Unlocking the secrets of green dragon. Including all the steps to make cannabis-infused tinctures, how to dose it and 5 ways to use it.

Do you sometimes feel frustrated by cannabis terms? Like what does kief, bubble hash, and green dragon even mean? It’s like if the stoner community comes up with theses cannabis terms just to mess with your head.
Let me tell you, you are not alone
I faced the same situation when I encountered green dragon for the first time on one of my stoner facebook groups.
This is why I decided to find exactly what green dragon is and why it is so amazing! I even found 5 ways to use it, which I will share with you right away!
What is green dragon?
Green dragon, also known as golden dragon, is simply cannabis-infused alcohol. The more common name for this alchool-based cannabis extraction is cannabis tincture.
The rich history of green dragon
Cannabis tincture is one of the oldest forms of medicine there is. They have been used all over the world for multiple centuries. Found in China, Egypt, Europe and beyond, cannabis tinctures were even used in the middle ages as an analgesic to treat multiple ailments like toothaches.
You should try my canna-banana nut bread!
Is it for me?
Green dragon is perfect for cannabis enthusiasts who are looking for ways to consume this plant without smoking it. So if you want to protect your lungs, green dragon is the way to go.
Green dragon is also easy and affordable to make. While this concoction takes longer to make than cannabis-infused oil, it is less hand-on. You just forget it in a closet and come back to it later.
Green dragon is also easy to dose and very discrete. Kept in a small dark-colored dropper bottle, it can follow you wherever you go.

How to make green dragon
Green dragon is made by infusing cannabis buds, shake or stems in high-proof alcohol like Everclear.
While there are multiple ways of making green dragon, the following stoner-proof method is the easiest.
- The cannabis is first decarboxylated, then put into a jar with the alcohol.
- The jar is then left to infuse in a dark place, like a cupboard, for 2 to 3 weeks. It is also recommended to shake the jar every couple of days.
- Finally, when the tincture has taken a dark green color, the green dragon is strained through a fine sieve or through a cheesecloth to remove the plant matter.
The cannabis-infused alcohol can then be kept for a long period of time in an airtight sealed jar away from the light.
How to dose cannabis tinctures
Cannabis tinctures are often portioned by milliliters. This means on average, one mL of tincture is one “portion”. This is where a dropper bottle with a 1ml pipette comes in handy. The strength of the tincture will also depend on the strength of the cannabis used in the tincture and the ratio used.

A typical dose of THC for ingestion is approximately 10mg of THC, but this varies from person to person. Take person A, per example, who is a 6 foot 5 football player who consume cannabis daily, and take person B, a 5 foot 2 spitfire of a woman who has never tried cannabis before. You can’t expect the same dose of green dragon to affect them in the same ways.
This is why I highly recommend starting low and slow. Start with a dose of 2.5 mg of THC and then increase little by little until you find your sweet spot.
I also recommend using a THC calculator to estimate the amount of THC in a tincture. They are only good as an estimate of the potency but it is still better than going in blind. Using such a tool means that you can also recreate a similar tincture in the future.
Effects: What to expect?
The effects of the tincture will depend on how you consume it. When taken sublingually, the THC will be absorbed rapidly through the blood vessels in your mouth. You should feel the first effects of the tincture between 15 to 45 minutes after ingestion. You should feel the peak of the high at around 90 minutes after dosing.
If you decide to swallow the tincture, it will be absorbed through your liver. This takes longer before the first effects are felt but the high will last longer. You can expect the same effects and onset as with a typical consumption of edibles since it is the same process.
Interested in edibles? You should check out my Edibles 101 : Complete Beginners Guide

5 ways to use green dragon
1. Spray
Spray bottles are becoming a popular way to microdose cannabis tinctures. You can spray the tincture into to mouth, preferably under the tongue, as needed. This act like a sublingual consumption
2. Drops
You can store the tincture in a dark dropper bottle and place 1mL of the concoction under the tongue with the dropper.
Very discrete, these two methods of consumption are great for discrete and convenient consumption on the go but can be unpleasant due to the burning feeling of the alcohol. The next 3 alternatives are great for a burn-free experience!
3. Drinks
You can add the tincture to drinks you enjoy, let it be coffee, tea, soda or mocktails. Tinctures are great additions to any flavored syrups too!
This consumption method will act like an edible. The advantage of this method is that the alcohol with blend perfectly with the drink, compared with an oil-based cannabis-infusion which would float on the surface of the drink and could end up coating the glassware instead of ending up in your belly.
4. Food
You can add cannabis-infused alcohol in most food you prepare, let it be in baked good, like this amazing lemon loaf, or in home-made gummies. Cannabis tinctures are very versatile and can be added to almost any food.
The sky is the limit!
5. Topical
Some people like to apply tinctures on their skins. Topicals are a great option if you are looking for localized pain relief without the high associated with cannabis. Using a tincture or green
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If you have any other questions, feel free to ask them in the comments and I will do my best to answer them.
Sharon
Do I need to cover the decarbed cannabis with the alcohol in the same manner as if I were making oil (in other words, cover the herb with alcohol)?
Raspbelyse
What I do is that I calculate how much alcohol I need to reach my desired potency for my tincture, which is 10mg/1mL for me but that is up too you.
This always give me a quantity of alchool that will cover the amount of herb I have. I put both ingredients in my jar, shake, and let it rest.
Sharon
BTW, I really appreciate your website/blog here! Well done!
Sharon
Thank you!
Ang
Thanks for this! I have a dry herb vape, and I’ve been keeping the “cooked” herb in a bag, I read some where that you can use that to make edibles, I wonder if it would work well in this application? Any experience with that? Thanks again!
Raspbelyse
I found that Already Been Vaped cannabis, or ABV does work great with this recipe.
ABV is basically decarbed weed with a reduced amount of THC, so I would recommend increasing the amount of cannabis you use to compensate for that.
You could also use your ABV in an oil infusion or even as is by incorporating in baked goods that has some fat in it
Ang
Thanks so much! Great ideas!
Geo
Hi my name is Geo and i would like to know if its possible to make the green dragon using my levo2?
Raspbelyse
Hey Geo, Unfortunately, I don’t have a Levo so my information might not be the most accurate but from what I know the Levo doesn’t recommend making tinctures with their machine. I know some people have done it but from what I read online, it is hard to make a potent tincture with the Levo due to the way the infuser pod is made and the fact that most people want stong tinctures, which requires less alchool.
pamela bridges
hello. thank you forthis blog, your beautiful insta acct, and your upbeat nature.
i have a few questions that would seem scientific and chemical but i see differing answers in the gazillion cannabis blogs out there.
to remove the acid bound to the THC-A and CBD-A you need a chemical reaction through heating to get the acid off the molecules and help release the properties of THC and CBD.
apparently temp and time are crucial?
some articles say 220’F some say 240’F degrees others say 20 minutes some say 40 minutes.
then there is the 4-6 hour 160′ F to infuse oils some decarboxy first others do not mention decarboxy or say the 160’F is enough.
some sat decarboxylate with a top to foil others not.
SO.. i would like to know to get the best fragrance and potency for purely topicols.. do you think it is necessary to decarboxylate before soaking flowers in oil??
thank you.
Raspbelyse
Hi Pamela, The thing is a lot of what we know from decarbing comes from at-home tests and feeling what feels right once you ingest the product. While there are some tests that have been done in labs, most results are old, or not appeared reviewed or sponsored by cannabis companies. So while everyone seems to say they have THE only way to decarb, in reality, there are multiple ways to decarb ( different times and temperature combos, different methods). I like to decarb in case the long infusion doesn’t decarb completely the flower because the idea of leaving some unused THC kind of saddens me. Now the thing with topicals is that they won’t get you high so making sure you get all the THC-A into THC is not that important. THC-A is also getting some attention right now because while it is not psychoactive, it is still beneficial in some ways ( some say it is anti-inflammatory and a bunch of other good stuff). So if decarbing it too much of a hassle when making topicals, feel free to decarboxylate directly during the infusion process.
The only recommendation I have with topical is to make the oil stronger than with edibles since the topical doesn’t have the same risk of giving you a too big high and often the infused oil is diluted with other components.
Teresa
I made a tincture but after all the alcohol has left I am left with what looks like a syrup. What did I do wrong?
Raspbelyse
You are supposed to let the alcohol infuse in a sealed jar so that the alcohol doesn’t evaporate. At his point, you could probably add more alcohol to dilute the concentrated syrup you have.
Shawntae wheeler
Can you use the syrups for anything
Raspbelyse
No. There are limitations. The green dragon is better for recipes requiring hydrosoluble preparations like drinks or candy. However, if you add green dragon to chocolate, it would seize since that works better with a fat-based infusion. So it’s case by case.
ryan
yes it can be used. its called feco oil. full extract cannabis oil. its super potent, as it has as much thc as your original tincture woulod of had before the alcohol evaporated. people purposfully evaporate the alcohol after infusion is done to get rid of that alcohol taste and burn and just to have a concentrated product.
Dee
Hi – Planning on making tincture to use in gummies. I will be using 4g of popcorn (22% THC) and Everclear. Do I need to measure the Everclear or is “just enough liquid to cover the flower” method OK? Also, do you recommend evaporating some of the alcohol before adding to my gummy recipe? Much Thanks ~ Dee
Raspbelyse
I personally like to measure my alcohol so that I can estimate how potent my tincture is. If you don’T mind about that then yes you can just pour to cover. You can evaporate some of the alcohol but be VERY careful because it’s very flammable.
Jerome Perkins
I only want to get high will this get me drunk?
Raspbelyse
Hello Jerome, this is very concentrated so you would only ingest a very small quantity of alcohol which should not be enough to make your drunk, but if you are worried about that you could also try cannabis oil instead.