This will provide you with the strongest, easiest extraction yet. Less (or even no) heat involved, meaning less possible damage vaporization and loss of cannabinoids, and it performs an incredibly efficient extraction and break-down of glandular material.
It is much more reliable than oil. And it has a wide range of uses, anything that blends well with, or can hide a touch of sour citrus flavor. You can even thin it out and lace pre-baked cakes and cookies, by drizzling it evenly over their surface.
It’s incredible with steak (I mix some in with my marinades, and it hides perfectly in A-1 Steak Sauce), chicken (an Italian oil and vinegar seasoned rub, goes amazing with the canna citrus flavor), cookies, lemon cakes, apple pie… you only need just a touch. And a hint of citrus can bring out all the sweet and savory essences of the dish you’re preparing.
If you’ve ever had a ‘sour warhead’, that’s basically what the pure mix tastes like when blended with a hint of sugar. You’ll notice that, as it dissolves on or under your tongue, that there are no solid hashy glands remaining or left behind.
It also makes a fantastic beverage base.. summery drinks are perfect with a hint of canna citrus flavor. I’m preparing for the good weather
It requires very few tools and supplies, and you can be as healthy as you’d like with it; you can wet the citric powder for processing using cider vinegar, rice vinegar, wine vinegar, a strong alcohol, or even water. If discretion is necessary, all you’ll need is your hash or herb, a small jar, a little water, and your citric acid (found at any pharmacy, health food store, and probably WalMart as well).
Pre-decarbing, is not necessary.. and here’s why:
Citric like any acid, functions when in contact with organic substances in its concentrated form, by undergoing a process of oxidization, or ‘redox’. This is otherwise know as a kind of low grade combustion, or more correctly, burning and combusting material is a kind of redox. It causes a chemical reaction and change in the material it comes into contact with, releasing the carbon elements, and water vapor, in other words, decarboxylating the material.
In concentrations high enough, it can be mixed with water, and still actually draw the moisture out from the material it comes into contact with, into the solution, where it will rapidly evaporate along with the rest of the water content. During this process it almost ruthlessly breaks down the glandular material into a very fine crystalline paste, and with gentle heat (or a few days in a sealed container) the fragments, barely holding their shape together, will melt in your mouth.
Two methods; hash, bud
The only difference process-wise between the two, is that when using bud, you’ll need to divide your canna and use two to three times the liquid and citric powder, saturating your bud, and you’ll want to make several runs with that liquid using the divided portions, if you’d like it very close to hash-strength.
This is the easiest extraction someone can make if discretion is a must, if you don’t have any privacy, or many tools, it doesn’t matter; you don’t need any suspicious supplies beyond your bud or hash.. just a jar, vinegar (or even water), and powdered citric acid. You’d just mix them up appropriately, and let them sit for a few days, air it out allowing the moisture to evaporate, and repeat once more.. it’s the fastest heatless extraction you could hope for, and with a little sugar, it goes great in many beverages from soda, to hot or iced tea, as well as in many sweet and savory meals.
You will need:
a small glass jar, for final storage (some plastics will -melt- from not only the citric acid, but the combination of the acid and the glandular material)
hash or herb.. for the tutorial I used about 5 grams hash
1 ½ – 2 tsp powdered citric acid
2 tsp vinegar
or
2 tsp alcohol
or
2 tsp water (use extra ½-1tsp citric powder)
optional, speeds things up:
- lecithin
- ceramic dish
- oven
- foil
Directions:
Add your canna, lecithin, and citric powder to a blender or mortar and pestle.
Blend well.
When finished, after only mixing the powders together, you’ll notice already that your glands have begun breaking down and you’ve got a very sticky, tacky mix. That’s the acid already going to work at drying out and breaking down your material.
Now, add your liquid. Blend further.
It begins evaporating very quickly, you’ll want to transfer it to your ceramic dish or jar soon now. It’s already very, very sticky at this point, a bit like a longer Iso soak mixed with kief. Note: don’t touch it as I have done here.. my finger tips are caloused from working with ph down, trimming by hand, stamping out lit bowls, and making these sort of concoctions.. this amount of acid could potentially burn you, or leave you with tender, sore and inflamed skin.
Prepare to either: finish, by jarring your mix, and letting it sit for several days, or up to a week.
Or, spoon it into your oven safe container, wrap with foil, and heat at 180 degrees for 10 minutes… this is enough to drastically speed the process up.
By now, you should have a very dark, glossy, oily mix.
This is the mix, compared to the a sample from same batch that was not put in the oven (on the left).
Seal well in a jar at this point for immediate use, or set aside for one to two days (to achieve a peak gloss before the final step).
2 days later.. the sample left out, and not exposed to heat, has turned quite dark now.
And we’re done, I like to let mine dry out fully, then add a few drops of alcohol, or vinegar, and then call it finished. Just the tiniest few drops (or the smallest, sticky crumble when it’s a bit ‘dried’) in anything sweet or savory, and you’re set and medicated for a good, long time.
