Whether for a more potent "high", for convenience in moving and storing cannabis or simply out of curiosity, marijuana concentrate is a very common practice that has been perfected over the years.
Nowadays we have a great variety of cannabis concentrates. This is because HOW we concentrate it plays a fundamental role and it is what decides the final product we will get.
But before we start with the varieties and particularities of each extract, let's start with the basics...
What is extracted from the cannabis plant?
In a concentrate, the aim is always to extract only the psychoactive elements of cannabis, namely cannabinoids, terpenes and trichomes.
Psychoactive elements of cannabis
- CANNABINOIDS
Cannabinoids are chemical compounds that act on our human body and brain. It has been possible to isolate 113 different cannabinoids from the marijuana plant. The most important and well-known are THC, responsible for the plant's "high" or "high", and CBD, responsible for many of the health properties of cannabis. The cannabinoid composition of a plant largely determines the profile of a plant.
- TERPENOS
Organic compounds that have a strong odor and are found inside plants and even... insects! More than 120 terpenes have been found in cannabis, responsible for flavoring the plant and enhancing and modifying its psychoactive effects. An ideal concentrate should isolate and preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes of a plant.
- TRICOMAS
The aforementioned cannabinoids and terpenes in cannabis are produced inside its trichomes. You've probably seen that shiny white "fuzz" on the buds of the plant, right? This "fuzz" is the trichomes and they are the culprits that make a mature, flowering plant sticky to the touch, thanks to the resin they contain and release when handled.
Although all concentrates consist of separating the trichomes from the flowers, and thus concentrating the cannabinoids and terpenes, there are many ways of doing this and the result varies greatly. To begin with, we could say that cannabis concentrates are divided into two main groups:
- Concentrates: accumulation of terpenes that do not use any type of solvent to achieve this.
- Extracts: a type of concentrate that is made from some solvent (alcohol, dioxide, carbon, etc).
Some examples of CONCENTRATES are "kief"which is achieved by sieving the plant dry, ".hashish"king of the pressings which is basically pressed kief, "ICE"extraction using ice and water, and "Rosin", The trichomes are extracted by pressure and heat and are characterized by a strong psychoactive effect.
It should be noted that in the cannabis environment and unlike a chemistry class, water is not considered a solvent and that is why ICE is considered a concentrate and not an extract.
On the extracts side, as famous examples we can find shatter, wax, crumble or live resin, among others. These are produced using an external solvent to separate the psychoactive elements from the cannabis and how it is treated, dried and condensed will greatly influence the final product, even if we use the same raw material and the same extraction method.
As you can see, marijuana concentrates are many and offer a range of colors, shapes, textures and flavors completely different from each other. We know that the options are many and so much information can be overwhelming, so if you are in Barcelona, we suggest you go to your trusted cannabis association, such as CUBE BCNand try them for yourself!
