Now that marijuana is legal in many states, you might be interested in trying it. Or maybe you’ve tried it before, but you’re looking for a different kind of high. Using marijuana as the base for “weed tea” is one way you could ingest cannabis. But what are the effects?

Does marijuana tea get you high? Marijuana tea can get you high if prepared with butter or another fatty oil. This is because THC, the intoxicating chemical in marijuana, is not water-soluble, but is fat-soluble. Marijuana also requires “decarboxylation,” the activation of THC due to heat, to have its psychosomatic effects.  

So how do we get a stronger or weaker high when brewing weed tea? And what exactly happens during decarboxylation? Read on for the answers to these questions and learn how to get the most from your cannabis.

How to Brew Marijuana Tea, by Strength of High

There are a few ways you can use marijuana leaves to make tea, varying from no intoxicating effects to very mild to just as strong as smoking. 

Based on your health needs and interests, any of these recipes could be a fit for you. If you just want to feel calm and soothed, choose the recipe for little to no psychoactive effect. If you are not an experienced weed smoker but want to try the high, try the recipe with some psychoactive effects. 

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Only use decarboxylated weed when you’re looking for a strong high. Below, we describe three methods to decarboxylate your weed and prepare it for cooking. These methods can be used to prepare weed for any edible recipe. 

Little to No Psychoactive Effect

Because THC requires fat to dissolve, if you make your tea with water instead of butter or oil, it will merely flavor the tea. You may experience some feelings of calm, but you won’t get the usual effect anything like when you smoke.

Ingredients

These are the ingredients for cannabis tea with rose and chamomile. 

• 2 teaspoons ground cannabis trim, stems, or buds
• 2 teaspoons dried chamomile
• 2 teaspoons dried rose buds

Since there’s nothing to dissolve the THC and you’re not decarboxylating your marijuana, it will likely have little effect beyond the usual calming effects of tea.

Directions

Here is what you should do to make cannabis tea with rose and chamomile.

1. Add all the dried flowers, including the cannabis, into a tea infuser.
2. Steep in hot water for 5-10 minutes. This is not long enough or hot enough to decarboxylate the tea. 
3. Once the drink has steeped, add honey or another sugar to sweeten. 

Don’t use milk, butter, or other fat-based creams or sweeteners if you don’t want to increase the effects of the THC.

Some Psychoactive Effects

You can make a lovely tea called “cannabis golden milk” using cannabis-infused coconut oil. These instructions will guide you through making the oil as well as the tea.

Ingredients

Make sure you’ve assembled all of the following ingredients before you begin making your tea. Leaving out any in the recipe could negatively affect the taste of your tea.

• 1 cup of ground cannabis flower. Feel free to use less if you want even milder effects
• 1 cup of coconut oil
• 1 cup unsweetened almond or coconut milk
• 1 cinnamon stick
• 1 1” piece of fresh turmeric. Do not peel it. Slice it thinly. This can be substituted for ½ teaspoon dried turmeric
• 1 ½” piece ginger. Do not peel it. Slice it thinly.
• 1 tablespoon honey
• ¼ teaspoon whole black peppercorns
• Ground cinnamon
• Strainer or cheesecloth
• Hand grinder
• Double-boiler, slow cooker
• Small saucepan

This tea will actually show the effects of a marijuana high, so be careful with your potency and how much cannabis you use. Start with lower doses at first to make sure you’re not using too much.

Directions

Follow these instructions carefully to make sure you get the most out of your weed and the best-tasting tea. First, you will make the cannabis-infused coconut oil, and then you will use it for your tea. 

1. Grind the cannabis, but not so finely that it will fall through your strainer.
2. Put the coconut oil and cannabis in the double-boiler, slow cooker, or saucepan. Cook them together for a few hours on low heat. Be careful and do not burn it, as you will destroy active ingredients.
3. Strain the mix. It can be used for at least two months, longer with refrigeration.
4. Whisk coconut or almond milk, cinnamon, turmeric, ginger, honey, peppercorns, and a cup of water in a small saucepan.
5.  Bring to a low boil
6. Reduce heat and add the newly cannabis-infused coconut oil
7. Simmer for about ten minutes or until the flavors have blended
8. Strain into mugs and top with cinnamon as desired

The cannabis coconut oil will keep for months, but your tea will not keep very long. Enjoy!

How to Get Cannabis Tea with a Strong High

To get a strong high from weed tea, you have to decarboxylate your marijuana first. The following are three ways to prep your marijuana before using it in tea. 

Then you can use it in any marijuana tea recipe, and it will be strong and have psychoactive effects.

The process of decarboxylation is also called “decarbing” or “decarb.”

Decarboxylation Using an Oven

Keep in mind this little known fact: the temperature you set your oven at is not exact. It’s more of an average and can fluctuate as much as twenty degrees during cooking. 

Avoid damage to your cannabis by watching its color and smell. If it smells like it’s burning or the color is browning, turn the oven down. An oven thermometer is also helpful.

1. Set the oven to 225 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Place the oven rack in the middle position
3. Cut a piece of aluminum foil to roughly the size of the baking sheet, crumple it slightly, and lay it across the sheet
4. Lightly break up the cannabis until it’s about the size of rice. Any smaller and you increase the chance of burning
5. Spread the cannabis across the foil
6. Lay another piece of foil along the top
7. Place the sheet in the oven and bake for 45 minutes
8. Remove and let cool for 30 minutes at room temperature
9. When it has cooled enough for you to touch, put the cannabis into a storage container so you can use it later

When all is said and done, your cannabis should look golden brown and slightly toasted.

Decarboxylation in a Mason Jar

This method minimizes strong cannabis odors that can occur when heating the cannabis in an oven without the mason jar. It is also less likely you will burn any of the cannabis.

1. Set the oven between 220 and 240 degrees Fahrenheit
2. Place the oven rack in the middle position
3. Lightly break up the cannabis until it’s about the size of rice
4. Put the cannabis in the mason jar and screw the lid on lightly
5. Lightly wet a kitchen towel
6. Lay the slightly wet towel over the baking sheet
7. Put the mason jar on the towel. This will keep it from falling over or rolling around
8. Bake for 60 minutes, gently removing the mason jar and shaking it to disperse the cannabis evenly every fifteen minutes
9. After 60 minutes, take the jar out of the oven
10. Let sit for 30 minutes at room temperature before storing or using in another recipe

Using this mason jar method is more reliable than just cooking in the oven, although both are effective in terms of strength of the high.

Decarboxylation by Sous Vide

This is the most exact, reliable method, but because it is costly, it’s better to try it only if you’re going to be decarboxylating cannabis frequently. Otherwise, it’s hard to justify the expenditure if you’re only going to do it once or twice.

1. Fill a container with top tap water and place an immersion calculator inside
2. Set the immersion calculator to 203 degrees Fahrenheit
3. Grind the cannabis as finely as possible
4. Seal the cannabis as flat and tight as possible in a vacuum-sealed or zip-top plastic bag
5. Place the sealed bag in the water for 90 minutes
6. Carefully remove and let cool at room temperature for 15-20 minutes
7. Dry the bag carefully
8. Open it and place the decarboxylated cannabis into a different container. Store for future cooking

Immersion calculators cost about $100, so although this is the highest quality method, it’s by far the most expensive.

What Happens During Decarboxylation?

Technically speaking, decarboxylation is when a molecule breaks apart and releases carbon dioxide. This is necessary for THC to appear in your cannabis.

This is because, in raw cannabis, THC-A is all that appears. This is an acidic relative of THC that will not make you high. Releasing carbon dioxide will convert THC-A to THC.

So basically, decarboxylation is the chemical process that turns the benign acid THC-A into THC, which actually gets you high.

How Does THC Get You High?

It stimulates the part of your brain that corresponds with pleasures. It releases a chemical called dopamine, giving a euphoric, relaxed feeling in the best cases. 

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