Understanding Extracts: Distillate & Terp Sauce
For new users to the vaping space, choosing between distillate or live resin can be difficult. The choices and terms can be overwhelming and confusing and many customers are left asking questions like, “What is the difference?”
Some products are double the price of others in similar formats and sizes which brings up an even more important question, “Is it worth the money? Or are these generic marketing terms being created to push product towards consumers?”
DISTILLATE
Distillate is a highly refined cannabis oil with high concentrations of THC, CBD or both. Distillate usually relies less on high quality parts of the cannabis plant that would normally be sold in a bag of whole flower, rather it is produced from parts of the plant that otherwise wouldn’t be sold.
During the extraction process, a good portion of the cannabis plant, primarily the terpenes and flavonoids, are lost with the remainder being an oil version of cannabis, specifically a cannabinoid-rich in THC concentrate. Losing the cannabis-derived terpenes means essentially losing the flavor of your cannabis.
Thus, more often than not, distillate requires terpenes to be re-added for flavor later in the production process. Using a blend of terpenes, Licensed Producers can create copies of the target strain, for example, Limonene to ensure Super Lemon Haze tastes as it should. Higher quality and pricier products use actual cannabis-derived terpenes while budget friendly options will use terpenes extracted from other sources such as lavender or citrus to reduce the cost.
TERPENE
With the word Terpene repeated over and over, what is it anyways and what is the difference between terpenes and terp sauce?
Terpenes are a naturally occurring compound found in nearly all plants and are commonly associated with because of the high concentration found within the plant. Terpenes are to cannabis as flavour is to food: It defines the way a strain tastes or smells and gives it character. [6]
Terpenes when combined with THC and/or CBD determine the various effects one could feel when consuming. For example, energetic and creative or a relaxed and mellow effect, dependant on the terpene profile.
TERP SAUCE
Terp Sauce is a specific form of cannabis extract that contains a high concentration of terpenes within it. Terp Sauce, derived from cannabis, is often mixed with distillate to create a “closer to flower” experience when using vape cartridges.
Terpenes found in Distillate and Live Resin can be extracted through multiple methods, one of the most common is using solvents, such as butane, and hydrocarbons whereas a solventless option uses CO2[2].
Terp sauce is often confused with live resin extracts because of the high levels of terpenes and cannabinoids but is its own type of product on its own and offers benefits for multiple uses.
We’ve only begun to scratch the surface, stay tuned for another “Understanding Extracts” feature soon!