A Little Dab Will Do Ya: Know Your Cannabis Concentrates
Love it or hate it, dabbing has become a central element of the cannabis scene in the United States and the soaring popularity of the practice is testament to the dramatic immediacy, power and flavor of a good dab.
While there’s no denying the massive market embrace of BHO and other critical extracts, some people are eager to try dabbing but put off by the mixed messages they get from a cannabis community divided on the safety risk posed by residual solvents.
But even if you come down on the “no solvent” side, you can still enjoy the unparalleled sensory experience of dabbing. The basics of rosin production are incredibly safe and simple: apply relatively low heat and pressure to a bud or ice-water hash and enjoy your fresh rosin.
This can be accomplished using household items by wrapping hash or a particularly resinous nug in parchment paper and pressing it with a hair straightening iron. More elaborate methods involve micron mesh pouches and huge mechanical or pneumatic presses, but the overall process remains the same.
The aesthetic result of this process, depending on the starting material, ranges from a toffee brown “budder wax” to a semi-soft shatter with amber glass clarity.
And the effects of a quality rosin dab are absolutely dazzling – the sharp clarity of a shatter high fortified by the deep body buzz of a classic hash.
Originally published in issue 19 of Cannabis Now. LEARN MORE.
