The Wild World of Cannabis Concentrates

A cannabis concentrate is any product derived from the cannabis plant that is processed into a concentrated form. This includes tinctures, hash, and vape cartridges. When it comes to cannabis concentrates, there is a wide variety of options out there to choose from and a number of factors to take into consideration when making a purchase. A good place to start is to decide how you want to consume your concentrates. This will help you determine what kind to choose. There are three main forms of consuming concentrates – vaping, dabbing, & eating. 

Eating Concentrates – 

Tinctures, tablets, and capsules and common ways of orally consuming cannabis concentrate. These generally take between 30 minutes to a few hours to kick in, similar to the effects of edibles. Tinctures can be felt sooner if they are held in the mouth for a time before being swallowed. This allows some of the cannabinoids to be absorbed by the mucous membranes on your cheeks and under your tongue, meaning that the cannabinoids will reach your bloodstream quicker and the effects will be felt sooner. Rick Simpson Oil (or RSO Oil for short) is another form of edible concentrates commonly found. RSO oil is also often called Phenox Tears or Dragon Tears. Ask your budtender about High Level Hope if you are interested in Phoenix Tears! We have also had customers report positive results from using RSO oil topically! 

Vaping Concentrates – 

Vaping refers to when you have a cartridge (a glass chamber with a heating element in it) filled with cannabis oil attached to a small battery. Vaping has increased in popularity in recent years for a number of reasons. It is very convenient and involves very little mess or hassle. Vaping is also one of the most discrete ways to use cannabis, as there is typically a much milder smell associated with it. Vaping also tends to produce a milder high than smoking straight flower, which some folks find preferable. All High Level Health cartridges are crafted with all cannabis-derived ingredients, the one exception being our botanical terpeene cartridges. These are flavored with botanically-derived (not- synthetic) terpenes sourced from responsible companies. All of our cartridges are produced in heavily regulated facilities and rigorously tested before they hit our shelves. It is important to make sure that you are purchasing cartridges from a reputable, licensed dispensary because most black market companies use questionable cutting agents in their cartridges, which can lead to health issues. 

Dabbing Concentrates – 

Dabbing concentrates is when you apply a concentrate (like wax, sugar, or budder) to a very hot object. The typical dab setup (known as a dab rig) consists of a bong, a specialized bowl, and a torch, although there are many electronic versions available in this day and age. One of the main differentiating factors when it comes to concentrates is texture. In fact, most of the names for the different types of concentrates come from their texture alone. Sugar had a wet grainy consistency and is more transparent. Budder is usually opaque and has a smooth consistency without any crystals. Shatter is hard and breaks apart easily. There are also live concentrates and non-live concentrates. Live concentrates are processed from plant material that is frozen right after it is harvested. This results in the flavor being more akin to the growing plant, rather than the cured plant. When you cure cannabis (drying it after it is harvested) the terpenoids oftentimes degrade, leaving you with a more subtle smell and flavor. Freezing plants right after harvesting them preserves these terpenes and allows for a stronger flavor profile to come through. Concentrates processed from frozen cannabis tend to have a robust flavor that can make your mouth water! 

If you have any further questions about concentrates, our Budtenders are more than happy to assist you!