Are you ready to liven up your afternoon tea? Looking for an alternative to your morning cup of joe? Or maybe you’d prefer a relaxing hot mug to ease you into blissful slumber?
Ever asked yourself how to make cannabis tea?
You’re in luck. We’ve got 5 delicious weed tea recipes you can prepare for any occasion.
Benefits of Cannabis Tea
Cannabis teas are an excellent way to get your medicine without smoking or vaping. You can brew tea with regular buds, CBD hemp flowers, or kief. Cannabis tea is also a convenient way to use up extra stems and leaves from your harvest.
For many thousands of years, humans have been drinking canna tea for medicinal and ritual purposes:
- For centuries, Indians have made cannabis beverages called bhangfor medicinal purposes and as aphrodisiacs.
- The Chinese have included cannabis stem tea in their wellness arsenal for over 5000 years.
- Jamaican women use cannabis tea to alleviate morning sickness and other unpleasant symptoms of pregnancy.
- Some accounts even report that Queen Victoria drank cannabis tea to relieve menstrual cramps.
- Today, medical marijuana users are choosing cannabis tea for complaints from anxiety to chronic pain.
How to Make Cannabis Tea
It’s possible to make cannabis tea by directly infusing a chunk of bud in hot water using a tea ball or strainer. However, the resulting brew will be weak, and you’ll be wasting your weed. Cannabis is fat-soluble and works much better when combined with some type of oil or fat.
Cannabinoids are lipids, and they don’t mix well with water. You’ll get a much stronger result by using techniques, such as:
- Cooking cannabutter (cannabis-infused butter)
- Infusing cannabis into whole or condensed milk.
- Making an infusion using a carrier oil like coconut oil.
- Using a tincture.
We’ll show you how to make cannabis teas using each of these methods. But first, you’ll need to prepare your cannabis.
Decarboxylation
Before you make your tea, you need to activate the THC, CBD, and other cannabinoids through a process called decarboxylation. Decarboxylation, or decarbing, removes a carboxyl group from cannabinoid molecules, making them easier for the body to use. No need to be intimidated. Decarboxylation is a long name for a rather simple process.
- Preheat your oven to 220 degrees F.
- Break a few grams of cannabis into small chunks and spread them on a cookie sheet or glass baking dish.
- Bake the cannabis for about 40 minutes.
- Remove the tray from the oven and let the cannabis cool for 15 minutes.
That’s it! You’ve just successfully decarbed your ganja. Now you’re ready to use it to make some tasty cannabis tea.
Easy Wake and Bake CannaTea
A pleasant alternative to coffee, this tea will help you put a little spring in your step in the morning. For best results, use a high-caffeine black tea like Earl Grey or English Breakfast paired with a Sativa-dominant cannabis strain.
If you already have cannabutter on hand, you can make a cup of Wake and Bake CannaTea in about 10 minutes. Just in case you don’t, we’ll show you how to make quick and easy cannabutter to liven up your morning brew.
Making Cannabutter
Cannabis-infused butter is an extremely useful ingredient in the arsenal of any stoner’s kitchen.
Materials:
- 2 sticks of unsalted butter
- ⅛ ounce of cannabis flower or ½ ounce of leaves and trim
- Heat/cold-proof glass jar or measuring cup
- Cheesecloth and butcher’s string
Procedure:
- Heat the butter on the stovetop or crockpot on a low setting.
- Once the butter is melted, carefully pour it into the glass container.
- Store the butter in the refrigerator for 2 hours or until it becomes clarified. The butter will look visibly separated into two layers.
- Meanwhile, wrap the cannabis in the cheesecloth and secure it with string.
- Use a knife to pop the solid top layer out and place it in a pot on a low setting.
- Place the cannabis into the melted butter and heat for several hours, stirring occasionally.
- After about 6-12 hours, remove the cannabis package and store the melted butter in a glass jar in the refrigerator.
- If you’re in a hurry, you can brew your favorite cup of tea and steep the cannabis package for a few minutes for a starter cup.
Making Wake and Bake Cannatea
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon of Sativa-dominant cannabutter
- 1 individual bag of Earl Grey or English Breakfast tea
- Milk and sugar (if desired)
Making the tea:
- Boil water in a tea kettle or saucepan.
- Place tea bag into a cup and pour in the boiling water.
- Stir in one teaspoon of cannabutter.
- When the cannabutter is more or less dissolved, add milk and sugar to taste.
- Wait 40-90 minutes, and start your day smiling like Alice’s Cheshire Cat.
Spicy Cannabis Chai
Share hot Indian-inspired cannatea with your honey to spice up your next date, or serve it cold and add some zing to your workday with a cannabis chai latte.
Ingredients:
- 1-2 grams of cannabis (serves 2)
- 2 cups of water
- 2 tablespoons of butter or coconut oil
- 2 black tea bags
- Spices: 4 cardamom pods (smashed), 4 cloves, 1 stick of cinnamon, 1 teaspoon of grated fresh ginger
- Milk (optional)
- Sugar or honey (optional)
Making the tea:
- Take a small piece of cheesecloth, and make a pouch for your herbs and cannabis. Secure it with a rubber band.
- Bring the water and butter or coconut oil to a light simmer in a small saucepan or crockpot. Make sure the heat is at the lowest possible setting.
- Add the pouch of herbs. Let the mixture simmer for around 2 hours, stirring occasionally.
- After two hours, remove the mixture from the heat and let it cool slightly.
- Place the tea bags in cups.
- Remove the pouch of herbs from the cannabis mixture.
- Add the cannabis mixture to the cups and let your tea steep for a moment.
- Serve with milk, sugar, or honey to taste.
Sweet Tea with Cannabis
Are you looking for the perfect beverage for lounging on the porch during those lazy days of summer? Try our 420 take on southern sweet tea. We’ve added a Thai twist and a cannabis kick.
Ingredients:
- 1/2 cup sweetened condensed milk
- 1-2 grams of your favorite cannabis flower (Makes 2-4 servings)
- Four black tea bags
- 4 sliced lemons
- Star anise, cardamom pods, or other spices (optional)
- Sugar or another sweetener
- Ice cubes
Making the tea:
- Place condensed milk and decarbed cannabis into a Mason jar. Add spices, if desired. Simmer the mixture in a double boiler for two hours. Add more water, if needed.
- Meanwhile, boil 4 cups of water. Turn off the heat, and add the tea bags. Let the tea cool.
- Fill a large glass pitcher with lemon slices. Add the tea and sugar to taste. Traditionally, southern iced tea is quite sweet. Place the pitcher in the fridge to chill.
- After you’ve boiled the condensed milk and cannabis mixture for 2 hours, remove it from the heat.
- When the cannabis mixture has cooled enough to handle, strain it through cheesecloth or a wire-mesh strainer.
- Stir the cannabis-infused milk into the tea and chill it in the fridge for another 20 minutes.
- Add ice cubes and serve.
Wintertime Blues S.O.S. CannaTea
If you’re not into snow sports, being stuck inside in the winter can really get you down. Why not warm your heart and lift your spirits with some festive cannabis tea?
Ingredients:
- 1 teaspoon of cannabutter
- 1 bag of peppermint tea
- 1 tablespoon of powdered cocoa
- Sugar (to taste)
- Milk (optional)
Making the tea:
- Heat water in a small saucepan and add the teabag. Let the tea brew for one minute.
- Remove the teabag and slowly add powdered cocoa. Stir the mixture until it has an even consistency.
- Spoon in your cannabutter and stir until the butter dissolves into the tea.
- Add sugar and milk to taste. Pair with a pastry and watch those wintertime blues disappear.
Relaxing Chamomile-Cannabis Tea
Are you looking to wind down after a long day at work? Our herbal cannabis tea will have you drifting off to dreamland in no time. This recipe works best with an Indica-dominant or high CBD strain.
Ingredients:
- Grain alcohol or high-proof Vodka
- 4-8 grams of cannabis flower or leaf
- 1 glass jar with a lid
- 4 Chamomile or other herbal tea bags
Making the tincture:
You can use a ready-made tincture if you have one on hand. But making a home-made tincture is a simple process. It just takes time.
- Place your cannabis in the glass jar.
- Fill the jar with enough alcohol to cover.
- Close the lid and shake the mixture a few times.
- Place the jar in a cool dark place for at least 24 hours, shaking occasionally. The longer you let the mixture sit, the stronger it will be. Many people allow tinctures to sit for more than two weeks.
- After the desired time has elapsed, strain the liquid through a coffee filter into a shallow dish.
- Set the dish aside in a place where it won’t be disturbed to allow some of the alcohol to evaporate. This process can take several hours.
- Use a funnel to transfer the tincture to a dark glass dropper bottle.
Making the tea:
Brew herbal tea as usual, and add your tincture. The amount you use depends on how long you let cannabis sit in the alcohol and how much alcohol you’ve evaporated out of the tincture. Try starting with 1/2 of a dropper and wait at least 90 minutes before having another cup of tea. If you’re using a ready-made tincture, follow the directions from the manufacturer. Keep in mind that oil-based tinctures won’t thoroughly mix with the tea.
Remember that cannabis tea acts like an edible, so go low and slow. You can either make weaker infusions or begin by drinking just a half of a cup of tea.
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So, there you have it— five around-the-clock recipes for cannabis tea. Feel free to experiment with ingredients and invent your own signature version of cannabis tea. Tell us about it in the comments. We’d love to hear from you.
