Your Guide to Marijuana Concentrates

Did you know a packed bowl of weed only delivers around 10 percent THC? Compare that to marijuana concentrates, which are 90 percent or more THC.

Which one would you rather try?

If you want to learn more about marijuana concentrates, keep reading. This article will detail the extraction process, concentrate varieties, and how these potent products and their uses.

Types of Marijuana Concentrates

Marijuana concentrates refer to many different substances with a high THC content level. Concentrates come in the form of wax, oil, rosin, distillate, and more. Here are the details of some popular marijuana concentrates.

Wax

Cannabis wax, also referred to as BHO, budder, honeycomb, or shatter, is a highly desirable concentrate with a very high THC content that can be over 90 percent, depending on the quality of the product. The average joint contains around 20 percent THC. The texture can be gooey at room temperature or solid.

It is often consumed using a dab rig or a vaporizer. The powerful concentrate is for those seeking superior high and medical marijuana patients.

Distillate

Distillate a pure oil concentrate that is usually flavorless, odorless, and tasteless. For this reason, it is often in vape products and the production of edibles. Look here for more information about distillate varieties and strains.

Dabs

Dabs, also referred to by the name rosin, is a cannabis concentrate extracted by heating and pressing marijuana plants. A particular part of the plant, called trichomes, houses cannabinoids, flavonoids, and terpenes.

When the plant is heated and pressed, the trichomes release a waxy substance that forms a thick, almost solid goo when cooled. The end product is highly potent.

Hashish

Hashish, often shortened to ‘hash’, is a cannabis concentrate from the plant’s trichomes, usually harvested using the ice-water method or other solventless extractions. It contains the same active ingredients found in marijuana but is more powerful and comes in different varieties.

Solvent-Based Extraction

The process of making cannabis concentrates is very meticulous. A common practice for producing marijuana concentrates is using solvent-based extractions.

Solvent-based extractions are chemical compounds like butane, ethanol, or propane. An extraction specialist puts the flower of a cannabis plant into a tube, and the solvent is applied.

The chemical solvent draws out the cannabinoids and then goes through a purge. By the end of the extraction process, what remains is a translucent gold-colored concentrate in the form of shatter, oil, wax, oil, budder, and so on.

Chemical solvents are a highly popular extraction method as it is quite efficient for making large batches. Temperature does not impact the process, and it can happen under most conditions.

Obtaining marijuana concentrates by using chemical solvents like butane is only one method. Other ways include solventless and hydrocarbon extractions.

Methods of Solventless Extraction

One such solventless method of making cannabis extracts includes the use of carbon dioxide. Carbon dioxide must be heated and pressurized to the desired products (oil, cannabinoids, and terpenes) from dried cannabis flowers. This process yields more usable materials is safe and effective, and also takes time and specialty equipment.

Ice water extraction is another method of extraction that avoids the usage of chemical solvents. This process removes the cannabis flowers’ trichomes through freezing. Once the bud freezes, it is agitated, so the trichomes break off for easy collection.

Cannabis Concentrates and You

As you can see, the possibilities and varieties of THC and cannabis products are endless. Marijuana concentrates are especially potent and should be enjoyed safely.

If you found this post on marijuana innovations, take a look at the rest of our site for more cannabis news and articles.