I just made oil and tinctures from a small pound of decarb’d flower. The tincture is dark green, as is the oil, and I only went down to 75 microns. The green makes the everclear tincture really bitter, and “taste like plant”.
Is there a filter size too small?
I want my concentrates to look non-green, but fear that after going so small, it will actually filter the goodies… So basically:
“What is the smallest filter to use that will still pass the good stuff, and block the most bad/excess stuff?”
Did you freeze the alcohol and bud before combining and then after? Cold temps help keep the green stuff from being picked up. After combining, people use coffee filters, cheese cloth, etc. To get to your question, with a buchner filter and a vacuum you can filter the wash after the first filtering, through micron filters. I use something like this. There are many excellent articles about alcohol extractions on line.
That’s a really great response, but it now makes me think I screwed things up.
My first oil infusion and tincture attempt used infuser that has essentially a blender inside of it, and it reduced the plant matter to extremely tiny pieces. This process takes 4 hours on the tincture preset. Even after a 20 micron filter, it is very dark green in color.
The reason I say I think I screwed up is because the plant matter might now be as small as the terpenes, and mechanical filtering might not be possible. But I see others doing infusions where they simply take the flower and immerse it in the liquids, so I’ve started a small trial doing just that. I think I have half an ounce in one cup of grain.
If I don’t macerate the plant material, I’m hoping that letting it sit in a sealed jar and shaking it once in awhile will allow the plant material to be filtered out easier than in the above case where the plant material is broken down to really small pieces by the blender blade of the infuser.
I’m guessing there are cases where that kind of blending of the flower or thing to be infused would work, but maybe in my case using cannabis is not the best. If I am right, this means that once the plant matter has been ground down fine enough, while it has been infused into the alcohol, the pieces of plant matter, and the chlorophyll mixed in with the alcohol, is now so small that trying to filter it out will also snag the terpenes.
I do these all the time. The green can be reduced with multiple filters, and freezing, of course. The answer you’re looking for is 180-220 microns.
I use a 73 for my first press, into a 190. That ensures that i don’t miss things in the first filter or clog the second.
190 is great for butters and such. 220 if you’re looking for a more distilled tincture style infusion.
That green is on you, though. If you’re fully grinding before decarb, or storing/starting at room temp then you’re getting green no matter what. It will color what you’re infusing and you’re stuck with it. Prep well and stay cold, my friend.
Happy infusing!
