So, here’s the deal. Concentrates can be pretty much anything made with or from a cannabis extract. Meaning, that any finished product of a raw cannabis extract can be a concentrate of some type of cannabinoid. For instance, you take a hemp plant and make rosin extract from it. This rosin extract is most probably a concentrate of CBD due to the high trace amounts of CBD in hemp.
Because of this, a concentrate can look very diluted and liquid like oil, or very thick and heavy like budder or wax. This all depends on the extraction method and processes used. These same raw forms of extracts are then taken and processed into other finished goods like soaps, topicals, oils, vape oils, and many more. However, these finished products are not concentrates themselves.
Now that we’re clear:
CBD concentrates are in great demand, specifically in the U.S. where regulations for CBD have been in effect and gotten stricter ever since the Farm Bill of 2018 passed. Making CBD available from reliable brands at decent pricing.
This same scenario is a double-edged sword, as it has painted the way for thousands of brands to come out with new exciting products but making it more difficult for consumers like you to weed out the ‘bad seeds’ of the lot. That’s what we’re here for; to provide you a list with the best CBD concentrates in the game right now.
Kush Masters Live Resin
Look for it on these menus:
- The Station in Boulder
- Starbuds in Louisville
Most cannabis connoisseurs consider live resin to be the best concentrate around, and that’s reflected in its price—a gram usually costs between $40 and $80. Justin, a budtender at L’Eagle Services, told me that the amazing taste makes it worth the expense.
Kush Masters makes some of the best live resin in Colorado. Their concentrates contain a lot of terpene-rich “sauce,” which Chanel—a budtender at The Station in Boulder—says makes them more flavorful than other brands. Danielle, the concentrate buyer at Starbuds in Louisville, says that Kush Masters’ live resin usually has a higher THC content than other brands.
You can dab the crystals for a strong, stoney effect while dabbing the terp sauce provides a mellow, flavor-rich experience. Chanel likes to mix terpene sauce with CBDA crystals for a relaxing, flavorful experience.
Green Dot Labs Live Resin
Look for it on these menus:
- Golden Leaf in Steamboat Springs
- Doctor’s Orders in Pueblo
- Kind Meds in Denver
Concentrate quality can vary greatly, and a lot of this has to do with the source material. As Matthew, a budtender at Kind Love says, “Trash in, trash out!” The best concentrates come from buds that have been lovingly tended to create oil-rich trichomes and lots of terpenes. That’s what Green Dot Labs is all about: whole-plant extract and no distillate.
Green Dot Labs’ live resin is high in terpenes and features big, stellar crystals. Several high-end dispensaries use Green Dot Labs to make their live resin, including House of Dankness in Denver and Golden Leaf in Steamboat Springs. Green Dot also makes Black Label live resin from plants they grow themselves.
Kama Ice Wax
Look for it on these menus:
- Kind Love in Denver
If you want to dab a super clean concentrate, solventless ice wax is the way to go. It has an average THC content of 75% and costs between $25 and $50 per gram.
Since solventless extraction typically doesn’t require much equipment, many dispensaries make their own in-house. A good place to get started is Kind Love. Their KAMA Ice Wax is clean, clear, and terpene-rich.RelatedThe many types of solventless cannabis extracts
Craft 710 Concentrates
Look for it on these menus:
- Magnolia Road Cannabis Co in Trinidad
- Ajoya in Louisville
- Maggie’s Farm in Manitou Springs.
Danielle from Starbuds in Louisville recommends that concentrate newbies start with butane hash oil (BHO) or propane hash oil (PHO) concentrates. The lower price means you don’t have to invest a lot of money to find out whether concentrates are your thing.
Several of the budtenders I spoke with recommend Craft 710 BHO and PHO concentrates. Kirstie at Ajoya says that Craft 710 makes an excellent PHO extract. The sugary texture makes it easy to dab and produces a thick, flavorful smoke. Craft 710 concentrates can sometimes be found for as low as $20 per gram, making them the best concentrate for budget-conscious dabbers.
West Edison Concentrates
Look for it on these menus:
- Solace Meds in Fort Collins
- Faragosi Farms in Trinidad
Danielle, the concentrate buyer from Starbuds in Louisville, recommends West Edison concentrates for newbies. They offer a variety of strains, are affordable, and are always honest about how their products are processed. As a bonus, West Edison tests their concentrates for CBN and CBG in addition to THC and CBD.
CBDfx Raw Wax
CBDfx is hands down one of the most reliable brands in the market. Which is a great thing when it comes to ingestible or breathable CBD finished goods. This raw wax is made with full-spectrum CBD extract. Which is a good thing, especially when it comes to vaped CBD as it will carry other cannabinoids and terpenes that may provide an entourage effect on CBD (meaning that its effects on the body may be enhanced by other components).
The idea is to take the wax with a dab pen and set it on your heated oil rig to vape. Another important thing to point out is that this wax, although still wax, is not so sticky which makes it easier to handle.
How are CBD Concentrates Made?
The process is actually quite easy to explain if we keep it general because if we’re looking to go into detail things might get a bit out of hand and a tad too technical (which is something you’re likely not looking to do). From a very broad perspective the process goes like this:
- First, you take your hemp flower and submit it to an extraction process. There are dozens of different extraction processes, so we’ll just say that the bud is submitted to heat and pressure. When that happens, the bud will ooze, let’s just call them: juices. These ‘juices’ are what we know as extracts.
- Right then and there you have a very broad form of concentrate. However, brands usually take this extract and apply a couple of solvents and organic (or non-organic) additives that help to turn the extract into a finished good.
And that’s pretty much it really. Of course, if we were going to go into detail, we’d be writing a whole article just on extraction processes and a second one on concentrate manufacturing, but this gives us a detailed enough idea for the purpose of this article.
I have some of the wax as we speak and it’s great. I have strawberry island wax I got some in Toronto last month.