Cannabis-Infused Rose and Lavender Tea

Cannabis-Infused Tea — Photo: Kitchen Toke Inc.

Active Time:

20 mins

Total Time:

1 day 1 hr

This cannabis-infused tea contains rose petals, dried lavender, Ceylon black tea leaves, and jasmine green tea leaves, with an option to add blue cornflower petals and jasmine flowers to the blend. Slightly sweet and floral, it creates a tea with a touch of bitter umami grassiness, that’s then combined with a homemade cannabis tincture that can be made ahead and kept for at least a year.

The cannabis tincture recipe contains approximately 6 mg THC per tablespoon based on a 20% THC strain of cannabis. THC, also known as delta-9-tetrahydrocannabinol, is the main psychoactive ingredient found in the cannabis plant. Depending on the amount used, this tincture will lend some of the buzzy effects of the drug, as well as an earthy “green” flavor from the flower.

How to prepare a cannabis tincture

To use cannabis in a recipe, it must first undergo a process called decarboxylation or “decarbing” to “activate” the ingredient. It’s a process that involves heating the dried flower at a low temperature for just under an hour. Baking for too long may strip the herb of its flavors and render it overly bitter.

When making the tincture, the type of cannabis strain used is also something to consider, as the flavor profiles of various types of cannabis can be as wide-ranging as those found in wine grape varieties, from earthy and grassy, to sweet, fruit-forward, and nutty. Cannabis strains also have a broad scope of effects and it is worth consulting with an expert to help guide you in choosing based on your desired effects.

After creating this aromatic ingredient, you'll be able to use it in a variety of recipes. The extracted terpenes in the tincture work especially well with the floral tea blend in this warming recipe, especially playing up the green, botanical notes.

— Prairie Rose

Notes from the Food & Wine Test Kitchen

You'll need an 8-ounce glass jar with a lid, paper coffee filter, large measuring cup with spout, small funnel, and four 2-ounce dark glass dropper bottles.

Lower-proof alcohol won’t pull all THC from the cannabis flower. Higher-proof alcohol such as 120-proof Everclear results in better extraction and higher potency.

The tincture contains approximately 6 mg THC per tablespoon based on a 20% THC strain of cannabis.

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Ingredients

Cannabis Tincture

8 ounces spirit, such as Everclear, rum, or vodka (at least 80 proof)
1 to 3 grams cannabis flower (see note below)

Tea Blend

3/4 cup Ceylon black tea leaves
3/4 cup jasmine green tea leaves
1 tablespoon blue cornflower petals (optional)
1 tablespoon jasmine flowers (optional)
1 tablespoon food-safe dried rose petals
1 tablespoon food-safe dried lavender

Directions

Make the Cannabis Tincture

Preheat oven to 220°F; spread cannabis on a small baking sheet. Bake cannabis for 45 minutes; transfer to a bowl and let cool.
Pour alcohol into an 8-ounce glass jar and secure the lid. Separately, place jar and cannabis in the freezer for 1 hour.
Add cannabis to alcohol in jar, seal tightly and shake tincture vigorously for several minutes. Return jar to the freezer for 24 hours, shaking jar at least 3 or 4 times during that period.
Set a fine-mesh strainer over a large liquid measuring cup with a spout; line strainer with a paper coffee filter. Pour tincture through filter; discard filter.
Using a small funnel, pour tincture into four 2-ounce dark-glass dropper bottles. Tincture is ready to use immediately, although it will become more potent (but darker and more bitter) over time.
Store tincture in the refrigerator for up to one year.

Make the tea blend

Combine the tea ingredients and store in an airtight container until ready to use.
To prepare a cup of tea, steep 1 teaspoon of tea blend in 1½ cups of boiling water until infused, about 5 minutes (or according to preference).
Stir in cannabis tincture to your taste (see below for THC dosage information) and sweeten as desired.

This recipe was developed in partnership with Kitchen Toke, the first media company dedicated to teaching people about culinary cannabis for health and wellness.