High Level Overview of Concentrates in Alberta, Part 2 of 2
Weed looks a lot different these days. Concentrates have hit Albertan Retailer’s shelves. On the market, we hear words like shatter, caviar, badder, rosin and resin. We walk down memory lane when people mention hash.
In Part Two of this two-part series, we take a look at the different products that are considered concentrates on the legal Canadian Cannabis market. Please note that at time of publishing, not all these products are available.
Chemical or Mechanical
Concentrates are created by taking a large amount of cannabis and extracting the desired cannabinoids, either through chemical solvents or mechanical processes. Higher quality cannabis providers only use cannabis flower to create their products.
Chemically derived concentrates
Highly concentrated cannabis extract dissolved in petroleum-based or alcohol-based solvent (for example, butane and ethanol). THC potency in these products can be as high as 90%.
Badder/Budder:
- Looks like: Crunchy peanut butter
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig or a concentrates vaporizer
- Manipulate with: A dabber
Wax
- Looks like: Toffee/Soft caramels or hair pomade
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig, sprinkling on a joint, capping off a bowl
- Manipulate with: Your hands or a dabber, depending on consistency

Shatter
- Looks like: A broken lollipop
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig or a concentrates vaporizer
- Manipulate with: A dabber or tweezers
Note: Shatter can melt. Store in refrigerator or freezer

Hash oil
- Looks like: Olive oil if it’s liquid, or a thin, orange-tinted sheet if it’s solid
- Consumed by: Vaporizer pens, cartridges or, if solid, dab rigs
- Manipulate with: A vape battery, a dabber or tweezers
Note: Hash oil, sometimes called Butane Hash Oil (BHO) or Propane Hash Oil (PHO) is not for oral ingestion

Rick Simpson Oil (RSO)/Phoenix Tears:
- Looks like: Molasses
- Consumed by: Ingestion
- Manipulate with: A syringe
Resin:
- Looks like: Rock candy coated in maple syrup
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig, concentrate vaporizer
- Manipulate with: Dabber
Mechanically derived concentrates
Loose trichomes or pressed resin from cannabis flower or hash. THC potency in these products can be as high as 60%. Products in this category include kief, hash and rosin.
Kief/Keef
- Looks like: Thin, dusty powder
- Consumed by: Sprinkling onto a bowl or joint that already has dry cannabis flower
- Manipulate with: A kief spoon

Hash/Hashish
- Looks like: Small, crumbly brownie or caramel chew
- Consumed by: Sprinkling onto a bowl or joint that already has dry cannabis flower; ingestion
- Manipulate with: Your hands

Bubble hash:
- Looks like: Small, crumbly overbaked cookie
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig (the hash will ‘bubble’ as you heat it up)
- Manipulate with: Your hands
Rosin:
- Looks like: Amber-coloured blown glass
- Consumed by: Using a dab rig, concentrate vaporizer
- Manipulate with: Dabber, clean hands
Wondering about concentrate basics? Then check out Part 1, where we discuss at how concentrates are different from oils, why people talk about live and cured concentrates, and what distillate is.
PS: When I was proofreading the blog post before posting it, I realized that a LOT of my “looks like” entries were about… food. So it made me think of this fun sketch (the link opens a YouTube video). I figure you deserve a treat if you’ve read the whole post. 😉
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