The most common and easiest option for those looking to use up leftover cannabis — say, stems or leftover "shake," parts of flower that have broken off buds — is to make some infused tea.
This sort of herbal tea is commonplace throughout the world as a natural alleviant for nausea and chronic aches and pain. By orally dosing, people can see immediate relief. I would highly recommend it as an evening relaxer after a stressful day or as a mood elevator during the weekend.
For a quick batch, about half a cup of stems is recommended, and an additional bit of shake or available weed if you're looking to have a more noticeable high. I would recommend about a quarter of a gram or so at most, due to full-potency weed being a hell of a long-lasting high. You'll also want a bag of your preferred tea as well to have a base flavor for the stems and shake to blend with.
The mix will need something to bind, too, so you'll need to choose between a half cup of milk, half-and-half or coconut milk, or half a tablespoon of butter or coconut oil. The latter option will retain more of the THC. The most effective binding agent of all is alcohol, so feel free to use three tablespoons of your preferred booze if you'd rather go that route.
The binding agent will also inform your choice of tea. Using milk or cream? A chai is a natural go-to. Using alcohol like rum or vodka? Go with a fruity and/or floral tea.
Some weed tea enthusiasts recommend grinding the shake and stems to pack in more pot into the blend, but the potency isn't considerably stronger by doing so, and there is less of a cleanup if you simply brew with the stems and shake still intact.
Ideally you have a reusable tea bag that you could fit your mix and stems within, but if not, you can simply strain the final product through a coffee strainer.
Once you bring either a pan or teapot full of three cups of water and your binding agent to a boil, it's time to add your blend of tea and goodies. While constantly stirring, let the mix sit in the boil for 7-10 minutes.
After the allotted time and a quick look to see if the tea mix is properly infused with the water, it's time to strain. The reusable bag clears up this mess, but wrapping a filter with a rubber band around the spout of the teapot or over a mug for a pan allows for a pain-free straining.
You can dress up the profile of the final brew in many ways. Drop some sugar or honey in. You could throw in an extra bag of the tea to make the base notes more prevalent. If you're light on the additional shake and weed, the cannabis profile shouldn't be too overbearing to begin with. The tea is a perfect option for the shifting into fall and winter. ♦
MAKE IT YOURSELF
- ½ cup stems
- Up to .5 grams of weed/shake
- 3 cups of water
- Additional bag of tea
- ½ cup of cream, coconut milk or half-and-half
- ½ tablespoon of butter/coconut oil
- 3 tablespoons of alcohol
