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Did you know that concentrates are the fastest-growing category in the cannabis industry today?[1]
You may have stumbled upon concentrates during your personal journey with cannabis. Maybe you were looking for potent and efficient types of cannabis – or maybe this one just found you, recommended by a wise friend or worker at your local dispensary.
Either way, you’re certainly not the only one who is loving cannabis concentrates recently!
In 2018, dispensaries across the United States began to offer more than 300,000 new concentrate items – a 600% increase from 2017. This trend has only continued.[2]
Garden Remedies, your go-to dispensary in Massachusetts, is driving innovation locally with lots of top-notch concentrate options – plus educational resources to help you enjoy them to the fullest. Visit us in-person in Newton, Melrose, and Marlborough, MA, or order weed online.
What Are Cannabis Concentrates?
Unlike other ways to enjoy marijuana, concentrates can be rather straightforward to figure out based on their name: concentrates are a more concentrated version of cannabis.
Due to their high amounts of cannabis compounds – especially cannabinoids and terpenes – concentrates are more potent than flower.[3]
They come in many forms, often named after their consistency, and they’re grouped according to their methods of extraction: solventfree and solventless.
1. Solventfree Concentrates
Solvent-free extracts are made by solvent-based methods of extraction.
In most cases, marijuana plants are exposed to ethanol, butane, or CO2, which strips the plants of key compounds such as cannabinoids and terpenes. When that solution is heated, the original solvents are removed (freed), replaced by new (and highly potent) cannabinoids and terpenes.
Due to the complexity of this process, make sure you stick to trustworthy brands like High Flavor and Aero Extracts that only use the best extraction methods.
Examples of solventfree concentrates include live resin, terp sauce, distillates, diamonds, crumble, shatter, and more.
2. Solventless Concentrates
On the other hand, solventless concentrates do not use solvents to turn from marijuana plants into the products you pick up from your local dispensary.
Heat and pressure catalyze this transformative process for all solventless concentrates. A rosin press is used to create live rosin (a Garden Remedies favorite!), but hash and kief are formed just by shaking and grinding the trichomes.[4]
Examples of solventless concentrates include live rosin, hash, and kief.
How Each Type Affects You
All of the technical aspects of solventfree and solventless concentrates directly affect their effects. Though the details can seem dry, they’re exciting once you understand how the processing techniques relate to your own experience!
In general, thanks to their higher concentrations of cannabinoids and terpenes, solventfree concentrates are more potent than solventless concentrates.[5]
You may feel high more quickly and for a longer time when you choose to use solventfree extracts. And you might experience a slower build with solventless concentrates, needing more to reach the same heights. Of course, different types of extracts produce various effects, so it’s important to explore their differences with nuance and an open mind.
We hope (and expect) you’ll have lots of fun along the way.
Choosing the Best Form of Cannabis Concentrate from Garden Remedies Based on Your Situation
Clearly, there are many ways to engage with concentrates. Garden Remedies has both solventfree and solventless concentrates on the menu, providing options to help you discover what the best form of cannabis concentrate is for you.
Want a Small but Mighty Dose of Extract?
We recommend our Seconds RSO Darts when you’re looking to get to know solventfree extracts quickly. They’re full of THC and provide full-bodied effects. When you put a few drops of this oil under your tongue or apply it to your skin, you’ll feel a marvelous high within moments. You can also try taking it with food if you’d like a slower onset of effects.
Interested in the Purest Solventless Concentrate?
Many folks in the cannabis community prefer Live Rosin for its purity and potency. Our senior staff agrees:
"I am primarily a flower smoker, but I do enjoy a good live rosin when I want to smoke a concentrate (not to be confused with Live Resin - this comes from a completely different processing method). One reason being is this concentrate is not made with any solvents or chemicals. Another reason Live Rosin is my go to over other concentrates is it's processed from the cannabis flower straight from harvest of the plant (chopped down and immediately frozen), before even dried, to preserve the living essence of the plant by keeping all the terpenes and essential compounds therein."
- Celena Vello, Senior Laboratory Manager
Carefully crafted, this product brings you all the benefits of Live Rosin. You’ll get the natural essence of the cannabis plant – selected at full peak, then freshly harvested and frozen – minus the chemicals used during the solvent-based extraction process.
"Through the drying process of cannabis flower, some of its flavor and effects can be lost, one of the greatest aspects of concentrates and extracts is the ability to preserve the maximum experience of the plant by freezing it. Live rosin is made with 'fresh frozen' cannabis, when the trichomes are at their peak ripeness, the whole live plant is quickly broken down and frozen. The frozen flower is processed in ice-cold water, the trichome heads are then freeze dried, which keeps the fresh resin locked in until pressed into live rosin. I feel this makes consuming live rosin the closest experience you can get to the plant's full potential."
- Bryan Carlson, Senior Lab Tech
A genetic cross between Carbon Fiber and Governmint Oasis #3, Miss Lady Loud has a fresh, herbal aroma and flavor. It’s known to provide a strong but balanced experience – perfect for dabbing or vaping.
You’ll grow to love Live Rosin if quality, purity, and potency are your top priorities for concentrates. Did you know that Garden Remedies has developed award-winning Live Rosin?
Grab N’ Dab is our newest option. As a disposable dab device, it preserves all of the benefits of traditional Live Rosin products, while allowing you to access them easily on the go. This one is packed with deliciousness, practically inviting you to use it out in nature during a hike or bonfire – or at home, settling into a restful night with friends.
The Dirty Burg Grab N’ Dab is a great option if you’re just starting to explore concentrates, since you’ll get the full-spectrum flavor of live rosin without any hassle.
Looking to Top Off Your Bowl, Joint, or Pipe with Something Special?
Like Live Rosin, kief and hash are solventless concentrates; unlike Live Rosin, they’re typically added to other cannabis products to maximize their effects.
If you’re already a fan of joints (or bowls or pipes), you will impress yourself (and all of your friends) by adding a sprinkle of high-quality concentrate from Garden Remedies.
Kief features gorgeous trichomes that are loaded with cannabinoids. The GMO Pie Kief has bright purple buds, sativa-heavy lineage, and both stimulating and calming effects. You’ll enjoy it the most when you’re out with friends (or wanting sudden inspiration to go out with friends).
Made from crossing THC Bomb with Runtz, the Canal St Runtz strain makes for a lovely hash. You’ll feel a natural lift right away from its bright aroma and citrusy taste, then get a burst of energy. We recommend you try this one when you have a long afternoon of chores in store: when mixed with flower, it’s sure to brighten up your mind any day.
How Can You Consume Cannabis Concentrates?
Thanks to the large variety of concentrates, you have lots of choices when it comes to consuming them as you find your best form of cannabis concentrate. Will you opt for smoking or vaping, which you probably already know, or try something new like dabbing?
1. Dabbing & Vaping Solventfree Concentrates
For some of your new favorite concentrates – live resin, shatter, wax, terp sauce, and diamonds – dabbing may be the way to go. Start by scooping a small amount of concentrate (remember: extracts are highly potent) onto your dab tool of choice. Then apply it to the bottom of the banger and put on the carb cap.
When you apply heat, an alluring vapor will waft into the air. Inhale the vapor, taking care to remove excess oil from the dab tool, and settle in for a long, strong high.
Some solventfree concentrates can be vaped (sold as a vape or vape cartridge) instead of dabbed.
2. Smoking Solventless Concentrates
Have you decided to try kief, hash, or live rosin?
Smoking will be an approachable and effective way to get started. Just take your concentrate of choice and add it to a bowl, pipe, joint, or blunt. You’ll notice that the effects of your cannabis are immediately magnified by the concentrate.
Since smoking doesn’t require many additional materials – or the time and effort it takes to correctly heat dab tools – it can be a simple alternative to dabbing for solid solventless concentrates.[6]
For more information from Garden Remedies, come by our recreational and medical dispensaries in Newton, Melrose, and Marlborough, MA. Our expert team of Cannabis Advisors can provide personalized recommendations, helping you find the best form of cannabis concentrate for you.
[1] Concentrates 101: A Guide to Terms, Usage, Potency, and Testing
[2] Shatter, Batter, Wax: How Cannabis Extracts Come to Be
[3] What Are Cannabis Concentrates?
[4] What Are Cannabis Concentrates?
[5] Solvent vs Solventless Cannabis Concentrates
[6] Different Ways to Consume Cannabis Concentrates
