Looking to try cannabis edibles for the first time, but unsure of where to start? Cannabis tea may be your answer. 

Although not something you technically eat and chew, cannabis tea is ingested like its other far-off edible cousins, thus it shares the same characteristics in terms of on-set time, potential psychoactive effects, cannabinoid conversion and so forth. 

However, depending on how it’s made, making a batch of cannabis tea can be far less time-consuming and less psychoactively potent when compared to today’s edibles. 

But most importantly, cannabis tea can have similar benefits.

Using our recipes, we’ll show you how you can make cannabis tea fast so you can “taste” the edibles experience for the first time, while potentially receiving its historically celebrated benefits. 

What is Cannabis Tea?

what is weed tea

Traditional cannabis tea is a result of diffusing dried ground cannabis flower, whether its buds or leaves, in either hot or cold water with additional spices or ingredients. However, today’s cannabis tea uses decarboxylated cannabis in conjunction with other oils to be mixed in with a tea of your choice.

Either way, both can be a delicious and discreet alternative to the various other consumption methods that unleash the same soothing wave of cannabinoids to your body’s cannabinoid receptors. 

Weed infused tea for those who are averse to smoking is also a tried and proven way to consume cannabis, having reportedly been in use for thousands of years. Although coming in different versions, dynastic emperors in China and the Hindu God Vishnu were known to ingest some form of cannabis tea for its benefits. 

Does Weed Tea Get You High?

Cannabis tea can lift you to the trademark cannabis experience just like any other edible, for better and for worse. The answer depends on a number of factors that include what parts of the cannabis you use, the steps you take and your tolerance levels. 

If you decide to use cannabis sugar leaves, that is the trichome-filled cannabis leaves, then you can expect a much lighter experience. In contrast, if you use buds, the experience will be more impactful. And if you decide to use concentrates or apply an extra extraction process, well, expect a powerful psychoactive experience. 

However, if no previous extraction steps are taken before distillation and you decide to use buds or leaves, then the overall experience will be minuscule when compared to traditional edibles. 

One extra step that is likely to put the cannabis tea experience on par with edibles is to use milk, given that it’s an ideal extractor of cannabinoids. This can be done in a myriad of ways. Learn more about how to make weed-infused tea with milk with our guide to Bhang.

Aside from using milk, here are two other methods.

How to Make Cannabis Tea

cannabis tea

There are generally two ways of how to make weed-infused tea to cure your sleep-deprived or pain-causing ailments. These are: 

  • Using finely grounded cannabis buds to be diffused with a tea steeper in hot or cold water
  • Straining decarboxylated cannabis by using butter or coconut oil and then infusing the result into your tea

Use Grounded Cannabis and Tea Steeper

Making a cup of tea from finely grounded cannabis is the route you want if you are just looking to “taste” the edibles experience psychoactively, while potentially receiving its light-soothing effects.

This method is straightforward. To make weed tea using only cannabis and a tea steeper, all that’s required is at least ½ gram of cannabis that’s finely grounded, 1 ½ cups of water and some extra oil and spices of your choice. When your cannabis is grounded to the same consistency as a joint, mix it with a ½ teaspoon of oil, and let it steep in boiling water for about 15-30 minutes.  You can also add in any additional toppings and accoutrements as you please.

Depending on how long the tea has been boiling for, you may want to top off the tea with a bit of extra water as some of the cannabis tea may have evaporated. The tea will be best enjoyed hot so enjoy be sure to enjoy your weed-infused tea as soon as it’s ready.

Use Decarboxylated Cannabis with Oils and Strainer

As you can imagine, straining decarboxylated cannabis with other oils before mixing it in with your weed tea is an extra extraction process, which further separates cannabinoids and terpenes from buds, therefore being more refined.

In other words, expect a more powerful psychoactive experience. To start, decarboxylate your cannabis by heating it in a pan at approximately 220 degrees for about 30-45 minutes long. Then, with an oil or fat of your choice (we prefer coconut oil), bring a cup of water in a pot or saucepan and dissolve the fat until it’s completely melted. In the water/fat mixture you’ve created, pour in your decarboxylated weed and simmer slowly for 2-3 hours. Stir constantly every few minutes to ensure that nothing sticks to the bottom of your pot.

Once it’s properly infused of cannabis, the surface of your mixture in the pot should appear slick and glossy. Refrigerate this mixture for a few hours and then dump out the excess water once removed from the fridge.

At this point, you can brew a cup of regular tea and while it’s still piping hot, take a small serving of your cannabis oil/butter and stir to infuse it in the tea. The cannabis and fat mixture will dissolve and you’ll soon have a rich, decadent and infused cup of weed tea!

Both methods have ample amounts of THC within them. If you’re unfamiliar with edibles, the amount of time it can take for THC to properly activate in your body can range anywhere from 10 minutes to 30 minutes up to 2 to 4 hours. Since it’s a liquid, you can expect your body to metabolize it within 50-60 minutes but everybody’s experience with THC will be different.

Of the edibles that are currently available, we guarantee that THC tea will be one of the simplest and healthiest options for consuming THC.

How to Make Cannabis Tea to Cure Your Ailments

There you have it, two highly customizable ways to make weed tea–one for the cautionary beginners and the other for the cannabis enthusiasts. Irrespective of the method you choose, weed tea is a fun, flavorful way to potentially help you get better sleep, crush anxiety and reduce pain. 

Make sure you experiment with different spices and ingredients! Weed tea is as universal as it gets for consuming cannabis.

Good luck!