Making ganja tea (need help)

This comes up at least a few times a week... sometimes, even a few times a day.

http://forum.grasscity.com/incredible-edible-herb/953768-mary-jane-tea.html

http://forum.grasscity.com/incredible-edible-herb/606676-canna-tea-[easy-guide].html

http://forum.grasscity.com/incredible-edible-herb/948339-pot-tea.html


In this case, your proposed 'edible solvent' is butter.

A diluted solvent is very ineffective compared to one that is more concentrated, or pure. In any given amount of time, you will promote much more bioavailability (more potency available to your body) in a pure edible solvent, compared to one that is very diluted.


Making oil is just as easy as making your tea, and especially if you only have a little time to spare to make your edible, you need to be sure you're using the best materials possible, to compensate for your brief processing.

If you are truly compelled to make a tea, use whatever time you have as wisely as possible, and process your herb in pure, clarified butter first, before straining and adding to to your pre-brewed tea... why do we clarify butter? The little water it contains, soaked into the herb, can add hours to the total gentle process, before the glandular material has fully broken down It also pulls in loads of inert plant matter, such as chlorophyll, bitter salts, plant waxes... all the things that don't contribute to potency, and cause a canna butter to taste (to most people) like over-boiled vegetation or brussel sprouts.


More details below (regarding the use of both high-fat cream, as well as butter in water).



"Teas made this way (with milk or cream, or butter-water), have widely been for a long, long time, one of the very most disappointing edible/drinkables, because when you get right down to it, the old fashioned water-butter methods of making canna butter (and even waterless methods for making canna butter, using unclarified butter), are considered very outdated and ineffective.


So if pure milk fat, or butter mixed with a bit of water is ineffective, just imagine how much potency you miss out on, by processing in an impure oil source such as cream.



The oil in this case is your edible solvent, and cannabis glandular material is not considered water soluble. When your solvent has so much water contamination, it drastically reduces its efficiency, as a solvent.

It's why the water-butters of the old days required between 15 - 24 hours of heating for the best effect... Your milky-tea made this way, will too.


When working with inferior ingredients, you need to compensate for the loss in potency, by multiplying the amount of material you use. However much material you need to feel satisfactory just one time, when processing improperly, that same amount of material may have provided you several, stronger, more powerful doses, with the correct processing. Consuming partially raw or under-processed canna, requires much more material to do the job effectively.


So do yourself a favor, and if you are compelled to make a 'tea', just use clarified milk fat first (ie, clarified butter), make a small, but MUCH more potent portion of oil, then just whisk it into some warm milk that has either been pre-brewed with your favorite tea, or blended with your favorite hot cocoa.

You'll have much better, longer-lasting and stronger effects with the same amount of time and effort, when processing in a more pure solvent, than you can have by processing in a solution that can barely break down glandular material in under a days time.


Of course, making a small portion of oil leaves you with a few more options, as well...

(A spoon of cocoa, a spoon and a half of powdered sugar, a few drops of milk and your oil, and you have some good, quick canna truffles... )













Good luck, and Happy Turkey day


PS - and if you're going to do it, avoid the tea bags... They only hinder the process, they keep the material packed together too tightly, and they don't allow for nearly the level of exposure to oil that 'loose leaf' cannabis can allow. Just strain out and discard the excess material after the fact, and you're golden. " - BKS (in 'Pot Tea thread')


PPS - Don't forget to decarb/activate your material.. especially if you wind up going with the milky tea/cocoa. Decarboxylation is the process of removing the carboxyl group in the form of carbon dioxide and water vapor, this is only easily done in a dry environment, or in oil (similar to a potato, becoming a chip) but it can't be done in even close to a reasonable amount of time, or before the cannabinoids degrade, when submerged in water.

Check the CannaPharm Sticky for more details (length of time, temperature etc.) on activation, and processing your butter/oil. "


Good luck, and have fun!