Can You Make Tea With Weed?

If you’re a tea drinker, you’ll agree that tea has a special charm to it. Whether you start or end your day with it (or both!), tea is indeed versatile. And if you’re both a tea lover and a weed enthusiast, do we have a treat for you! Among the many creative ways you can consume parts of the cannabis plant, today we’ll talk all about weed tea, including how you can make it yourself. So let’s get started.

Is Weed Tea Really a Thing?

Weed tea is definitely a thing, and it’s high time you jumped on the boat if you haven’t already. Simply put, weed tea is a hot beverage infused with cannabis. It’s best when it’s made with cannabis buds, but you can also use sugar leaves or fan leaves, though your cup of tea will be less potent.

Weed tea is a great way to consume marijuana because you can make it as strong as you want, depending on whether you’re looking to experience more pronounced psychoactive effects or just a light buzz. 

You can certainly get the same benefits of cannabis with weed tea as with any other weed product. Whether you’re looking for pain relief, relaxation, or just want to drink it for general wellness, cannabis tea can be quite effective and the chances of experiencing side effects are lower than eating magic brownies, for example.

To make weed tea, you can use any strain you like – high-THC strains for psychoactive effects or high-CBD strains for therapeutic purposes. But before you start making your tea, you need to learn two important things.

Two Steps to Making an Effective Weed Tea

Making cannabis tea may sound as simple as taking hot water and pouring it over the dry herbs, like with regular tea, but there are some caveats here. It’s definitely not a complicated process, but one that involves simple chemistry.

1. Decarboxylation Is Necessary to Activate the Powers of THC and CBD

In order to make the tea psychoactive, you first have to decarboxylate the cannabis flowers. Raw cannabis contains inactive cannabinoids that can’t get you high. However, when you expose the weed at a high temperature, a chemical reaction happens where the inactive cannabinoids THCA and CBDA convert into the active THC and CBD.

Weed should also undergo the decarb process when making edibles or else they won’t be effective. Similarly, the heat from smoking or vaping weed decarbs it before you inhale it.

The best way to do this is to put it in the oven. Use a grinder to grind the weed coarsely and spread it on a baking sheet. Put the baking pan in the oven at 240 degrees Fahrenheit for about 30-40 minutes, or until it has changed its color to brownish-green.

2. It’s Not Just Dry Herbs and Hot Water

Since the cannabis plant contains some very special compounds, it also needs special treatment when making tea. 

For the cannabinoids to be successfully absorbed in the human body, they need some kind of fat because they’re not water-soluble. Instead, they need fat to bind to so that they can become effective. Therefore, you’ll need to add some kind of fat, such as coconut oil, regular butter (or cannabutter for added potency), full-fat dairy milk, coconut milk, half-and-half, or any substance that has significant fat content.

How to Make Cannabis Tea – Three Buzz-Worthy Recipes

Now that we have cleared up the chemistry part, let’s see how you can make your own cup of 420 tea. We included three exciting weed tea recipes for you to try, from the basic weed tea to a delicious latte treat.

The Standard Weed Tea

The standard weed tea is your most basic recipe. It uses decarboxylated weed, a fatty substance, and water.

You’ll need:

• 1 1/2 cups of water
• 1 gr cannabis buds
• 1 tsp butter/cannabis butter/coconut oil or 1/2 cup of milk (dairy or non-dairy)
• Sweetener
• Coffee filter or strainer

Instructions:

1. Boil the water in a saucepan, but keep it simmering at a medium to low temperature to keep the cannabinoids from evaporating completely;
2. Add the butter or milk (or whatever you’re using) to the boiling water so that the fats are readily available to the cannabinoids when you add the weed;
3. Add the ground cannabis and stir well. Don’t increase the temperature and keep the tea simmering for about 10 minutes;
4. When the time has passed, strain the tea with a strainer or a coffee filter to keep even the smallest particles out;
5. Add some sweetener to taste and you’re done!

Marijuana Herbal Tea

This version of weed tea adds a twist to the basic recipe and allows for additional flavor. Since marijuana naturally has a pungent aroma, not everyone will be fond of it. Sure, it’s all good when you smoke some fragrant dank bud, but it’s a different story when you drink it. We’re just trying to say that weed’s natural aroma is not everyone’s cup of tea (pun intended), but you can fix this by adding some other herbs to your drink.

When you add the weed to the water, you can also add some loose tea leaves or herbs – mint, chamomile, rose, lavender, black tea, ginger, hibiscus, etc, whatever tickles your taste buds! You can make unique flavor combos that work for you. If you don’t have any loose leaves, you can also use a tea bag and experiment with the flavors.

Marijuana Tea Latte

This version of weed tea is a delicious and comforting tea latte that’s great to sip on in the evening, or any time, really!

You’ll need:

• 1 gr cannabis buds
• 1 tsp butter/cannabutter or coconut oil
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 1/2 cup water
• 1 cup milk (dairy or nondairy)
• 2 tsp sugar or honey (or less if you like it less sweet)
• Additional herbs or spices to taste 
• Cheesecloth for straining

Instructions:

1. Combine the weed, milk, vanilla, and butter/coconut oil in a blender or food processor and blend until it’s smooth. Let the mixture sit for about an hour so that the cannabinoids can really latch onto the fat component, and also for a smoother texture;
2. Pour the water into a saucepan and add the blended weed mixture. Bring it to a low simmer, but don’t increase the temperature. Let it slowly bubble up and stir frequently. The mixture should simmer for 20-30 minutes, but if you notice the liquid level reducing, add a little more water;
3. When the time is up, remove from heat and add any spices or herbs if you like and steep them for additional 5 minutes;
4. Finally, use a cheesecloth to strain the mixture and make it as smooth as possible;
5. Add your chosen sweetener and enjoy your weed tea latte! 

The Takeaway – Just Try It

As you can see, weed tea is not prepared like your regular tea, but that’s what makes it so special. It can add variety to your usual cannabis consumption while still obtaining the benefits you usually get from weed. So, in case our recipes didn’t convince you to try it already, we strongly recommend that you do!