A Beginner's Guide on How to Make Cannasugar - Origins Cannabis

What is Cannasugar?

To understand how to make cannasugar, you first need to understand what cannasugar is. Basically, this is a type of sugar—short for “cannabis sugar”—that’s infused with cannabis. Once you’ve made it, it can be used to infuse many various types of recipes.

If you want to add a small spoonful of cannasugar to your coffee or tea, then you can experience the benefits of feeling a little euphoric.

Additionally, you can use your infused sugar in a variety of recipes. These include drinks and cocktails, chocolate chip cookies, cannabis brownies, and more. You’ll have any edible you want right at your fingertips.

Instead of having to buy edibles from a cannabis company, you can simply make your edibles at home.

This will save you not only money but also time. You won’t have to wait for your delivery to arrive if you want to enjoy one of your homemade edibles.

Another benefit? You can make your edibles more potent with cannasugar. By including both the sugar and oil that’s cannabis-infused, you can get a double dose of THC, CBD, or both.

Cannabis-Infused Sugar Recipe (How to Make Cannasugar)

If you want to know how to infuse sugar with THC, you need to know what steps there are for making your cannasugar. These steps include decarboxylating the cannabis flower, making a cannabis-based alcohol tincture, and evaporating the alcohol.

The ingredients you need are

• 3 grams of cannabis
• 120 milliliters of high-proof alcohol
• 100 grams of granulated sugar

This recipe can be adjusted as needed, but this is a good place to start.

As for equipment, you'll need a

• baking tray
• glass jar
• glass baking dish
• cheesecloth.

Before we get started, you should note these two things. First of all, you can’t use butter, oil, or another type of fat to make your cannabis sugar.

Second, you need to use the alcohol tincture when making your cannasugar. If you don’t, you won’t be able to make it.

Step 1—Decarboxylate Your Cannabis

In order to make cannasugar, think of yourself as someone doing a small science experiment. In the same way cannabis edibles companies have worked with science to make the best products, you’ll have to do the same.

When you do this, you’ll go through the scientific process of decarboxylating your cannabis. So put on those lab goggles. (Kidding. It’s not that high-risk of an experiment.)

The reason you need to do this is that cannabis flowers that are dried don’t actually have large amounts of CBD or THC in them.

What they do have high amounts of are CBDA and THCA, a non-intoxicating, acidic version of the CBD and THC cannabinoids you want in your sugar.

However, you can manipulate the CBDA and THCA to get these cannabinoids out.

To do this, you have to apply heat to the CBDA and THCA. When this happens, decarboxylation occurs and you end up with the CBD and THC.

To complete the decarboxylation process, you first have to chop or grind your weed. Then, place it on a baking tray. To apply heat to it, bake it at 250 degrees Fahrenheit for 35 to 40 minutes.

There are many ways to complete this process and even tools to help you, such as this one.

If you don’t go through this process, you could end up with cannasugar that has non-intoxicating or inactive effects. That wouldn't make your edibles very strong!

Step 2—Make the Alcohol-Based Tincture

Once you’ve decarboxylated your cannabis, the next step is to make the alcohol-based tincture. To do this, you’ll add alcohol to the solution the plant is in. This is because it works as a solvent that extracts the cannabinoids CBD and THC.

Have you ever added vanilla extract when baking something? This is the exact same process used to make that!

There are two types of alcohol-based tinctures you can make. One is the QWET tincture, which is a bit more modern, and the other is the Green dragon tincture, which is a more traditional type of long-soak process.

To complete this process, you need to put the weed in a jar and cover it with 120 milliliters of your high-proof alcohol. Then, screw the lid on. Next, every 5 minutes, shake the jar. Do this for 20 minutes.

A great jar choice for this step is a Mason jar or other type of resealable jar.

Then, strain what's in the jar through a cheesecloth into a bowl. You now have your alcohol-based tincture.

Once you’ve made the tincture, you’ll pour it over your white sugar. Pour it directly, then stir.

Step 3—Evaporate the Alcohol (All of It)

The final step for making cannasugar is evaporating all of the alcohol that’s in the sugar. This way, what you have left are the sugar crystals and the cannabis oils you extracted (which have bound to the crystals of sugar).

Keep in mind that there are a variety of ways to evaporate alcohol, and some of these are safer than others.

The reason you need to be careful is that alcohol is highly flammable, and many people use heat in order to evaporate alcohol quickly.

However, to be more on the safe side, we recommend that you allow the alcohol to evaporate slowly over time. For this process to work, you simply need to wait a few days. Over this time, the alcohol will naturally evaporate.

If you don’t want to wait this amount of time, then you can use a food dehydrator to evaporate the alcohol in the cannasugar solution.

Once you’ve completed this step, you’ll have the cannasugar you can use to create CBD and THD-infused recipes.

Weed Sugar Tips to Make Cannasugar

When you’re making cannasugar correctly, you have to follow the right tips. These include using a breathable cover, using a pan that’s the right type, using a fan, and stirring your sugar regularly, and more. By using them, you’ll have higher quality cannasugar.

Use a Breathable Cover

If you want the alcohol to evaporate, you need a breathable cover when you’re doing the evaporation process. Otherwise, the alcohol might evaporate but then come back down onto the cannasugar, negating all of your efforts.

You don’t want to put a lid or top on your pan. If you’re afraid that your cannasugar might get contaminated while you’re dehydrating it naturally, using a cheesecloth piece that’s thin can be the right choice of breathable cover.

Use a Pan That’s the Right Type

If you want your alcohol to evaporate more quickly, it helps to use a pan that’s a bit bigger. This is because, the more shallow the material in the pan is, the more the surface area will be exposed to your kitchen’s air. As a result, the alcohol will leave the solution faster.

One option is to use a baking dish that holds 3 quarts (or is 9 by 13 inches).

Some people suggest using parchment paper or foil on top of a baking sheet, but we’ve found that it can be a bit messy. If you stir the sugar frequently, you could end up spilling a bit if going this route.

Use a Fan

Do you want the alcohol to evaporate faster, but you don’t have a food dehydrator? In this case, you can use a fan. While you stir the sugar, run the fan over the solution, so that you can make the alcohol evaporate even more quickly.

Because the fan makes the sugar and air move around more, the evaporation will be quicker.

Stir Your Sugar Regularly

If you want the evaporation process to go quickly, you should stir your sugar regularly. This way, you’ll give the alcohol air exposure, so it will more easily go into the air instead of staying in the sugar solution. We found that using a silicone spatula was effective.

We stirred the sugar four to five times a day, so you should stir at least that often if you want the alcohol to evaporate more quickly.

Use the Right Drying Space

Finally, you’ll want to use the right drying space. You can use a refrigerator shelf or the top of a pantry. Whatever you do, don’t put it near your stove. If you do put it near your stove, make sure that you put a sticky note on the stove so you don’t accidentally set the sugar on fire.

Need More Information?

Now that you’ve learned all about how to make cannasugar, you might need additional information. Maybe you want to learn about the different recipes you can make with cannasugar.

Or maybe you want to learn about other ways to infuse cannabis into other substances.

Whatever information you need, we can help you. At Origins Cannabis, our well trained staff is knowledgeable in all aspects of cannabis and are ready and waiting to answer your questions. Either contact us today or stop by one of our local dispensaries to get more of your questions answered.