Sorry at all: I had to go out of town for a family emergency, but I am back now and all is well…I got a LOT of posts to catch up on! (Hitting some Northern Lights Tincture right now!)
Peace to all!
Kanashiihawk
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@MDBuds, Oooh! I had no idea! I had read about the multiple liver passes during oral/sublingual dosing, had Noooo idea that Sunflower Lecithin did that…That explains why most people say my tinctures and butters are more “potent” because I use the Lecithin, it makes it last longer (and yeah, I do add more bud per oil/butter ratio)… 
Glad to be back! Peace to all!
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@MDBuds- Thanks so much for that tincture info! This is a great reference. Thanks and Be well.
Kanashiihawk~ 
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Glad all is well. Good to see you.
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@MDBuds Any info on solubility of alcohol vs. fractionated coconut oil? I always use alcohol, but a friend has liver cancer, so I made up a batch using oil. It seems more pale than the alcohol tincture.
Then I mixed some alcohol tincture with an equal amount of oil and double boiled it to evaporate of the alcohol, transferring the extract to the oil. Worked great, and the result was darker than the original oil batch I made.
So it seems that alcohol is a more effective solvent. Any thoughts on this? As always, I appreciate your insight.
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This is actually the first time I’ve made it to this post in the short months I’ve been part of this forum and… wow!
@MDBuds that was an amazing breakdown!
You are truly a wealth of information and a talented writer.
Ps - almost encourages me to be more excited about “the math” lol.
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@Bushdoc the oil is more pale than the alcohol because alcohol is a bipolar solvent and it strips out chlorophyll as well as the cannabinoids where as MCT is not a solvent it’s mostly fat and it only binds to cannabinoids/acids/fat soluble compounds and it does a poor job of stripping out water soluble compounds.
Alcohol is a more effective solvent because it is just that. A solvent. MCT and other oils are not solvents. They are fats used to bind with fat soluble cannabinoids.
The color of your result is not an indication of potency though it is often perceived that way.
What matters is how well the flower you used has been decarbed and the potency of the flower before infusion as well as following the proper infusion method for your chosen tincture base. Well made oils and tinctures can vary greatly in color from a pale golden amber to almost a dark green even when made with the same flower and all will have relatively the same potency varying by a mg or two depending on the infusion rate of the base. Of course the more potent the flower you have the greater the difference in infusion rates can be % wise.
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Thanks, this is very helpful. I like decarbed weed straight up, maybe on a cheese cracker, or just swallowed directly. This helps get me familiar with dosage. I’ve done a lot of work with alcohol, but I’ve used oil mainly for topical applications, not to take orally to get high. Gotta spend more time there.
Side note: I believe alcohol is the best preservative. I still have tinctures of plants I grew years ago, still effective.
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Totally forgot about this thread. It’s coming in handy right about now.
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When making RSO or Tinctures Indica strains are best for that😊
@LilMic Why do you say that? What makes Indica better than Sativa for Tinctures? Isn’t is personal preference for what effect you enjoy?
@Bushdoc absolutely agree it is a personal preference BUT if your using medically there’s a huge difference. RSO is very strong & used certain illnesses. It’s been proven that indica has terpenes & cannabinoids that cure certain types of cancers and RSO is used for those illnesses. Tinctures are not as strong as RSO. Stativas do not BUT they do have other compounds that help with other illnesses like epilepsy or ms. I’m just saying that you need to know your strains & what they can do for you. This what I have learned from using, taught and read. I use both I’m not a big edibles user but I hear that’s good also & you can use whatever you like in those.
@LilMic sativa vs indica actually isn’t important when it comes to making rso or tinctures. Indica and sativa is just a classification for the growth and physiology. Some indicas can have “sativa effects” and some sativas can have “indica effects.” The important thing is to choose the right strain or cultivar with the right cannabinoid and terpene profile for the ailment you are choosing to treat.
That being said there are some slight genetic differences such as sativas are more likely to have higher cbd and thcv (specifically those bred from African landraces) and indicas are more likely to be myrcene and caryophyllene dominant. This is likely just due to breeding though here in the US as some of the landraces we use to breed our cultivars can be the opposite because they developed unique terpene profiles and growth traits to survive their unique isolated or extreme environments.
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@MDBuds agreed you can use either. Just saying that the indica was recommended over the Stativa for RSO used for cancer patients. As mentioned previously, it’s the strains characteristics that is important for what you use it for & learning the strain would assist the person in finding the right strain for their illness. You can use any to make whatever you choose.
@LilMic Rick Simpson chose to use indica strains for the classic “indica effects” because he believed, rightly so in fact, that rest was essential for healing and he wanted an oil that not only boosted the immune system but also allowed the body to rest more to recover faster.
With that said, as I have previously mentioned, there are sativas too that will also allow you to rest.
In the end it all depends purely on the cannabinoid and terpene profile of the cultivar chosen. Choosing one based purely on sativa or indica is misleading in the end.
For instance I have a sativa dominant cultivar that I have bred purely for the purpose of treating cancer (specifically breast cancer and colo-rectal cancers) and the side effects of cancer treatment. It grows just like a sativa and in small doses is uplifting and can help with fatigue, nausea, and pain. In higher doses though such as you would get from making rso or oils it makes your whole body numb and puts you straight to sleep after a giggle fit and tingles head to toe.
Unfortunately the amount of terpenes and cannabinoids needed to kill cancerous cells far exceeds what you can currently grow in a single plant. I’m refining my breeding to focus on oil and resin production for the sole purpose of it being used as a hash/oil plant for making concentrates, isolates, and feco. Eventually I hope to have a cultivar perfect for extraction. Specifically solventless steam distillation so I can concentrate isolated terpenes and cannabinoids and then blend them into custom profiles based on patient needs.
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@MDBuds I’ll be very interested in following that & hope you will post. So which stativas do you use for cancer? I am a cancer patient with chronic fatigue so this is of interest to me personally. Thanks in advance😊
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Thanks @MDBuds for the work you put into this! My mom and sister both prefer edibles and tinctures but I hadn’t a clue how to calculate the dosages. This article is just what my math brain was looking for. I’ll be sharing my harvest with them in a couple weeks.
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@LilMic are you interested in a recommendation purely for fatigue and day time use or are you interested in a recommendation for fatigue, pain, and nausea for day use and night use?
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