What Exactly is Rosin?
Rosin is a relatively new word on cannabis connoisseurs lips. It was usually the work of guys using their girlfriend’s hair straightening irons at home to extract the cannabis resin. Technology has developed, and rosin is now a commercially viable alternative to the concentrate market. What is more, its safe, cheap and uses no solvents to extract the resin.
What is Shatter?
Shatter, wax, budder, crumble are just some of the terms cannabis enthusiasts are using to describe the cannabis extracts available on the growing concentrates market. Concentrates are readily available through legal Canadian online dispensaries where you can buy shatter online, for example. Their popularity is due to the potent medicines, flavours and crystal clear highs that Concentrates allow. Until recently extraction has been quite a dangerous and challenging business as many volatile and toxic chemicals are used to extract the resin from the cannabis plant matter.
We have all read and heard news reports of houses going up in flames due to an illegal “lab” exploding. The chemicals used in these extraction process were either usually high volume alcohols, butane, CO2 or other solvents used to absorb the resin/trichomes from the cannabis plant. Cannabis cultivators have been using many older methods of extraction to keep up with the demand of retail cannabis sales. Although people have always been warned when trying their hand at extraction, many accidents have happened due to dealing with these volatile chemicals in confined spaces. Butane is especially dangerous as its highly flammable and any spark could ignite the fumes that are given off. Butane is the preferred solvent for extraction of concentrate to make shatter, but the good news is, with the right agitation of your final product, shatter can be made using the rosin technique.
Rosin is merely the method of applying heat and pressure to the cannabis plant, and the results are a golden honey oozing out of the heat plates. Its a fairly straightforward process and requires no extra dangerous solvents. Rosin presses are available in many varieties ranging in price from around $100 to over $5000. The final rosin concentrate extracted depends on a number of variables, most importantly what you are putting in to start with. The quality of your cannabis plant matter will impact the output of your final product, both quality and yield.
With safety being a major plus on rosins side, lawmakers are closely watching legal cannabis markets develop and updating laws when necessary. Safety is a significant consideration for lawmakers, and the rosin extraction process fits nicely into a safe framework for legislators, fire departments and police.
The other major benefit of rosin is it does not contain any toxic residues as it requires no solvents to extract. As cannabis is usually sold as a medical product safe access to medical marijuana is an important feature. There are numerous reports of contaminants being found in cannabis flowers, and residues left over in concentrates. Buying expensive cannabis products, thinking it will be improving your health without knowing that the contaminants could be hazardous to your health if the cannabis concentrate is not purged correctly.
Shatters popularity is due to the attention it receives through its looks, and art sculptures that are made of shatter resin. Shatter is very well known to have one of the highest concentrations of cannabinoids in the cannabis industry, anything from 80% and above. Rosin in the early days of the adoption of technology was known to only produce up to 70%, but the technology of rosin extraction has improved significantly, and it competes with shatter head-to-head with the percentage of cannabinoids.
6 Reasons to Consider Rosin
The benefits of rosin are already way ahead of other concentrates and only improving. In the near future, rosin will be leaps and bounds ahead of other concentrate extractions without the pitfalls. The many benefits of rosin are summarized below:
1. Rosin is 100% solvent free: with a more health-conscious society demanding fewer inputs in life, rosin is a sure winner.
2. Rosin is much cheaper to produce: with fewer input costs and running costs, rosin is a better option when producing concentrates for now and going into the future.
3. Potency is on par with other concentrates: Rosin is measured in the 80% cannabinoid range and only getting better. So when consumers are looking for potency rosin is in the same category with many other benefits.
4. Rosin is extracted from any cannabis: Rosin is usually extracted from premium quality cannabis, however, it can be extracted from anything, shake, bubble hash, dry sift and more. This proves it is a versatile extraction process that can be used in most environments.
5. Rosin is extremely safe: no need for extra precautions it’s the almost the safest method available for extraction of concentrates. There is not much risk of bodily harm, definitely no risk from an explosion and you don’t require extra safety precautions when holding volatile solvents as its solventless.
6. Rosin can be agitated into most popular concentrates: whether you are looking for budder, wax, crumble, shatter.. rosin can be manipulated into any of these consistences with a more pure outcome as there is no residue left.
Rosin definitely has made a name for itself in a growing concentrate market. As explained above, from a price and purity aspect it is leaps and bounds ahead of the rest. Consumers of cannabis are also very positive about rosin as a concentrate as its a health and environmentally conscious alternative to our usual concentrates. Consumers are also very excited about the flavours from rosin extracts as its a pure, clear smoke whether you are vaporizing, dabbing or adding some melted rosin to the end of your joint.
As with all new technological developments and the pace of the world we live in. You are sure to hear a lot more about rosin. The benefits far out way the competition of older extraction methods and manufacturers are fast adopting rosin as a superior concentrate for consumers.
Lydia
Do you have products that can be used topically as opposed to smoking?
Bren
Yes, we are adding some lip balm and coconut from apothacary labs in the next few days, with more to come soon.