Cannabis concentrates are growing in popularity. While it’s possible to purchase high quality cannabis concentrates at your local dispensary, many cannabis users are turning to D.I.Y. solutions to make THC wax with Everclear at home.
Homemade cannabis concentrates are usually much less expensive than professionally made ones usually sold in dispensaries. Making homemade cannabis concentrates with high-proof alcohol is a fairly straightforward process, but it’s not without its hazards.
A Note About Safety
The use of flammable solvents can be dangerous. People have died attempting to do so. The process involves both heat and nearly pure alcohol. Unless you are a trained chemist, or possibly a chef used to work with high temperatures and flammable ingredients, making your own homemade cannabis concentrates is probably a bad idea.
This article is in no way condoning illegal activity, and we claim no responsibility should you choose to break the law. We also claim no responsibility for any harm or injury that should come from attempting this.
Should you attempt to do this anyway, be sure to proceed with extreme caution. It is neccesary to work outdoors or in a space with good ventilation. Always be sure there is no source of ignition anywhere around. That means there should be no open flames or anything that could cause a spark.
Also, make sure that any glassware that you want to use is for high heat and avoid the use of plastic.
What You’ll Need
Before you start, you’ll need a few essential items. Don’t be tempted to substitute cheaper, less durable alternatives. These are all common items that you may either already have or will find fairly easily.
To make your own cannabis concentrates with Everclear high-proof alcohol you’ll need:
- Dried cannabis flower
- 1 Bottle of Everclear (190 proof)
- 1 Glass mason jar
- Baking parchment paper
- 1 Rice cooker
- 1 Mesh strainer
- Unbleached coffee filters
- Something to stir with (stainless steel or glass works best)
- 1 baking sheet
- An oven
It’s important to keep in mind that alcohol is a volatile solvent and when heated it tends to evaporate easily.
Because of the operating temperatures it’s important to use glass containers instead of plastic ones. The coffee-filters need to be all-natural because any bleach or additives could be extracted by the solvent into your concentrate, and those aren’t things you’d like to ingest.
A glass mason jar could work well for mixing, since it’ll be easier to pour the mixture out through the strainer. It’s possible to heat the mixture in a water bath, but a rice cooker is just much simpler. You can plug it in and set it on low in your ventilated space with the lid open, and that’s all. Of course, it’s not a great idea to do this in a dirty rice cooker or one you plan on making rice in any time soon. The cannabis concentrate is sticky and it’ll take some serious cleanup.
How to Make THC Wax With Everclear
Making cannabis concentrates with Everclear is fairly simple in concept, and only takes a few steps. However, it’s important to remember that this process is potentially dangerous.
Before you begin, preheat your oven to 230-250 degrees Fahrenheit: that is a good temperature to decarboxylate your cannabis flowers.
Start by breaking up the cannabis buds by hand. This works best if the pieces aren’t too finely ground, so don’t use a grinder or scissors. Break the buds apart based on how they grew naturally, and remove any remaining leaves or stems.
Once you’ve finished breaking up the cannabis, spread it out into a thin layer on your baking sheet. Be aware, this will smell, so if your neighbors aren’t alright with the smell of cannabis, you might want to find a better way to dry and decarboxylate your cannabis. Then, put your baking sheet in the oven for 30-45 minutes. When it’s done, take your cannabis out of the oven, and let it cool.
Gather up your cooled cannabis, and put it in your mixing jar. Then, pour the Everclear over the cannabis. You want to pour enough to completely submerge the cannabis, but you should avoid using too much because it will take you longer time to evaporate it all later on.
With the cannabis covered, use your stirrer to gently stir the cannabis in the alcohol. You should stir constantly for at least 10 minutes. You’re not trying to break up the cannabis or spread the green color that’s going to seep out around. Just keep a steady pace, and you’ll be fine.
After you’ve finished mixing, pour the mixture through the strainer into your rice cooker to evaporate the Everclear. Use a coffee filter in the strainer to prevent the smaller pieces of cannabis bud from getting in the final product.
Set the rice cooker on low heat, and leave the lid open. This will take several hours for the Everclear to evaporate. Remember, you’re not trying to heat the alcohol too much. It’s highly flammable, and the cannabis is already decarboxylated. All you’re trying to do is speed up the evaporation process.
When the alcohol is gone, you’ll be left with a gooey tar-like substance on the bottom of the rice cooker. That is your cannabis concentrate. Turn off the rice cooker and carefully scrape the concentrate out of the rice cooker and place it in your parchment paper. Freeze or refrigerate it to preserve its freshness.
How to Use Your Cannabis Concentrate
The cannabis concentrate that you just made is intended to be used orally, not dabbed or vaped. Your concentrate is not pure. It contains chlorophyll and other parts of the cannabis plant that you probably don’t want to inhale. They’ll taste bad, and they’re not exactly great for you. Instead, you want to use by itself as a sublingual drop or as part of a consumable product. This concentrate works well in cannabis oils. You can also use it to create edibles. Just be mindful that it might not taste the best, so if you are planning on making edibles, you might want to mask its taste with other ingredients.
