How To: 3 Ways To Mix An Oil Based CBD Tincture Into Your Drink

The technical definition of a tincture does not involve oil, but many products on the market are using a base of edible oil to deliver cannabinoids and calling it tincture. This is usually because it’s easier to manufacture with oil than most other bases. So without being a stickler for details, you can call any concentrated liquid cannabinoid preparation a tincture for simplicity’s sake, we don’t think anyone is going to stop calling them tinctures anytime soon, or that anyone will stop using oil as a base in certain lines. 

The major challenge with these oil based medicines is that they’re not water soluble, so unless you dose sublingually, they’re going to float around awkwardly on the top of your drink. It’s true that sublingual and buccal dosing are speedier than drinking your cannabinoids, but if you have any type of systemic issue or illness, you’ll want to dose internally as well.

Here’s three strategies to mixing oil based tinctures into your drinks:

Smoothie 

Ice, blenders, and fruits are an excellent way to hide a little oil. In fact many people already put hemp and coconut oil into their smoothies for this very reason. Emulsifying fruits such as banana and additions like almond butter will spread the oil through the smoothie in a uniform fashion. 

Try this smoothie for a CBD splitting headache saver:

1 banana

¼ c almond butter

1c almond, cashew, or hemp milk

¼ tsp vanilla extract

1 dropperful Veritas Farms Unflavored Tincture

Handful of ice

Scoop of Neo Cell Collagen Powder

Combine all ingredients with a blender until completely mixed. Serves two with 12 mg CBD each.

Coffee

Coffee is an easy win for cbd tincture, but it requires a little more effort than the pour-and-go method many of us are used to. If you can prepare a week’s worth creamer ahead of time, adding CBD to your coffee is simple, but for an on-the-spot oil tincture coffee, you need a little elbow grease too.

RELATED: 7 Super Simple Ways To Add Marijuana To Your Coffee

Get started with this CBD morning coffee

1 tsp coconut oil or butter

1 dropperful Onda CBD Tincture

6 oz freshly brewed coffee

2 Tbs cream or vegan creamer 

If you have a milk frother or immersion blender, you can whip this up in a snap by frothing up the ingredients. To make a quick mixture with a more analog method, shake up the tincture with the creamer until they’re well mixed, you can use a cocktail shaker or small lidded jar. Each coffee has 20mg CBD.

Cocktail

The too many bartenders are squirting hemp-y, oily stuff on the top of a drink and calling it mixology. Though it’s true many cocktails call for a dash of bitters or aromatics as a float, no one wants to sip on an oily slick, plus you waste the CBD as much of it sticks to the ice and glass to avoid the watery mixture of the alcohol. Blended drinks do the physical work of emulsifying for you, but if you want to cheat a bit to allow using cannabinoid tinctures in shaken or stirred drinks, try using some science!

RELATED: Wrap Yourself In The Warmth Of These Cannabis Cocktails

Emulsifying ingredients can help you add oil and water, so try a few drops of food grade polysorbate 80, a sprinkle of xanthan gum or maltodextrin and get to drinking.

Upgrade your daiquiri with this cocktail recipe

1 dropperful CBD tincture

2 oz rum

1oz lime juice

¾ oz simple syrup

3 drops food grade polysorbate 80

3 dashes Angostura bitters 

Shake all of the ingredients except for the Angostura bitters on ice. Strain into a glass and add 3 dashes of bitters.

If you want to avoid having to work for it, tinctures that are alcohol or glycerin based will dilute easier and you don’t need any tricks at all to incorporate them into liquids. With these three tricks, making cannabinoid drinks won’t be as messy and greasy.

Photos, recipes, and illustrations by Danielle Guercio