Reefer rum

October 3, 2005 9:04 AM

I've been trying to find some info on soaking marijuana in alcohol, specifically to determine what the effects would be in drinking such a mixture. Everything I've found so far, suggests that a marijuana/alcohol mixture makes a good tincture for presumedly medicinal purposes. There is also a vodka beverage infused with marijuana seeds that is supposed to be quite terrible. Alcohol is said to be good for extracting THC and I've seen some sources suggest using it to make hash. Just for fun, I've put about an ounce of chopped bud into a bottle and filled it with rum. But before I drink it, I'd kinda like to know something about dosage and strength. So anyone out there ever try this before?
posted by anonymous to food & drink (17 comments total)

I'm pretty sure that pot has to be cooked before being eaten if you want it to have any psychoactive effect. Thus the "pot brownies", although you can also just mix the pot with some oil or butter and nuke it for a minute or two. But eating raw pot won't have much effect.
posted by alms at 9:19 AM on October 3, 2005

I read somewhere once that you can take buds and soak them in alcohol (as you've done) and then wait for it to ... change into something else

In this instance the buds were set on a plate, open air, and soaking in hi-proof vodka. Eventually the buds turned into an oily substance which was scraped up and smoked.

So I believe it is possible but not too sure of the exact specifications

www.erowid.org or alt.binaries.pot have been excellent resources over the years.

good luck and happy smoking
posted by Makebusy7 at 9:30 AM on October 3, 2005

The point isn't to eat the plant material; the THC is supposed to be extracted into the alcohol and then ingested that way. I've never drunk any, but have known people who have enjoyed it. I've always known the drink to be called "Green Dragon." A google search brings up various recipes and anecdotes.
posted by ludwig_van at 9:31 AM on October 3, 2005

Here is an anecdotal reference from Erowid that indicates 28 grams (just over an ounce) of shake should be consumed 1/4 shot at a time.
posted by muddgirl at 9:33 AM on October 3, 2005

Ahh, forgot to add YMMV on habits and the grade of marijuana. Start small and work your way up.
posted by muddgirl at 9:34 AM on October 3, 2005

THC is soluble in lipids and alcohol; adding a bit of heat aids in the process, but keep it below 300°F if you want to play it safe (THC boils at around 400°F). Microwaving it is probably a bad idea: the THC crystals have a tendency to "pop."

As for dosage--you said you put an ounce in. Figure out your dosage from that. I'd start with a couple of shots, then wait 20 minutes for any effects. Don't forget you're mixing your drugs, so be aware of BOTH. In other words, half a bottle of rum would be half an ounce of cannabinoids, but it's still half a bottle of rum! THC isn't water soluble, so drink plenty of water.

Now for my disclaimer: ingesting weed is a different kind of experience from smoking. The effects come on slower, and in sufficient quantities can be stupifying (a waste, if you ask me). Further, I have never had a great experience mixing alcohol with weed. At best it's been just OK. At worst, I was temporarily blinded (for about 5 minutes). Not fun. Your mileage may vary, just don't be stupid.
posted by Civil_Disobedient at 9:38 AM on October 3, 2005

Marijuana does not technically need to be cooked - you need to break down the indigestible cellulose cell walls so your digestive system can get at the psychoactive compounds. Alcohol does this over a long period of time too.

The tincture you are trying to make is commonly called green dragon - the effects are those of alcohol and cannabis, simultaneously. I suggest soaking it for no less than three weeks and trying half a shot to gauge potency.
posted by sid at 9:38 AM on October 3, 2005

the best resource for marijuana information is Overgrow.

You'll find your answer there.
posted by five fresh fish at 9:47 AM on October 3, 2005

Back in the early days of my youth we mixed Everclear and bud. We dropped it in and waited until it turned green (a week or so). We then mixed with something else (cranberry juice or something similar) as 190 proof Everclear is not that fun to take shots of. Long story short everyone got so fucked up we all hallucinated and one of us even claimed to be experiencing what could only be described as "rebirth". I think it was fun but I'm pretty sure the part of my brain that experienced that is now fried.
posted by geoff. at 10:33 AM on October 3, 2005

Marijuana plus Everclear blended and strained through a coffee filter will give you the best yield. Alternatively, consider hot-buttered rum made with cannabutter.

1 tsp Sugar
1/2 tsp Cannabutter
1 jigger light or dark Rum
4 Cloves
posted by glibhamdreck at 1:47 PM on October 3, 2005

Here's a rather wordy article describing a commercial weed vodka and a hommade version. Sounded a bit too complex for my attention span.
posted by dripdripdrop at 2:50 PM on October 3, 2005

So I guess this makes the whole straightedge thing moot.
posted by Alt F4 at 3:53 PM on October 3, 2005

There is a fairly simply and typical method for extracting chemicals from plants and other such things. I can't remember the name--some neuroscience friends of mine were doing a lot of this back in college. Essentially, you keep your material in a filter above your solvent, and boil that solvent through a condenser, which then drips the solvent down into the filter. This essentially washes the plant material constantly with heated solvent without heating it to a temperature higher than the boiling point of the solvent (for ethanol, around 120 deg F) and without requiring a large amount of solvent. You can then simply dry the solvent and you'll have a powder or film of your solute. All in all, the equipment should cost around $20 at a surplus store. Just make sure you're not heating anything under pressure (or allowing flammable vapor to get near a flame or hot surface) or doing anything you'll get in trouble for. You can also try rigging up a rotovap by placing your solution into a flask under vacuum and rotating it for a period of time. You might consider everclear or some other form of relatively pure (NOT denatured) ethanol.
posted by dsword at 4:11 PM on October 3, 2005

I remember reading about 25 years ago that uncooked leaf has tiny, sharp hairs that can give you a stomach ache. Cooked leaf (e.g. brownies) ddestroys the hairs.

So strain before you sip.
posted by ZenMasterThis at 4:14 PM on October 3, 2005

I've eaten raw bud several times and noticed no stomach pains. I did however get rip roaring wasted for quite a long time. It was more like mushrooms than smoking pot.
posted by spork at 4:27 PM on October 3, 2005

I made ganja butter a couple of times. Easy to do--just a medium-sized thing of margarine or butter, drop it in a pan with your finely-chopped/separated weed. You could put in whole buds but I think the THC is separated a bit easier if the buds are chopped. So put both in a saucepan, stir around a bit til melted, and cover. Low heat, very low for maybe 30 minutes or so. You're trying to get the THC, which is fat-soluable, out of the plant material and into the butter. Warning, this can be quite stinky, make sure your nosy neighbors aren't home or you've got a good fan. When done, just strain back into the container and pop into the fridge, of course throwing away the plant material.

Having said all that, I've sworn off ingesting the stuff. The onset of the high is really slow, but is always more intense and lasts a long time. It's really hard to know how strong it is, and how much you should take. I notice I can't even speak with my fellow stoned friends, much less a sober person out in public.

Smoking is how God wants us to enjoy weed.
posted by zardoz at 6:51 PM on October 3, 2005

I don't know about rum, but beer is fine.
posted by Marky at 9:38 PM on October 3, 2005