【Boom】Everything You Need To Know About Cannabis Concentrates.
The cannabis concentrates market is booming!
Manufacturers continue to find new and creative twists, providing both highly potent and fast delivery cannabis consumption methods- from shatter to live resin to budder to wax to hash and everything in between.
With each passing day, you can expect a ‘cannabisseur’ to give us an entirely new method of consuming cannabis. After all, it’s an industry where you are allowed to flex your creativity muscles.
You’ve probably heard or seen one of these highly concentrated cannabis products, and perhaps you want to try and discover their magical effects. But let’s be honest, with so much buzz going on about concentrates, these vocabularies can be confusing!
But take our word for it; you will be glad to experience these avant-garde products. Why?
Their potency is incredibly high, with a THC level that can easily hit 80%. Consume a concentrate inappropriately, and its effects will knock you out! If you want to find out more about concentrates, you’re welcome to read on.
What Is A Concentrate?
As you might have already guessed, cannabis concentrates are highly concentrated extracts of the cannabis plant. They are made by sourcing the most desirable components of the cannabis plant.
Concentrates are not your ordinary joints or edibles. Their cannabinoid level ranges from 40-80%, which is very high compared to regular marijuana that goes between 10-20%.
A concentrate usually contains a high level of all the plants’ cannabinoids, other essential compounds, and terpenes without the undesirable plant matter.
Concentrates come in different forms and textures, but you can’t easily differentiate them by just looking at them- don’t sweat it, though. We will help you identify each of them by the end of this article.
How Are Concentrates Made?
Generally, concentrates can be sourced using three distinctive solvents, butane, Carbon dioxide, and ethanol.
When solvents are used to extract concentrates, the final product must go through a purification process called purging to cleanse and make the product safe for consumption.
Butane Extraction
Butane is used to extract the plants’ cannabinoids and terpenes. This method is used to make the crazily popular and extremely potent butane hash oil(BHO). The process begins by forcing butane(solvent) through a special holding container packed with cannabis trimmings to extract and separate the essential compounds from the plant.
The final product contains all cannabinoids, terpenes, and butane as well. Therefore, the product needs purging to eliminate the butane entirely and leave behind a nice sticky and waxy substance that can either assume the nature of shatter, crumble, wax, budder, or live resin.
Carbon Dioxide Extraction
This method is gaining massive popularity in the concentrates industry. That’s because it is very natural and doesn’t expose a user to the risk of any harmful substances. Carbon dioxide is exposed to super-high temperatures that convert it into a liquid.
Just as with butane extraction, the liquid CO2 is forced through the plant trimmings (flower/buds), and it strips all the essential compounds and terpenes, leaving behind unwanted plant matter.
Liquid CO2 is extremely cold, and as such, you can expect it to preserve all your terpenes and natural compounds. The final product is distilled to eliminate the CO2, and cannabinoids can be isolated further.
Ethanol Extraction
Much like the butane method, ethanol extraction involves forcing the solvent through cannabis flower and buds to extract the cannabinoids, essential compounds, and terpenes. The ethanol is then eliminated through purging so that you are left with a pure, highly-concentrated and safe concentrate.
Ethanol extraction is an ancient method that maintains its position since it dissolves cannabinoids and terpenes more quickly than butane.
What Are The Different Cannabis Concentrates?
You can think of concentrates as the incredible extracts/products that let you enjoy the best of every attribute of your cannabis plant. Now that we know how these highly concentrated products are made, we can comfortably look into their numerous varieties.
Please note that the difference in these concentrates boils down to how they are processed after the extraction process.
Shatter
As its name suggests, shatter is a thin glass-like concentrate that guesses what was broken? It shatters into many pieces. Shatters are very common and loved by dabbers. They are clear, and sometimes they can have an amber colour. Darker Shatters are often associated with low quality and impurities.
It is made through the BHO or butane extraction method. The best way to experience the psychoactive effects of shatter is by dabbing. Since they are very intense and of high potency, shatters are sold in grams, with one gram going for $40-$60 depending on your state/country. While shatter gets you high almost instantly, its side effects include excessive anxiety, paranoia, minor panic attacks, and overconsumption can cause a user to pass out or even blackout.
Live Resin
Live resin is dark yellow, malleable and very potent. It is packed with an excellent aroma, fragrance and intense flavours, thanks to the freezing extraction method that preserves all the natural terpenes. It is extracted by freezing freshly harvested cannabis. This method retains all the plant’s valuable cannabinoid profile.
Live resin can be consumed in numerous ways, including dabbing, vaping, and topping off. Because of its high THC levels, this concentrate elicits a pleasant high and pleasurable euphoria.
For an extract that retains all the true fragrance of the original plant, live resin is quite affordable, with different dispensaries selling it at an average of $40-$100 per gram depending on the quality of the resin and your location.
Budder
Though closely alike, budder is not to be confused with cannabis containing butter(cannabutter). Budder is called butter wax and it is creamy, smooth, and has a butter texture with a yellowish or greenish-brown colour. It is extracted by a method that involves adding adequate heat that gives it its smooth texture. You can also extract budder using a chemical solvent and then purging it.
Budder can be enjoyed in various ways, including dabbing, vaping and smoking using a bong or simply adding it to your joint for an extra kick. It is highly potent, with THC levels going up to 90% and an impressive high purity of 99.6%. It is highly appealing to cannabis lovers because of its pleasant aromas and delicious flavours, along with numerous health benefits. Side effects of budder may include hallucinations, increased heartbeat, insomnia, anxiety and more.
Wax
Wax concentrates are extracted using the BHO extraction process. Their structure is uh, ahem, you got that right, waxy! It is less oily and contains extreme high THC levels that give you a strong, long-lasting high. This insanely potent concentrate is discreet and straightforward to use. Vaping and dabbing are the safest and most popular methods of consuming wax.
Since the wax extraction process is speedy and cheap, wax is highly affordable, with prices ranging from $20-$80 depending on your state.
Hash
Hash is often referred to as hashish. It is made by compressing, collecting, and purifying the trichomes of a cannabis plant. As a result, hash appears as a dark brown and waxy concentration. It can be consumed either orally as a solid, infused in beverages, smoking using a bong, vaping or dabbing. Hash contains high THC levels, and its effects vary from user to user.
It gives a full-body buzz, boosts appetite, provides a euphoric high, as well as relaxation. Its side effects range from increased heartbeat, memory lapses, skewed movements and more! You’ll mostly find the cost of hash ranging from $10-$80 per gram depending on the extraction process used.
Conclusion
Cannabis concentrates are extremely potent and designed to give you the best of your cannabis plant. However, with such high levels of THC, over-consuming these products can result in harmful side effects.
That said, we advise all users, especially the novices to begin with minimal doses and gradually work their way up until they find the amount that best meets their needs.
Thank you for reading.
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