What’s the Difference Between Extracts and Concentrates? A Simple Guide.
Unlocking the Mysteries of Cannabis Concentrates and Extracts
If you’ve ever wondered about the distinction between cannabis extracts and concentrates, you’re in the right place. Let’s break it down in straightforward terms.
Cannabis Concentrates: The Basics
Concentrates are powerful forms of cannabis available in various solid and liquid forms. They pack a punch by isolating active ingredients like cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids from different parts of the cannabis plant, such as buds, leaves, and stems.
How are Concentrates Made?
Concentrates can be crafted with or without solvents. Solventless methods use physical techniques like sifting, freezing, and pressing, as well as heat and water extraction, to separate the active ingredients from the plant material.
Solventless concentrates include familiar names such as:
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Kief (also known as sift)
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Hash
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Rosin
Concentrates made with solvents involve exposing the plant to solvents like butane or ethanol. This process strips away cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, resulting in a concentrated and potent product. Some methods combine solvents with physical techniques like heating or stirring.
Solvent-based concentrates (also called extracts) include:
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Shatter and wax
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Resin
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Distillate
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Isolate
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Badder/batter
What Exactly are Extracts?
Cannabis extracts fall under the category of cannabis concentrates. They are crafted by using solvents like butane, carbon dioxide, alcohol, or ethanol to extract the active ingredients from the cannabis plant. Extracts can also be blended with a carrier oil, such as sunflower oil, for ingestion.
Examples of extracts are:
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Oils
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Capsules
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Oral sprays
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Softgels
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Sublingual strips
Distinguishing Between Concentrates and Extracts
Here’s the key point: all extracts are concentrates, but not all concentrates are extracts. Extracts are a specific type of concentrate made using solvents, while concentrates can be created with or without solvents.
Solvent-based concentrates like shatter, wax, resin, distillate, isolate, and badder fall under the category of extracts. In contrast, solventless concentrates like kief, hash, and rosin are concentrates that don’t involve solvents.
