Golden Dragon QWET Cannabis Freezer Tincture

Features

• Just two ingredients are needed: cannabis flower & high-proof grain alcohol
• No special equipment required 
• Quick wash soak time: ready in just 15 minutes

Why You Will Love This Method

My Well With Cannabis Community has asked me many times about making a Golden Dragon QWET tincture, so here is my easy beginner’s guide to making one at home.

QWET stands for ‘quick wash extraction technique’ or ‘quick wash ethanol extraction’ and is a cannabis tincture often called “the golden dragon” or “ice dragon.”

This QWET extraction method makes a cannabis tincture using frozen cannabis, frozen alcohol, and quicker wash times to produce a lighter-colored, less-intensely flavored – but still highly potent – cannabis extract.

Below, I will show you how to make a tincture; we will explore the differences between the Green Dragon and Golden Dragon and the reasoning behind the QWET method’s specific steps with fully answered FAQs to help you make this perfectly the first time.

Ingredient Notes

• Cannabis flower: You will need your desired amount of cannabis flowers, ranging from 1 gram to 1 ounce or more. Choose THC, CBD, or CBG-dominant flowers. You can purchase them from your local dispensary or hemp flower from my online shop. Do not forget to decarb before getting started.
• High-proof alcohol: You need high-proof grain alcohol. You want at least 150 proof, but ideally 190 or 200 proof. Lower-proof alcohols, like vodka, are not ideal. Be sure to check out my guide for where you can order high-proof grain alcohol online and have it shipped to your door, or learn more about what to ask for when visiting your local liquor store.

Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions is located in the recipe card below.

The Step-by-Step Process

• Step 9 – Remove from the freezer and strain the tincture through a filter.
• Step 10 – Repeat a second and third wash, if desired.
• Step 11 – Store in a dark jar, like this dropper bottle.
• Step 12 – Move on to evaporate the alcohol, if desired.

Note: complete step-by-step printable instructions are located in the recipe card below.

Storage Instructions

Store your tincture in glass, not plastic. A dark jar, like this dropper bottle, is ideal.

Clear glass is fine if you store it in a cool, dark place like a cupboard or freezer. Tinctures can be stored for up to several months or even longer.

Green Dragon vs. Golden Dragon Tincture

A traditional cannabis tincture involves combining cannabis flowers and alcohol in a vessel and letting them sit and steep for a prolonged period, with no freezing involved.

I’ve seen traditional tinctures steep anywhere between a few hours and 24 hours, as described in my traditional tincture method, and up to 4-6 months or longer in some cases.

Fans of the traditional tincture prefer this method because it is believed that the longer soak times help extract a full spectrum of plant compounds, resulting in a complete full-extract cannabis oil.

In contrast, the QWET tincture combines frozen cannabis flowers and frozen alcohol for only 15 minutes, often called a ‘wash’ or ‘wash times.’

Compared to a traditional tincture, this quick wash freezer method produces a much lighter colored tincture with a much more mild cannabis taste that many people prefer.

The QWET method is generally preferred due to its mild taste and flavor, although lab tests prove this method is slightly less potent than the Green Dragon method.

Some generally prefer the traditional long-soak tincture because a more complete plant extract that includes more plant compounds like chlorophyll and terpenes produces a more medicinal final product.

Neither is right nor wrong; it is a matter of personal preference.

Feel free to experiment with it, adapt and adjust your method as you go along, and learn more about your personal preferences.

The Importance of Freezing

For many different reasons, freezing the cannabis flower is extremely important in the QWET tincture process.

For the reasons listed below, it is important to keep your product and in-process tincture cold or as close to freezing as possible the entire time you are working with it.

More Effective Trichome Removal

Trichomes are the small, resinous glands found on cannabis plants that contain the cannabinoids we are after, mainly THC, CBD, CBG, etc.

The goal of the QWET process is to remove as many of the trichomes from the plant matter as possible.

Freezing the plant matter makes these trichomes more brittle and easily separated, or broken off, from the plant material.

This helps us get the most cannabinoids off the plant and into our tincture, resulting in a more potent final product.

Remove Chlorophyll

Freezing cannabis helps prevent the chlorophyll in the plant material from being absorbed into the alcohol tincture.

Chlorophyll, the most abundant pigment in plants, is responsible for the bright green color associated with kale, spinach, celery, and, yes – cannabis.

Chlorophyll produces a strong green taste and color we try to avoid in this extraction method.

While chlorophyll plays a vital role in healthy foods, like in the consumption of raw cannabis, many people do not want it in their final cannabis product for various reasons.

Remove Waxes and Lipids

Freezing also helps remove other naturally occurring plant compounds, like waxes and lipids, also called ‘the undesirables.’

When the flower is frozen, the waxes will stay frozen and can then be filtered out during the filtering or straining process.

This prevents the majority of waxes and lipids from entering your final product, resulting in a ‘cleaner’ end product.

Frequently Asked Questions

These are the questions I receive most often about the QWET tincture-making process from my Well With Cannabis Community.

If you still have additional questions, please feel free to join and post your question to the group.

Can I Do More Than One Wash?

There are also methods where people will do a ‘first wash,’ ‘second wash,’ and even a ‘third wash.’

This washing method uses the same cannabis flower but a fresh batch of frozen alcohol for each wash.

After the first wash, you would strain off the alcohol into a mason jar and proceed with a ‘second wash’ by adding new frozen alcohol to the already used batch of flowers.

If you use this method, label your jars as ‘first wash,’ ‘second wash,’ etc., so you know what you’re working with.

Alternatively, you can combine all of the washes for one final tincture. Again, the choice is up to you.

Is QWET As Potent?

I ran lab tests to compare the traditional Green Dragon cannabis tincture to this Golden Dragon QWET tincture, and the results are posted here.

According to the results, the Green Dragon long soak tincture method produces a more potent tincture. The results suggest that the longer the soak, the more potent the final product.

However, this method produces a stronger-tasting tincture with more residual plant matter like chlorophyll.

This leaves you, the consumer, deciding to choose potency over taste. As with all things cannabis, I always recommend going low and starting slow when experimenting with a new product.

How Do I Estimate the Final Potency?

Without lab testing, you’re essentially guessing the final potency of your tincture, or any cannabis edible, for that matter.

However, if you know the starting percentage of THC or CBD in your cannabis flower and how much you used by weight in grams, you may be able to use my online calculator to get a ballpark range.

For this reason, I recommend weighing out your cannabis flower with a digital scale before making the tincture, so you have a starting point.

Once you have calculated the milligrams of THC or CBD used, this number will remain the same regardless of how much alcohol you keep or evaporate.

It is also important to know that cannabis edibles will affect everyone differently.

You and your spouse may consume the same amount of an identical product and have vastly different responses or experiences.

This is normal, and again why I recommend starting low and going slow when dosing tincture.

Should I Evaporate the Alcohol?

This is a personal preference, and you must experiment to find what works best.

Some people do not evaporate off the alcohol and prefer the cannabis to be infused in alcohol for more effective sublingual absorption.

Some people evaporate off just a portion of the alcohol, 1/4-3/4 of the total volume, to help remove some alcohol burn.

Some people evaporate 100% alcohol to make FECO or other cannabis concentrates and extracts.

There is no one correct answer as to what you should do; this is all personal preference based on your desired outcome.

If you want to evaporate the alcohol, follow my guide full of safe evaporation methods.

Can I Make FECO from QWET?

Yes, you can turn this QWET tincture into FECO, also known as full-extract cannabis oil.

However, the jury is still out as to whether or not the QWET tincture truly contains the full spectrum of cannabis compounds due to the quick wash times.

Regardless, you can still evaporate off the alcohol from this tincture to make a sticky cannabis concentrate like FECO.

You can follow the same directions here for safely evaporating off the alcohol and making FECO at home.

The guide also comes with instructions for mixing your final FECO product with MCT oil for a more viscous sublingual product.

Can I Reclaim The Alcohol?

If you are serious about making cannabis tinctures at home long-term, I recommend thinking of ways to reclaim your alcohol so you’re not spending as much money.

One way to reclaim the alcohol is to use a water distiller.

A distiller will heat the alcohol, evaporate it, and send it to another waiting vessel, where you can reclaim and use it again for future use.

Another way is to invest in a machine that does this work for you, like the Source Turbo or ETOH Pro from Extract Craft.

This machine will also help you make cannabis concentrates, as explained below.

Can I Make Concentrates From This QWET Tincture?

For many people, making this QWET tincture is just the beginning step for making cannabis concentrates at home.

While making cannabis concentrates at home requires a bit more investment of time, money, and energy, it is worthwhile for many of my Well With Cannabis Community members.

If you are interested in making cannabis concentrates and extracts at home, I recommend checking out Extract Craft for helpful resources and machines to help you through the process.

What Can I Do With The Leftover Plant Material?

I’ve heard people say all of the THC has been removed from the remaining plant material, but I’ve also had people save it and say they’ve had a great experience using it in various ways.

I think it’s at least worth experimenting with the leftovers to see if they’re worth saving for you.

If you decide to give it a go, there are many recipes and ways to use the leftovers in this article for using leftover pulp.

Recipes You Will Love Using Tincture

Once you have your cannabis tincture prepared, you can use it in many recipes. 

Our most popular recipes for using a cannabis tincture include: