 | NORML News: Honey Oil from buds or leaf |
 Butane not a new technique but is being "rediscovered" around New Zealand. Butane produces the most golden amber Honey Oil that you could imagine, using anything from good bud to plain old leaf!
BY DAVE H., NORML News Summer 2003-4
Harm reduction is hardly a new concept, as cannabis has been refined and concentrated into various resins, concoctions and elixers throughout the world for perhaps thousands of years, in the interests of minimising the amount of smoke that is required. The higher the THC content, the less plant material that is burnt and ingested. Techniques range from screens and sieves, to water extraction, to solvent-based methods such as alcoholic tinctures, isopropyl alcohol, CO2 and butane extraction.
Cannabis oil made using isopropyl alcohol has long been popular in New Zealand, but most smokers don't really like the stuff. It often tastes awful, has residues of isopropyl and can contain anything alcohol-soluble which is not just THC but chlorophyll's and so on. Using isopropyl can also be dangerous and difficult to get.
Butane not a new technique but is being "rediscovered" around New Zealand. Butane produces the most golden amber Honey Oil that you could imagine, using anything from good bud to plain old leaf!
Butane is a very effective solvent that comes out of the can in a very cold liquid form. It dissolves the resin glands from the cannabis, and quickly evaporates at room temperature leaving only the purest cannabis resin.
All that is needed is some sort of capped plastic tube or bottle and some butane gas, available at most hardware or grocery store. Butane for refilling lighters is pure, whereas the cooking gas has sulphur added to give it a smell. Any size vessel can be used, from a drink bottle to 44-gallon drums. Shown above is an inline filter for a garden irrigation setup ($5-10 from any hardware store).
These filers are basically 1.5" diameter hard plastic tubes with screw-on caps at each end for a garden hose to connect to. It needs to have some sort of filter on the bottom to stop the plant material falling out, like a pipe screen or coffee filter paper.
The existing end hole is about 1/2" round but it needs to be smaller so the butane nozzle can be depressed. I found that the end bit of a trigger pack water sprayer fitted just fine.
Butane is flammable, so no smoking while doing this, and only do it in a well ventilated area, such as outdoors or with all the windows open. You don't need to use much gas so the risk is not very high, but turn off any electrical equipment that could spark.
Grind up some buds or leaf and put it inside. The hose filters fit up to 15g of bud at a time. Run one or two cans of butane through the herb-filled filter, in 30-second bursts. The butane comes out of the can as a liquid, runs down through the weed, dissolving the crystals, and drips out the bottom into a collection container.
The butane will immediately start to bubble and evaporate off. Speed up the evaporation by immersing the container in hot water. A thin film will be left coating the container, which is best scraped up carefully with a razorblade and put into a capsule or small vial. It is also possible to get varying grades by running butane through into different collection vessels. The first wash is the best, the second wash next best, and so on.
The whole process takes maybe 10 minutes, and you're left with a golden honey oil that is almost pure THC! It tastes like the best hash you have ever smoked, while the left over buds taste like cabbage and have no effect.
Honey Oil is the shit. If you want to give it a go, here are some links for more information:
FAR LEFT: all that is needed is some herb, butane and a plastic tube or bottle.
MID LEFT: Close up of filter in end
LEFT: Running the butane through the plastic tube. Careful - it's cold, and flammable so no smoking!
BELOW: pure golden honey oil
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