The day begins (and continues, over and over) for many people with a fresh, hot cup of joe. Which is excellent. No, really, there’s nothing wrong with that; drinking plain old coffee is wonderful. It’s just… what if that coffee also made you high?
That sounds exciting to you, then strap in: We’ve discovered a method to add a little more bounce to your morning cup—a nice dose of THC. Let’s get started.
What is Kief?
A quick overview: Kief is a term used to describe the little powdery, crystalline particles that are attached to – and shed from – cannabis buds, also known as “trichomes.” The powder left over in the final stage of a multi-stage grinder is kief (we’ll go through this more later in our article “How to Make Kief”).
Kief, much like all other cannabis products, must be decarboxylated before it can produce psychotropic effects. Cannabis must be heated in order to produce euphoric side effects. The natural THCA found in marijuana is converted into THC, which is responsible for producing pleasure.
Thus, if you’re wondering whether adding kief to your coffee will get you high, the answer is quite simply and clearly “No.” There’s a lot of misinformation on the internet about this; we’d like to set the record straight: Your coffee’s temperature isn’t hot enough to decarboxylate your kief properly. The cannabis decarbing procedure necessitates heat over time, which a cup of poured coffee cannot provide. Even if you keep your coffee in a thermos for an extended period of time, the temperature and duration ratio will have little effect in decarbing your kief.
So How Do You Make Coffee With Kief?
If you’re looking for a method to create real cannabis-infused coffee with kief that actually works, you have two alternatives:
Option #1: Decarb Your Kief
This is a question with a rather complicated answer, which we explore in detail in our piece “The 3 Best Ways to Decarb Your Weed”, but the quick version is: Place your kief on a parchment paper-lined baking tray and bake for 30 minutes to 1 hour at 230°F. Keep an eye on it while it cooks so that it doesn’t burn; if the color becomes too brown, remove it regardless of how long it’s been cooking. Stirring it occasionally to mix will also aid in preventing burning.
Your kief has now been decarbed, activated, and ready to be utilized in any dish you choose, such as cannabis-infused coffee. We recommend adding a splash of milk or creamer to your coffee to maximize the effectiveness. The fatty acids in dairy will bind to the leeched-away cannabinoids, lending them something to attach to, ensuring that the THC is more well blended with the beverage; otherwise, we recommend finishing up every last drop and any kief fragments remaining in the cup so you get all of the cannabis’s advantages.
Option #2: Use an Infusion or Concentrate
In Option #1, you have two major problems: first, the uneven dispersion of the cannabinoids as they are drained from the kief, and second, the kief remaining in the drink causing a gritty texture. If you’re in a rush and decarbed kief is accessible, adding milk or cream to your coffee cup is an excellent choice.
We have a variety of methods for infusing our article “How to Make Edibles” but the fundamental idea is to submerge decarbed cannabis product (in this case, kief) in a fatty liquid (such as milk, coconut oil or butter) for an extended period of time at a low temperature. THC (as well as CBD) would be released from the plant material as it is heated, bonding to the fat molecules within your chosen infusion substance.
After an hour or so, strain your kief through a coffee filter; you may try this for another infusion (or just eat the remainder). Your initial cannabis-infused product is now complete. Adding some of this to your daily cup of coffee will definitely give you a good buzz, and it won’t have the textural issues associated with simply dumping in a lot of kief powder.
Kief is not required for cannabis coffee, but many people enjoy it. You can make cannabis coffee without kief if you wish, simply by melting a THC chocolate into your hot beverage; it will have the same effect and allow for more accurate dosage (not to mention essentially giving you a marijuana mocha). Any other tincture, infused oil, or even hash may also be used to save time and simplify the process of making your cup of cannabis coffee.
Is Kief Coffee Worth It?
That is, of course, unless you’re using a vaporizer. The idea of putting kief into a cup of coffee has something to do with just dumping some grind residues in a cup of brew and obtaining yourself a unique morning boost. But, as we said, this isn’t effective; you’ll either be drinking from a mug with gritty coffee or going through too many processes to make it work so that it isn’t even “kief coffee” anymore.
That said, if you’re searching for a technique to catch a morning high while drinking coffee, we totally understand. There are definitely worse ways to get energized than with a cup of cannabis-infused hot coffee. We hope this article has provided you with some useful ideas on how to make it (or not) happen with your kief. Please have fun!
How to Make Kief-Infused Coffee
You’re right! You can now really add your favorite plant to your favorite beverage! Coffee connoisseurs, you’ve got a new drink to try! Adding cannabis-infused milk to your cup of coffee is the second method.
Directions for Kief in Coffee:
Materials
- Coffee Cup
- Grinder
- Baking Tray
- Oven
- Aluminum or Parchment Paper
One cup of coffee is sufficient for this brew. Adjust the amount to your preferences and requirements.
- Decarboxylate Kief: Place your kief on a baking sheet. Roughly .25 – .50 grams is sufficient. Then bake at 240 degrees for 30-60 minutes.
- Mix Kief into Coffee: Remove the kief from the oven and let it cool. Make a cup of strong coffee before adding decarbed kief to it. With a spoon, mix the drink.
How to Decarboxylate Cannabis
The rate at which cannabinoids decarboxylate is affected by heat and time. The faster cannabinoids decarboxylate as a result of increased temperature. However, if the temperature is too high, the cannabinoids will degrade into their oxidized by-products. And if acid cannabinoids are left alone for a long period of time, they will slowly decarBOXYLATE into their neutral forms.
In recent years, several studies have been published that investigate the best temperature and time for decarboxylation.
Temperatures ranging from 80°C (176°F) to 145°C (293°F) have been examined, with decarboxylation rates for up to 120 minutes plotted. They were searching for the optimum time and temperature to decarboxylate a variety of acidic cannabinoids, particularly CBDA and THCA. Wang, et al. (citation 8) and Citti, et al. (citation 9) provide charts showing the decarboxylation rates of these cannabinoids at various temperatures.
The decarboxylation of THC is typically completed in 6-10 days, depending on the strain. THCA decarbs somewhat quicker than CBDA. Fortunately, it appears that waiting for any remaining CBDA to convert to CBD has no negative influence on the THC concentration.
If you aren’t concerned about turning all CBDA to CBD (neither compound is intoxicating or impairing), you don’t need to heat your cannabis for 40 minutes as described here. If 25 minutes are enough time to fully decarboxylate THCA, it should be plenty.
What you need:
- Oven
- Baking sheet
- Aluminum foil or parchment paper
- Cannabis flower
- Pre-heat oven to 230°F/110°C.
- Line your baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper for easy clean up.
- Grind or break up your cannabis flower into pea-sized pieces or smaller so that the heat distributes evenly.
- Spread the ground cannabis onto the baking sheet and bake for 40 minutes.
- Remove from oven, let cool, and use to infuse oil or alcohol.
Calculating Cannabinoid Content
Your oven isn’t without fault. Your oven’s temperature may vary, and the conversion rate of acid cannabinoids to neutral ones may change from time to time. Typically, approximately 80% of the acid cannabinoids will convert to their neutral forms. If you have access to laboratory data for the cannabis you’re decarboxylating, you can estimate the cannabinoid content of the final product based on your knowledge.
Here’s a formula to help you figure out the ballpark cannabinoid concentration of your freshly decarboxylated cannabis:
# grams of cannabis x cannabinoid % = # grams of cannabinoids
# g cannabinoids x 1000 = # mg cannabinoids
# mg cannabinoids x 0.8 = approximate mg of cannabinoids in your final product
Example:
- 7 grams of cannabis (quarter ounce)
- 10% THC 13% CBD
THC Content:
– 7 g x 10% = 0.7 g THC
– 0.7 x 1000 = 700 mg THC
– 700 x 0.8 = 560 mg decarboxylated THC
CBD Content:
– 7 g x 13% = 0.91 g CBD
– 0.91 x 1000 = 910 mg CBD
– 9.10 x 0.8 = 728 mg decarboxylated CBD
Total cannabinoid content in decarboxylated cannabis: 560mg THC and 728mg CBD.
Enjoy!