What Is a Cannabis Extract?
In a broad sense, the term Cannabis Extract is used to identify any chemical or combination of chemicals that are removed from the cannabis plant material, usually taken from the buds.
In a more accurate sense, a Cannabis Extract is the resulting chemical or chemical mixture you get from putting cannabis buds in a solvent (alcohol, butane, CO2, etc.) and separating the plant material from the natural chemicals.
The term Cannabis Concentrate technically refers to the resulting product you get from mechanically separating the desirable chemicals from the plant material without a solvent. In this way you are separating, or concentrating, the desired chemicals as opposed to extracting them.
These extracted chemicals are used in many ways such as making edibles, oils, and tinctures, or they can be smoked, dabbed, or vaped. The natural chemicals can be extracted by using a number of different methods, each with benefits and drawbacks.
This article will give you the important factors involved in cannabis extractions and concentrates to give the budtender, medical patient, home grower, and many other interested parties a solid foundation so you can talk confidently about the available products and make purchases that best meet your needs and values.
What Kinds of Cannabis Extracts and Concentrates Are There?
The chemicals extracted from cannabis are most often the main cannabinoids THC and CBD but can include cannabinoids that are gaining recognition and popularity such as CBG, CBC, and CBN.
Other cannabis plant chemicals like Terpenes, Flavonoids, Esters, Thiols, and even Chlorophyll are extracted for use on their own or in products.
These “other” chemicals are often used for a variety of symptoms, or to enhance the flavor or experience of other cannabis products.
What Kinds of Extraction and Concentrate Methods Are There?
There are many different ways you can extract desirable chemicals from cannabis with some being simple and others requiring expensive equipment and careful safety precautions.
Hash Concentrate
The word hash is short for hashish, which is the concentration of the microscopic, hair-like growths on cannabis (and other) plants that contain the chemicals cannabis is known for. These “growths” are called Trichomes which look like tiny crystals to the naked eye and like clear or milky mushrooms under a microscope.
When hash is made, the trichomes are broken off the plant and collected as a powder (Kief), pressed into balls or blocks, or squeezed to release the oil (Rosin). There are several ways of making hash, but the 2 most known and used are Sifted Hash and Ice Water (or Bubble) Hash.
Sifted Hash Concentrate
Sifted or Dry Sift Hash is hashish made by mechanically rubbing or beating the cannabis buds until the oil-filled trichomes break off. One of the oldest and most common methods of collecting dry sift hash is to place a fine mesh fabric over a frame, similar to a silkscreen or a drum.
When the cannabis buds are rubbed over the fabric, the tiny trichomes fall through the holes of the mesh which prevents much of the “green” plant matter from mixing in.
Ice Hash Concentrate
Ice Hash or Bubble Hash is also a mechanical method with the addition of cold temperatures. In this method, the cannabis buds are placed in a bucket of ice water and stirred causing the trichomes to freeze, become brittle, and break off.
The water is then strained through a series of fine mesh bags that separate the trichomes from the green plant matter and the water. Because the trichomes are oil-based, they do not mix with the water and can be easily separated.
Either the sifted or the ice variety hash can be squeezed with a heated clamp-like device to press out the natural oil into a product called Rosin.
Hash-making is the most natural or “solventless” method of cannabis extraction. A solvent is any chemical that separates the trichomes from the plant. Instead of a mechanical extraction process like hash making, solvent extraction is a chemical extraction process which we will look at in the next section.
Hydrocarbon Cannabis Extraction
Hydrocarbons are organic chemicals containing hydrogen and carbon molecules. These chemicals are very good at separating the oil-rich trichomes from the cannabis plant. While there are many options, most hydrocarbon cannabis extraction methods use one or more of the following chemicals we will discuss next.
Butane Cannabis Extraction
Butane extraction, or BHO (Butane Hash Oil, Butane Honey Oil), is a process where the cannabis buds are pressurized under the presence of butane gas (solvent). The resulting product is a thick, oil-like gooey substance. Depending on how the substance is treated, it can take on many textures with names like Budder, Badder, Shatter, etc. These products are commonly referred to as “Dabs.”
Before these products can be safely smoked or vaped, they need to be “purged” of any left-over butane through heat and pressure, usually in a specifically designed purging oven.
There has been a lot of negative press focused on butane extractions because some people were trying this method at home and there were a few cases where explosions due to carelessness caused property damage, physical harm, and even death.
However, when done in a professional lab with the proper equipment and safety procedures, this can be an extremely safe method.
Butane also received negative press because in the early days of experimenting with the gas, BHO processors weren’t fully purging all the leftover butane from the extractions, meaning people who were smoking the material were also inhaling butane. But, with advancements in techniques and equipment, most legal extraction labs are able to produce butane-free end products.
Alcohol Cannabis Extractions: Ethanol and Isopropyl
Some people prefer to use alcohol to extract the desirable compounds from cannabis because of its ease of use and it doesn’t require the same expensive equipment. While there are some safety concerns due to the flammability of ethanol (190-proof alcohol, AKA Everclear), it is much less dangerous than working with butane or other gasses.
Unlike Ethanol, Isopropyl alcohol is not safe to consume but is generally not dangerously toxic to adults in the amounts likely to be leftover in extracted cannabis oil after the alcohol has been evaporated. Since ethanol would require you to consume considerably more to be as toxic as isopropyl, some people avoid isopropyl in favor of ethanol.
Neither, however, are safe to smoke, even at minimal amounts, so if you intend to smoke your alcohol cannabis extraction, be sure to purge any residual alcohol through evaporation.
CO2 Cannabis Extraction
CO2 or carbon dioxide cannabis extraction is a process that uses high pressure and temperature to separate the chemical compounds from the plant matter. When the temperature and pressure reach specific measures, the CO2 gas becomes a (supercritical) fluid that is both gas and liquid.
This supercritical fluid separates the desirable chemicals from the plant material, and after the temperature and pressure are released, the supercritical fluid returns to a gaseous state and is recaptured by the machine. This means no residual CO2 is found in the cannabis oil extraction, unlike butane or alcohol.
Steam Distillation Cannabis Extraction
It is possible to steam-distill cannabis to produce an extract using something akin to old-school alcohol stills, but the yield (the amount of useable extract) is much lower, so most people avoid this method in favor of one of the other more efficient methods.
Which Are the Safest Methods of Producing Cannabis Extractions or Concentrates?
When talking about safety in cannabis extractions, there are two aspects to consider: 1. Producer safety, and 2. Consumer safety.
By far, the safest methods for both the producer and consumer are the ice hash and the dry sift hash. Neither of these methods uses dangerous chemicals or equipment.
However, technology has gotten advanced and in the current cannabis market, if you purchase from a legal, reputable dispensary, it is unlikely you, as a consumer will be in danger due to rigorous testing and modern techniques.
If all procedures are followed, accidents or harmful exposure to commercial producers is almost unheard of.
Which Cannabis Extraction Method Produces the Best Quality?
Unlike safety, the quality of cannabis extracts is more subjective. It all depends on what you care about most.
Ice and dry sift hash have the closest flavor to the natural plant out of all extraction methods. But, they don’t reach as high a cannabinoid percentage as some of the others, and some people don’t want the natural plant aroma or flavor to be as strong.
Some people prefer CO2 extractions because they don’t leave any residual solvent, and the machine can be run in an artistic way to get and separate different chemical compounds which can later be recombined. CO2’s downside is it also collects more undesirable chemical compounds like chlorophyll, waxes, lipids, etc., or will require a much longer extraction time than some of the other methods.
Other people like ethanol extraction because you can achieve a higher percentage of cannabinoids without using dangerous chemicals like butane. But, because ethanol has a much higher boiling point than butane, the evaporation process sometimes does destroy more of the desirable terpenes.
Lastly, many people prefer butane extractions because you can achieve very high cannabinoid percentage rates, up into the 90% range, and they can preserve more of the terpenes at a faster rate.
Distillation of Cannabis Extracts
Cannabis distillation could be a whole other article on its own, but it is worth mentioning here as the term will come up if you shop for extracts.
Cannabis Distillation or Distillates refers to the process or product of refining a cannabis extract. After the initial extraction, the resulting chemicals are put through one of several methods to “purify” the extract further, getting rid of chlorophyll, waxes, fats, and sometimes terpenes to give you relatively pure cannabinoid percentages, even up to 99% like isolates.
Many people prefer the traditional extracts to their further refined relative distillates because, without some of the other natural chemicals, the cannabis experience might not be as pleasant.
The concept of the Entourage, or Ensemble Effect is the theory that cannabinoids and all the other chemicals found in the cannabis plant like terpenes, flavonoids, esters, thiols, etc. work together to produce a balanced effect that is more medically helpful, has better flavor, and gives a more pleasant experience.
Final Thoughts
This information can be complicated, but hopefully, this guide has given you some factors to consider the next time you go into a dispensary and compare products.
Be sure to keep growing your cannabis knowledge and check out our article on cannabis for sleep!
