Concentrates for Noobs - Q&A

[looney2nz]

Synthesis =/= extraction.

GW's main "invention" is the creation of repeatable cannibinoid doses. Even from different plants. Even from different years. That's why the process is so exacting. It has nothing to do with synthetic cannibinoids or dronabinol/Marinol.

See also (Link not working right now, don't know why):
https://www.gwpharm.com/healthcare-professionals/research/scientific-publications
The propagation, characterisation and optimisation of Cannabis Sativa L as a phytopharmaceutical
PhD thesis, Dr David Potter

The link works, you just have to say that you ARE a healthcare professional when the dialog box appears.

THEN a list of research studies from GW appear.

@fernand you're gonna wanna check these out if you haven't already!!!

 

[invertedisdead]

I'm not too familiar with any sort of solventless dewaxing or winterization techniques that could be applied to solvent. I only know how to use solvent and cold temperatures to separate.

I'm not 100% sure as their tek is proprietary and this is just what I've gathered from digging but I believe Blue River does a microwave distillation of terpenes to adjust the viscosity, then they centrifuge out the lipids. They are the only ones I know doing a solventless product with no fats, waxes, or lipids.

I see a LOT of flower rosin out there, still. There's a lot of commercially sold flower rosin in 502. It generally sucks. It'll be a nice day when bubble hash rosin and dry sifted rosin (not kief and trim rosin) are the norm, and not bubble, but I don't think we're there yet. At least not based off Washingotn recreational store shelves and what I see people pressing with their presses on Instagram.

That's really interesting, I don't see any flower rosin in SoCal, literally the only flower rosin I know of is from the man SoilGrown Solventless himself. It's so slow to process flower compared to hashing first.

Blue River and 710 Labs are crushing the solventless scene down here. Blue River does sift rosin and 710 Labs does water hash and live rosin.

 

[ClearBlueLou]

@ClearBlueLou

I agree with you that his comments are insulting and way over the top. Guess he has a bit of an anger management issue, huh? Nevertheless his point is well-taken. Blasting in a small room with an electric exhaust fan is a recipe for disaster and hopefully his vehement remarks will keep somebody else from doing the same thing. As a chemist, I would say to you that you don't know how close you came to death or serious injury. Electric fans generate small electric sparks, and just one of those would have been enough to ignite the butane in the fan creating a back-flash right into the tube which would have exploded.

I only disagree to this extent: I didn’t understand *then* (2013?), and as I’ve said *several times now* I haven’t done it since. Continuing to pretend that I’ve been blasting all this time - blasting INSIDE, no less - and *continue* to do so will not be received kindly. I am 67, I’ve outlived my family and all my friends, and I WILL NOT BE LECTURED on this any further, not by anyone.

I *understand* speaking to the larger conversation and making sure the readers at large are informed.
Y’all want to give *me* a hard time, PICK SOMETHING I ACTUALLY DO.

If this continues, that’ll be the end of me here.
Y’all do what you like, so do I, so leave it alone....

 

[uncanni]

I made some awesome sap with my Ardent Nova decarb machine and my Extractcraft Source machine. Loads of fun and such success!!! The key was getting the buchner funnel and filters for it, which I attached to the vacuum on the Source machine.
https://forum.growweedeasy.com/forum/growing-community/268943-making-cannabis-sap-from-trim

 

[Chandler]

Greetings. Not much action here lately. Seems the noobs aren't noobs anymore!

Rosin. I'm curious about rosin and it's effects. I'm interested in the effects of a small dab vs whole flower. Flowers have been a little irritating to the lungs lately, removing the plant matter seems to be a positive idea.

I'm thinking about acquire a dab press to make my own.. But is the return and the buzz truly worth it?

Thanks for any feed back

 

[SSVUN~YAH]

 

[Chandler]

I'm almost completely sold off your response! Lol

 

[ataxian]

Greetings. Not much action here lately. Seems the noobs aren't noobs anymore!

Rosin. I'm curious about rosin and it's effects. I'm interested in the effects of a small dab vs whole flower. Flowers have been a little irritating to the lungs lately, removing the plant matter seems to be a positive idea.

I'm thinking about acquire a dab press to make my own.. But is the return and the buzz truly worth it?

Thanks for any feed back

I made shatter for a while and loved it?
ROSIN is even better!
I want a DAB PRESS one day tbh.
Do what fits your needs?

 

[Gazaam]

'm thinking about acquire a dab press to make my own.. But is the return and the buzz truly worth it?

I see you're in Canada like me. Vaping is great but not perfect. Before investing in a press, why not order a bit of rosin from one of the hundreds of mail-order marijuana companies operating on the internet. Goldbuds is my main go-to website. Their prices are great. If you like sativas, try a gram of their Durban Poison extract (not the shatter but the extract from Phyto 2).

 

[ClearBlueLou]

I’d suggest picking up a Slug from @Nattybushdoctor: they’re *far* cheaper than a dab-press, possibly more efficient (IMHO), and will give you a chance to explore the world of massive flavor, big highs, and variety.

They come in 1g, 2g, and 3.5g sizes, and the pressed herb can be vaped, cooked in butter, maybe other things

Be aware, though, that a big dab can have you coughing as bad as any flower, so mind the gap!

 

[invertedisdead]

Greetings. Not much action here lately. Seems the noobs aren't noobs anymore!

Rosin. I'm curious about rosin and it's effects. I'm interested in the effects of a small dab vs whole flower. Flowers have been a little irritating to the lungs lately, removing the plant matter seems to be a positive idea.

I'm thinking about acquire a dab press to make my own.. But is the return and the buzz truly worth it?

Thanks for any feed back

Yield is an interesting question, a lot of people focus on high yield but I think low yielding material is just as worthy of pressing. Lets say you press some flowers and only get 10% back - some people would consider that a bad return, but on the flip side, do you really want to vape flower with such low resin content? Probably have to vape twice as much of it anyways, might as well filter out all that filler.

I press pretty much everything these days into rosin, when it comes to smooth, clean vapor I find it hard to beat.

A dabpress is a great investment which can quickly pay for itself. You can always try a hair straightener if you just want to test if rosin is right for you. Fantastic customer service on the forum for Dabpress too

 

[muunch]

@invertedisdead - any downsides to switching to solely rosin?

duration? etc... I'm trying to run through my mind now of possible downsides, and I'm not sure if I could find any... but I also lack the experience that others have with rosin.

I've preferred flowers to concentrates due to the more "full-bodied" high from flowers, as opposed to a somewhat empty high from concentrates (though I find it to be much less evident with good live resins, likely due to entourage effect?) but I've always enjoyed the strength of concentrates... Being able to do 1 bowl in my Peak, or my VapCap with concentrates and be OK is really nice, rather than having to puff a bunch of flower bowls, or bust out the FP to get really stoned...

I haven't tried rosin at all before, but am now thinking I'm maybe doing myself a disservice by not having a Slug at the very least (a real press would not fit in my current situation... not sure how recommended hair straighteners are at this point in the game). I feel like rosin will obviously give that full-bodied high that I like from flowers, without the need to puff a 0.5g in one sesh if I wanted to get insanely baked

It's not even like concentrates are "less convenient" to dose on the go, as opposed to flowers anymore...

With a Dynacoil+IH, and my Peak, I have a lot of bases covered... Just curious on your thoughts! Cheers bro hope you have a great Friday/weekend.

 

[invertedisdead]

@invertedisdead - any downsides to switching to solely rosin?

duration? etc... I'm trying to run through my mind now of possible downsides, and I'm not sure if I could find any... but I also lack the experience that others have with rosin.

I've preferred flowers to concentrates due to the more "full-bodied" high from flowers, as opposed to a somewhat empty high from concentrates (though I find it to be much less evident with good live resins, likely due to entourage effect?) but I've always enjoyed the strength of concentrates...

I haven't tried rosin at all before, but am now thinking I'm maybe doing myself a disservice by not having a Slug at the very least...

It's not even like concentrates are "less convenient" to dose on the go, as opposed to flowers anymore...

With a Dynacoil+IH, and my Peak, I have a lot of bases covered... Just curious on your thoughts! Cheers bro hope you have a great Friday/weekend.

Thanks for the kind wishes bro! Same to you

There was a period where I also felt that I preferred flower but I just can't handle convection air anymore. Honestly the flavor of vaped herb all tastes kinda reminiscent of combustion to me these days after hitting the rosin for a while. I used to love my flower vapes but home-made rosin is great cause you can compare the effects and flavor from the same starting material, something most don't get to do with hydrocarbon extracts.

Comparing my rosin to the same herb from vapes like my FP or Volcano, I just don't have much desire to vape flower. I feel like solventless extracts like rosin and co2 retain more of that full spectrum of compounds than other types of extracts, for more of that flower feel. Although the high is a bit less stony than flower, a bit more clear and clean feeling.

I'm fairly sensitive to vapor smoothness so for me, the only real downside I've found with concentrates is tolerance can increase due to that smoothness. And flower rosin does leave a little more wax residue than a nice live resin to mop up, but not really an issue with bucket style atomizers like the Peak. Good hash rosin is generally pretty clean like a nice live resin.

 

[muunch]

At the risk of getting OT (though I guess not really...): would you (or anyone else experienced with either method!) recommend a hair straightener, or one of the Slugs for small, personal pressing? I'd probably be looking to squish an eighth to a half of flower at a time, though not sure how feasible larger amounts are without an actual press.

 

[invertedisdead]

At the risk of getting OT (though I guess not really...): would you (or anyone else experienced with either method!) recommend a hair straightener, or one of the Slugs for small, personal pressing? I'd probably be looking to squish an eighth to a half of flower at a time, though not sure how feasible larger amounts are without an actual press.

The hair straightener is a great proof of concept, though honestly it gets tiring quickly if you want to press a half. For me it's collecting off a bunch of papers that gets annoying compared to doing a couple presses and celebrating the fruits of my labor Never used a Slug but I can imagine it's similar with that. I'm more into the temp control myself though.

The 3x3" Dabpress would be perfect for your usage. I have a 3x5" 6 ton bottle jack press; but my average press is the same as you, 3.5-14g in a session. I don't usually press more than 7g at once though since I like to change a variable when I have enough flower to observe the differences.

 

[superdang9000]

I haven't used a Slug yet either, but I imagine it appealing to two types of people: A) those who are looking for an inexpensive intro into rosin pressing, or B) those who appreciate the manual process, where variance isn't as much a concern -- akin to the coffee connoisseur who uses a manual espresso press and prefers the different combinations of flavor and effects that can come from those slight temperature fluctuations.

Temp control for those who prefer to approach it a little more scientifically, with reproducible results every time.

Or, if you're like me and can never make up your mind about any damn thing... get both.

 

[Chandler]

Hmm. Durban poison live resin on deck. Organic cotton. First concentrate session with vapcap... I wasn't blown away by the flavor first off. It tasted like those distillate cartridges. Strong flavour yes, but more unlike flowers and more like something chemical... Purchased from a recommended reputable source... The effects I thought were 'ok', nothing crazy... Second session I loaded up a piece of cotton with triple my first dose... Woke up this morning with that session the first thing on my mind. Clearly did the trick. I can't remember.

I think I'll wait for 420 or a sale before I grab a dynacoil, but I'm curious to try this live resin without the cotton... If i get the opportunity I'll jimmy rig a S&B concentrate pad Ala @Squiby method!

Personally, I hope not all resin tastes like this. I don't think rosin will taste anything like this resin?

 

[BabyFacedFinster]

I have also found myself using concentrates more often. As @invertedisdead talks about, it's the decreased huffing of hot air that was the biggest factor for me. Having to puff 6-8 times on flower hits compared to 1-2 hits off some concentrate for similar effect. My throat tends to get irritated from excessively vaping. I usually depend on long airpaths and water cooling to help also. I also find concentrates to be much cleaner with less bits of dried shit stuck everywhere.

I haven't sensed a preference between shatters, waxes and rosin. My sense of taste is not as sensitive as others. Although flavors seem to range from very neutral to flavorful based on the quality of any given concentrate. I have had some low priced pull and snap that has tasted better than some rosin I own. I do find the high from most concentrates to be clearer and less groggy than with flower.

I like using cotton in a gong with my nano and my Fury 2. Dabs, like with quartz bangers and stuff, hit me with way too much, too quickly. I don't like that type of high. I've tried conc pads too. They are ok, but oil leaks out the sides and gets the glassware gunky. Whether it would actually happen or not, I always worry about oil dripping out the bottom of the pads and into the heater units. Oil tends to cling very well to cotton fibers and stays put IMHO.

 

[anda1anda2]

I know it’s not agreed upon by everyone, but I swear Boveda packs do something to mute the terps in some herb.

I’m thinking about finding another way to bring my herb up to pressing humidity. Any ideas? How about those terra cotta looking things that RAW sells that you can soak and keep in a jar?

 

[invertedisdead]

I might be alone here but I gave up on worrying about RH for pressing rosin, somewhere along the line I managed to stop caring entirely, I think when I switched permanently to bags. I used to care about it for unbagged presses so you don't get a lot of contaminant in the rosin, but I only press bags now as I agree with @JCat that it allows the puck to hold its shape better which keeps the PSI consistent across pressings.

 

[anda1anda2]

Interesting. I’ll have to try some dryer herb. I’ve been using Bovedas since before I got a press. I’ve just kindof taken it as gospel.

Side note: this question was meant for the rosin thread.

 

[JCat]

I might be alone here but I gave up on worrying about RH for pressing rosin, somewhere along the line I managed to stop caring entirely, I think when I switched permanently to bags. I used to care about it for unbagged presses so you don't get a lot of contaminant in the rosin, but I only press bags now as I agree with @JCat that it allows the puck to hold its shape better which keeps the PSI consistent across pressings.

And you haven't found any differences in yields?

 

[Madri-Gal]

Greetings. Not much action here lately. Seems the noobs aren't noobs anymore!

Rosin. I'm curious about rosin and it's effects. I'm interested in the effects of a small dab vs whole flower. Flowers have been a little irritating to the lungs lately, removing the plant matter seems to be a positive idea.

I'm thinking about acquire a dab press to make my own.. But is the return and the buzz truly worth it?

Thanks for any feed back

Have you tried with a hair iron yet ? It will give you a chance to see if it's enough, or you need more, and you get rosin in the meantime.

 

[FlyingLow]

I find it totally worth it, but with regards to returns, I never got more than a dab or two from hair straighteners and ended up wasting a ton of product. Going to a slug or a dab press, my yields went to 18-30%

 

[Madri-Gal]

I find it totally worth it, but with regards to returns, I never got more than a dab or two from hair straighteners and ended up wasting a ton of product. Going to a slug or a dab press, my yields went to 18-30%

My bad. I was under the impression he was initially trying to find out if " the buzz was worth it", and hair iron is a quick way to try pressing with what you have around the house.