Cannabis Concentrates: A Complete Guide

The world of cannabis is rapidly expanding. This plant used to be classified as a Schedule one drug, but slowly and steadily people all over the world are recognizing it’s therapeutic benefits for various ailments. It has now become legal for recreational use in 17 states and medicinal use in 21 states. Concentrates are a whole new game. These are cannabis derived extracts that have huge, concentrated amounts of the psychoactive chemical in cannabis known as THC. The demand for concentrates has drastically increased because of its medicinal use. Here is all you need to know about the different kinds of concentrates and their method of extraction. 

Non-solvent based products

There are many methods that you can use in order to extract your concentrates without the help of solvents. The process typically includes the use of ice to chill flowers up to a sub-zero temperature. There are also heat and pressure extraction methods used to make these concentrates. These mostly offer a full-spectrum since they retain the plant’s full profile. 

Rosin

Rosin is produced with the use of high pressure and high heat in order to isolate the resinous essential oils from the trichome heads in order to create a solid form. This is debatably the easiest way to make concentrates. It is also legal to do at home since you do not require solvents for this process. According to avid smokers, Gorilla Glue #4 and The White are some of the best strains for rosin since these have high potency and a ton of trichomes. If you have good equipment such as a semi portable hydraulic press, you can easily take rosin out at home. 

Bubble hash

This is made with the use of ice, water and bubble bags for filtration. Bubble bags hold up the trichome rich water that is extracted from the plant, and helps in filtering out the plant’s remains. This is only successful if the bubble hash melts when heated up. This will leave a little bit of plant remains, unlike full-melt bubble hash. 

Solvent based extraction

There are two main ways of creating cannabis concentrates. One is with the use of solvents. In this, chemicals such as propane, butane, alcohol and carbon dioxide are used in order to separate resin glands that contain THC from the flower of the plant. You should know that the real difference between concentrates lies on how they are made. The chemical and biological makeup of the final product differs greatly because of the extraction method. 

Butane hash oil

BHO is a solvent based extraction that uses n-butane in order to extract the final product. N-butane is the cannabis industry standard if you want a butane-based extraction. It offers a ton of products that have high potency such as wax, sap, budder and more. Butane is forced through a tube where it rids the plant of all of it’s THC. Buds that have a lot of trichomes are better to use in such cases. 

 

The world of concentrates is quite a huge one. It is important to do your research before you buy, or make concentrates for dabbing. It can be incredibly dangerous to make concentrates using butane or other flammable products, and more than one house has exploded from someone trying to make BHO. Research extensively before attempting manufacturing anything like this yourself.