When you are new to consuming cannabis, the words concentrates, and flower may confuse you. Cannabis has gained popularity in the vaping community because of its potency. However, most people stick to consuming the cannabis flower because most people are familiar with it.
Today in this article, we look at the differences between cannabis concentrates and the cannabis flower to give you a clear understanding of the two, so if you are a beginner, you can be familiar with what you are using.
Vaping concentrates and cannabis flower using https://www.drdabber.com/collections/vape-kits hits different, and we are going to discuss why.
Cannabis concentrates can be consumed in numerous ways
When using cannabis flower, you can vaporize it, smoke it, or dab it, but those are the only options for taking cannabis flower. If smoking is your preferred method of taking cannabis, then smoking flower buds may still be a good option for you; roll it and light it up. However, if you are looking for a smoke-free way of taking cannabis, you should consider cannabis concentrates. Using concentrates, they will offer you more options such as:
- Dabbing – dabbing is where you use a dab rig to inhale the concentrates. The process is simple: you place the concentrates in the dab rig and then heat the nail, which creates a vapor you inhale. It’s a great way of inhaling cannabis concentrates because the hit is instant, but using the dab rigs may be a bit tricky, especially for beginners.
- Edibles – Edibles are foods that have been infused with cannabis concentrates. They come in baked goods, drinks or candy and chocolate. Edibles take time for you to feel the high, maybe half an hour or more.
- Ingestible oils – ingestible oils work the same as edibles. When ingested, they take much longer to be effective. They are usually a great way of taking in cannabis concentrates if you are looking for smoke-free ways of taking cannabis. It’s usually perfect for people who take cannabis for medical purposes.
- Tinctures – Tinctures are concentrate made to be taken sublingually. You take one and place it under your tongue, and then it is absorbed directly into the bloodstream. Tinctures act faster than edibles or oils, but they are usually less potent.
Concentrates come in different names and forms
Cannabis concentrates is the broad term used to call the different products and forms available, and this can be confusing for someone who is starting to consume cannabis. With flower buds, at least even with the different textures, you know that it’s a cannabis flower. However, cannabis concentrates are named differently, and most of them are because of the extraction method. Let us look at a few names below.
- Shatter, crumble, sugar, soap, honeycomb, wax, oil – all these names are usually used to refer to the texture of the concentrate you wish to use. While some people may prefer a certain consistency of the extract they are using, what is essential to most people is the potency of the cannabis concentrates. Remember that the potency of your concentrate is shown by the THC percentage in it, and a higher THC will not always give you the best experience with your concentrate. Meaning a higher concentrate of THC doesn’t always get you high.
Most cannabis concentrates are extracted using hydrocarbons, CO2, alcohol, water, and heat. These types of extraction methods create rosin and hash still other names you may find for cannabis concentrates. Hash is extracted using water, while rosin is extracted using heat.
Concentrates are more potent
Concentrates are more potent than flowers, and the THC percentages determine the difference in each. Flower buds tend to have a THC percentage of 10% to 25%. Cannabis concentrates, on the other hand, contain THC percentages of between 50% – 80%, though some can even go higher up to 90% THC levels. Those percentages are not to be toyed with by someone who is not used to consuming cannabis concentrates. Dosing in higher percentages may not be a good experience if not done in moderation.
If you are a beginner at vaping, ensure you start at low concentrates or mild non-intoxicating ones. Then as you continue vaping, you can build tolerance with time. If you start at high at once, you may not have a fun experience.
Concentrates don’t have plant matter
During the extraction process, concentrates are stripped of all plant materials. However, an exception to this is live resin that usually maintains some original plant matter after concentration.
The extraction process usually extracts CBD and THC and some other harmful stuff you shouldn’t be exposed to, such as pesticides, residual solvents, or contaminants. Ensure the products you are buying are genuine and tested. You don’t want to be smoking contaminants. It’s not good for your health.
When you smoke weed flower buds, the black residue is the plant material, which can be harmful to your lungs in the long run. And when you are vaping concentrates, you won’t notice any black residue because it doesn’t have the plant material.
Flowers have more flavor
If you love the cannabis flavor, then cannabis flower provides that. During the extraction process of concentrates usually lose their flavor and aroma. Terpenes are the oils and fragrances released by the cannabis plant, and that’s what gives the extracts its musty, earthy smell that we all know as weed smell. Terpenes are sensitive to heat, so it can be tricky to preserve their aroma and flavor when making cannabis concentrates.
Extracts such as live resin retain the flavor and aroma of the weed flower because they are not stripped of the plant matter. So you can use it without the need for re-introducing terpenes after extraction. However, some manufacturers are trying to re-introduce the aroma after extraction, which results in cannabis concentrates being more aromatic than the flower they come from.
Cannabis concentrates give vapers numerous ways of enjoying weed. It may sound challenging, especially to the inexperienced, but don’t let that stop you from enjoying concentrates. We hope the article has helped shed some light on the differences between cannabis concentrates and cannabis flowers.
Story by Peter Reeds
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