I've just made my very first batch of cannabutter using 2sticks of butter and 12gs of good quality bud. I'm afraid my cannabutter isn't very potent. Can I remelt it and add a little distillate to increase potency? If so, do I heat it for a while or long enough to combine the two? Thanks in advance
Can i add distillate to flower cannabutter
- Thread starter TrishaM13
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PadawanWarrior
Well-Known Member
Interesting question. I'm gonna wait for the pros to chime in. @Thundercat and @Renfro where are ya, lol.
TrippleDip
Well-Known Member
Uhh, I don't claim to be a pro or anything but I'd say you can use it with no problems. Same as you would with hash or kief. Distillate won't need to be decarbed because it's already thc not thca. It might change the character of the high because of the changing cannabinoid ratios. When you melt something, you actually heat it up beyond it's melting point, meaning you can wait for it to cool down a bit before you add to it, but it shouldn't matter because the boiling point of thc is way way higher than the melting point of butter.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
I have seen plenty of crystalline THCA distillate.
TrippleDip
Well-Known Member
How? Not saying it's impossible but 1) you couldn't distill an acid due to the intermolecular h-o bonding, 2) it wouldn't be liquid if it was really >95% thca. I have never seen distillate except sold in syringes but who knows what all they have out there. 3) the decarb temp is lower than the vapourization temp. (Not sure about under vaccuum, but I suspect it will still be lower)
Maybe they are incorrectly labeled extractions, or actual distillate that picks up co2 from the air?
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
You can totally warm the butter back up and add more to it. Adding distillate is a simple way to increase the potency. But I know people that cook butter with multiple different batches of buds too and it just keeps getting stronger. I like making my butter with an extract of some sort to start with so I can dose it easier and so it doesn’t have that plant taste you get from cooking straight buds or trim.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Just a quick google search shows what I am talking about.
How it's made, well we don't share that information, extracts is where people start getting very secretive about the methods. I only share the absolute basics of extract science, I won't go into the detailed processes because the people that have shared their secrets with me only did it with the expectation I wouldn't come on here and share it. Some searches will get you some info.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I’ve never seen distillate that was not basically a liquid or goop texture. Based on my understanding of extraction and some google searching distillate is refined multiple times which include a heating and de-carb process to leave a refined thc “oil” basically. This is one reason larger quantities distillate is typically measured in liters, not lbs or kilos.
I’ve absolutely seen THCa ISOLATE which is usually a crystalline substance, the isolate process can be done many different ways. Those techs are definitely held as bigger secrets like Renfro said. But really the info is out there now, you just have to be smart enough to weed through it and do it safely.
Either way I would rather have distillate for melting into butter. It should melt easier.
I’ve absolutely seen THCa ISOLATE which is usually a crystalline substance, the isolate process can be done many different ways. Those techs are definitely held as bigger secrets like Renfro said. But really the info is out there now, you just have to be smart enough to weed through it and do it safely.
Either way I would rather have distillate for melting into butter. It should melt easier.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
Pure THCa will always be a solid at room temperature. Pure THC will be a goo at room temperature. Once the carboxyl group (-COOH) is knocked off the THC molecule the melting point lowers.
When people are trying to get shatter out of old flower they end up with a goo because the flower slowly and naturally decarboxylated prior to extraction. You need THCA to get shatter.
When people are trying to get shatter out of old flower they end up with a goo because the flower slowly and naturally decarboxylated prior to extraction. You need THCA to get shatter.
Renfro
Well-Known Member
This is about as detailed as I will explain it here, definitely not enough information to replicate the process. One key thing to remember is that a vacuum is used during the process, this loweres boiling points and allows the preservation of the THCa. You need solvent/s to get the cannabinoids in a solution during the processing.
You start with a basic extract, say BHO is to be used.
This extract is then mixed with hexane and acetic acid. These are two chemicals that, together, will help further separate the plant material form the THC. This happens by dissolving the plant matter, but keeping the good stuff untouched. This solution is then placed through a filter (buchner funnel, erlenmeyer flask, watts 1 micron discs and a vacuum pump) so that more plant matter can be removed. The remaining liquid will be placed in a rotary evaporator.
This machine will use different values of pressure, heat, and motion to further separate elements in the solution. After this process, the resulting liquid is called Δ9 tetrahydrocannabinolic acid. But this is still far from what we’re looking for. There will still be impure elements, so chromatography will help remove these. Sephadex-LH20, dichloromethane, and chloroform are added to our tetrahydrocannabinolic acid.
To further purify it, the chemists will place the crystals back into the rotary evaporator. These are then mixed with methanol to separate even more impurities. This solution then goes through a filter to remove these impurities and back into the rotary evaporator to remove the methanol. To end the process, this will once again be mixed with a dissolvent to purify the mixture to the 99.997% it’s famous for. This is finally placed in the evaporator once again to remove the harmful solvent. And there you have it; this is what creates THCA crystalline.
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
I understand the crystalline THCA ISOLATION process, and as it happens there are several ways to crash diamonds. That’s why I shared my last post.
Even after google searching like you suggested I did not find thca distillate. What I found said that the distillate making process decarbs the thca. I’m certainly not trying to fight, but here is what I quickly found beyond my own personal experience.
About 1/4 down the page is the distillate section on this one. https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/complete-guide-solvent-cannabis-extracts/
skunkpharmresearch.com
Even after google searching like you suggested I did not find thca distillate. What I found said that the distillate making process decarbs the thca. I’m certainly not trying to fight, but here is what I quickly found beyond my own personal experience.
What is Distillate? | Cannabis Distillate Definition by Weedmaps
THC distillate is an extract where the final product has been reduced to a singular cannabinoid, like THC. Learn how it's made and how to consume it.
weedmaps.com
About 1/4 down the page is the distillate section on this one. https://www.alchimiaweb.com/blogen/complete-guide-solvent-cannabis-extracts/
Short Path Distillation for Transparent Concentrates | Skunk Pharm Research
Short Path Distillation for Transparent Concentrates
skunkpharmresearch.com
Thundercat
Well-Known Member
No problem at all bud. That’s what I thought you were saying so I tried to be as polite as possible. Just hoped we would all get to the same page
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Renfro
Well-Known Member
You're all good bro lol. I agree 100%No problem at all bud. That’s what I thought you were saying so I tried to be as polite as possible. Just hoped we would all get to the same page
TrippleDip
Well-Known Member
That is some grade A info there. I'm sure anybody with a cursory knowledge of differential solubility would be able to figure out what's going on and manage, but I agree with the idea of the less teks out there the better. I have often wondered about whether a thread on synthesizing thc would fit in here but I think this is a growers forum and is not appropriate.
Fwiw, the difference between isolate and distillate is so small, once you put it in a rotovap you are really purifying by distillation. If products are being sold as distillate then I think it's good to cover all bases.
I was hoping maybe you could sate my curiosity on one thing. What do prep scale columns look like for the production of isolates? I have a loooong time ago used short large diameter (1") silica columns for separating and purifying alkaloids via ph gradient, and I imagine that industry uses stupid large diameter c18 or alumina columns that are heated?
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Thanks.. It's distillate. I made peanute butter bud bars that calls for semi sweet chocolate n pnut butter layer on top that I put it in after melting it all together.
I ended up making peanut butter bud bars with the canna butter. It calls for semi sweet choc and pnut butter melted and poured on top, I then put 400mg of the syringe in at the end enough to combine and pour. I think it turned out great! Thanks so much n have a good weekend
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I have seen plenty of crystalline THCA distillate.
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