Making a tincture with alcohol

[SGD]

I want to give this a try and I have done a bit of research but I can only buy high % alcohol from the pharmacy and they will only sell it in 50ml bottles which is expensive. I have some home made fruit based spirit that my neighbour gave me but he reckons the strength is about 47%. What will happen if I use the lower % alcohol to try this?

[kingfish]

https://www.growweedeasy.com/how-to-make-cannabis-tinctures#how-to-make-tinctures

[Gingerbeard]

Are you making tincture with flower, kief, or concentrate?

[SGD]

flower

[Gingerbeard]

47% won't work. You need high proof. For $25ish online you can buy a quart of 100% kosher food grade ethanol. $86 got me delivered a gallon of the stuff.
Wherever you get it, high proof booze won't be cheap.

[Ckbrew]

You need high percentage ethanol for this to work properly. 95% ideally. It can be found on line if you look around, but pricey. Make sure it is not denatured. Everclear from the liquor store is usually the most economical. If it is not available where you live, some people have used 151 rum, I have never tried that.

[Gingerbeard]

Consider making a tincture from decarbed kief. You can make tincture with alcohol or glycerin with DK.

[Gingerbeard]

...the low proof alcohol, I mean.

[OldManGrower]

I have made tincture a number of times. There are two critical items. 1st use Everclear or some other over 95% alcohol and second, use enough weed. I would suggest an ounce per pint. This is a very good use for left over trim and old weed.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Just go get everclear at the liquor store. You could get two liters for 30 bucks. It's 95% ABV It's what I believe used and always had great success. You could even do a cold evaporation and leave it in your refrigerator uncovered and it'll still evaporate in the fridge while preserving all the good stuff in the nice cold refrigerator. It takes a little longer but if you have a little battery fan put it in your refrigerator with a battery fan and you'll be done in 2 or 3 days

[Gingerbeard]

Some states don't sell anything above 151.

[No3odiesShad0w]

Meanwhile other states sell alcohol at the gas station For some reason 🤣🤣. At that point I would say go with 91% ISO and just make sure you evaporate it off.

[Gingerbeard]

That killed me the first time I saw liquor behind the counter at a gas station in Missouri! I grew up in Dallas. Have you ever heard of a 'moist' county? That's where you can buy beer and wine but not liquor. And in all of Texas, there is no liquor sales on Sunday. Beer and wine, no problem. You gotta love a southern Baptist community.

[SGD]

You need high percentage ethanol for this to work properly. 95% ideally. It can be found on line if you look around, but pricey. Make sure it is not denatured. Everclear from the liquor store is usually the most economical. If it is not available where you live, some people have used 151 rum, I have never tried that.

Thanks for the responses. Maybe I should have said in the first post that I only smoke what I harvest. I don't have the equipment or the production levels to have such things as kief, leftover trim or old weed, whatever that is! I have developed a smoker's cough and I want to try making my own edibles to deal with that issue.

I live in central Europe so Everclear is not available to me. I've been around everywhere I can think that might sell high percentage alcohol and the pharmacy is the only place and they sell 50ml bottles for about $5 which is too expensive. There is no Amazon where I live but items can be bought from the German Amazon but, unfortunately, they won't export this.

Perhaps there is a suitable product that is branded as something else.

[Ckbrew]

"I have developed a smoker's cough and I want to try making my own edibles to deal with that issue."

I was in the same situation. First I switched to only water bong, that was a minimal improvement. Then I discovered convection dry flower vape. Convection type is better than conduction type imo. It takes some getting used to, but once mastered it is superior to smoking imo. Smoking is actually a form of vaping. Anyway, I encourage you to try DFV. My smoker's cough cleared up within a few months time. FYI the effects from edibles are different than that of smoking. Pros and cons with each.

[Gingerbeard]

Maybe you can get something out of this.
In California, it is illegal to buy or sell liquor over 151 proof. However, you can order online food grade and laboratory grade ethanol at 200 proof.
So, maybe, don't order liquor. Order kitchen or laboratory supplies instead?

[Ckbrew]

What GB said. Do you know any moonshiners? It is not difficult to set up a small still to make your own high percent ethanol from common vodka.

[Gingerbeard]

Right. Let's talk hash making per post 9.
One-gallon bubble bags will handle 2 ounces of plant matter and cost under $30 for a four-bag set. Those bags are made with small micron screens which are, basically, silk screen material you might be able to pick up at a hobby or fabric store or purchased online and sewn into simple bags or turned into shaker boxes for dry-sift and avoid the whole ice water process.
50ml of alcohol will make a damn strong tincture with even a half gram of kief without further processing.