GTGD - Experiment #1

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GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by GrowTutor »

GrowTutor's first Green Dragon Experiment


I wanted to try a simple GD experiment that I can use as a baseline to tweak and test other projects, including a e-liquid conversion for vaping in an e-cig or a related vaping mod. Originally I wanted to get it down to one hit potency but since so many people have different tolerances I decided to make it 3 hits...for me. That way those with a smaller tolerance can take one hit and those with a larger tolerance can take more.

This post isn't about the e-liquid though, it's just about the GTGD and fine tuning might come later. I also came to the conclusion that if I'm going to be doing product reviews and taking pictures I need a better camera than the 8mp camera in my phone.

1) I started with 15g of well cured Dark Star cannabis flowers: 2) Then I did a DMHO extraction (which didn't work as well with dried and cured flowers as I expected) for 5 days, changing the solvent every day: 3) I then dried the flowers (below 30% RH) quickly to prevent mold: Then I returned them to a cVault storage container with a 62% Boveda pack so they wouldn't be too dry or too wet for grinding. 4) I then ground the flowers using a new coffee grinder that I'll be using to make bigger batches later. 5) California Law limits alcohol to 75.5% so I used Diesel 153 proof instead of Everclear 151: For the first run using about 5oz (150ml) Stirred with a chopstick Which was stored in the freezer and shaken several times per day for 2 days Which was then strained and drained through cheesecloth Which yielded about 4 ounces (most of the loss was what stayed in the cheesecloth) for the first run 6) For the second run I used another 5 ounces and did the shake and soak for 2 more days Which yielded a little less than 5 ounces more that was added to the previous wash in the freezer 7) The third wash I used about 6 ounces and repeated the shake and soak for 3 days which yielded a little over 5 ounces. For a total of about 15 ounces of unreduced solvent. 8) I then reduced the 15 ounces in a small crockpot for several hours Leaving me with 6 ounces of reduced GTGD from 15g using 450ml (16oz) of 153 proof alcohol that I store in an 8oz amber bottle.
For my first test, tonight, I tried .5ml orally but I had smoked an hour before so I'm not quite sure it's strong enough. I'll try another .5ml-1ml tomorrow morning while I'm fresh and see how that does.

It tastes and smells kind of like rubbing alcohol and bongwater so I'm not happy about that but with more reduction and use in other edibles/consumables it might not be too bad.

I may need to reduce it further and I'll definitely need to reduce it a LOT more for the e-liquid experiment later but that's another topic. ;)


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Happyweedz
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by Happyweedz »

Hey GT,
What is you morning beverage of choice? I put a dropper or two of GD into my coffee and stir until the alcohol vapes off....nice, subtle way to start the day!

Happy
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

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Dr. Pepper is my main source of water all day long but I occasionally like coffee, tea or whole milk. Only one or two of those might be good with GD. I will try that in the future but for this morning I tried another .5ml sub-lingual dose which burns from the alcohol and tastes sort of like a mj-edible. I wonder how it would be to add 1ml GD to a 5-hour energy drink shot? How many ml is your dropper? What is your "dose" with your GD making method? ;)

I wanted it extra strong so I used 2x mmj and only 50% more alcohol, I did 3 longer washes instead of two plus I reduced it by more than half. The Dark Star that I used isn't quite "top-shelf" but it's better than mid-grade so it should be decent. If I have to make another batch with more flowers and less alcohol I can since I have quite a bit of it. :D
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by GrowTutor »

OK, so an hour later and it works but the high is subdued. It's there just less intense. The pain relief is pretty good, I think I'll try another .5ml under the tongue. :P




EDIT:
OK, 1ml is pretty good but still not intense at all; it's much more mellow, lets see how long it goes before I'm toking or taking more GTGD...
:hitit:
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by GrowTutor »

OK, several hours later and I'm still going; I think it's on the way down now but I can definitely still feel it pretty well.
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

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I finally decided to take a couple of tokes and it seems like it hit me harder than normal...not that I'm complaining. ;)

I probably could have taken another dose of GTGD and lasted the rest of the night but that'll be an experiment for another day. It'd be nice to know how many ml/day I'd use, I'm guessing less than 2. I could do agave/honey gel-caps to avoid the taste and if I didn't want to carry a dropper bottle on me. It's effective, as is, but the burn, smell and taste isn't pleasant.

Based on this first test; *if* I use 1.5 - 2ml/day then that'd be 1.5 - 2 ounces of GD/month and I just made 6 ounces of GTGD out of 15 grams. Last time I weighed out my stash, I was smoking about 1 oz/month but I did quit for a while so maybe I'm smoking less now but if 6 oz of GD lasts me 3 months (it won't this time because I'm going to be experimenting with e-liquids) and only uses 15g of flowers then GTGD makes much more sense than smoking even beyond the obvious not inhaling burnt plant matter issue. Could smoking be that inefficient of a delivery method?
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rkymtnman
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by rkymtnman »

great post. thanks for all the pix too. i'm itching to start my own batch. i like the idea of being able to put it in a gelcap. would be really easy to travel with something like that.

how much more refined does it have to be to work in a e-cig/vape?
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by GrowTutor »

Not much more, it's really more of a transfer than refinement. I'm just trying to figure out the dosage for the e-liquid and that can be complicated because different e-cigs/mods/people will vape different amounts of liquid per hit and per day. If I make it too concentrated and a heavy vaper gets too high of a dose because they didn't dilute it that could be bad. On the other hand if I make it too weak then somebody that is a light vaper would have to take a LOT of hits to get a dose. I'm leaning towards the stronger mix and people will just have to be responsible enough to figure out how much to dilute it. It's easier to dilute than to concentrate it after the fact. I also have to figure out if I want to flavor it (and what flavor) or leave it raw.
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by PsychedelicSam »

You're saying that you water cured your buds first?

I'm surprised that you were able to reduce it so much without it separating into layers. You'll make a much better 151 GD if you use kief. I thought I added that guide here but if not, I will. I guarantee you the ride of your life, compared to what you have just made. :nod:
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Re: GTGD - Experiment #1

Post by PsychedelicSam »

I did post the guide for the 151 kief GD. Give that a try the next time. It works really, really well. ;)
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