Weed tea is a phenomenal solution for anyone who wants to experience the effects of cannabis without having to smoke, vape, or consume edibles. Plus, there’s just something about a steaming cup of tea that’s calming, soothing, and generally puts you in the mood to relax. Cannabis tea just seems like the logical next step!
If you already have infused honey, cannabutter, or a tincture, then you can simply add your preferred amount to your favorite cup of tea. That will certainly save you time, but what if you want to get creative? What if you want weed tea with a specific strain for specific effects or flavors? This is where a bit of knowledge about cannabinoids and how to decarb weed comes in handy.
In order to access the THC in cannabis, heat is used to convert THCA into psychoactive THC. The decarboxylation process happens naturally when smoking cannabis or when cooking cannabis with oils or butter. For the latter, the fats are necessary since THC is fat-soluble and not water-soluble. Basically, if you want to really feel the effects of THC tea, you’ll want to decarb your cannabis properly. Luckily, we’ve got all that and more!
Below, you’ll find our preferred decarboxylation method, how to make weed tea, plus answers to frequently asked questions about weed tea in general.
Tokers Favorite Weed Tea Recipe
This particular cannabis tea recipe is a favorite for its taste, texture, and overall effects. We’re leaning into more spice-forward flavors, so it should come as no surprise that we’ve opted for a Spiced Chai Tea. While you can use any strain with spice notes (GSC, Northern Lights, etc.) we’re opting dessert-like Creme Brulee.
This three-way cross between Girl Scout Cookies, OG Kush, and Platinum Kush has a nutty vanilla flavor that blends seamlessly with the warm spices of chai tea. This recipe makes roughly three cups of tea, so it’s great for socializing with an intimate group of friends.
Chai Brulee Weed Tea Recipe
- Grind one gram of cannabis and set aside any seeds and stems.
- Boil 4 cups of water on the stove and add 1 tbsp of coconut oil. Stir until coconut oil is dissolved.
- Turn heat to low and add cannabis.
- Simmer for 10-15 minutes. The longer you simmer, the more THC will be infused into the coconut oil. If the heat is too high, however, the terpenes can be destroyed and the flavor will be less potent.
- Remove your mixture from the stove and strain. You can use a fine metal strainer or you can place cheesecloth over a teapot (secure with a rubber band) and slowly pour your mixture over the cloth. Discard excess plant matter.
- While the mixture is still hot, add your tea (either your preferred chai tea bag or individual chai ingredients) and steep for 5 minutes.
After that, simply pour it into mugs and enjoy! We recommend a splash of creamer to really highlight the creamy texture of the coconut oil. You could even make it more latte-like if you wanted to froth your creamer before adding it.
Daytime Energy Weed Tea Recipe
Looking for a cannabis tea recipe that will put some pep in your step? This is the recipe for you. Plus, if you’re already a fan of English Breakfast tea, you’re going to fall in love with our Citrus Breakfast Tea recipe. The rich flavor of English Breakfast helps offset the obvious cannabis flavor, but we’re pairing it with strains that create a contrasting flavor to this robust tea.
We recommend Sativa-dominant strains with bright citrus flavors. Think Mimosa, Clementine, or Super Lemon Haze. We generally opt for Super Lemon Haze because while it does have citrusy flavors, it also has notes of herbal pine and pepper that pair beautifully with English Breakfast. Just get ready for an energizing cup of tea that puts a smile on your face.
What’s even better is that this recipe is nearly identical to the previous one with a few small differences. Follow the first five instructions from above, then once you’ve strained your mixture simply add a teabag of your preferred English Breakfast tea. Steep for 3-4 minutes, pour into mugs, and add a slice of lemon. That’s it!
Nighttime Calming Weed Tea Recipe
If you’re trying to find a cannabis tea recipe to wind down at the end of the day, look no further. This is the perfect option for when you’re ready to quiet your mind, relax your body, and ease into a good night’s sleep. While we could choose obvious teas like chamomile or valerian, we’ve found that those tend to knock us on our asses without any added cannabis. That’s why we’ve opted for soothing passionflower.
To pair with the mild grassy, earthy flavors of passionflower tea, we recommend either Ice Cream Cake or Wedding Cake. The former is actually a creamy descendent of Wedding Cake, but both have a sweet floral element that pairs beautifully. Plus, they’re both uplifting and calming.
While you could choose any heavy-hitting indica-dominant strain, we love these for their gentle relaxation and subtle euphoria. Follow those same five instructions to decarb your weed, then simply add your passionflower tea bag to your strained mixture. Steep for 5-8 minutes depending on how strong you want the passionflower flavor to be. Then simply pour, add a teaspoon of honey for sweetness, and slowly sip.
How To Make Weed Tea With Stems
Remember those stems we had you set aside earlier? You can actually make stem tea out of them! This is a great way to use every last bit of your cannabis too. You’ll want at least a quarter cup of stems for this recipe, so you may have to save those stems up for a while before attempting this recipe.
We recommend giving your stems a light grind to increase the surface area exposed to the heat. This makes the decarbing process slightly more effective (this is true for all of these recipes).
Simply follow the decarbing instructions from earlier and then add your preferred tea bag. That’s it! If you want a stronger tea, we recommend choosing a particularly potent strain. Just remember that the natural weed flavor will infuse the tea, so something like Chemdog will make for a particularly stinky tea.
Can You Boil Weed In Water Without Tea?
Technically, yes you could just boil weed in water without adding any additional tea ingredients. What you’ll end up with is a very weed-forward flavor with barely any psychoactive properties. The decarboxylation process is necessary to convert THCA to THC. So, without all those extra steps, you won’t feel the effects as much.
How Long Do You Feel The Effects of Weed Tea?
Similar to edibles, cannabis tea must pass through your digestive tract before being metabolized by your liver. This is a much longer process than simply smoking weed, so you may need to wait 30-90 minutes before feeling the effects. This all depends on your personal metabolism, how potent the tea is, and even whether or not you’ve eaten anything recently.
Once it’s kicked in, you can expect to feel the effects for several hours. Again, it really depends on the potency and your personal metabolism. However, individuals have been known to feel the effects for 5-8 hours. That being said, plan ahead and make sure you’re comfortable with being high for that long. It’s generally recommended to start low and go slow. So, don’t get impatient after twenty minutes and have two more glasses.
Benefits of Weed Tea
Aside from saving your lungs from a coughing fit, drinking cannabis tea comes with several important benefits over smoking and vaping. Like edibles, the effects tend to stick around for quite some time, so if you suffer from pain or anxiety, the long-lasting effects can be quite a relief.
Pain
In general, cannabis has been used to relieve mild chronic pain for centuries. It makes sense that cannabis tea could be able to help as well. Certain strains and certain types of tea might enhance the pain-relieving effects, so do your research before jumping in.
Anxiety/Depression
If you’re looking to relieve anxiety and/or depression with cannabis tea, we recommend trying citrus-forward teas with uplifting strains. However, hybrids may be the best route to avoid overstimulation.
Lung and Heart Health
Whether you have asthma or you’re at risk for heart disease, smoking and vaping are generally no-no’s. That’s one of the main reasons why some individuals opt for cannabis tea over inhalants.
Bowel and Nausea Issues
Certain teas have shown to be particularly beneficial for those with bowel and nausea issues (peppermint, chamomile, ginger, etc.). Combining the relaxing potential of cannabis with these teas could be a simple way to provide short-term relief.
Weed Tea Frequently Asked Questions
We know we’ve gone over a lot already, but here are a few more FAQs to keep you as informed as possible.
How Long Can You Store Weed Tea?
This is actually a really great question considering the use of fats (coconut oil, butter, oil, etc.) in marijuana tea. Since these really shouldn’t be left at room temperature, any unused tea should be refrigerated. If your fat includes dairy, it might only be good for a few days or a week max. Plant-based oils will stay good for longer, but for best results, we wouldn’t push it past two weeks.
Just remember that refrigerating your tea will likely separate the fats, so you’ll need to reheat your tea and stir properly before drinking.
Do I Need To Decarb Weed Tea?
Only if you want to experience the psychoactive effects.
How Long Does Weed Tea Stay In Your System
That depends on a lot of factors like whether or not you frequently consume cannabis, the amount you consume, and your individual metabolism. THC can show up in your urine anywhere from just a few days to as much as 30 days after consumption. There’s no one size fits all answer. Additionally, NOT decarbing your weed is no guarantee that you won’t ingest some THC.
Is Weed Tea Addictive?
It’s no different than edibles or other forms of marijuana. Unless your tea of choice contains other ingredients (caffeine, etc), weed tea is no more or less addictive than weed itself.
Does Weed Tea Have Caffeine?
Only if you make cannabis tea with caffeinated teas. On its own, cannabis doesn’t contain any caffeine.