How to Make THC Hot Chocolate and Weed Coffee
To make THC hot chocolate, make your usual mug with milk, then stir in a measured amount of THC tincture or melted cannabutter. THC dissolves in fat and barely at all in water, so the milk keeps it mixed through the drink instead of floating on top. Weed coffee works the same way once it has milk, cream or butter in it.
Why THC needs fat in a drink
THC is fat-soluble. PubChem, the US National Library of Medicine’s chemistry database, lists its solubility in water at 2.8 mg per litre at 23 °C and describes it as soluble in oils. By that figure, a 250 ml mug of plain water could hold about 0.7 mg.
Oil and melted butter float on a watery drink. Milk is already an oil-in-water emulsion, with its fat spread through the liquid as tiny globules, so it gives THC fat to sit in.
In a 2024 study at the University of Chemistry and Technology in Prague, cannabis boiled in plain water for 10 minutes carried only 0.4% to 1.9% of its THC into the cup. Adding cream during steeping raised that to 53% to 64% (Maly and others, 2024).
THC hot chocolate recipe
This makes one 250 ml mug. The THC goes in last, after you pour, so you can measure it straight into the drink.
You’ll need:
- 1 cup (250 ml) whole milk, or a plant milk with some fat in it (check the label)
- 1 to 2 tablespoons unsweetened cocoa powder
- 1 to 2 tablespoons sugar
- A pinch of salt
- A measured amount of THC tincture or cannabutter
- In a small pot, whisk the cocoa, sugar and salt with a splash of the milk until smooth, so the cocoa doesn’t clump.
- Whisk in the rest of the milk and heat it on medium-low, stirring, until it steams. Don’t let it boil.
- Pour it into a mug.
- Add the tincture or melted cannabutter and whisk or froth for a few seconds.
For cannabis milk, use the strained milk in place of the plain milk and skip step 4.
Three ways to add the THC
A tincture needs no prep and is the only one of the three with a dose you can read off a label. Cannabutter and cannabis milk start from flower, so their numbers are ceilings.
| Way to add THC | Prep before the mug | How you know the THC | Cost per mg of THC |
|---|---|---|---|
| THC tincture | None | From the label: mg per ml times ml | 3 cents ($30 for 1,000 mg) |
| Cannabutter | Decarb, then 2 to 3 hours on low heat | A ceiling from the flower’s THC % | From about 2.4 cents, plus the butter |
| Cannabis milk | Decarb, then 15 to 30 minutes below a simmer | A ceiling, and uptake varies by batch | Same flower cost, less certain yield |
The cannabutter cost is $30 for 7 g of AAA flower, divided by the most a 7 g batch at 20% THC can hold, about 1,228 mg. Some THC is lost making the butter, so the real cost per mg is higher.
Method 1: stir in a THC tincture
A tincture gives a known amount of THC, because the label lists the total and you measure the liquid.
Ritual Drops Focus Full Spectrum THC Tincture holds 1,000 mg of THC in a 30 ml dropper bottle and costs $30. That works out to about 33 mg of THC per ml, or 3 cents per mg.
The bottle doesn’t state a drop size, so measure by the millilitre. A 1 ml oral syringe with 0.1 ml markings makes small amounts easier.
- Make the hot chocolate with milk and take it off the heat.
- Shake the tincture bottle, then measure the amount from the table below.
- Add it to the mug and whisk or froth for a few seconds.
- Stir again if you see oil collecting on the surface.
THC per mug from a 1,000 mg, 30 ml tincture
| Tincture in the mug | THC | Mugs per bottle | Cost per mug |
|---|---|---|---|
| 0.1 ml | About 3.3 mg | 300 | $0.10 |
| 0.25 ml | About 8.3 mg | 120 | $0.25 |
| 0.5 ml | About 16.7 mg | 60 | $0.50 |
| 1 ml | About 33 mg | 30 | $1.00 |
The THC column works the same for Ritual Drops Drift CBD:THC Tincture, also $30, which holds 1,000 mg of THC and 1,000 mg of CBD in 30 ml, about 33 mg of each per ml.
For edibles, Health Canada suggests starting with 2.5 mg of THC or less, which is less than 0.1 ml of this tincture.
For a smaller amount, dose the pot instead of the mug. Stir 0.3 ml, about 10 mg, into enough hot chocolate for four mugs and each mug holds about 2.5 mg. Is a 10 mg edible a lot? covers sizing a dose from there.
Method 2: cannabutter or cannabis milk
Both start with flower that has been decarbed, baked at a low temperature so its THCA turns into THC.
Cannabutter. Make a batch with our cannabutter recipe, then melt a measured teaspoon into the hot milk and whisk it in. By that guide’s numbers, a batch made with 3.5 g of 20% THC flower in 1 cup of butter holds up to about 13 mg of THC per teaspoon, and a 7 g batch up to about 26 mg. Those are ceilings, since infusion always loses some.
| Cannabutter in the mug | 3.5 g batch | 7 g batch |
|---|---|---|
| 1/4 tsp | Up to about 3 mg | Up to about 6 mg |
| 1/2 tsp | Up to about 6 mg | Up to about 13 mg |
| 1 tsp | Up to about 13 mg | Up to about 26 mg |
To dose the pot instead, melt 1 teaspoon of the 3.5 g batch into enough hot chocolate for four mugs, up to about 3 mg each.
Cannabis milk. These are the from-flower steps in how to make THC tea, with milk in place of the water.
- Warm 1 litre of whole milk in a pot on low heat, below a simmer.
- Add the decarbed flower and keep it there for 15 to 30 minutes, stirring so the milk doesn’t scorch.
- Strain it through a fine strainer or cheesecloth and let it drip, since squeezing hard adds a grassy taste.
- Use the strained milk in the recipe above, one cup per mug.
Each gram of 20% THC flower holds up to about 175 mg of THC once decarbed, so even 0.5 g in four mugs of milk could put up to about 22 mg in each. The real figure depends on how much the milk takes up, which varies by batch.
How to make weed coffee
To make weed coffee, brew a cup as usual, add milk or cream, then stir in a measured amount of THC tincture or melted cannabutter. The tincture table above works the same for a cup of cannabis coffee.
Black coffee gives the oil nothing to mix into, so it sits on top. A common method is to blend hot coffee with a teaspoon of cannabutter for a few seconds, as with butter coffee, using a frother or a blender with the lid vented. Drink it while it’s hot, because the fat can separate as the cup cools.
For iced coffee, use the tincture with milk. Milk fat is solid at room temperature and only fully melts at about 37 °C, so cannabutter sets into flecks in a cold drink.
Why ground weed in the coffee filter does little
Brewing ground flower with your coffee grounds puts very little THC in the cup. Raw flower holds mostly THCA, and the Prague researchers noted that boiling water is too cool to convert much of it into THC.
THC also barely dissolves in water, which is why their plain-water brew carried under 2% of the plant’s THC. Decarb the flower and infuse it into fat, or use a tincture.
Label any leftovers
Health Canada advises labelling homemade edible cannabis so it’s clear it isn’t regular food, and storing it out of sight and reach of children and pets. A jar of cannabis milk or leftover THC hot chocolate looks like any other drink, so mark it and keep it apart from regular food and drinks.
Common questions
How much tincture goes in a mug of hot chocolate?
Work it out in mg. Divide the bottle’s total THC by its size: a 1,000 mg, 30 ml bottle has about 33 mg per ml, so 0.1 ml adds about 3.3 mg to the mug.
Can you put a THC tincture in coffee?
Yes. Add milk or cream first so the tincture has fat to mix into, then stir or froth it.
How long does THC hot chocolate take to kick in?
It takes effect like an edible, because you drink it. What is a tincture? covers edible timing.
Can you make THC hot chocolate with water?
You can, but water holds very little THC, so a tincture or butter tends to separate out. Use milk, or stir a spoonful of cream into a water-based mix.
Can you put raw weed in hot chocolate?
It adds very little THC. Raw flower holds mostly THCA, and the Prague researchers found boiling water too cool to convert much of it into THC. Milk kept below a simmer is cooler still, so decarb the flower first.
Will THC hot chocolate taste like weed?
Cannabutter and cannabis milk carry some of the flower’s taste, more so if the strainer was squeezed hard. A tincture is a fraction of a millilitre in a 250 ml mug, so there is less of it to taste.
