Concentrates are the way to go if you want potency over terpenes. Flower buds will always have a place in our hearts, but concentrates have rapidly evolved into some of the most highly sought-after cannabis products and there’s a reason for it: you get more bang for your buck. Shatter and wax are two of the most popular concentrates available at dispensaries. What are the distinctions? Here’s a rundown of what they’re all about. Looking to try something new? Check out this.
What Is Shatter?
Shatter is one of the most distinctive concentrates, owing to its appearance. Because it resembles hard candy, shatter is one of the simplest concentrates to identify because of its visual aspect. Shatter is a rich THC concentrate with a high THC content that may range from 80% to more than 90%.
How Shatter Is Made
Shatter is created by dissolving the plant material in either butane or hydrocarbon solvents. The residual oily extract is then heated to a high temperature until all that remains is a highly concentrated—and powerful—extract. When the extract cools after the high-temperature process, you end up with a sheet of amber glass as a result. Because flammable liquids are used in the creation of shatter, it’s not considered an easy job.
What is Wax?
The harder, more costly cousin of shatter is wax. Cannabis wax concentrate is simply BHO concentrate with a less thick, opaque coconut oil viscosity.
What’s more, for those of you who’d like to try something different with your cannabis wax creations, how about sticking your pointer finger three knuckles deep into one of Shrek’s ears or his belly button? The material stuck to your finger is a good place to start in understanding the texture and colouration of cannabis wax, although cannabis wax smells far better.
What is Marijuana Wax?
Because wax is heated and cooled during and after the extraction procedure, its molecules arrange themselves in a manner that it has a different consistency from shatter. While they have similar qualities, crumble wax concentrate appears and feels softer than shatter. Expect to look through this champagne yellow concentrate as you would with shatter.
How is THC wax made
The buds are packed into test tubes and then blasted with butane to make the wax. The cannabis resin is separated from the undesirable plant matter under the influence of butane. After the initial extraction, any remaining butane must be evaporated from the concentrate. As a result, a sticky cannabis concentrate is produced by heating and cooling it. It’s cooled, hardened, and sent off to storage containers afterwards.
Good Wax vs Bad Wax
The finest waxes are typically golden yellow to amber in color. Anything with a green or dark tint has chlorophyll and plant matter, which reduces the potency. This also applies if you’re wondering whether your wax was manufactured/extracted correctly.
Primary Differences
The two shatter and wax are quite comparable in terms of THC and strength. Both are BHO concentrates with 80-90% THC content. The main differences between them are texture, price, and personal choice.
Wax lovers appreciate how it’s simpler to scoop out precise portions because it is softer and generally a bit easier to make. The product’s beauty and the fact that it can be kept for longer periods of time (preserved) are favorite aspects of the shatter community.
Finally, since shatter necessitates a greater degree of processing (used in bigger temperatures than wax) it is usually more costly than an equivalent strength wax.
Personally, we at Herb CEO are bigger fans of shatter because of how beautiful it is (we’re suckers for THC diamonds, too) but also find that adding a little bit of shatter to the dab rig is simpler than dealing with sticky wax. However, this is just a personal choice.
Don’t worry, though; your trusty dab rig or fancy e-rig, if that’s your thing, will happily consume whatever physical form of pure cannabis extract you put in there. So we recommend trying them all to see which is best for your particular physiology if you are at least 18 years old and reside in a legal state.