I was wondering if we had anyone here who is culturally Hispanic or is very familiar with the culture? Maybe someone who has spent a lot of time in one of these countries? Could be from anywhere in Mexico to South America as I understand that the practice is pretty wide spread.
I’m looking for a recipe for infusing Isopropyl Alcohol (95%) with cannabis for an external rub for pain relief. My wife’s bosses family is originally from South America, and he was born here. He was talking about that his family used to have a cannabis infused rubbing alcohol that they used a lot for people with aches, pains, knee pains, stiff joints, etc… Said that his family had been doing it for many generations. His grandmother and mother has passed and the recipe has unfortunately been lost.
As a Xmas gift, and because my last harvest was so prolific, I am trying to recreate this for him and his family as he has been a great boss to my wife over the years. I tried one recipe, that didn’t involve decarbing the plant material first. But I just heard that particular method can take up to a year for the THCA to convert to actualized THC for it to work. So I tried another batch with decarbed material wrapped in a cheesecloth, put an ounce each in 2 separate 32oz Mason Jars and topped with the Alcohol. Shook it vigorously for 15 minutes and set it in a closet for 10 days. Shook and turned over every chance that I could over that time period. It has become extremely dark green. As I was filtering it through some coffee filters into its final bottle, I got some on me and it seems to leave a slight green tinge to the skin. I have absolutely no idea if what I did is right, or if it will work. This is not for drinking or any sort of a tincture, strictly external pain relief. Is there anyone who has done this and can offer any help or advice?
Thanks in advance.
You might try using the same method that we use for QWET. Make the buds and alcohol as cold as possible (I use my freezer), then do a quick soak of about 15 minutes, then filter. I do this with ethanal and get a pale amber product to run through my vacuum still.
To make a rubbing alcohol tincture for topical application, you would just skip the still step.
Are the buds decarbed first? Does it need to be if cold? Thank you so very much for getting back to me. I’m just trying to figure out if I have enough time to do another run, and this seems like it would be quick and easy.
For making wax in my vacuum still I use buds that are NOT decarbed.
For your tincture, you would certainly need to decarb the buds first. I put a zip of buds in a jar and add enough ethanal to just cover the buds.
Making is cold makes the undesirable components less soluble.
Edit: You might try using ethanal to make the tincture. 190 proof is available at our liquor stores. That way it is not toxic, well no more toxic than booze. LOL
I have used the QWET technique on decarbed buds when the resulting wax will be used in edibles. I then dissolve the wax in coconut oil for use in brownies or cookies.
Less volatile than methyl-- or ethyl-- being the third longer chain. Like methyl it’s more toxic than ethyl so I’d only use it after complete evap and not as tincture but I use methyl hydrate and I’m sure it’s all evaporated when it’s done
@Darran I failed to mention that the buds are gently broken up by hand before freezing. If you are too rough on the buds or use a grinder of some sort, you are very likely to get a lot of green crap in the mixture.
I did a little research on making thc salves a while ago. If I were to make one I would use grain alcohol 190 proof and use a qwet method to reduce to wax. Once you have the wax you combine with ingredients like shea butter or other ingredients to make a salve. In this scenario, I would decarb the buds first, but up to you as wax can be decarbed. There are tons of recipes on making thc salves and rubs on line. You can also make edibles from the wax.
You did everything correctly. Alcohol verde or alcohol de marijuana isn’t decarbed traditionally, because it’s used as a topical liniment for the THCa, CBDa, CBGA, etc. with anti inflammatory properties.
The plant simply infuses in isopropyl alcohol several weeks to months, until it turns deep dark green, strain. A slight green tinge on your skin is normal and goes away quickly.
Thank you @Budbrother ! I’m hoping that it works the way it’s supposed to. I appreciate all of you jumping in. Since Xmas is getting close, I’m hoping that the second batch that was decarbed is kind of the “quick” version. Since it sat for 10 days and got that dark green, I was worried. But I did use the same alcohol that I had infused with the non-decarbed weed. That had sat for 60 days which I thought was enough until I read that it could take up to a year. That’s what caused me to go into panic mode and reuse it with the decarbed stuff. I’ll try to grab a picture to post here. Thanks again @merlin44@Jaysittinback@patrick1960@Budbrother
Oh, BTW, in California, we can only get clear “spirits” up to 120 proof. So even Everclear (which is what I originally looked for) is only 120 proof, the California maximum. I can get rums up to 160 proof (Strohs) but clear is limited to 120. Might have my Texas buddy send me some. I’ll check and see what AZ and NV do, I could drive there if need be.
I’ve never made this but guy I worked with earlier in life kept a bottle. His had something like peppermint oil in it and maybe something else that provided a little heat. It was very complex smelling but when applied you would occasionally get whiffs of weed and capsaicin. It worked though.
Great idea to add some other smells to it. I’ll be sure to ask wifey to question her boss about it without being suspicious. Really want it to be a good surprise for him.
