How to Evaporate Alcohol From Tinctures - SAFELY! (2024)

You’ve made an alcohol-based tincture with cannabis or herbs. Now you’re ready to evaporate the alcohol to remove the burn, concentrate the volume, or make FECO – but you’ve heard it can be potentially dangerous. Have no fear! This guide will review all the different ways to evaporate alcohol from cannabis tinctures safely and effectively.

Why You Will Love This Guide

Let me guess. You’ve made – or want to make – an alcohol-based tincture like the Green Dragon or Golden Dragon with cannabis or other herbs.

You’ve heard that they’re a great way to medicate and reap the benefits of the plant.

But you’re currently stuck with – or worried about – the unpleasant, burning alcohol mixture that doesn’t taste or feel good.

So, what can you do to fix the problem? Evaporate the alcohol.

But how…especially when the process can be potentially dangerous?

Don’t worry. In this guide, I will teach you how to evaporate alcohol safely so you can eliminate the burn, concentrate your tincture for use in recipes, and easily make FECO, or full-extract cannabis oil.

Why Evaporate The Alcohol?

If you’ve used any of my tincture recipes, you’ve likely used high-proof alcohol.

The high-proof alcohol used during extraction is, no doubt, harsh and unpleasant. You know the burning sensation if you’ve ever put a drop under your tongue.

But using high-proof alcohol is a necessary evil.

It’s a powerful solvent that helps extract the cannabinoids we want, like CBD and THC, and separate them from the plant matter we don’t want.

The good news is that you can reduce or completely eliminate the alcohol from a tincture through evaporation, leaving behind all the good stuff.

This makes it easier for you to enjoy all of the benefits a tincture offers without discomfort.

Evaporation can happen naturally at room temperature or speed up the process by introducing heat.

Heat evaporates the alcohol faster, along with air movement, such as with a fan.

Remember, evaporation can only happen when the tincture is exposed to air. It will not evaporate if your tincture is covered with a lid, such as in a mason jar.

There are many ways to introduce heat to evaporate the alcohol from a tincture, some of which are safer than others. Let’s review them below.

Safety Considerations

First, let’s ensure we are safely evaporating the alcohol in a way that does not cause physical harm.

Here are the most important safety considerations to remember before starting.

Skin Contact

Strong alcohol may cause skin irritation when there is direct contact.

Always wear protective gloves when handling alcohol to minimize the risk of irritating your hands.

Removing and washing all contaminated clothing thoroughly after handling it is also good.

Eye Contact

Avoid splashing alcohol on or near your face, as it can harm your eyes.

If you accidentally get alcohol in your eyes, clean the eyes with water or regular saline.

If symptoms do not disappear after twenty minutes of washing, seek medical help.

Inhalation

It is recommended to evaporate the alcohol in an open place or a well-ventilated room.

Do not allow the vapor to come directly into your nose.

If you feel you have inhaled the alcohol vapor, move to an open place with good air circulation.

Safe Evaporation Options

The main risk during the evaporation of alcohol is starting a fire or an explosion.

That means if you have a gas stove, you should not use it to evaporate the alcohol.

There are many safe alternatives that involve the use of no heat or indirect heat.

Warning:

High-proof alcohol is highly flammable and should not be exposed to open flames. Exposing alcohol to open flames may start a fire or cause an explosion. When evaporating alcohol, take similar precautions when handling gasoline or other flammable liquids and avoid open flames.

No Heat Method

You can evaporate alcohol just by letting a tincture sit uncovered at room temperature, but that can take a very long time.

Below is a picture of a shot glass I filled with 1 ounce of the tincture.It took approximately 3-4 days for the alcohol to evaporate.

This timing will depend on how much liquid is in the glass and the temperature settings where you are.

If you’re patient, this no-heat evaporation process works just fine.

I recommend adding a coffee filter or other breathable material to the top of the container when air drying to keep any contaminants from getting in.

Indirect Heat Methods

We can safely speed up the evaporation process by introducing low heat without the use of flames.

Indirect heat is one of the safest, most popular methods to introduce heat for evaporation.

There are many simple ways to do this.

Here are ways my Well With Cannabis Community members have successfully used as indirect heat sources:

• A mini-crockpot
• Water bath in a crockpot
• Heating pad
• Coffee mug warmer
• Candle warmer
• Instant Pot
• Rice cooker

When introducing indirect heat, I suggest first placing the tincture in a glass mason jar.

This will collect the important concentrated tincture, or FECO left at the end of the process.

Below, I will give you a step-by-step of how I use a mini-crockpot to evaporate the alcohol from a tincture safely.

What You’ll Need

Note: This process will not work with oil-based tinctures like MCT oil. It MUST be an alcohol-based tincture.

• Alcohol-Based Cannabis Tincture Recipes:
  • Green dragon
  • Golden dragon
  • CBDA tincture
  • THCA tincture
  • Cannabis root tincture

Note: a complete list of ingredients with amounts and printable instructions islocated in the recipe cardbelow.

Step-by-Step Instructions

• Step 1– If you haven’t already, prepare an alcohol-based tincture. Options include the Green Dragon, Golden Dragon, THCA tincture, CBDA tincture, or cannabis root tincture.
• Step 2– Do not forget to strain the tincture; this is very important.
• Step 3– Place the tincture in a mason jar that fits in the mini-crockpot. Carefully pour water into the crockpot, but around the jar, creating a water bath. Turn the mini-crock pot on warm and allow the water to heat up.
• Step 4– Let the tincture sit in the water bath and wait. The warmth of the water bath will cause the alcohol to begin evaporating into the air. How long this will take will depend on the volume you start with.
• Note: You do not need to evaporate off all of the alcohol if you do not want to. By reducing just half of the alcohol, you will effectively double the potency of your tincture. How much you choose to evaporate, all comes down to personal preference.

Note: complete step-by-step printable instructions arelocated in the recipe cardbelow.

Storage Instructions

Store your FECO in a glass syringe, capsule, or airtight glass container. Store in a cool, dark place like a medicine cabinet.

FECO can be stored in the refrigerator for longer-term storage and in the freezer for even more long-term storage (6+ months).

Learn more about how to store edibles here.

Frequently Asked Questions