Cannabis concentrates are like the essential oils of the wellness industry.
Producers extract the most potent and desirable substances, oils and trichomes by distilling weed plants from their raw form to a sticky, liquid-like texture.
This article focuses on one concentrate in particular—rosin—and its unique place in the ever-growing family tree of cannabis products.
We’ll cover what it is, how it differs from other concentrates, and why it’s so popular among cannabis-friendly folk. By the end of this article, you’ll feel like an expert and will know where to find the best rosin in Lethbridge.
What is Rosin?
Rosin has been around for centuries. Violinists use it to strengthen their bow’s grip on the strings. Even carpenters use it to tighten loose joints and create a smooth glaze finish to their pieces.
Cannabis rosin also delivers a high dose of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC) or cannabidiol (CBD) if you’re using it for medical or recreational purposes.
Rosin is a unique marijuana concentrate that is highly potent and created without the use of solvents, which makes it clean (no trace of chemicals), tasty, and environmentally friendly.
What are Solvents, and How are they Used in Cannabis?
Solvents are chemicals that dissolve, isolate, and extract other substances. They are used in various products, from detergents and cleaning supplies to glues, tape, and packaging materials. They have even been used to decaffeinate coffee.1
Solvents produce resin-based cannabis products like wax, budder, and shatter.
Cannabis rosin is a solventless concentrate. Unlike other extracts, only heat, pressure, or sometimes, ice water is used to make rosin.
Are Live Rosin and Live Resin the Same?
These are two very similar-sounding products, but they are entirely different. They’re easy to get confused, but live resins are solvent-based cannabis concentrates, and live rosins are solventless concentrates.
When freshly harvested plants make the extract, rather than dried or cured flower, they are named “live.” Sometimes, you’ll see concentrates made from “fresh frozen cannabis,” which is cannabis that has been frozen immediately after it has been harvested to prevent the evaporation of trichomes.
What Makes a Cannabis Concentrate Cleaner?
When producers use solvents, there is a chance that trace amounts of the chemical end up in the final product. How clean the extraction process is depends on how many trace elements are left behind.
How is Cannabis Rosin Made?
There are different ways to produce cannabis rosin, all of which are solventless. However, at its core, squeezing cannabis between two hot plates creates rosin.
Imagine putting dried cannabis flower between the plates of a hair straightener and pressing it down. The heat and pressure would produce the oily substance that we call rosin.
A Canadian company, Whistler Technologies, is revolutionizing another method to create rosin. They’ve developed a machine that makes hash rosin using ice-water extraction.
In this technique, they load cannabis plants into a large drum filled with ice-cold water and agitate it to remove the cannabinoid-filled trichomes from the plant. The cold temperatures prevent the trichomes from dissolving, so they can be filtered off and pressed to make bubble hash. From there, you can apply pressure and heat to the bubble hash to make hash rosin.
What are Trichomes?
Trichomes contain cannabinoids and terpenes. Cannabinoids are the primary active ingredients in cannabis, think THC and CBD, while terpenes contribute to aromatic properties and taste.1
How is Rosin Different from Other Concentrates?
Many cannabis concentrates use solvents like hydrocarbon, also known as butane hash oil (BHO) extraction, and are the most common method for cannabis products.3 Solventless techniques like ice-water extraction or compression produce rosin.
The methods in which we make marijuana wax, shatter, oil, badder, hash, live resin, rosin, kief, and all the other forms of concentrates are what differentiates them.
One of the oldest techniques for filtering materials is dry sifting. That’s how you can collect kief, which you can use to make hashish, sprinkle on top of your bong bowls with dried flower, or infuse your joints.
Why is Rosin Popular?
Rosin is popular because:
- Rosin has the closest natural flavour, aroma and taste to each specific strain it’s made from.
- It’s made without solvents, eliminating the possibility of trace chemicals in your product.
- No chemical solvents also means it’s more environmentally friendly.
How Do You Use Rosin?
The most popular way to consume rosin is with dab rigs.
Dab rigs look very similar to regular bongs, but the main differences are that they are smaller and they vapourize concentrates instead of burning dried flower.
Rigs have a nail (or banger) instead of a bowl that sits straight up. You heat the nail using a handheld torch to get it to the appropriate temperature before using a dab tool to place rosin on the nail.
As you swirl the tool around, incorporating the heat into the entire blob of rosin, you slowly and steadily inhale through the mouthpiece.
The result is a flavour and aroma-rich toke, unlike anything from a joint or a bong.
Where to Buy Rosin in Lethbridge
Bridge Bud Supply has three locations across Lethbridge—North, South and West. You’ll find everything from dried flower and edibles to concentrates and glassware.
Here are a few popular rosin products in Lethbridge.
Best High- THC Rosin
The Summer Cherry Punch Live Rosin by Astro Lab uses ice water extraction to create a full-flavoured live rosin with a perfect wet badder consistency. It has a super-high potency of 70% THC.
Best THC to CBD Rosin
For a balanced high, Astro Lab's Dab Light CBD Blend Rosin has 29% THC and 55% CBD.
Most Popular Dab Rig
For a top-notch dab rig, the HIGHER STANDARDS - Rig Kit has everything you need to get dabbing: a rig, quartz nail (banger), two dab tools, a rosin container, and high-quality glass to stand up to the heat.
Take a Walk on the Wild Side with Weed Rosin in Lethbridge
Rosin is a unique cannabis product. It uses sustainable extraction methods, boasts rich flavours and aromas, and packs a higher potency punch than a regular joint or bong hit.
At Bridge Bud Supply in Lethbridge North, South, and West, our Budtenders go out of their way to make you feel at home in our store.
Bud Supply has nine locations across southern Alberta, and our owners live here. We know our communities and aim to serve them as best as possible.
Come on by today and check out our impressive selection of cannabis goodies.
Sources:
- Trichomes - https://www.sciencedirect.com/science/article/abs/pii/S2214799319300141
- Ice Water Extraction - https://www.whistlertechnologies.ca/
- Most common solvent-based methods - https://jcannabisresearch.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/s42238-021-00087-9