How to Make a THC Tincture at Home

A tincture is cannabis in a dropper bottle: flower steeped in alcohol or glycerin, strained and measured out by the drop. It needs no smoke, no baking and very little gear, which makes it one of the simplest ways to dose THC at home.

The method still matters. Cold alcohol pulls cannabinoids out fast and leaves most of the grassy taste behind, glycerin makes a sweet, gentler drop, and the dose comes down to simple math with the flower you start with.

Key takeaways

• A tincture is decarbed cannabis steeped in alcohol or glycerin, strained and dosed by the dropper.
• In a 2022 study, a 10-minute soak in cold ethanol pulled out 84% to 98% of the THCA at -20°C and -40°C.
• The classic green dragon is a high-proof alcohol tincture, named for its deep green color.
• Glycerin makes a sweeter, alcohol-free tincture, though it usually pulls out less THC.
• With 3.5 grams of 20% flower in 60 mL, each full dropper holds roughly 8 to 10 mg of THC.

Tinctures, then and now

Long before vape pens, cannabis came in a bottle. It entered Western medicine in the middle of the 19th century, and by the 1890s its use peaked with the availability and usage of cannabis extracts or tinctures, a 2006 review in the Brazilian Journal of Psychiatry recounts. Doctors lost faith in them in the early 20th century, largely because batches of different strength gave inconsistent results, and cannabis left the American pharmacopeia in 1941, the review notes. Before that, drug makers such as Merck, Parke-Davis and Eli Lilly all sold cannabis extracts or tinctures.

That old problem, unknown strength, is the one a home tincture maker can solve with a scale and a little math. Modern flower comes with a THCA figure on the label or the strain page, and that number drives every dose below.

Alcohol, glycerin or oil

Three liquids can carry THC into a dropper bottle, and each one changes the taste, the strength and how long the bottle keeps:

An alcohol tincture of weed is the classic choice and the strongest per drop, while a glycerin tincture suits anyone who avoids alcohol or dislikes the sting. Oil versions are sold as tinctures too, though they behave more like a liquid edible. Proof matters for alcohol, since 190-proof grain alcohol extracts best, while lower-proof spirits carry more water, pull less THC and leave more plant flavor behind.

Decarb before anything else

Raw flower holds mostly THCA, which turns into THC only with heat, and no tincture liquid does that job at room temperature. Bake the ground flower at about 250°F (121°C) for 30 to 40 minutes until it turns light golden brown, or let one of the countertop decarboxylators that cut the smell handle it. Skip this step and the bottle will taste of cannabis but do very little, unless you heat it later in cooking. Decarbed flower keeps for a few days in a sealed container, so one bake can feed both an alcohol and a glycerin batch.

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Green dragon, the cold way

The green dragon tincture takes its name from its color. Old recipes simmer the alcohol or leave the flower soaking for weeks, which pulls out more chlorophyll and a grassier taste. A 2022 study of cold ethanol extraction found that a 10 min extraction time, with 15 parts ethanol to 1 part cannabis, worked best, recovering 84% of the THCA at -20°C and 98% at -40°C. Room-temperature ethanol pulled out slightly more but carried waxes that needed an extra cleanup step, the authors noted, so a freezer and a short shake do most of the work. Very cold ethanol also picks up less chlorophyll and wax, the study notes, which keeps the flavor cleaner. The steps below show how to make a THC tincture that way:

1. Decarb 3.5 grams of coarsely ground flower and let it cool.
2. Put the flower and a bottle of 190-proof grain alcohol in the freezer for at least three hours.
3. Combine the flower with 50 to 60 mL of the cold alcohol in a lidded glass container, about 15 mL per gram.
4. Shake it hard for 10 minutes, keeping it as cold as you can.
5. Strain it through a fine-mesh strainer and a coffee filter into a measuring cup, pressing the flower gently.
6. Top the liquid up to 60 mL with more alcohol so the math works, then pour it into amber dropper bottles and label them.

High-proof alcohol catches fire easily, so keep it away from burners, candles and lighters, and never heat it on a stove.

Glycerin for a sweeter drop

Anyone looking up how to make a cannabis tincture without alcohol ends up at glycerin. The method is slower and the result gentler:

• Use food-grade vegetable glycerin, about 1 cup for 3.5 to 7 grams of decarbed flower.
• Heat it gently in a slow cooker or a water bath at around 160°F to 180°F (71°C to 82°C) for four to six hours, stirring now and then.
• Strain it through cheesecloth while it is still warm, since glycerin thickens as it cools.
• Expect a sweet, milder tincture, and dose it by the full dropper instead of by the drop.

A cup of glycerin is four times the volume of the alcohol batch above, so the same eighth gives far less THC per milliliter.

Dosing by the dropper

The math works like any edible. Multiply the flower's weight by its THCA percentage, then by 0.877 for the weight THCA loses as it turns into THC, and divide by the milliliters in the bottle. For an eighth of 20% flower in 60 mL, that is about 10 mg per mL at most, and closer to 8 mg if about four-fifths ends up in the tincture:

Droppers vary, so measure yours with water once, since most hold close to 1 mL when full. Start with a quarter to half a dropper, about 2 to 4 mg from the 20% batch, held under the tongue for a minute before you swallow. That stays below the standard THC unit the National Institute on Drug Abuse set for research in 2021, any cannabis product or extract that contains 5 milligrams of THC. Much of each dose still reaches the stomach and acts like an edible, so wait a full two hours before taking more. Write the strength on the label while the numbers are fresh, so nobody has to redo the math later.

Two strains for two moods

Flavor carries into a tincture, the glycerin kind above all, so we match the strain to the time of day. Mimosa x Orange Punch, a Mimosa Evo and Orange Punch cross at 32% THC, brings a citrus-like, tangerine-candy sweet aroma and a happy, uplifting effect for daytime drops, and Purple Punch, a Granddaddy Purple and Larry OG cross at 30% THC, tastes of baked apple pie and offers deeply relaxing, physically soothing effects for the evening. Grow either one yourself and you know the batch from seed to bottle, which makes the number on the label far more reliable.

Store it dark and label it

Light and heat break THC down slowly, so tinctures keep best in amber or cobalt glass, away from the stove and the sun. In a 2020 study of cannabis extracts stored in the dark for a year, room temperature, 77°F (25°C), proved the most unfavorable temperature for their cannabinoids, so a fridge beats a warm kitchen shelf. Sealed alcohol tinctures last for years, while glycerin ones are best used within months. Label every bottle with the date, the strength per mL and the word cannabis, and keep it where children and pets cannot reach it, since a dropper bottle looks like any other medicine in the cabinet. A glycerin tincture that turns cloudy, smells sour or grows anything on the surface belongs in the trash.

Drops you can count on

A THC tincture is decarbed flower steeped in alcohol or glycerin, strained and dosed by the dropper. Cold alcohol and a short shake give a strong, clean green dragon, glycerin gives a sweeter, milder drop, and the dose comes from the flower's THCA, the volume in the bottle and a dropper you have measured. Start with a quarter to half a dropper and give it two hours before taking more.

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