How to Make Cannabis Infused Drinks at Home

Ready to mix up your own cannabis-infused drinks? It’s a pretty straightforward process that boils down to three key stages. First, you have to activate the cannabis (a process called decarboxylation). Next, you’ll create an infusion, like a tincture or a simple syrup. Finally, you just mix that infusion into your favorite drink.

This guide will walk you through exactly how to master these steps, so you can create clean, consistent, and genuinely sophisticated cannabis beverages right from your own kitchen.

The Art of Crafting Cannabis Beverages at Home

Forget everything you think you know about homemade edibles. We've moved far beyond the days of inconsistent, unpredictable brownies. Crafting your own cannabis drinks today is all about precision, amazing flavor, and creating an experience that fits perfectly into your life.

Whether you've been using cannabis for years and want to try something new or you're just curious about a good alternative to alcohol, think of this as your starting point.

 

 

Why Make Your Own Cannabis Drinks?

When you make your own infusions, you're in the driver's seat. You get to pick the ingredients, control the exact potency, and fine-tune the final product until it's just right for you. This hands-on approach means you can easily skip the added sugars, artificial flavors, and extra calories that often come with store-bought cannabis drinks.

By learning how to make cannabis infused drinks, you gain the ability to create personalized beverages that align perfectly with your wellness and social goals, offering a clean alternative to both traditional edibles and alcoholic drinks.

Honestly, the process is more of a craft than a simple recipe. It’s a cool blend of basic kitchen science and culinary creativity. Once you nail down these fundamental techniques, you can apply them to almost anything—sparkling waters, teas, and even complex mocktails.

A Growing Trend in Wellness

If you're looking for a more refined cannabis experience, you're in good company. The market for cannabis-infused drinks has exploded, largely thanks to health-conscious people looking for better options than sugary sodas or alcohol. You’ve probably seen the new wave of clean, hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and CBD sparkling waters popping up everywhere.

The numbers don't lie. The global market was valued at USD 0.32 billion in 2024 and is projected to hit USD 2.865 billion by 2035. That's a massive compound annual growth rate of 22.05%. This isn't just a fad; it's a real cultural shift toward more mindful, wellness-focused consumption. You can learn more about the market's explosive growth and what’s behind it.

Our goal here is to give you clear, actionable advice. We’ll cover:

• The Science: Why decarboxylation is a non-negotiable first step to activate THC.
• The Methods: How to create versatile infusions like tinctures, syrups, and oil emulsions.
• The Control: How to dose your drinks accurately for a safe, predictable, and enjoyable experience.

By the end, you’ll have all the foundational skills you need to craft delicious and effective cannabis drinks that give you clarity, control, and pure enjoyment.

Mastering Decarboxylation and Dosing

Before we dive into crafting delicious cannabis drinks, we have to talk about the single most important step: decarboxylation. If you skip this, you’re essentially wasting your weed. It's the simple process of gently heating your cannabis to "wake up" the good stuff.

Think of it this way: raw cannabis flower contains a compound called THCA. While interesting in its own right, THCA won’t get you high. When you apply a little heat, you spark a chemical reaction that converts that non-intoxicating THCA into the famous THC. This is the magic behind every good edible or drink.

 

 

The Tried-and-True Oven Method

From my experience, the most reliable way to decarb at home is using your oven. It gives you consistent temperature control, which is crucial. Too hot and you'll burn off the valuable cannabinoids and terpenes; too cool and the activation won't happen.

Here’s my go-to method for perfect decarboxylation every time:

• Get the oven ready. Preheat it to 240°F (115°C). I find this is the sweet spot for a full activation without damaging the delicate compounds that give cannabis its unique aroma and effects.
• Prep your flower. Gently break up your cannabis into small, even pieces—about the size of a pea. You don't want to grind it into a fine powder. Spread it in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper.
• Time to bake. Slide the baking sheet into the oven for 30 to 40 minutes. Your kitchen will start to smell very earthy and toasted. You're looking for the flower to turn a light golden-brown.
• Let it cool. Once it's done, take it out and let it cool down completely. The flower will feel dry and a bit crumbly, which means it’s perfectly prepped and ready for infusion.

Don’t rush this part. A proper decarb is the foundation for a great infused beverage.

Figuring Out Your Dose for a Good Time

Alright, your cannabis is activated. Now comes the next big challenge: dosing. This is where homemade infusions can get tricky. Unlike the precisely dosed products you buy at a dispensary, you're in the driver's seat, which means a little math is required to avoid an unpleasant surprise.

The golden rule here is to always start low and go slow.

To get a handle on the potency of your homemade creations, you'll need the THC percentage of your flower (it should be on the label) and the total volume of liquid you're infusing (like oil or alcohol).

Here's a rough-and-ready way to calculate it:

• First, convert your flower's weight to milligrams. One gram is 1,000 mg.
• Next, find the total potential THC. Multiply the weight in milligrams by the THC percentage. For example, 1,000 mg of flower at 20% THC is 200 mg of THC (1000 x 0.20).
• Finally, divide that by your liquid volume. Let’s say you infused it into one cup of syrup, which has 48 teaspoons. That's 200 mg of THC divided by 48 teaspoons, giving you about 4.2 mg of THC per teaspoon.

Pro Tip: This formula is an estimate. You’ll never achieve a 100% infusion rate, so the actual potency will be a touch lower. Still, this calculation is an invaluable starting point to keep your doses consistent and safe.

Estimated THC Dosage Calculator

To make life even easier, I've put together a simple table. This gives you a quick reference for estimating the potency when infusing one gram of cannabis into one cup of liquid. It's a lifesaver when you're just starting out.

Cannabis Potency (THC %)	Infusion Volume (1 cup)	Estimated mg of THC per Teaspoon
15% THC	1 cup (237 ml)	~3.1 mg per tsp
20% THC	1 cup (237 ml)	~4.2 mg per tsp
25% THC	1 cup (237 ml)	~5.2 mg per tsp

So, if you used that 20% THC flower, you know each teaspoon of your infused syrup packs a little over 4 mg of THC. Now you can confidently measure out a 5 mg or 10 mg dose for your drink without any guesswork.

And I'll say it again because it's that important: always start with a small, measured dose. Wait at least two hours to feel the full effects before you even think about having more. Patience is your best friend when it comes to edibles and drinks. It’s the key to having a fantastic experience every single time.

Choosing Your Infusion Method

Alright, you’ve successfully decarboxylated your cannabis, which means it's officially "activated" and ready to go. Now for the fun part: getting those cannabinoids into a liquid form you can actually drink.

This is where the real craft comes in. You're essentially choosing how to extract the good stuff and infuse it into a base that will mix well into your final beverage. Each method we'll cover gives you a completely different texture, flavor, and use case. We’ll walk through three of my go-to techniques: classic alcohol tinctures, versatile infused syrups, and rich, fat-based infusions for creamier drinks.

Figuring out the pros and cons of each will help you nail the perfect drink, whether you're aiming for a complex mocktail or just a simple, refreshing sparkling water.

 

 

Classic Alcohol Tinctures

Tinctures are the old-school, tried-and-true method for a reason—they are incredibly potent and efficient. By using a high-proof spirit like Everclear (you need something that's at least 151 proof or 75.5% ABV), you can quickly strip the cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant material. The end result is a highly concentrated liquid you can add drop by drop to just about anything.

You've got two main routes you can take here:

• The Quick-Wash (My Recommendation): This is often called the QWET method, which stands for Quick Wash Ethanol Tincture. It involves freezing both your decarbed cannabis and the high-proof alcohol separately for a few hours. Once they're both ice-cold, you combine them, give it a hard shake for a minute or two, and immediately strain it. This speedy process pulls out the cannabinoids without grabbing much chlorophyll, giving you a much cleaner, lighter-colored tincture that actually tastes good.
• The Long-Steep: This is the more traditional approach. You just combine the flower and alcohol in a sealed jar and let it sit in a dark cupboard for weeks, or even months, giving it a shake every day. It definitely works, but you'll extract a lot more of that "green," plant-like flavor from the chlorophyll. This can easily overpower the other ingredients in your drink.

Honestly, for making beverages, I almost exclusively use the quick-wash method. The flavor is so much more refined and integrates beautifully into cocktails and teas without making everything taste like a plant.

Sweet and Simple Infused Syrups

If you plan on making sweetened drinks, you have to try making an infused simple syrup. It's a total game-changer. This creates a water-soluble, easy-to-mix ingredient that disappears perfectly into lemonades, sodas, and mocktails. It’s my personal favorite for just how easy and versatile it is.

The trick to getting a stable, well-mixed syrup is using vegetable glycerin. It acts as a binder, helping the cannabis compounds play nice with the water-based syrup.

To pull this off, you first create a potent glycerin tincture by gently heating your decarbed cannabis with food-grade vegetable glycerin for a few hours. A double boiler works perfectly for this. Once you strain out the plant matter, you simply mix that infused glycerin into a standard simple syrup (which is just equal parts sugar and water).

Why the extra step? Creating the glycerin tincture first is crucial. It ensures the cannabinoids are properly bonded and evenly distributed throughout the syrup. This prevents separation and guarantees you get a consistent dose in every single pour.

What you're left with is a sweet, ready-to-use syrup that you can stir into anything. It's the ideal base for creating those low-calorie THC/CBD sparkling waters that have become so popular.

Fat-Based Infusions with an Emulsifier

It’s a well-known fact that cannabinoids are fat-soluble, which is why they bind so perfectly to things like coconut oil, MCT oil, and butter. While this is the foundation for most edibles, it’s a problem for drinks—oil and water just don't mix.

But you can get around this with a little help from an emulsifier. An emulsifier is simply an ingredient that helps two liquids that normally separate (like oil and water) stay together in a stable mixture.

For home-brewed cannabis drinks, lecithin (from soy or sunflower) is your best friend. By adding a small amount of lecithin powder or liquid while you infuse your oil, you can create a blend that resists separating when you add it to a drink.

The process involves gently heating your decarbed cannabis in an oil of your choice (MCT oil is fantastic because it has a neutral flavor) for a couple of hours, then stirring in the lecithin near the end. When picking an oil, make sure its smoke point is high enough for your infusion temperature; this comprehensive cooking oil smoke point chart is a great resource.

This method does require some vigorous blending or shaking when you add the infused oil to your drink, but it unlocks a whole world of rich, creamy beverages like infused lattes, milkshakes, and hot chocolate. The market for these types of drinks is exploding—Future Market Insights projects it will surge from USD 1.0 billion in 2025 to USD 24.6 billion by 2035, a clear sign of where consumer tastes are heading.

Signature Drink Recipes and Flavor Pairings

Alright, you've done the science part and your homemade cannabis infusions are ready to go. Now the real fun begins. This is your moment to shift from chemist to mixologist, taking what you've learned and crafting some truly sophisticated and delicious drinks.

We're moving past just dropping some tincture into a can of soda. Instead, we'll start thinking like a chef, balancing flavors and creating something memorable. The goal is to make cannabis-infused drinks that could hold their own on any high-end mocktail menu.

 

 

Crafting Low-Calorie THC/CBD Sparkling Water

One of my favorite ways to use an infused simple syrup is to make clean, low-calorie sparkling water at home, much like the ones Day Dreamer is known for. It’s unbelievably simple and puts you in complete control of the sweetness and flavor.

You only need three things:

• Your cannabis-infused simple syrup, dosed just how you like it.
• A good quality sparkling water or club soda.
• A little fresh fruit purée or a squeeze of citrus.

For a fantastic Raspberry Lime THC Seltzer, just muddle a few fresh raspberries in the bottom of your glass. Add your dose of infused syrup, top it all off with ice and sparkling water, and finish it with a generous squeeze of fresh lime. It’s crisp, refreshing, and has zero artificial junk.

Spiced Apple THC Mule

This one is perfect for a cool autumn evening. It uses an alcohol-based tincture to add a clean, potent kick that won't mess with the drink's texture. Tinctures are brilliant here because they disappear into bold flavors like ginger beer.

Ingredients:

• 2 oz apple cider
• 4 oz high-quality ginger beer
• 1/2 oz fresh lime juice
• Your preferred dose of cannabis tincture
• Garnish: Apple slice and a cinnamon stick

Instructions:
Fill a copper mug or a tall glass with ice. Pour in the apple cider, lime juice, and your cannabis tincture. Top it with ginger beer and give it a gentle stir. Garnish with a thin apple slice and a cinnamon stick for that perfect fall scent.

Why a Tincture Works Best Here: The sharp spice from the ginger beer and the tart apple cider are more than enough to stand up to the slight bitterness an alcohol tincture can have. If you tried using an infused oil, it would just separate and float on top. The tincture, however, dissolves perfectly.

Lavender CBD Lemonade

Looking for a relaxing, floral drink for a lazy summer afternoon? This recipe, built around your infused simple syrup, is just the ticket. The syrup’s subtle sweetness is the ideal carrier for delicate lavender and sharp lemon, creating a beautifully balanced final product.

Ingredients:

• 1.5 oz fresh lemon juice
• 1 oz cannabis-infused simple syrup
• 4 oz water (still or sparkling works)
• 1/4 tsp dried culinary lavender
• Garnish: Lemon wheel and a fresh lavender sprig

Instructions:
In a shaker, muddle the lavender with the lemon juice and infused syrup—this helps release all those floral oils. Add ice and water, then give it a good shake. Strain the mixture into a glass filled with fresh ice to get rid of the lavender bits, and garnish with a lemon wheel.

The Art of Flavor Pairing

Once you get past the basic recipes, the secret to truly exceptional cannabis drinks is understanding flavor pairings. Your cannabis contains terpenes, which are the aromatic compounds that give different strains their unique smells and tastes—from citrusy and piney to earthy and floral.

• Citrus-Forward Strains: Cannabis with terpenes like limonene is a natural match for lemon, lime, orange, and grapefruit. It just works, much like adding a citrus twist to a classic cocktail.
• Earthy or Piney Strains: Terpenes like myrcene or pinene pair wonderfully with herbal notes. Try mixing these infusions with rosemary, thyme, or mint for a more complex, savory experience.
• Floral Strains: If you have a strain rich in linalool (which has a lavender-like scent), it’s perfect for drinks that feature other floral or berry notes.

The idea is to complement the natural profile of your infusion, not cover it up. If you're planning to blend your creations into smoothies, having the right gear makes all the difference. You might want to check out some guides on the best blenders for creating delicious infused smoothies to guarantee that silky-smooth texture. When you start thinking about these pairings, you’ll create drinks that are not just effective but also taste absolutely incredible.

Keeping Your Infusions Fresh, Potent, and Safe

You’ve put in the work to craft a beautiful cannabis-infused syrup or tincture. Don't let that effort go to waste! How you store your creations is just as important as how you make them. Proper storage is about more than just maintaining flavor and potency—it’s a critical safety measure for any household.

Think of it this way: your infusions are potent ingredients. They need to be handled with care to stay effective and, most importantly, to keep them out of the wrong hands.

Label Everything. No Exceptions.

This is the golden rule. Before you even think about putting that jar in the cabinet or fridge, you need to label it clearly and thoroughly. A simple, consistent labeling habit is the single best way to prevent accidental consumption and keep track of what you’ve made.

Every bottle, jar, and container needs a label. I’m not just talking about a piece of masking tape that says "Tincture." Get specific. This is a non-negotiable step for anyone making infusions at home.

• Date it: Always jot down the date you made it. This tells you how fresh it is at a glance.
• Be specific about what’s inside: Don't just write "Syrup." Describe it. Something like "THC Simple Syrup" or "1:1 CBD Tincture" is much better.
• Estimate the dose: This is crucial. Add the estimated potency per serving, like "~5 mg THC per tsp." This takes the guesswork out of dosing later.
• Add a clear warning: A simple, direct warning like "Contains Cannabis. Adults Only. Keep Away from Children & Pets" is essential.

This isn't overkill. It's what prevents a houseguest from accidentally adding your infused simple syrup to their morning coffee or a curious teen from mistaking a tincture for vanilla extract.

Where to Stash Your Infusions

Where you store your infusion really depends on what it’s made of. Oil, alcohol, and sugar all have different needs and different enemies. The biggest threats to your cannabinoids are usually light, heat, and air.

For alcohol-based tinctures, a cool, dark cabinet is your best friend. Light is particularly good at degrading THC, so using an amber or dark-colored glass dropper bottle adds another layer of protection. Stored this way, a high-proof tincture can easily last for a year, sometimes even longer, without losing much potency.

Infused simple syrups, on the other hand, are a different story. Because of the sugar and water content, they're susceptible to mold and bacteria. These absolutely must be kept in an airtight container in the refrigerator. A well-made syrup should stay fresh for a few weeks in the fridge. If you ever see it get cloudy or notice a funky smell, don't risk it—toss it out.

Storing your infusions correctly is the final, crucial step in mastering homemade cannabis drinks. Good labeling protects the people around you, while the right storage conditions protect the potency and flavor you worked so hard to achieve.

A Nod to Commercial Science: Better Absorption

Ever wonder why some store-bought cannabis drinks seem to hit faster and more consistently than homemade ones? The secret often lies in advanced techniques like nano-emulsion. In a lab, scientists use high-tech equipment to shatter cannabis oil into microscopic particles, which dramatically increases the surface area and allows your body to absorb the cannabinoids much more efficiently.

Now, you obviously don't have a sonicator in your kitchen, but you can borrow the basic principle. When making an oil-based infusion for a drink, adding an emulsifier like lecithin and giving it a serious blitz in a high-powered blender can make a real difference. This process creates a much more stable mixture by breaking the oil into tiny droplets, helping it stay suspended in your beverage and potentially speeding up the onset.

The commercial market is doubling down on this kind of tech because consumers want products that are predictable and fast-acting. In fact, some data suggests nano-emulsions can increase cannabinoid absorption by as much as 85%. It's one of the biggest innovations we've seen since the 2018 Farm Bill opened the floodgates. If you're curious, you can read more about these beverage market trends to see where the industry is headed.

Your Top Questions About Cannabis Drinks, Answered

Once you start making your own cannabis-infused drinks, you'll inevitably have some questions. That's a good thing! Getting a handle on things like how long they take to kick in, legal gray areas, and getting the dose right is what separates a great experience from a not-so-great one.

Think of this as your go-to FAQ, where we’ll clear up some of the most common uncertainties people have when they first start mixing their own canna-beverages.

How Long Do Cannabis Drinks Take to Kick In?

This is easily the most common question, and the answer is: it depends entirely on how you made it. Unlike the almost-instant feedback from smoking, edibles and drinkables are on a different clock.

If you used an alcohol-based tincture, you might start feeling something within 15 to 30 minutes. That’s because as you sip, some of the cannabinoids get absorbed directly into your bloodstream through the tissues under your tongue (sublingual absorption), which is a nice little shortcut past the digestive system.

On the flip side, any drink made with an infused oil or syrup acts just like a classic edible. Your body has to digest it and send it through the liver before the effects begin, which can take anywhere from 45 minutes to a full 2 hours. This delay is precisely why "start low and go slow" is the golden rule. Seriously, wait at least two hours before even thinking about a top-up.

Can I Make a Non-Alcoholic Cannabis Beverage?

Of course! In fact, that's what most of us are doing. While high-proof alcohol is a key ingredient for making certain tinctures, it's just a tool for extraction—it doesn't have to star in your final drink. A lot of people will even gently warm their finished tincture to evaporate some of the alcohol before mixing.

For completely alcohol-free creations, you've got some fantastic options:

• Glycerin-Based Tinctures: These give you a potent, sweet, and alcohol-free base that mixes like a dream.
• Infused Simple Syrups: This is my personal favorite for adding a perfectly dosed touch of sweetness to sparkling water, iced tea, or lemonade.
• Infused Oils: With a little help from an emulsifier like lecithin, you can easily blend infused MCT or coconut oil into creamy drinks like smoothies and lattes.

Cannabis mocktails are exploding in popularity for a reason—they offer a sophisticated, relaxing alternative for anyone cutting back on alcohol.

What Is the Best Way to Ensure My Drinks Are Dosed Correctly?

Nailing a consistent dose is probably the trickiest part of making infusions at home, but it's totally manageable if you're methodical about it. There isn't a single magic bullet, but combining a few best practices will get you reliable results.

First off, you absolutely have to start with flower that has a known THC or CBD percentage. That number is the bedrock of your dosage math. If you don't know the potency of your starting material, you're just guessing.

From there, be meticulous when you use the dosage formula we covered earlier to estimate the potency of your infusion. As soon as you're done, label your bottle or jar with the estimated milligrams per milliliter (or teaspoon). Don't trust your memory!

The most critical step, bar none, is to test every single batch on yourself first. Before you share it with anyone, take a very small, precisely measured amount—say, a quarter or half a teaspoon—and wait a full two hours. See how it affects you. This personal test is the only way to truly know the strength of what you've made.

Is It Legal to Make Cannabis Infused Drinks at Home?

This all comes down to where you live. If you're in a state where recreational or medical cannabis is legal, you're generally in the clear to make your own infusions for your own personal use.

That said, you have to know the specific rules in your area, like legal possession limits. And I can't stress this enough: selling your homemade cannabis creations without proper licensing is illegal pretty much everywhere and can come with some heavy consequences.

Things get a bit different with products made from hemp-derived Delta-9 THC. If they follow the 2018 Farm Bill and contain no more than 0.3% THC by dry weight, they are often viewed differently under federal law. However, some states have created their own rules restricting these products, too. The bottom line? Always do your homework and make sure you understand the laws in your specific state and city before you get started.

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Ready to skip the kitchen work and dive straight into a perfectly crafted, clean, and delicious cannabis beverage? The team at Day Dreamer is putting the final touches on a line of hemp-derived Delta-9 THC and CBD sparkling waters, made with no added sugars and only the best ingredients. Experience the clarity and elegance of a premium cannabis drink by checking out our upcoming collection at https://enjoydaydreamer.com.

 

The statements made regarding these products have not been evaluated by the Food and Drug Administration. The efficacy of these products has not been confirmed by FDA-approved research. These products are not intended to diagnose, treat, cure, or prevent any disease. All information presented here is not meant as a substitute for, or alternative to, information from healthcare practitioners. Please consult your healthcare professional about potential interactions or other possible complications before using any product. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act requires this notice. All products on this website contain 0.3% THC or less.