Silverback Extracts’ Clementine Shatter is a Terp Typhoon

Silverback Extracts is a steadily rising profile in the world of errl —  a King Kong of concentrates scaling the industry one terpene-loaded BHO slab at a time. While some other extractors are (perhaps understandably) doubling down on advertising and social media outreach, Silverback is swatting competition out of the sky while relying almost entirely on word of mouth to build their growing reputation for flavor, impact and value.

I first encountered Silverback at an early incarnation of what eventually became the Dank Tank sesh — back then it was held in the basement lounge of a synagogue on the outskirts of Oakland, California. Their packaging was slightly crude — their sales pitch only slightly less so — but the quality of the product and the passion of the team was already there.

I’ve always seen a spark in the work of Silverback, but when I first discovered their extraction of Clementine — a phenomenal shatter with one of the  most assertive terpene profiles I’ve ever tasted — I knew they were onto something remarkable.

A Chance Encounter

Stoney Steve’s eponymous smokeout is always crowded, but this evening’s sesh — hosted by the Henchmen “1%” motorcycle club —  is particularly packed.

As I weave through the crowd in search of familiar faces and exotic dabs, a thick tendril of vapor fishhooks me by the nostril with an otherworldly sweet-sharp pungency, dragging the rest of my body towards its source, floating nose-first a-la Toucan Sam.

I don’t know what I’m smelling, but it’s louder than 30 bikers kickstarting their Harleys in tandem. 

As I step up to the Silverback table, I solve the mystery of the enigmatic aroma: a dab rig crafted in the shape of a yellow duck, holding a literal smoking gun. The duck’s accomplice, a glowing gold sheet of shimmering shatter.

I sputter some expletive-laden variation of “what’s that?” and point at the bright yellow-gold expanse of semisolid translucent goop. Even with my nose a yard away from the surface of the slab, the wave of terps crashing over my sinuses is spellbinding.

“That’s the Clementine, my man.”

Oh my Darling

Clementine is a cacophony of sharp tartness and crisp astringency that pulls from the brightest end of the citrus spectrum. The flavor of the strain’s namesake citrus — the accidental Clementine — is present, but only as a single note in a symphonic melange of citrus notes that’s practically exhaustive, with tangerine, lemon, grapefruit and even subtle hints of lime.

Sharp tartness and crisp astringency dominate a terpene profile that’s underpinned by a mellow orange sweetness. But that sweet undercurrent is a whisper next to the effervescent tactile body of the terpene profile — a unifying herbaceous zest that hints at the mouthfeel of spearmint tea and fernet liquor taken neat.

My “exploratory” dab of a new strain is usually half the size of a my normal dab, but the pervasive olfactory radiance of the Clementine inspires a more adventurous approach.

As I drop a glob of the shatter onto a low-temp quartz nail the same already-aggressive terpene profile that lured me in the first place completely overwhelms and envelopes my senses — my lungs are a rush of rippling pith and mint, my tongue is reeling helplessly in the disorienting citrus riptide and my body is crackling, my entire nervous system a lit strip of firecrackers cascading wildly down my spine, igniting sparks at every juncture.

The sativa-heavy effects are aggressively stimulating, like having your consciousness pulled into the center of cosmic vortex and concentrated into a burning laser beam. Clementine packs some of the most hyper-focused euphoria this side of the Equator, with residual impacts that include increased energy, relaxed muscles and improved sleep.

Silverback has a deep catalog of terps to choose from and price-tags ranging from reasonable to absurdly compassionate, making it all but impossible to make a bad choice. And while other more recent extractions, like the ghostly-pale gold Sunset Sherbert and Extreme Creme runs, are phenomenal in their own right, nothing else brings the hard-charging terp typhoon of their Clementine.

TELL US, have you ever smoked or dabbed Clementine?