How to Make Cannabis Drinks At Home

Whether you're a new cannabis user or a seasoned cannabis connoisseur, this guide will show you how to make cannabis drinks at home, including various cannabis smoothies, hot drinks, cocktails, mocktails, and more.

Before You Get Started

Like some people enjoy an alcoholic drink after work, at social events, or during times of stress, many members of my Well With Cannabis Community also enjoy cannabis drinks the same way.

Cannabis-infused drinks are gaining popularity as an easy and delicious way to consume CBD, THC, and other cannabinoids.

Of course, cannabis is new for many people as legalization slowly expands throughout the country, and cooking with cannabis can seem foreign and overwhelming when just starting.

To help you get started, I’ve created this beginner's guide to cannabis edibles to ensure you have a safe and enjoyable experience.

How to Make Cannabis Drinks At Home

Making a cannabis drink at home allows you a lot of flexibility in determining what type of cannabis product you want to use, what cannabinoids you want to consume, and in what ratios.

Each CBD, THC, or other cannabinoid dosage and ratio will be unique for each person, your own tolerance level, and your desired outcome. 

Remember, CBD is like the non-alcoholic beer of cannabis, while THC is more like a liquor shot.

Here we will cover a variety of different ways you can add cannabis to your favorite drinks, with methods including:

1. The simple addition of hemp seeds to a smoothie
2. Adding your favorite CBD oil to smoothies and drinks
3. Making cocktail with a cannabis alcohol tincture
4. Stirring in cannabis sugar to either a hot or a cold drink recipe
5. Melting in cannabis coconut oil or cannabutter into a hot drink recipe
6. Steeping leftover cannabis pulp in a tea ball
7. Cooking a recipe with decarboxylated cannabis flowers
8. Using raw cannabis leaves to make juice or smoothies

We will review all options below and explore why you would want to use them in which type of drink recipes. 

Add Hemp Seeds or Hemp Seed Oil

Hemp seeds and hemp seed oil do not naturally contain cannabinoids, meaning they do not contain CBD or THC.

However, they have many important nutrition benefits, similar to other popular edible seeds like chia seeds, sunflower seeds, or flax seeds.

Both hemp seeds and hemp seed oil are great for cooking and contain heart-healthy omega-3 fatty acids, which help reduce inflammation in the body.

It's important to remember that while hemp seeds and hemp oil have an impressive nutrient profile and are a great fatty-acid nutrient source, they do not naturally contain CBD.

This means the product may not help if you are hoping to use cannabis for certain health conditions like anxiety or pain.

You can learn more about the difference between hemp seed oil and CBD oil here.

Adding hemp seeds or hemp seed oil to a drink would be done for the sole purpose of adding nutrients and dietary fiber to the drink, not cannabinoids.

Either way, hemp seeds are delicious, and you can check them out in this Green Cannabis Pineapple Smoothie.

Add CBD Oil

Using homemade CBD oil or a full-spectrum CBD oil is the easiest and most popular option available on the market today to make an infused drink.

It is effortless to add CBD oil to smoothies because it just stirs right in.

If you've never made a cannabis smoothie before, check out this guide to making a healthy smoothie for some inspiration.

Of course, CBD oil and other watery liquids don't naturally mix, so it may take some shaking or emulsifying to keep your oil drink infusion together, especially if you're making a mocktail.

If you live in a recreational state and have access to a THC-infused oil, you can also use that in your drink as desired.

Just always be sure to consume the proper CBD:THC ratio for your tolerance level, and dose appropriately.

If you don't have any CBD oil but are looking for a high-quality product to buy, start with my 500mg Full-Spectrum CBD Oil.

Use a Cannabis Tincture

While the words tincture and oil are often used interchangeably when referring to different types of cannabis oil, a tincture traditionally is defined as "a medicine made by dissolving a drug in alcohol."

Cannabis alcohol tinctures are truly the best option for cannabis-infused drinks when making cannabis-infused cocktails because it literally is cannabis-infused alcohol.

I have two different cannabis alcohol tincture recipes for you to choose from:

• A traditional long-soak cannabis tincture, 'the Green Dragon'
• A QWET, freezer cannabis tincture, 'the Golden Dragon'
• You can learn more about the differences between these two tinctures here

Note that the type of grain alcohol used to make a cannabis tincture is much higher proof than other traditional alcohols, so you will need to use less of it than you would other traditional spirits.

For a delicious cannabis cocktail recipe, try this Cannabis-Infused Red Wine Sangria.

Stir in Cannabis Sugar

One popular recipe to make with a cannabis tincture is cannabis sugar.

The process is simple, you make a cannabis tincture and pour the cannabis-infused alcohol over a bowl of white sugar.

This high-proof alcohol will naturally evaporate off, leaving the cannabinoid molecules left behind on the sugar granules.

Once cannabis sugar is made, it is dry and performs the same way as regular sugar.

You can add your cannasugar to your morning cup of coffee or tea, make your favorite batch of chocolate chip cookies, or sprinkle it over your favorite fruit.

Melt Cannabis Coconut Oil or Cannabutter into Drinks

I melt my cannabis coconut oil or a spoonful of cannabutter right into the warm liquid for a few of the warm drinks featured here.

Depending on the recipe you're making, this may be the easiest way to make a cannabis-infused drink recipe.

I really enjoy this simple method when making my cannabis golden milk at night.

However, it's important to remember that water and oil typically don't mix, so you will notice a separation of fat on top of your beverage.

You can use lecithin as an emulsifier as needed to bond the oil and water together.

Steep Leftover Cannabis Pulp into Hot Drinks

I believe that all parts of the cannabis plant are beneficial, even the leftover parts.

After making infused oil, butter, or tincture, you will be left with excess plant matter from the straining process called leftover cannabis pulp.

This cannabis pulp may still retain remnants of cannabinoids, terpenes, dietary fiber, and other potential health benefits, which is why we recommend you keep it after straining to use in any one of these delicious recipes.

One of the easiest ways to use your leftover cannabis pulp is to place it into a teaball infuser and place that infuser into your favorite warm beverage for infusion.

This process will allow you to extract the final beneficial remnants of your infusion without ingesting any unpalatable plant matter.

Infuse Decarbed Flower into Drinks

Other drinks, like our cannabis chai latte, are made with decarboxylated cannabis flowers.

These decarbed flowers are placed alongside the other spices during the infusion process.

Use Raw Cannabis Leaves

If you have access to a growing cannabis plant, you can use the raw cannabis leaves to make raw cannabis juice or even throw them into a smoothie.

Raw cannabis leaves are non-intoxicating in nature and contain important cannabinoid acids known as CBDA and THCA in addition to terpenes and other plant compounds.

My Edibles Made Easy Online Cooking Course will teach you how to make cannabis edibles and topical recipes at home with ease. This step-by-step video course will teach you how to infuse, extract, and create edibles with many different product types - all from the comfort of your own home.

Learn more and enroll today →

Cannabis Drink Recipes to Try

Below you will find all of our delicious cannabis drink recipes to try, ranging from cold drinks, to smoothies, to hot drinks, and cocktails & mocktails.

Cold Drink Recipes

Cannabis Smoothies

Hot Cannabis Drinks

Cocktails & Mocktails