Cannabis Heavy Syrup

Simple syrup is a standard product used by the beverage industry. Add it to mixed drinks, smoothies, iced or hot tea, or any other beverage.

This recipe is for a heavy syrup, using a 2:1 ratio of sugar to water. For the classic simple syrup use a 1:1 ratio, increase water to 12 oz and decrease sugar to 12 oz.

1 oz dried cannabis
16 oz (2 cups) sugar of your choice
8 oz (1 cup) water
2 tbsp Lemon juice, or 2 tsp food grade citric acid powder, or 1 tbsp vodka as a preservative

1. Grind the weed in a blender or food processor.
2. Bake, tightly covered @ 220 degrees for 45 minutes. (I use a round glass baking dish.)
3. Combine sugar and water, stirring over medium heat until fully dissolved. Hold on low until ready.
4. Combine weed and syrup, bring to a strong boil, remove from heat.
5. Stir in your choice of preservative.
6. Let this steep and cool for awhile.
7. Strain into suitable storage container of your choice.

Yields One Pint

Dose: Highly dependent on tolerance, THC content, and the strain(s) used. With a high THC strain (18%+) start with a 1/2 tsp.

Get creative with heavy syrups. Imagine a double shot, vanilla latte, with a sativa high syrup shot. How about a Blueberry Kush Strawberry Smoothie? Or Strawberry Cough Chocolate Sundae?

Fruit: Add roughly chopped fresh fruit or whole frozen to the syrup and hold it on low while the weed bakes.
Spices: Add it during the steeping step. Try a single spice like cinnamon, ginger, vanilla or a mix like pumpkin pie spice or chai spice. Don't overdo it, start with 1/2 tsp and add more if needed.
Soda/Coffee Flavoring: Use candy and baking flavorings from the bottle. Don't overdo it, start with a 1/4 or 1/2 tsp and add more if needed.

I'm thinking that I could use this to prime my beer with. I didn't realize you could use sugar to extract THC.

How is the flavor? Does it taste green or grassy?

Hmm, any tests done to prove that this is even a slightly efficient method?

vitamin_green_inc said:

Hmm, any tests done to prove that this is even a slightly efficient method?

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I did some internet research but didn't find anything positive. Only standard forum comments stating it doesn't work with no real evidence to back up negative claims. So at that point I figured I would have to do it myself.

Using 25%thc-a Original Haze:


First batch with no decarb, I can get a solid level 4 high lasting about six hours with 1tbsp.

Second batch with decarb, same 1tbsp dose and I O.D. Because I have plenty of experience with sativas I didn't lose control but I had a solid four hours of seat gripping action. Ten hours later I woke up high.

yktind said:

I'm thinking that I could use this to prime my beer with. I didn't realize you could use sugar to extract THC.

How is the flavor? Does it taste green or grassy?

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My palate tastes primary flavor as roasted green tea, also known as oolong. Secondary taste is dependent on what you use. The haze batch retains some of the floral and citrus. A batch I made with Critical is fruity and toasty.

I was having thoughts about homebrew too. Use straight weed in the boil at 0 minutes along with or instead of hops. If thc will dissolve into a simple syrup I'm sure it will do the same in a high gravity wort. Only concern would be if the yeast would eat the thc and get high, leaving nothing for us.

Not sure about bottling, specifically wondering. if the added cannabis would effect carbonation.

A tablespoon is a HUgE dose! Use Everclear and make tincture and you will only need 4ml and 7 grams of starting material will net you at least 3oz of tincture-30ml per fluid oz=7 doses per oz-21 doses off 7 grams-use this as your base and then make honey or whatever you want with it!

vitamin_green_inc said:

Hmm, any tests done to prove that this is even a slightly efficient method?

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Everything that came up when I googled "extracting THC using sugar" recommended using glycerin. I suppose sugar turns into fat but it starts as a carb right? I may have to try this to actually see for myself.

@SwankyDank do you use buds or trim?

vitamin_green_inc said:

A tablespoon is a HUgE dose! Use Everclear and make tincture and you will only need 4ml and 7 grams of starting material will net you at least 3oz of tincture-30ml per fluid oz=7 doses per oz-21 doses off 7 grams-use this as your base and then make honey or whatever you want with it!

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One tablespoon=15ml
One teaspoon=5ml

The recipe in this thread yields one pint (473 ml) which equals 31.5 tablespoons or 94.5 teaspoons. Putting the heavy syrup recipe into the proportions for the alcohol tincture, the pint of syrup yields 118 4ml doses which is 7 per oz. It looks like the total number of doses from this recipe is pretty close to the tincture numbers.

After my overdose experience I have lowered the dosage down to 1/2 teaspoon. (2.5ml) I can still feel the effect but it is mild. I will increase the next dose to 3/4 tsp (3.75ml). My guess is that it will be about right. I am also planning on increasing the dose in 1/4 tsp increments to test effects at 5ml, 6.25ml, and 7.5ml. I will report those doses here.

Finally, I will be getting lab tests, hopefully next week, and will post the results here when they are completed. In the meantime, here is the test for the source material .

yktind said:

Everything that came up when I googled "extracting THC using sugar" recommended using glycerin. I suppose sugar turns into fat but it starts as a carb right? I may have to try this to actually see for myself.

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Funny you should mention this, the same day I made the first batch of syrup I ordered one pint of food-grade glycerin and have prepared a test batch using glycerin. I haven't dosed with it yet but when I do I plan on searching for threads about glycerin and if I can't find any I will start a new thread.

I did make a small taste test and my first response is that the glycerin is inferior to the syrup for taste, texture, and mouth-feel.

yktind said:

do you use buds or trim?

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I have been using fan leaves, sugar leaves, small buds, and a few selected stems that were extremely sticky. All of it gets ground and baked. I estimate the proportions were 50% sugar leaves, 40% bud, and 5% fan, 5% stem. Once I get lab results I will be preparing an all-bud batch using best quality bud and then testing that as well for comparison.

This is my first steps into cooking with cannabis and I'm having so much fun.

Two of my favorite things are gardening and cooking. I love the creative space that is available to those of us who like to experiment with different methods of growing and preparing food and drink. Then there is the social part of working the earth and sharing what she can produce that goes way back into the history of all people. This isn't just about getting high, it is about finding a way to include many of my friends who hate the smell and feel of smoking, and those who only want to trip every now and then and can't handle the rapid and intense high that comes with smoking.

you should make hash then do this. id try this as i hate glycerin.

Delivered the syrup for testing. It should take about one week for the results.

I was about to say that..as always, using heat and a poor solvent will contribute to the degradation causing sedative edibles

Sugar and water, both are very polar. Not only will it hold little in solution but will be slow to extract. Keep in mind the cannabinoids and terpenes etc are not equally polar/soluble.

I have seen hash oil and syrup "blended" together held in solution

But the carrier is important in the absorption of cannabinoids. Being suspended isnt really desired, and the more non polar the carrier the faster it is absorbed basically. This is where the compounds logp comes into play

SwankyDank said:

After my overdose experience I have lowered the dosage down to 1/2 teaspoon. (2.5ml) I can still feel the effect but it is mild. I will increase the next dose to 3/4 tsp (3.75ml). My guess is that it will be about right. I am also planning on increasing the dose in 1/4 tsp increments to test effects at 5ml, 6.25ml, and 7.5ml. I will report those doses here.
View attachment 3425371

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Over memorial day weekend I dosed 3.75 ml and it was a light buzz so I followed that up an hour later with another 3.75 ml (for a total of 1 1/2 tsp) and I was happy with the results. Not too high but definitely feeling good.

Lat Saturday I decided to play with the mix a bit and see if it would work as a base for making hard candy. Bad idea... it was way too stinky but it turned into a fortunate mistake. I shut the burner off with the syrup temperature at 228 deg F and returned it to the bottle. The next day I dosed 10ml (2 tsp) thinking that it wasn't that big of an increase from 1 1/2 tsp and apparently the strength had increased. I had another extra-high trip that had me squirming for about three hours.

I'm no chemist so I can't explain what happened, only give a guess that the extra time at higher temp converted more THC-A? Maybe @qwizoking can explain it.

Either way, I like the results from this concoction and also like that it is very easy to prepare.

It seems like the biggest issue to be resolved is efficiency. For me efficiency isn't a concern but I'm sure it is for others so we'll see what the lab sends back.

Like I just wrote, I'm no chemist. The following information is presented with no expertise just sharing where my curiosity led me with a hope that someone else can add more knowledge.

1. I read about micellation in which non-solubles become encapsulated within another substance.


2. Reading more about it I learned that micellizing helps make non-solubles more available for absorption in the small intestine.



3. Reading some more I learned about something called sucrose laurate. Here is one bit about sucrose laurate:


Lauric acid is a fatty acid. This recipe uses a citric acid-sucrose combination so maybe this explains how the syrup "captures" THC and delivers it to the body.

lab testing would let u know if u activated more thca

Update: I haven't received the test results. I called the dispensary that processed my sample and they have been unhelpful. Still working on this but I may end up sending in a new sample through a different dispensary and that may take awhile since I don't have any leads for a reliable place closer to home.

Another Update: I know I JUST updated this thread but I have found the answer. Don't judge me, please.

I visited the Iron Labs website to see what options I might have for requesting the results directly. It turns out they post all results on their site. It would have been nice if the dispensary would have told me. Anyway, here are the results. It looks like they ran two samples. I will post each in a separate reply after this one. If you prefer you can view the results here: https://www.ironlaboratories.com/current-results. Use the search function and look for Sample A and Sample B.

Sample A



Machine: High Performance Liquid Chromatography Method: UN 2009

CBD: 0.00 CBDA: 0.00 CBC: 0.00 CBG: 0.00 CBN: 0.03 CBGA: 0.00

THCA: 0.00 CBDV: 0.00 ∆9-THC: 4.95 ∆8-THC: 0.00 THCV: 0.00