How To Make Weed Tea: A Comprehensive Guide

Reading time - 10 minutes - June 22, 2022

Whether it’s for a morning treat or an evening nightcap, cannabis tea can be enjoyed at any point during the day. A soothing drink with long-lasting effects, we take a look at how to make weed tea. And, it’s far simpler than you may think!

Ok, settling down for a warm mug of weed tea might not be the first thing that comes to mind when you are looking for a chilled-out treat, but hear us out on this one. Cannabis-infused tea has been kicking around for generations and is consumed widely across the globe. Originating in parts of Jamaica, as well as within Indian communities, weed tea has been used as a remedy to cure a whole host of ailments, from pregnancy-induced sickness to life debilitating conditions, such as epilepsy. 

So, if vaping, smoking or eating weed isn’t quite hitting the sweet spot, a mug of weed tea could be just the alternative you are looking for. Unlike smoking, weed tea is a mellower way of consuming cannabis. And, unlike edibles, the effects of weed tea are typically felt more quickly without the extra calories. And, as an added plus, it’s a really tasty and relaxing way to enjoy weed. 

What is weed tea?

It’s your calming cup of tea with a twist. Typically drunk warm (although you can also drink it cold), cannabis tea is made using both cannabis and water, with your personal preference of sweeteners and spices added too. It’s ingested entirely differently from other methods, such as a weed vaporizer which travels through your lungs. Instead, it passes through your stomach to be digested, which is then, in turn, metabolized by the liver just like any other food or beverage. This entire process tends to be slower, meaning that it can take 30-90 minutes to experience the full effects. It does, however, have longer-lasting effects. A typical weed tea can leave you reaping the benefits for up to 8 hours.

It can be tempting to keep drinking weed tea to gain maximum effects, but it is recommended to start with low doses and gaps of over an hour, before drinking any more. Be wary of the temptation to just keep topping up your tea, at first. You don’t want to overdo it and end up being too high to function!

Weed tea can be made from any part of the plant and can be enhanced with a range of additional ingredients. Here are just some ways you can create the ultimate cuppa:

• Using cannabutter (cannabis combined with butter) to make an enriching latte-type tea.
• Mixing cannabis tincture into your brew.
• Experimenting with infused cannabis oil. 
• Utilizing the entire plant by using the leaves and stems as well as the buds.

Why drink weed tea?

Sure, you can get a quick and fast hit when you inhale weed. But there are times in life where it might just not feel appropriate to whip out your weed vaporizer or, you simply want a healthier alternative. Relaxing with a cup of weed tea is discreet, and a great way of winding down and feeling that mellow buzz. Weed tea has a wide scope of benefits including:

• Relieving pain

For those who suffer from more than their fair share of aches and pains, cannabis tea is the ultimate solution in providing long-term pain relief. As the tea travels through the digestive tract, the process is slower, giving you a longer-lasting feeling of relief. Cannabis is known to suppress pain signals within the body, and is widely used as it is not as addictive as other forms of medicine. If you get regular headaches, a mug of weed tea will be just enough to keep them at bay. 

• Regulating your mood

We all know that cannabis helps settle the mind, right? Drinking cannabis tea stabilizes your emotions and induces a calming sense of well-being, which is the perfect antidote to feelings of anxiety or depression.

• Enhancing sleep

Achieving a good night’s sleep can sometimes feel near impossible. And with one-third of adults experiencing insomnia at any given time, it is a problem that doesn’t look like it’s going anywhere, anytime soon. Walk around any health store and you will be met with an abundance of sleep ‘cures’ for you to try. Cannabis, even if consumed via a weed vaporizer, has a profound effect on poor sleeping patterns and probably explains why people have been using it for hundreds of years. If you ingest a higher strain of THC (Tetrahydrocannabinol, the active ingredient in marijuana) you will enter the deep sleep stage quicker and longer, making you feel more rested the next day. 

• Improving gut health

Soothing your stomach and combating inflammation, weed tea is the perfect remedy if you suffer from IBS or other stomach issues. In fact, many chronic health conditions can be traced back to the gut having been strongly linked to inflammation within the digestive system. Weed tea, especially combined with ginger or peppermint, is the ideal remedy for relaxing your digestive system. 

To Decarb or not to decarb?

Before making your tea, you may want to decarboxylate first. The term decarboxylating sounds far more complicated than it is, and it simply means the process of heating weed. Raw weed consists of very high levels of THCA. THCA is an inactive cannabinoid.  Heat and light, or the act of decarboxylation, transform the chemical structure of THCA, converting it to THC. THC is an active cannabinoid and has a psychoactive effect. When you vape weed using a weed vaporizer the heating process is done for you, but if you want to drink or eat weed then you will need to do this part yourself.

Boiling weed isn’t really enough to start the decarboxylation process. Normal decarboxylation occurs when the temperature reaches around 220 degrees Fahrenheit and sustains this temperature for a longer period of time.

To decarboxylate, break up the cannabis flower and bake at 220-245 degrees Fahrenheit for 30-40 minutes. Gently rotate every 15 minutes to ensure even baking. 

How to make weed tea

Right, now we have got all the facts out the way, and we know about all the benefits, how do you make weed tea? It involves a little preparation but thankfully it is quick, and you can have your tasty mug of weed tea ready in as little as 30 minutes. Here, we have broken down a few ways to create the perfect weed cuppa:

How to make weed tea: basic weed tea recipe using ground cannabis

Ingredients

• 1g of cannabis (more or less depending on the desired strength)
• A teabag of your choosing (a popular choice is a chamomile or green tea)
• 1 tbsp of coconut oil or unsalted butter
• A sweetener such as honey

Hardware

• A saucepan
• Metal strainer or coffee filter

1. Grind your cannabis, putting aside any seeds or stems.
2. Add 4 cups of water to a pot and bring to a boil.
3. Take your butter of choice and add to the pot. Keep stirring until it is fully dissolved.
4. Reduce the heat to a simmer, then add your cannabis and tea bag to the pot. Continue simmering for about 15 minutes and continue to stir.
5. Once this is finished, remove your pot from the stove, dispose of the teabag and strain the tea into a bowl (there will be far too much for a mug). You can use a metal strainer or a coffee filter for this.
6. Finally, sweeten your tea to taste, steep for 5 minutes and enjoy! Try adding cinnamon, maple syrup, coconut sugar or raw honey to give your tea a sugary lift.

Always start slow and low with your dose so that you get used to the potency. An ideal experimental starting point is about 0.5g of cannabis. Weed tea can be unpredictable and can initially feel like there are no effects, so just be wary of overindulging!

How to make weed tea: simple weed tea using cannabis butter

Whipping up some cannabutter is a sure-fire way of having a quick cup of tea on hand. What’s more, it stores in the fridge for up to 2 weeks so you can just grab and get going. 

To make cannabutter, firstly melt plain butter on a low heat, add your ground cannabis to the melted butter and simmer for around 45 minutes, stirring regularly. Take the mixture off the heat and pour the contents through a strainer. Let it cool down and store in the fridge ready for a super-fast mug of weed tea whenever you need it!

Ingredients

• 1 tsp of cannabis butter or oil
• Teabag of your choice
• Sweeteners e.g honey or cinnamon

Hardware

• A kettle

Instructions

1. Add one teaspoon of cannabis butter or oil into a mug.
2. Add your teabag.
3. Boil water in your kettle (or saucepan) and stir together until all ingredients are dissolved.
4. Next, add your sweetener of choice and steep for 5 minutes.
5. Finally, remove the tea bag and enjoy!

How to make weed tea: weed stem tea

What’s great about making weed tea is that you can use the entire plant. Great for using up those leftover stems! The stems in this recipe will have far lower levels of THC and will feel less potent than using the buds of the plant.

Ingredients

• Weed stems, grounded (about 5g will do)
• 2 tbsp of butter, milk or oil
• Teabag of choice
• Sweeteners

Hardware

• Saucepan
• Strainer

1. Heat 2 cups of water on a stove and once it has reached boiling, add your stems to the pan.
2. Next, you need to add your fat. Stir it for 5 minutes and simmer for around an hour, checking often to ensure it isn’t burning. 
3. Leave your tea to cool down.
4. Use the strainer to separate the leaves and the tea
5. Add your teabag to the tea and add sweeteners to the tea

Once you have got to grips with the basics there are so many different recipes that you can try. You can vary it up by using cannabis honey, tincture or even creating iced tea as an alternative, refreshing drink on a hot summer’s day. Are you a fan of chai tea? A cannabis chai latte is also another fantastic drink to experiment with:

How to make weed tea: Cannabis Chai Latte

For an indulgent drink that really gives you that warm and cosy buzz, try this weed chai latte.

Ingredients

• 0.5 g of ground cannabis
• 0.5 g of butter
• 1 cup of whole milk
• 1 tsp of vanilla extract
• 1 chai tea bag

Hardware

• 1 blender
• Metal strainer or coffee filter

Instructions

1. Using your blender, mix the cannabis, butter, milk and vanilla extract. Keep blending until you have a smooth consistency, and it starts to resemble a milkshake.
2. Let the contents rest for up to an hour to allow the ingredients to infuse. This will give you the maximum benefit of full flavour.
3. Bring half a cup of water to the boil and add the blended mixture to the pan. This part will take about half an hour, so ensure that you regularly stir to avoid it burning.
4. Turn off the heat, remove the saucepan and add your teabag to the pan. Allow to steep for around 5 minutes.
5. Discard the tea bag and strain the mixture using your strainer.
6. Pour the chai latte into a mug and add milk, cinnamon, sugar or whipped cream for a truly indulgent taste.

Sure, drinking tea is great and all, but once you try weed tea you mightn’t look back! It’s a great, alternative way to enjoy your cannabis hit, leaving you to enjoy the effects over a longer period of time. The process may be a tad more time-consuming, but we assure you, the payoff is absolutely worth it! Patience not your strongest virtue? Then stick with using a decent quality weed vaporizer to give you a much quicker hit, whilst ensuring that you have control of dosage. Take a look at our range of weed vaporisers here.