Guest Post by Anthony Franciosi of Honest Marijuana
There are actually two types of weed wine — jackpot, right! — alcoholic and nonalcoholic (a.k.a. dealcoholized).
Alcoholic weed wine is just regular wine mixed with your favorite strain of cannabis. There’s a bit more involved than just dumping a baggie of pot into a bottle of wine.
With the alcoholic variety of weed wine, it’s also important to remember that you’ll get a one-two punch of alcohol and marijuana, so be sure to take it easy until you get used to the effects.
Nonalcoholic weed wine is regular wine that has been dealcoholized, mixed with additives to reintroduce flavor and texture, and combined with cannabis to give you the stoner experience.
With this type of weed wine, the cannabis, rather than the alcohol, gives the beverage its potency and effects.
You can’t make nonalcoholic weed wine at home — it requires some fancy and expensive equipment — but the product is growing more popular and is finding its way into more and more dispensaries across the country.
The History Of Weed Wine
Though professionally produced weed wine is made with modern techniques and modern technology, the process of infusing wine and other liquids — such as tea, coffee, water, and milk — has been around for thousands of years. In fact, weed tea was probably the first edible in recorded history and you know some cannagenius steeped weed into his or her wine shortly thereafter. The early methods for making weed wine are still viable today and, like weed tea, simply involve soaking dried, cured, and decarboxylated weed in your favorite brand of vino.
How Modern Weed Wine Is Made
Modern weed wine manufacturers make use of blended nanoemulsions rather than simply infusing (steeping) the cannabis in the liquid. Nanoemulsions are oil-based, water-soluble solutions that dissolve more readily into liquids. These emulsions are made by using energy to break up oil into smaller and smaller droplets. The droplets are then encapsulated in specially formulated solutions so that they will remain suspended (dissolved) in liquids. Without this modern emulsion process, the cannabis oils would eventually separate and your bottle of weed wine would look like a lava lamp.
How To Make Your Own Weed WineStove-Top Method
Ingredients
• ⅛ to ¼ ounce of high-quality cannabis
• Punch bowl or large pot
Weed Wine Pairings
If this is your first time making your own weed wine, you may be wondering what weed strains and wine varieties pair well together.
Here’s what we’ve discovered over the years:
• Indicas work well with bold and robust wines
• Sativas work well with light and sweet wines
• As a general rule, dry wines infuse better than lighter wines
For best flavor and experience, we recommend considering these guidelines when making your own weed wine, but don’t be afraid to experiment and try something completely different.
Instructions
1. Decarboxylate your buds in a 230-degree oven for 110 minutes (your kitchen, and the rest of your house, WILL smell like weed so plan accordingly).
2. Let the cannabis cool completely.
3. Shred the buds in a grinder (not too small)
4. Dump the decarboxylated, ground ganja in the center of a cheesecloth.
5. Depending on how much cannabis you have and how big your cheesecloth is, you may have to use more than one.
6. Tie the corners together to form a closed bag.
7. Pour your wine into a punch bowl or large pot.
8. Place cheesecloth bags into the wine.
9. Cover the container with plastic wrap
10. Store the container in the refrigerator for 24 to 48 hours.
11. Stir occasionally.
12. At the end of the steeping period, remove the weed bags from the wine and squeeze to get all the cannabinoids out.
13. Pour the wine through a clean piece of cheesecloth or a small-hole strainer before serving.
14. Enjoy!
Though this method of infusing cannabis into your favorite wine does take a long time, the results are well worth the wait.
Need something faster? Try the crockpot method in the next section.
Crockpot Method
Ingredients
• Crockpot
• ⅛ to ¼ ounce of high-quality cannabis
• Cheesecloth
• Your favorite wine
• Grinder
• Pan
• Aluminum foil
Instructions
1. Decarboxylate your weed in a 230-degree oven for 110 minutes.
2. Let the cannabis cool completely.
3. Shred the buds in a grinder (not too small)
4. Dump the decarboxylated, ground ganja in the center of a cheesecloth.
5. Depending on how much cannabis you have and how big your cheesecloth is, you may have to use more than one.
6. Tie the corners together to form a closed bag.
7. Pour your favorite wine into the crockpot.
8. If you want to add herbs and spices to the wine (cinnamon, for example, is perfect for the holidays), now is the time to do so.
9. Set the crockpot on low and let the weed wine steep for two hours.
10. Check the mixture every 20 or 30 minutes to ensure that the liquid isn’t exceeding a slow boil (any more than that and you run the risk of burning the weed and cooking away the wine).
11. At the end of two hours, turn off the crockpot and let the wine cool.
12. Remove the weed bags.
13. Pour the weed wine through a clean cheesecloth or small-hole strainer.
14. Serve and enjoy.
This is a great recipe for ganja get-togethers because it’s easy to assemble and cooks quickly. You can even drink it warm on a cold winter’s day.
Start Your Weed Wine Adventure Slowly
All edibles — including weed wine — are slow-acting and long-lasting. This is because the THC or CBD has to travel through your digestive system and then through your circulatory system before it reaches your brain. As a result, you may have to wait anywhere from 60 to 120 minutes to feel the effects. Once they hit, though, they can last from 6 to 10 hours. Then you’ve got the effects of the alcohol to contend with (if you drink the alcoholic variety). Alcohol acts more quickly than cannabis so you may feel a bit of a blur within 5 to 10 minutes of imbibing that lasts for 30 to 90 minutes.
Regardless of which type of weed wine you drink, take it slow. Don’t chug a glass and, when nothing happens, chug another one. That’s a recipe for disaster. Sip and savor the wine in your glass, talk with your friends, and wait for the experience to kick in.
Buy Or DIY?
Buying weed wine is probably the easiest way to get a good high because everything is done for you. All you have to do is pour a glass and enjoy. But with that convenience comes the question of what’s inside. What strains did the brewer use? Were the strains grown organically? Are there added chemicals to worry about? Home-brewed weed wine eliminates all those questions. Yes, you have to contend with the potent mix of alcohol and cannabis, but, if you’re careful, the combination can be a lot of fun.
We suggest trying both before settling on the one that works best for you.
If you’re looking for a marijuana high in drinkable form, choose a store-bought, dealcoholized weed wine. If you can’t get professionally-manufactured weed wine in your area, give one of the DIY methods outlined above a try.
It really comes down to personal preference, so it’s always better to try both options, experience what they have to offer — flavor, aroma, texture, potency, quality of experience — and then make that your go-to weed wine.
The Best Weed Wine Is Made From High-Quality Strains
Regardless of whether you buy or DIY, the best weed wines are those made from high-quality marijuana strains. For this, and all marijuana products, the old adage is true: Quality in equals quality out. When you buy (or brew) weed wine made from high-quality, organic ingredients (like the strains from Honest Marijuana), you get the best possible final product that money can buy. Sure, you can save money by steeping regs and mids in your vino, but that will result in a low-quality final product that will produce less-than-stellar effects.
Going with high quality strains is the best way to drink your weed. Cheers!
