Concentrates: Getting more out of your bud
With so many ways to imbibe cannabis in its many forms, a lot of people are looking for ways to take their experience to the next level. For some people that next level involves starting down the road to concentrates and extracts. These are cannabis products that tend to produce a far more intense high than the regular means of consumption.
What are they?
Concentrates and extracts come in a few forms, but the principle for all of them remain the same. Through a variety of different processes involving either solvent chemicals or application of heat and pressure, the terpenes and cannabinoids of the flower are extracted from the plant. When consumed, these concentrates and extractions produce a more potent high without all the excess plant material coming into effect.
Wait, so what’s the difference between concentrates and extracts?
Extracts are concentrates that are produced exclusively using a solvent in order to acquire the desired chemical compounds from the plant while the word concentrate in this context just represents any concentrated cannabis product in general.
Solvent methods
This method of extraction involves using a liquid based solvent, like alcohol, to distill the THC, CBD and trichome properties of the flower into a form that can then be consumed. Extracts come in many forms such as shatter, which produces a glass-like brittle form of concentrate or Live Resin, which is produced by flash freezing a live plant immediately after cultivation and then extracting the desired compounds. The solvent method can lead to some pretty incredible products that consumers can use to experience a next level high. However, this is only the first method of producing concentrates.
Solvent-free methods
As with the methods involving solvents, the nonsolvent methods of creating cannabis concentrates varies but generally involves using heat and pressure to create the product. Probably the most well-known example of a solvent-free concentrate is good old reliable Hash. This is arguably the oldest form that human refined cannabis appeared in, and it hasn’t gone out of style in a few thousand years. It’s produced by cultivating the trichomes, or kief, from your flower usually by sifting the flower during the grinding process. The trichomes are then heated and pressurized until they change consistency into a gummy solid form. There are also other forms of concentrates like rosin, which is produced by applying the heat and pressure directly to the flower in order to force the trichomes from the flower. The methods for producing these types of concentrates varies from using hair straighteners to fancier methods involving rosin press machines designed specifically for producing high grade concentrates.
Wow, there’s a lot more to this than I thought
No kidding! Don’t worry though, there are tons of resources available and there’s never been a better time to be a cannabis consumer, or to learn more about it. If you need a little more guidance, check out some of our other blog posts, or come into the store and pick our brains!
Does it sound like concentrates are for you? Check out our concentrate menu!
