Learn how to make delicious, versatile cannabis sugar using a cannabis alcohol tincture and white sugar for a basic staple cannabis recipe that can be used to make a wide variety of other cannabis-infused recipes.
What Is Cannabis Sugar?
I have to admit, at first, it took me some time to wrap my head around the art and science of making cannabis edibles the right way.
Now that I feel a bit more advanced in my culinary cannabis skills, I wanted to try something new.
Most of my cannabis recipe inspiration comes from my Well With Cannabis Facebook Community, and somewhere along the way, I saw someone making cannabis sugar.
I love the idea of cannabis sugar because, just like cannabutter or cannabis-coconut oil, once it's made, it can act as a staple recipe to infuse all other recipes easily.
I also love the versatility of cannabis sugar.
Once it is made, you can use it for so many different recipes, including cannabis brownies, chocolate chip cookies, cocktails and drinks, or even a scoop in your morning coffee or tea.
Plus, if you're looking to increase the potency of your cannabis recipes - you could use both a cannabis-infused oil AND cannabis sugar together for a double dose of CBD or THC.
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How To Make Cannabis Sugar
Unfortunately, this is not a quick recipe, there are a few things you need to do before you can get started making infused sugar.
Here's what you need to do first:
- Decarboxylate your cannabis flower
- Make a cannabis alcohol tincture - either a Green Dragon Tincture or QWET Tincture
Please note:
- You can not make cannabis-infused sugar without the alcohol tincture
- You can not make cannabis sugar with butter, oil, or any other type of fat
1. Decarboxylate Your Cannabis Flower
Making cannabis edibles involves a bit of science, and there are tried and true processes to follow to get the best quality final product.
Dried cannabis flowers do not naturally contain high amounts of THC or CBD.
Instead, they contain high amounts of THCA and CBDA, an acidic, but non-intoxicating, form of the cannabinoids.
Applying heat helps to convert the THCA and CBDA into the active forms of THC and CBD through a process called decarboxylation.
Skipping the decarb process may result in a weaker final product with inactive, or non-intoxicating, effects.
2. Make An Alcohol-Based Tincture
After the process of decarboxylation comes the process of using alcohol as a solvent to extract the active cannabinoids THC and CBD from the plant matter.
This is the process of making a cannabis tincture, and is essentially the same process as making vanilla extract!
You can make two types of cannabis tinctures at home, a more traditional long-soak Green dragon tincture or the more modern QWET tincture method.
Once you have your tincture made, you will pour the tincture directly over the white sugar and stir.
3. Evaporate All Of The Alcohol
This recipe's outcome is based on the complete evaporation of all alcohol, leaving behind just the extracted cannabis oils bound to the sugar crystals.
It's important to note that there are many different ways to evaporate off the alcohol, some more safely than others.
Please note: it can become dangerous if you decide to use heat or an open flame, so be cautious because alcohol is extremely flammable!
While it may be tempting to use heat to evaporate off the alcohol, we think it is safer to let nature take its course and let the alcohol evaporate off naturally, even if the process takes longer than others.
The process takes a few days, but some things are worth waiting for.
If you're impatient, a using a food dehydrator is a great next best option.
Tip #1 - Use the Right Pan
Remember with this recipe, the more surface area exposed to the air, the faster the alcohol will evaporate off.
This means you want a bigger container that can have a shallow amount of sugar when filled.
I used a glass 9x13 inch (3 quart) baking dish and thought it worked perfectly.
I've seen suggestions to put foil or parchment paper on a baking sheet but found this was way too messy, especially for stirring the sugar frequently.
Tip #2 - Choose a Breathable Cover
You want as much airflow as possible to the sugar, so you absolutely do not want to put a top or a lid on the pan while the sugar is drying or else the alcohol will not be able to evaporate.
It's reasonable to want to cover the sugar while drying to prevent any contamination, so I suggest a thin piece of cheesecloth over the top.
Tip #3 - Find a Safe Drying Space
You will need to leave the glass baking dish out to dry for several days, so you will need a safe drying space where the sugar can rest.
An empty pantry shelf or even on top of the refridgerator works.
Ultimately, we chose to keep ours in the oven because we have a little one at home.
This wasn't ideal because the airflow isn't great, but it worked well for keeping it safe and out of the way.
One thing to note, we put a big note on our oven to ensure we did NOT turn it on while the sugar was inside.
Again, alcohol = flammable. Please use caution!
Tip #4 - Stir Your Sugar Often
The more often you can stir your cannabis sugar, the more you will be exposing the alcohol to the air for it to evaporate.
We used a small silicone spatula to stir the sugar and tried to stir it as often as possible, 4-5 times per day.
Tip #5 - Use A Fan To Speed Up The Process
One option to get the alcohol to evaporate faster is to place a fan over the sugar and allow it to run while stirring the sugar consistently.
This helps move the air and the sugar around, allowing for quicker evaporation.
More Frequently Asked Questions
Here are some of the most frequently asked questions I get asked about making cannabis sugar inside my Well With Cannabis Facebook Community.
How to Make a More Potent Cannabis Sugar
Everybody always wants the most potent end product, but there are a few things to keep in mind when determining potency.
First, the strength of your cannabis sugar will depend on the strength of the cannabis flower you used to make your alcohol tincture.
Using shake, leaves, and stems will result in a weaker concentration of cannabinoids, while using high-quality cannabis buds will result in a higher concentration of cannabinoids.
Volume matters here, too.
The final concentration will depend on how much herb you use.
For my tincture recipe, I use 1 ounce of cannabis flower to 2 cups (16 ounces) of grain alcohol.
You can either double your flower or half your alcohol volume here for a stronger tincture.
Additionally, you can also simply cut the amount of sugar down in this recipe to 1 cups sugar, 1 cup tincture.
The mixture will be wetter at first and may require more time to evaporate off all of the alcohol.
Of course, your reaction to cannabis edibles is unique and highly dependent on your own unique endocannabinoid system, and you should dose accordingly.
Can I Use Other Types Of Sugar To Make Cannasugar?
While I have not tried making sugar with anything aside from white sugar, members of my Well With Cannabis Facebook Community report having success infusing:
- Brown Sugar
- Cane sugar
- Coconut sugar
- Turbinado Sugar
- Monk Fruit Sweetener
- Erythritol (non-nutritive sugar alcohol)
Members also report NOT having success infusing splenda.
Once your cannabis sugar is made, you want to ensure you keep it as dry as possible. An airtight mason jar or even a ziplock bag will work as long as it's sealed properly.
I've seen cannabis sugar range anywhere from light yellow to dark green.
Color is not an indicator of the strength of potency.
Color is an indicator of how much plant material was transferred into your cannabis tincture when you made it.
I've seen cannabis sugar range anywhere from light yellow to dark green.
Color is not an indicator of the strength of potency.
Color is an indicator of how much plant material was transferred into your cannabis tincture when you made it.
I've seen cannabis sugar range anywhere from light yellow to dark green.
Green dragon tinctures will have a much more pronounced green color than a QWET tincture, which may have a light yellow to no color at all.
I repeat: color is not an indicator of the strength of potency.
How to Make Lavender Cannabis Sugar
Once you have your cannabis sugar made, you can add other dried herbs as desired.
My favorite? Dried lavender.
Simply run the lavender through an herb grinder and gently toss to incorporate.
A spoonful is delightful in a cup of cannabis tea before bed.
How to Determine The Dosing For Your Recipe
Want to calculate the dosage of your cannabis edibles and homemade cannabis recipes?
While a calculator is no replacement for lab testing, this tool has been designed to help you get a more accurate guesstimate of the potency of your cannabis infusions and extractions.
Unlike other calculators available online, this calculator aims to provide more accuracy by accounting for the losses associated with decarboxylation, infusion oils, or extraction solvents used.
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Cannabis-Infused Sugar
Ingredients
- 2 cups white sugar
- 1 cup cannabis alcohol tincture
Instructions
- Add the white sugar to the glass baking dish.
- Pour the cannabis tincture over the white sugar.
- Use a rubber spatula to stir the sugar and tincture together, ensuring all of the sugar is coated. The mixture will resemble wet sand.
- Place the baking dish in a safe area for air drying. Allow the mixture to dry for 48-72 hours, stirring frequently.
- You will know when your sugar is ready when all of the alcohol has evaporated off and the mixture again resembles dry sugar.
- Place the infused sugar in an air-tight jar and store it in a cool, dry place.