Thousands of years ago as early man built up a tolerance to their flower stash, it dawned on a creative mind to try and rub some plants on their hands and consume the sticky residue. Thus beginning hashish consumption! Now here we are in the 21st century with so many types of extracts the new patient or even seasoned stoner can be left feeling overwhelmed and confused. The main point of Cannabis extraction is to preserve the resin and get the most accurate and powerful representation of the plant.
When you are buying an extract it's important to know what the starting material was. You can't turn year old mids into a great extract. You need a high quality starting material to get a high quality end material. Price is extremely dependent on what the starting material was so be sure to know and ask before purchasing. Potency and Terpene percentage will also be heavily impacted along with overall smoothness. To those not in the industry they would be shocked to know the amount of dabs that are made with trim. A new trend in the industry is "live" concentrates which refers to the starting material never being hung, dried, trimmed or cured. It instead undergoes a freezing process immediately after being harvested, ideally within a 20 minute window. The live dabs should be then cured for a more flavorful experience. But every company is going to have an opinion and a way of doing things. Are live dabs stronger? No, they won't have a higher THC%. Do they have more terpenes? Maybe. It's going to be a case by case basis based on the starting material extractor, and a matter of preference. Cost is a huge factor, are live dabs worth twice as much as normal dabs? No, definitely not. They should be around a quarter or so more expensive.
After the starting material comes the extraction technique, the earliest most primitive method which is mentioned above is called Charas. It's not really found anywhere in the US unless you are trimming and you find yourself with a bit of "Finger Hash" on your glove. Trimmers know what I am talking about. The next invention that came around was sieving and is still used today. There are a few types of sieving methods also known as dry sifting, you can have a metal mesh screen with small holes like the ones that are found in trim bins or very large ones that are made from cloth that are widespread across the middle east. A more modern take on the sieving method is using static electricity. What you are left with is a sandy, sticky substance that is usually compressed into a brick of Hashish. The Hashish is then cured for a more pleasurable smoking experience. If aged for long enough the THC of the hash will degrade into CBN, which will make it have a more sedating effect. The invention of the rosin press has given a new opportunity for turning this into a sift rosin.
The next type of extraction is by using a solvent to remove the cannabinoids from the plant matter. There are a few types of solvents commonly used, the main one being Butane, the others are Propane, Co2 and Alcohol. Ice is also used to make ice water hash and is normally called a solvent less extract but technically it's not, as you are using water and ice to extract and also have a drying/purging process just like all of the listed methods in this paragraph. While all of the types in the previous paragraph can be consumed immediately. It's not uncommon for Butane and Propane to be used together in a specific ratio. A new invention called CRC'd has taken the industry by storm. Being able to turn old product into product that looks like it was made with the freshest nugs. It is very important to find out if your product has been CRD'd or not. The process is done by adding a column filled with a media like silica and charcoal to draw out color impacting pollutants and other impurities. In my experience anything heavily CRC'd is just not good, and has a very off plastic taste to it. I have had to toss jars away from this issue. I've even had a very sore and irritated throat because of it, which doesn't happen from regular dabs. The main reason it is done is to cover up bad starting ingredients but the classic saying holds true, "Fire in, Fire Out". Now that we understand the different ways to extract we can start to dive into the types of consistencies.
Shatter was the trend that took the solvent extract market to the next level a little over a decade ago and started the dabbing craze. Shatter is a glass like consistency that will break into tiny little pieces or can have a snap n pull texture. In some instances Shatter can actually sugar up, depending on if the strain was very terpy or had a lot of lipids. Over time shatter can naturally sugar out as well. I have also found that shatter that was crc'd will not last long and will sugar up fast. Shatter may seem like ancient tech but in reality there is no difference in potency between shatter and badder.
Resin, Sugar, Sauce, Caviar is when things get more complicated. There are even more terms that shops use but these are all the wet consistency. These are all made through solvents as well, there a few techniques after blasting the material to achieve these consistencies in order to get them not to shatter.
Budder, Badder, Crumble, Wax are the more sticky solvent extracts. They can look like honeycomb wax, it can almost look like craters on the moon or be more smooth like sand,it all depends on what process the extractor used. The color is all dependent on the strain, the age of the material it was used.
Diamonds are made by extracting and then putting it under heat and pressure allowing the cannabinoids inside to separate from their homogenized state with the terpenes. The extractor then gets it to start to seed with various different techniques and methods, once the seed begins the rest of the THCA "crashes" into it. It can take weeks for it to finish. The terpenes can either be added back or the stones can be left "raw" and have a very one sided high and is flavorless which is just like distillate because they are both only THC. So when purchasing diamonds it's crucial you find the right ratio of terp to diamond, and also very high quality terpenes that are all natural cannabis derived.
Kief, Dry Sift, Hash are all made from the triochromes of the plant. There are many ways to separate them from the plant. You then can either press it to make hashish or you can leave it to be in its sandy consistency. When you press it into hashish, if during the pressing process the person applies heat it will convert some of the THC to CBN. Giving the user a more relaxed effect. The best way to consume this is by adding it into a bowl, mixing it with flower and then adding it into a joint or even adding it into your flower while making edibles to give them an extra kick. If you want the best experience of smoking hashish it's best to get chillum or a dry pipe and only ever smoke hash out of it. Never ever smoke flower or it will contaminate it, this is going to give you very tasty smooth hits.
Flower Rosin, Hash Rosin, Cold Cure, Live Rosin, Fresh Press, 90u, Rosin Jam, Rosin Diamonds is made from either taking cured flower or hash and then putting under into a press with two steel plates that undergoes intense varying degrees of pressure and heat for a small window of time. You can either jar it up and leave it be or store it in a cold environment and have it be cold cure. What makes rosin 90u or any other u is the size micron screen. There are various sizes of triochromes and the most desirable is between 70 and 120, with 90 being ideal. Rosin jam is just another term for someone having a technique they are applying, some people take the terpene layer off of other batches and mix it in to give it an additional kick of terpenes. You can also find rosin diamonds which are made the same way as others, these are extremely rare but can be found. It requires very very good starting material.
Distillate, CBD THC CBN Isolates, are all things that have been extracted to the point of being a singular cannabinoid. They can be made using any quality of starting material and can undergo very intense processes to "remove" impurities like mold or other contaminants. The end user will have no idea so it's really best to know your source when it comes to buying these things especially if you are buying them online as it's quite hard to find local CBD and other cannabinoid extracts. Distillate is often used in edibles because of how simple it is to use, you can just add it to anything and you are good to go. You don't need to decarboxylate it and can quite literally add it to a gummy which unfortunately some companies have been known to do. It's also a lot cheaper than all of the other extracts by quite a lot. Distillate edibles are known to give users bad highs and headaches as well. It's always a one sided high as well as you aren't having the full spectrum of cannabinoids and terpenes. Distillate cartridges are also extremely popular for the same reason, a lot of these are made with non cannabis derived terpenes as well. Which are also a lot cheaper than cannabis derived terpenes.
RSO, FECO, HASH OIL are all names for a full spectrum extract that was popularized by a man named Rick Simpson. He had cancer and effectively treated it with a regiment of regularly administered increasing doses of RSO. You make it by using whole flower and various solvents. The only difference between FECO and RSO is the solvent. They are very powerful extracts that contain the entire diverse cannabinoid content along with terpenes. They are also usually made with a lot of diverse strains and not just one "single source" like most extracts. Which in returns leaves the extracts with a serious diverse content and leaves users extremely medicated off a very small amount. It's truly the most superior edible product along with Hash. Another great use for it is that it can be applied topically as well and used in salves. I really don't recommend smoking it as some companies will say it's possible I still wouldn't.
Trim Run, Nug Run, Puck Run, Live Run, Cold Cure, WPFF are all terms for starting the material and how the material was handled.
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