Advice on solvents

[Crazyhorse]

Need some chemistry help from you science guys.

Ok so I'm doing a little experimenting with wormwood/thujone. I've got 2 oz soaking in vodka so make an absinthish drink, and also have an ounce soaking in an everclear cannabis tincture to try a simple evaporative extraction with. I've also found a more "advanced" extraction recipe that calls for evaporating with "methyl hydrate", then evaporating the result of that in isopropyl. I'm not seeing methyl hydrate anywhere, might they have meant methanol? And would denatured alcohol be a workable substitute?

I am aware of the potential dangers of overdoing it with concentrated thujone, and intend to test it out very cautiously in small amounts, with adequate detox time in between experiments to avoid cumulative effects.

 

[Crazyhorse]

That's incredibly helpful, thanks so much! Chemistry is one area where I'm totally clueless.

I'm definitely in no big hurry, the vodka and the everclear were already soaked in bud for 4 months, and I'll probably leave the wormwood in for another month or two before doing anything else with them. Maybe I'll have a taste at newyears. :thumb_up: The vodka/cannabis tincture is often called Green Dragon, as you mentioned. But I'm not sure what to call it after adding wormwood. Maybe that'll be "dragons blood". I'm psyched to hear that you've actually tried it and give it a good review, that's awesome! It's bound to be a fairly rare concoction. Evapping the everclear/cannabis tincture makes a form of hash known as Phoenix Tears... I think with the addition of the wormwood (green fairy) I'll call that "fairy tears". :d

So for the pure thujone extraction, if I'm understanding right you're saying after soaking in methanol (how long?) then straining and evaporating, dissolve what I get into 99% iso (91% filtered through sodium carbonate) and evap again, then put THAT result into warm ethanol (everclear?), and basically freeze precip that and keep the oil that forms on top? Will that dry out into something smokable, or would it stay an oil?

I think you must be right to call chemistry an art, and I do consider myself to be an artist... but in this area I'm barely at the fingerpainting stage, and any guidance towards doing this kind of work effectively (and most importantly safely!) is very much appreciated!

 

[Crazyhorse]

Thanks again I'm feeling much more confident about this process now! :thumb_up: