Cannabis Concentrates 101
Concentrates have been increasingly growing in popularity in recent years.
Most people prefer flower but concentrates have been increasingly growing in popularity in recent years, and we decided to compile a mini guide for your reference.
Click here to see our video on the subject on YouTube.
What is a Cannabis Concentrate?
A concentrate or extract is a highly concentrated product or mass created from the marijuana plant using various extraction/separation processes.
What Are the Types of Cannabis Concentrates. How Do They Differ?
When choosing a concentrate, it is initially difficult to understand how they differ from each other, and what criteria should be used - Silver Stem offers several of those for your consideration:
● One of the most common ones is liquid and solid. Liquids include vape oil, distillate and the like that usually comes in cartridges or syringes. Solids include all the others - wax, shatter, rosin, live resin, etc.
● Traditionally, concentrates are differentiated by the type of flower used for the production of the concentrate - indica / sativa / hybrid. The type of flower has a direct impact on the resulting effect - relaxation, sleep, energy, etc. Also, in addition to the type of flower, most concentrates are made from a specific strain - Kosher Kush, Dutch Treat Haze, Blue Dream, and so on. Accordingly, you can be specific in your choice of type, as well as strain.
● By type of extraction. Solvent Based - made using a solvent, namely Butane Hash Oil, Propane Hash Oil, CO2 or alcohol to create wax, shatter, live resin, or vape oil. Solventless - using water, temperature or pressure to create extracts like rosin, hash, sift.
● Potency. It is basically the same as with flower - each concentrate has a certain percentage of THC. In this regard, you should be careful with the amount you consume, especially if you are a beginner. The % is stated on the products.
How to Consume Concentrates?
There are various methods of concentrate use.
● Vaping - done with the use of a special vaporizer. Usually used for cannabis vape oil but certain vaporizers can work with live resin and other extracts.
● Smoking/Topping off the bowl - adding various concentrates to your joint/flower is a convenient way to get a powerful hit. Extract is added on top whether in a pre-roll in your bubbler.
● Dabbing - flash vaporization of marijuana concentrates through their application to a hot surface (like electronic nail or e-nail) and inhaling.
Unusual Concentrates
Most people know the main types of cannabis concentrates - wax, shatter, sap, live resin, rosin, etc. But there is so much more. Recently we have take a closer look at THCA crystalline - the most potent cannabis extract out there, often referred to as diamonds. In addition to these, we would like to consider the following rare concentrates:
● Moon rocks is a form of cannabis that should not be overlooked. They were made for true connoisseurs looking for a way to elevate their smoking experience. You can even make this special concentrate yourself from fresh whole nugs, concentrates (like shatter or crumble), and kief. But do not use a grinder. Simple tear each moon rock into smaller, pieces convenient to smoke.
● Cured resin. You probably heard about live resin, which is very similar to the cured one. As you know, live terpenes are used for production of live resin, deep fresh freeze and other technologies. Cured resin is made from cured flower, or rather nug run material.
Of the other less known concentrates you should also take note of caviar, sugar, crumble, budder, kief, etc. We will talk more about these concentrates in our future articles.
Colorado Cannabis Concentrate Limits
Starting October 1, 2016, adults 21 years of and can purchase up to 1 ounce (28 grams) of flower or its equivalent in marijuana infused products, which is 8 grams of concentrate, 8,000 mg in vapes, or 800 mg of edibles in one transaction.
These limits and calculations cover only products containing THC. If the edibles contain high doses of CBD but no THC, these limits do not apply.
And you can always mix and match flower, edibles and concentrates, but all these calculations may be a bit confusing. When planning a trip to your favorite dispensary or ordering online, remember that 1/8 of an ounce of flower is equivalent to 1 gram of concentrate or 100 mg of edibles. And you can always ask your budtender for help.
We hope this information was useful and helped you understand the amazing world of concentrates better.
