Recipe: How to Make Cannabis-Infused Tea

Cannabis tea can be made in a variety of ways from many different ingredients depending on your personal preferences. A few methods include: 

1.       An infusion of dry flowers and water -- typically less psychoactive because THC is not water-soluble.

2.       A mixture of cannabis infused with fat (e.g., coconut oil, butter, and/or dairy) combined with tea leaves and water to make a chai or latte-type drink.

3.       A mixture of regular tea leaves and water heated with an alcohol-based extraction (such as a tincture) added to it.

Unfortunately, making infused tea that provides the wide variety of medicinal, psychoactive, or recreational effects cannabis offers isn't as simple as you might think. THC extraction can be a little finicky thanks to decarboxylation and solubility factors, but fear not: once you understand a few simple concepts, it’s all green fields from there! 

During the process of decarboxylation, the non-psychoactive compound THCA is converted to the compound THC, activating its many medicinal and psychoactive properties. The heat applied to cannabis when smoking or vaporizing provokes decarboxylation without any extra effort on our part. When making edibles, the process naturally occurs when the cannabis is cooked with butter or oils, or when hash and kief are added to a favorite recipe and then heated on the stove.  

If you choose to decarboxylate your cannabis using a heating method before adding it to the tea, remember that the optimal time and temperature for decarboxylation may vary depending on the following factors:

• The amount of moisture in your product
• How much product you use
• The type of oven you have access to (e.g., gas or electric) 

There are many ways to make cannabis tea. Your preferred method will depend on the following:

• Skills and experience cooking with cannabis 
• Desired effects of the tea (medicinal or recreational)
• The potency and type of strain(s) used to make the product
• Amount of cannabis (flowers or leaves) added to the product
• Method of production and extraction of THC