THC Simple Syrup Recipe: How to Make Infused Syrup at Home

This THC simple syrup recipe is one of the most versatile cannabis infusions you can make at home. It’s faster-acting than most edibles, beginner-friendly, and it drops into anything that takes sugar. Coffee, cocktails, lemonade, pancakes, you name it.

Here’s the good news. You only need a handful of ingredients, under an hour of active work (plus decarb time), and the potency is fully in your hands. Two things make or break this THC syrup recipe: proper decarboxylation and vegetable glycerin. Skip the decarb, and your syrup won’t get you high. Skip the glycerin, and it won’t stay mixed. Nail both, and you’ve got a shelf-stable, dose-anywhere infusion. Let’s get into it.

Start to finish, this THC infused simple syrup recipe takes about 90 minutes. Most of it is hands-off while the cannabis decarbs and the syrup simmers. The recipe below lets you scale the servings up or down, and every ingredient amount adjusts with it.

Ingredients:

• Cannabis flower: 3.5–7 g (⅛–¼ oz), depending on your desired potency
• Granulated sugar: 1 cup; honey or agave syrup can be substituted for sugar
• Water: 1 cup
• Food-grade vegetable glycerin: 1–2 tablespoons
• Sunflower or soy lecithin (optional): 1 teaspoon
• Flavor extract (optional): ½–1 teaspoon (such as vanilla, peppermint, or citrus)

Materials and equipment:

• Baking sheet and parchment paper: for the decarb
• Oven thermometer: most ovens drift 10–25°F, which wrecks a decarb, so verify your temp
• Medium saucepan: for the syrup
• Stirring spoon: for, well, stirring
• Fine-mesh strainer or cheesecloth: to strain out the plant material
• Airtight, opaque container: a mason jar or dark glass bottle protects the syrup from light

1. Decarboxylate the cannabis: heat your oven to 240°F (115°C). Spread coarsely broken-up flower on a parchment-lined baking sheet (don’t grind it fine). Bake for 25–45 minutes until it turns toasted brownish-green. This activates the THC. Skip it, and your syrup does nothing.
2. Make the simple syrup base: boil equal parts water and sugar, stirring until fully dissolved.
3. Simmer in the cannabis: drop the heat to a gentle simmer, add the decarbed flower, and simmer 20–30 minutes, stirring now and then.
4. Add the glycerin: stir in the vegetable glycerin and simmer another 7–10 minutes until slightly thickened. Don’t let it congeal.
5. Strain: cool slightly, then strain through cheesecloth or a fine-mesh strainer. Do not squeeze the cheesecloth, which pushes bitter chlorophyll into your syrup.
6. Store: pour into an airtight, opaque container and refrigerate.

A note on storage: kept refrigerated, your syrup lasts about 1–3 months. Dark glass matters here, since light degrades THC over time.

Now the important part: dosing and safety. To estimate total THC, do quick math:

• 3.5g of 20% flower holds roughly 700mg THC before you extract it

But home extraction is never 100% efficient, so your real total will be lower and tough to pin down exactly. That’s why you start low and go slow. Try 1 teaspoon to 1 tablespoon, then wait, because effects can take up to 45 minutes to hit. Don’t stack doses in that window, and never mix your THC simple syrup with alcohol.

The whole appeal of a THC syrup recipe is versatility. Anything that takes sugar takes this. Here are the best ways to put it to work:

• Cannabis mocktails: stir it into a California-sober drink like a THC Dirty Shirley
• Coffee, tea, and lattes: swap it for your usual sweetener
• Sodas, lemonade, and iced drinks: it dissolves cold, unlike sugar
• Pancakes, waffles, and desserts: drizzle it straight on
• Cake layers: brush it on for moisture plus a dose

The trick to the best THC syrup recipe is dosing each serving. Know roughly how many milligrams sit in a teaspoon, then measure per drink or plate. This helps you (and anyone you’re serving) stay in control of the high.