What is a cannabis concentrate?
When components of the cannabis plant are highly condensed, a cannabis concentrate is created. Quality concentrates only contain components such as CBD, terpenes, and THC. The lesser quality concentrates carry unwanted elements like waxes, fats, residual solvents, and foreign contaminants. The many colours, textures, and scents can perplex some Canadians who are new to the world of cannabis concentrates, so we set out to clear up some of the confusion.
What’s the Ideal Texture or Form for a Concentrate?
When you first take a look at the different types of concentrates, the variety can be overwhelming. However, they are all quite similar. A concentrate’s physical shape or form does not tell us if it’s high quality, but it gives us an idea of how it should be processed or handled. There are many different textures and forms, but the difference between the concentrates could be as little as a couple molecules of H2O. So, whether it’s shatter, budder, crystals, or wax, you can find a high quality form of that concentrate.
Which Colour is the Best?
Concentrates come in almost any colour imaginable. The darkest concentrates are produced for oral ingestion, topical use, or making suppositories. If it’s black or green, it’s not a high quality smoking concentrate. Choose from yellow to dark brown, and clear to opaque for the best smoking experience.
The clarity of a concentrate can often be misleading. Oftentimes, if a concentrate is clear it means it wasn’t purged properly. This is particularly common with alcohol extraction.
When choosing a quality concentrate, color shouldn’t be the highest indicator. On its own, colour doesn’t tell us much. Colour can be affected by how soon after the harvest the concentrate was extracted, how well the plant grew, and if the purge went well or not. A lighter colour is extracted when the trichromes are fresh. If the cannabis wasn’t grown well, the concentrate will still be lighter. There are darker, high quality concentrates produced from well-grown plants, too. So, colour isn’t a super reliable indicator when choosing the best concentrate.
So How Do I Tell if a Concentrate is High Quality?
The best way to do that is to grow, harvest, and extract the concentrate yourself. However, most of us don’t have the time or equipment. The next best thing is to exercise caution and carefully examine the facts. Where did the material originate from? If you don’t get a solid answer, don’t buy the product.
If you’re happy with the answer, do a visual inspection. Confirm that there are no foreign objects in the concentration. If there is, that is a sign that it was produced in an unclean work area. Next, check that the colour is consistent throughout the concentrate. Swirling indicates poor purging. If you want to smoke the concentrate, check that there is no black or green colouration.
Finally, be sure to smell the concentrate. A clean, full scent is a great indication of a properly processed product.
There’s a whole world of concentrates out there to explore. Follow these steps, and it’ll be easy to find a high quality product to enjoy.
