What is a THC Tincture?
If you have been into your local dispensary lately, you have probably have seen some small dropper bottles in the display case. These are generally THC or CBD tinctures and they come in an assortment of strengths and flavours. THC tinctures are extracts made from high proof alcohol such a everclear.
THC Tinctures can be made relatively easily using decarboxylated weed, high-proof alcohol, a coffee filter, mason jar and some time. If you don’t want to go through the trouble of making one yourself, you can find a wide variety of THC Tinctures online for you to choose from.
What is the shelf life of THC Tinctures?
These alcohol based products can last for years if stored properly. The ideal place to store your THC Tincture is in a dark location where the bottle is not in any sort of direct light. Especially sunlight which will warm the bottle. Storing your Tincture in cool space is ideal like the back of a medicine cabinet. You can even keep your Tincture in the refrigerator.
Make sure when you’re using your THC tincture that you keep the dropper clean from any contaminants. You don’t accidently want to drip the dropper into anything like food or a person’s mouth and then put it back into the bottle. This can cause bacteria to get into THC Tincture and cause it to spoil quicker.
How do I take my THC Tincture?
You have a number of different options for ingesting a THC tincture. The easiest being to put a few drops under your tongue and wait a few seconds for it to absorb into your arterial blood supply. This will be the quickest way to feel the THC onset as it will go directly into your bloodstream. If you swallow or ingest your THC tincture through food or a beverage then the THC will have to be processed through the liver before entering the bloodstream.
Adding a few drops of a THC tincture to tea can be a nice way to take it as most tinctures come with some fruit flavouring that pairs well with a nice organic herbal tea. I have also found that adding it to an oil based salad dressing can work really well.
What are the different kinds of THC Tinctures?
THC Tincture in glass bottle
There are a couple things to look for when you are shopping for a tincture. The first would be whether you want a pure THC tincture or one that contains CBD in it, too. You will find a lot of THC tinctures that contain a certain amount of CBD in them. For example, you’ll find different THC/CBD ratios such as 4 to 1 or 1 to 1 ratio of THC to CBD in them.
The next thing to look for when selecting a tincture is the strength of it. THC Tinctures generally come in 30ml dropper bottles. The amount of THC contained per bottle can vary quite widely. You can find as low as 12.5mg per bottle in a 20:1 CBD to THC ratio. All the way up to over 1000 mg per bottle if you have a pure THC tincture. Because of these wide variations of tincture concentration you need to be careful with dosing. A 1ml dropper can contain anywhere from 1mg of THC all the way up to 33mg of THC depending on the strength.
The final difference you will find between different tinctures is the flavouring. Most but not all THC tinctures get their flavouring from natural terpenes. You will occasionally find a company that uses artificial flavours, but most have switched over to using more natural methods. Honey and cinnamon are also common ingredients used to flavour THC tinctures.
How much THC tincture should I take?
THC Tincture mixed with Salad Dressing
This answer is going to be different for everyone as everyone reacts to THC differently. We all have different tolerance factors as well. So there is no easy answer to this. All I can say is please start with a small dose and adjust accordingly for your next session with the medication. You always want to start at a low dosage and gradually let your body become adjusted to the effects.
If you absorb the THC under your tongue, you should start to feel the effects of your THC tincture after about 10-15 minutes. If you ingest it through the gut, expect to start noticing the effects after about 30-45 minutes. It will take a full hour to 90 minutes to feel the full effects of the THC any of the ways you ingest it. The effects of the tincture will last longer than if you vaped or smoked THC, but not as long as if you had eaten a butter based THC edible. For me the effects usually last around 3-4 hours.
Why you should try out a THC tincture if you haven’t done so already.
For me personally, I like the fact that I can control my dosage fairly easily when taking a tincture. I usually take a 1 to 1 THC to CBD tincture. I know that one full dropper will contain about 5mg of THC. This is a perfect amount for myself to microdose with as I know taking more than this will leave me full on stoned. I get the best results when I take this on days where I am either working on something creative or doing an activity outside. Microdosing helps me to concentrate and immerse myself into whatever activity I am doing. If you haven’t tried a THC tincture yet, now is your chance. I like to tell people it’s a way to experience THC somewhere between vaping and eating edibles.