Infusing a warm drink with cannabis is easier than it sounds. Pick a base, infuse it with a little heat, and build your drink from there. The nice part is that one batch of infused base can become coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or whatever you like. Here’s the whole process.
Step 1: Decarboxylate your cannabis
Before anything else, you need to activate the THC. That’s decarboxylation, and it just means heating the cannabis to the right temperature for the right amount of time. (If you’re using CBD, you can skip this step; CBD doesn’t need it.)
Preheat your oven to 245°F (120°C). Grind your cannabis and spread it on a baking sheet, then bake for 30 to 40 minutes, stirring every 10 minutes so it heats evenly. Now the THC is active and ready to infuse.
Step 2: Choose your base
You can infuse almost any liquid, but the common bases are milk, cream, and oil. There’s a reason for that: THC and CBD are fat-soluble, so they bind to fat, which is also why fat-based edibles tend to produce longer-lasting effects than smoking or vaping.
That said, fat isn’t strictly required. Tinctures use an alcohol base instead, and THC and CBD still work fine that way even without fat to bind to. For a warm drink, though, a fatty base like milk or cream is the easy, tasty route. Pick something whose flavor you enjoy and that pairs well with your cannabis.
Step 3: Infuse the base
Put your base in a saucepan over medium heat. Add your decarboxylated cannabis and stir to combine. Let it simmer on low for 2 to 3 hours, stirring occasionally so the cannabis distributes evenly through the base. Low and slow is the goal; you don’t want it to scorch.
Step 4: Strain
Once the infusion is done, strain it through a fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth to remove the plant matter. What’s left is your infused base.
Step 5: Build your drink
Let the infused base cool, then add it to whatever you’re making, whether that’s coffee, tea, hot chocolate, or something else. That’s it.
A note on dosing
The strength of your drink depends on the potency of your cannabis and how much you use. Start with a small amount and work up until you find the right dose for you. Remember that THC and CBD affect everyone differently, so go cautiously, especially since infused drinks behave like edibles and can sneak up on you. Start low.