plant and one is usable by the body. Over time the THC will convert inside the plant into the usable form but this can take months of curing. What people don't realise is when you take a lighter and smoke it, The heat applied during the smoking process converts the THC. From what I have read it takes a heat of at least 150F for 15min to convert the THC. THC's melting point is about 285F if memory serves me right. 

So my suggestion is to get yourself a hotplate or coffee warmer and heat the solution after straining. This will evaporate off the alcohol and convert the THC. Then you can put some drops in your cofee, on your toast, or whatever method you find agreeable.

Good luck.


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## gioua (Oct 30, 2012)

Also Thanks for your Service to our Country...

(Navy Bratt myself )



you can also leave the bud UN cooked in the everclear for 30 days and this will also decrab it

weed decarbs over time and heat only..


most of us here decarb before hand... ONLY due to the lack of patients... I myself have made it to the 2 week mark and then went at mine.. no will power I swear!!


the fresher the bud the greener the results more chlorophyll to leach out.. if your bud was not green then perhaps it was older weed or cured longer...etc..


Personally I would not heat everclear.. but that's just me liking my body parts attached...


if your tolerance is low then you should be able to to a few drops inside a soda or something like this... if not then you can reuse the liquid and add more weed to increase it's strength.


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## Opm (Oct 30, 2012)

Pretty much why I suggested a hotplate and not an open flame. Ethanol isn't that volatile though and people cook with it on open flame all the time. A jar full of it burning could cause some headaches though :/


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## fourHUNDREDtwent (Oct 30, 2012)

Okay, so my question for heating the solution on a heating pad (my coffee maker), like putting the solution into a fresh (room temp) mason jar is this. 

1) How long would something like this take? 
2) Is it minutes, or you think hours? 
3) Should this be done in a low-light/dark area, or am I passed that process (or is it ever-going, IE: THC hates light in all situations. So avoid light at all costs.)
4) How will I know when the solution is ready? 

*In a day or two I am going to pull one jar and put the solution into a fresh jar and put it on the coffee maker in a dark room with the lights off (with a well ventilated-protective barrier around the coffee maker on the floor; just in case it is explosive.).*

_*
And one more question:*
_
_If I just go buy some good ol' fashion brownie mix, make brownies_ (per directions to the box) and than just add the strained-everclear/solution to the brownie mix, stir the shit out of it until the mix becomes homogenous (or as close too, it'll prolly' be runny) and just throw the brownie-mix/solution in the oven at a low temp, like 275-300 and just cook that shit for like 1-2 hours? 

With that theory I just proposed, *A)* shouldn't the THC decarb? *B) *The alcohol evaporate?..* and C) *_leave me with ome dank as fuck brownies? ***_*EDIT* *Or would this burn down my apartment building because the ether wouldn't evaporate, it would explode. *OR* Because the boiling point of THC is around 270f, would that mean I have to cook the brownies at around ~250f? And is that possible? 

I'm just wondering how many ways I can get from point a -to- b. It seems I didn't totally fuck this up. 

*./ tangent *And if weed decarbs over time, would that mean that old weed is more potent or less? I don't think I'm understanding how decarb works. Unless after time, if the THC isn't in a solution when the flowers (buds) decarb naturally over time, it is deemed useless/not-potent? I'm just totally confused how THC can do the process naturally without any heat, and in this case: in a cold environment, and THC can decarb with heat. So like... THC decarbs from heat, and time?...I'm thinking there is a gap in my knowledge of the science behind decarbing bud. *./endtangent*


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## fourHUNDREDtwent (Oct 30, 2012)

Ohh, and btw. Thanks to both of you guys (iThink) for helping me out with these. I'm taking chemistry right now in college and I feel like the labs in chem. don't have shit on this lab. This is the most fun I've had with chemistry in awhile. +props guys. (I think I'm too low for +rep)


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## midnighttok3r (Oct 30, 2012)

If my memory serves me right, putting the pot in the freezer helps with the decarb process because the freeze drying removes the water molecule from the thc. Also, if you're really impatient and don't want to let your alcohol tinc steep then you can boil water in a small saucepan on the stovetop with your quart jar (w/jar lid off) sitting in the waterbath for 20 minutes. If you used everclear it shouldn't be very much water content at all, though. Anyway a dropper full (swished in mouth then swallowed) should at least give you a noticeable buzz. If you are absolutely opposed to drinking even the smallest amounts of alcohol then you can incorporate it into cooking ingredients just prior to making food like brownies. That way the alcohol will evaporate during the cooking process. If all else fails, then you can buy food grade glycerin and mix in a 50/50 ratio with your alcohol tincture, then with lid off, allow alcohol to evaporate while somewhere warm but not brightly lit.


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## fourHUNDREDtwent (Oct 31, 2012)

(I apologize if I write a lot, I've got nothing better to do.)

Can the solution boil or not? Because it is heating up to the point where it is boiling/bubbling. Not sure if I fucked this batch up.

./edit The initial reason why I don't really want the booze is because I want to know I'm getting the effects from the THC and not due to the 190proof ethanol. And also because I've been spitting up "matter" that was once my mouth-tissue all day because that fugin everclear burned me bad with the "mouthwashing" technique. And the other reasons I won't even get into. 

And also, yea I'm impatient. It's a little hard just upping and quitting. I don't give a fuck who you are, if it was part of your daily regiment, be it running, smoking, fucking, arguing, whatever, cutting it out in a single days notice is for someone with a little more head in the game than I currently have; although that is the endgame, one step at a time. But also, the devils advocate, hypothetically: I don't want to be up in the mountains on a 14 mile hike and get ready to meditate, and my tincture isn't up to par. I just want to be prepared, haha. So this is the (scientific) reasoning for my testing and getting the tincture right. 4/6 jars aren't getting touched for 30 days, thanks Mr.Gioua. 

So there are a lot of aspects at play here. And in the long run I just want to put this stuff to best use. However I probably should have posted before throwing a 1/2lb of bud in the freezer. But hell, hindsight is fucking 20/20. 



Mr. Gioua, at the end of 30 days can I still evaporate (with heat, or air? please say air) the alcohol out? Like...I've seen methods where the bud is already decarb'd and people have done the rest of the process the same as I, and then put the bud in a tray (preferably the biggest surface area) and have a fan blow in the tray/solution towards a vacuum/window (constant flow) to create a ripple/wave effect on the ethanol/solution effectively evaporating the ethanol out. (Although they may have used straight ISO.) 

And if that works, does it need to be in a dark area? (Like inside a box, with a fan hole cut out pointed towards the window, at nighttime. To minimize light and heat and overall the total time for the ethanol to evaporate?) I don't think I'm getting the science behind the minimizing of light. The heat I think I'm getting a grasp of. Like the THC needs to be heated to become psychoactive. 
*
But I don't get how if you just left some chronic out for 30 days, to let it decarb naturally, and then just ate the nugs raw, why wouldn't you feel any effect, or would you? *Because as stated earlier. You said it decarbs naturally in about a period of a month. (And I'm not implying anything, I'm just trying to get the science behind natural decarbinization(is that a fucking word?)?


It just seems like there is so much damn booze per dose that I don't know what I'm getting an effect from (and I'm 90% sure it's the damn everclear). 


I stuck the bud in the fridge in multiple baggies to dry it out, put the booze in the fridge over night, the bud may have been in there for a day or two, but I smoked a nug (or two, heh) before I grounded up bud (not too fine) and mixed it with the ethanol, I even added some kief that my dad and I dry-iced with some bubble-bags from some of our harvest to each jar. It was a 1/4lb of kief so each jar was hooked up. So I don't know why my tinc. is not strong, unless I have an unbelievable tolerance to THC; which may or may not be the case. 

Does anyone see any red flags? That are related to the tinc.

Maybe this is the divines way of saying, "fuck it dude."


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## Opm (Oct 31, 2012)

I personally don't understand how freeze drying could decarb. All of my chemistry classes added heat to speed up reactions. It would seem to me cold would slow it down.

I do know that from personal experience I took some dry-ice hash and added it to some no bake cookies and they weren't that potent at all. I took the same hash and same amount and put it into brownies that were baked for 15 min at 250F I think and they were too potent for most.

I personally would hotplate it until all the alcohol has evaporated. Or just evaporate the alcohol and THEN bake it into something using the oven to decarb.


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## midnighttok3r (Nov 1, 2012)

maybe this will help

http://www.cannabisculture.com/articles/2794.html


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## akak8ty (Feb 9, 2016)

fourHUNDREDtwent said:


> Rollitup.org,
> 
> (FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS SECTION)
> *./intro-precursor*
> ...


Is this the Navy page for making canna-oil? 
I am decarbing about 90grams, then will grind much after it cools. I will put as much as I can in a jar with 151 Everclear- for a few days, then I will cook it down. Left over dry might be blasted through a tube for a little honey oil. I do not have a vacuum specifically for purging. It takes time to learn and acquire all things
I expect the winterized oil will be muddy in color, honey oil... the color of honey.


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## akak8ty (Feb 9, 2016)

ps- the spirit store had 190 proof everclear, but one needed a Dr's prescription to get it


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## dannydiddi (Dec 6, 2016)

is it possible to do a evective tintcure without decarb before mixing the herbs with the alkohol?
cause i forget the decarbing, now the stuff is mixed


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## nickweedman54 (Jan 31, 2017)

dannydiddi said:


> is it possible to do a evective tintcure without decarb before mixing the herbs with the alkohol?
> cause i forget the decarbing, now the stuff is mixed


Danny, what ever happened???

I currently have mixed stuff without decarb... let me know.


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## skepler (Jan 31, 2017)

fourHUNDREDtwent said:


> Rollitup.org,
> 
> (FEEL FREE TO SKIP THIS SECTION)
> *./intro-precursor*
> ...


Check out Grow Godess' blog. The second article posted is on naturally decarbing for oral consumption. I thank you as well for your service.
http://michiganmedicalmarijuana.org/blog/rss/532-growgoddess-blog/


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