Cannabis concentrates are becoming a staple to the marijuana industry. With marijuana use increasing around the country, more people are aware of “dabbing” or “dabs” With 7/10 around the corner to celebrate marijuana’s “OIL” products such as wax, shatter,  hash oil, and live resin. Whether you're a newer consumer or an old-school consumer being introduced to the term dabbing, you may have questions.

Dabs come in several different sizes, shapes, and ultimately, forms. Dabbing can reference many kinds of THC concentrates; from shatter to live resin. But today, we’re going to look at my favorite concentrate known as a wax dab.  

The Titular DAB

A dab can essentially be seen as the measurement to which people dose out their marijuana concentrates. Depending on their consistency, these marijuana concentrates are also commonly referred to as wax, shatter, live resin, etc. These kinds of concentrates are heated on a hot surface, a banger/e-nail, and then inhaled through a bong-like device known as a dab rig. The term has been used for about a decade or so. 

Dabs are made by pouring butane over marijuana. This process allows the THC to leave the marijuana plant and dissolve into the butane leaving a gummy, somewhat solid product that contains high amounts of THC.

What is This?! Wax Made From Bees?!

Wax, despite its name, is not made from beeswax. This type of marijuana gets its name from the concentrate’s texture and appearance. Varying between being relatively gooey being incredibly brittle; wax has an opaque appearance that appears throughout.

Depending on moisture, temperature, and techniques used to extract wax; the concentrate can take on many different forms in the outcome. When the wax is a gooier wax, that tends to be a budder. The other end of that breeds consistencies like crumble.

Different Types of Wax

BHO - Butane Hash Oil, extracts various cannabinoids. Extracting wax, using BHO, is a way to cultivate leftover parts on the marijuana plant remaining after trimming; like leaves or stems. This is why it's cheaper and easier to find.

BUDDER - Considered the cleanest and most wanted wax concentrate. Budder closely resembles butter you would put on toast. Budder is smooth in texture and a highly potent concentrate often hitting 90% THC potencies.  The process is a difficult one due to the process requiring strenuous whipping during the extraction process.

CO2 - solvent-free and tends to be pricey. Produced without toxins, while retaining terpene flavors. Extraction is pricey due to needing specialized equipment. But delivers in terpenes and cannabinoids.

CRUMBLE - Crumble is made from BHO. Crumble is made during the process of purging oil in a large vacuum oven. In the process, the extraction develops a soft consistency but maintains an extremely brittle consistency which can crumble when being prepared. Crumble is a favorite for vaporizers.

PHO - Propane Hash Oil, is an extraction method using propane instead of butane. Everything else is pretty much the same. Some people prefer it because it can be made into a pretty good budder (kind of creamy/buttery concentrate) with vigorous whipping. Experienced PHO makers note that, depending on the strain, it’s possible to get more terpenes and fewer residuals by using propane.

WAX -  Resembles honey which is where it gets its name. Wax concentrates have a very high content of THC and other cannabinoids (much higher than regular buds or trim runs) and need to be handled carefully. If you’re not used to vaporizing something so potent, the best advice I can give you is to start slow.

How To Dab That Concentrated Wax

Unlike smoking a bowl, you are going to need a specific set of tools. Tools that will make any wax concentrate cower in fear of you.

TOOLS:

• Dab rig - A small, bong-like smoking apparatus 

• Nectar collector - A straw-like smoking device

• Vape Pen - Concentrate vaporizer

Some consistencies of concentrate are easier to consume using all the various ways. Brittle/crunchy concentrates, like shatter, are easier to smoke when dropped onto a hot banger. It’s also worth noting that the higher the temperature you burn the nail, the much more harsh your smoke will be. When temperatures remain lower, the more flavor and cloud production.

When using a Nectar Collector, specifically designed trays/dishes are a must. These kinds of products are made out of glass, quartz, or silicone. After putting a small dab onto the container, blowtorch the tip of the collector. While heated, drag the hot nail across the wax while sucking through the mouthpiece. 

Health and Dabbing Wax

Dabbing wax is arguably one of the healthiest ways to smoke marijuana, although there haven't been too many studies quite yet. For us, it is a bit lighter on the throat and lungs (depending on how hot you prefer to dab).

Benefits of Dabbing

Cannabis enthusiasts will find some advantages to dabbing if they maintain clean and tested products. Dabbing is known for its quick onset time and lasting powerful effects on the user. For those who deal with chronic pains, use dabbing as a guaranteed way to obtain swift, effective bodily relief.

When properly made, dabs can be a product that’s much easier on the lungs than a typical cannabis flower. When smoking, burnt buds create resin which isn’t great for your lungs. Concentrates tend to destroy most unwanted resins while providing terpenes and other helpful cannabinoids into your body.

Dangers of Dabbing

Now for the bad news. Dabbing is, in fact, more dangerous than normal for the average smoker. To those unfamiliar with dabbing, heating a banger with essentially a flamethrowing lighter may appear dangerously off-putting. Though as tech moves forward, devices like an e-nail are eliminating the use of crazy torches. And trust me, I’ve burned many things (including my actual body) that I most certainly didn’t want or intend to.

Deals on Wax In Denver

The Lodge has two dispensaries locations in downtown Denver.

Current deals on WAX are:

• 8gs of White Moose WAX or SHATTER for $90

• Full Spectrum Diamonds for $15
   

Herbs 4 you is located in the Capitol Hill Area.

Current deals on WAX include:

•  16 carts for $253

Chronic Therapy has a location in Wheat Ridge and Cortez.

Current deals on WAX include: 

• 8 grams of silver tier Wax or Shatter for $120

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I don't even know where to begin with this review. I am that in LOVE with this unit.

This is beyond "so easy a Squirrel can do it". Heck, even a Sloth could handle it just as easily too. The set up, processing and even the clean up is simple, fast and easy to do. No worries about finding the clean-up chore to be such an ordeal that your brain switches to procrastination mode.

Pros:

• Easy to use - Temp and time presets is what I used for all of my tincture batches.
• Clean up takes under 5 minutes.
• Doesn't take up a lot of counter space.
• Lots of color choices.
• A ton of accessories you can buy to make edibles (which I did not purchase, yet)

Cons:

• Leaks a little while infusing and when you release the reservoir to clean.
• Marijuana smell is present, not as bad as it would be with other methods, but you can still smell it.
• Nothing to compress all the oil out of the flower.

Why You NEED This Machine:

I think we can all agree, while smoking herb has a lot of benefits, it also has some health risks too. Especially if you are like me and have COPD. With smoking the relief is instant and strain-specific. This isn't the case with most edibles, tablets or tinctures you buy pre-made.

Frankly when I started thinking about what products I wanted to review, I really had my doubts about tinctures. I had tried tinctures from several of my dispensaries and the results were too unpredictable. So I gave up and switched to dry-herb vaping instead.

Honestly I almost lost hope at doing any edibles at all.

I knew one of the biggest problems with dispensary-purchased tinctures is that they weren't typically strain-specific. For whatever reason most of them tasted absolutely horrible as well. There also seemed to be differences in the amount of time it would take for the effects to kick in per batch, probably due to the non-specific strains used.

With the Levo you are in control of what strains you put in. For me, the only time I might make tinctures that are not strain specific would be when using the stock of kief that I've been carefully saving. Honestly, I'm torn on whether to use my kief this way, totally conflicted. I love combining my flower, concentrate and kief in my DaVinci stainless steel .3g pods when I need extra pain relief. It's my lazy Squirrel "moonrocks" (technically I guess I should call them "moonpods").

After trying strain-specific tinctures I am completely and totally sold on the idea of using tinctures over smoke.

In the last 3 days I have used my vaporizer only once. It was only because I needed immediate relief verses 10-20 minutes of waiting for a tincture to kick in.

In A Nutshell:

The Levo, IMHO is a must have for any cannabis user.  Having strain-specific tinctures is extremely beneficial since different strains treat different problems. Different strains also have different onset times. If a strain is a creeper when smoked, it will most likely be a creeper in a tincture as well.

You can use different oils depending on your taste preference. You can even use butter if you want to bake edibles instead of making just tinctures. Just make sure if you are making tinctures, you don't buy the wrong oil.

I sent my son, Thing 1 out to the store to get coconut oil and he came back with organic raw coconut oil, which was solid. It will turn liquid if stored above 76°. What you need to buy if making tinctures is fractionated coconut oil. I prefer this oil because it doesn't have much taste. Other oils people recommend (but I haven't tried yet) are sunflower and hemp oil.

Personally, I think hemp oil would make it taste more suitable for a goat--but that's just me--while Sunflower would probably add pleasant taste to the tinctures. A nice roasted flavor that might help mask the weed taste.

I would also suggest getting some flavor extracts and play with your tincture taste. Just remember this will change the strength of your tinctures just a tad depending on how much flavoring you add to your mix. Which I add after the infusion process.

Tested Strains:

For this review I made two different tinctures. First I used Chocolatina because that is what our dispensary had in shake. Shake is cheaper than flower and I was afraid that I would honestly screw up my first batch. I also made sure to get a strain I wouldn't weep over screwing up. I am not a sativa lover so the fact the dispensary only had this strain available as shake was fine with me.

This strain is a bit of a creeper for me when I have smoked it in the past. It effected me the same way as a tincture too. Silly Squirrel here decided to take another dose instead of patiently waiting. Needless to say, it was an entertaining evening for all, well for me anyways.

Once I realized this made tinctures Squirrel-proof, I grabbed my beloved Pop Rocks strain and went to work. 3 hours later, liquid gold was ready for consuming.

Tincture Details:

I went ahead and procured some fractionated coconut oil. I also wanted my tinctures to be strong so I adjusted my recipe accordingly. The more oil you use the less THC in your dose.

I like doing batches of 5g. I believe the flower container can hold up to 10g. For 5g of flower I used 1/4 cup of Coconut oil.

First process is to decarb. You do not put your oil in the reservoir yet. This is a 30 minute process with an added 10 minute "preheat."

After you hear the beep, it's time to add the oil and switch to infuse. This is a 2-hour process. Keep a small bowl under the spout in case of oil leakage--which my unit had a little issue with. One 1/2 cup of oil (8 Tbsp) produces just over 6 Tbsp of tincture:

• My Chocolatina at 25% THC produced a Tincture with 630mg of THC (1Tbsp ≈ 104mg)
• 5g of Pop Rocks at 26% THC produced a Tincture with 655mg of THC. (1Tbsp ≈ 108mg)

To figure out your dosage you don't have to be good with math. All you need to do is download a wonderful app from Sugar Leaf Media called THC Calculator. This is available on Android and iPhone. I was honestly debating whether to share this app information or not. I really just wanted ya'll to assume that I am incredibly smart and good with math. But my conscience got the better of me.

Would I Change Anything:

Two things. I would add a weed press to squeeze all the oil out of the flower.

I had a hard time finding the hole to get the flexible reservoir "straw" inserted so the reservoir could snap into place. This though could honestly just be me getting old, IDK?

Let me end in saying this, the last 3 days my stomach has been the happiest, warmest tummy ever. I don't know if it's the combination of the coconut oil and THC that is helping to coat and soothe? But I have not had this level of stomach pain relief ever. 

The Levo Oil Cannabutter Machine, hands down, earns the very rare, very exceptional Wacky Racky seal of approval. 

*Photos used with permission by LEVO. Find more reviews at wackyracky.com

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We sure love our marijuana concentrates. Cannabis concentrates are a huge staple in the marijuana industry. With marijuana consumption increasing around the country, more people are either aware of “dabbing/dabs” or are currently hitting one.

Marijuana concentrates are made using a variety of marijuana extraction methods. 

Solvents such as butane, CO2, and propane are used to extract desired compounds from marijuana flower.

Concentrates come in several different forms, but today, we’re going to look at my favorite kind of concentrate known as Propane Hash Oil (PHO). 

Propane’s interesting chemical make-up gives this kind of hash oil potential for maintaining terpene compounds found in the trichomes. 

Let’s look at PHO a little closer (no, not the Vietnamese soup – although that sounds nice, too)...

Clean Burning Propane: What is Propane Hash Oil?

If we’re anything like Hank Hill, we love our “propane and propane accessories.” 

Marijuana extracted through propane as the main solvent during the extraction process is called Propane Hash Oil or PHO for short. 

PHO is recognizable by its bright yellow color and is often known as “honey.”

It also tends to have a “buddery” consistency. 

PHO is made using only propane as a solvent. 

Propane’s extremely low boiling point, -43.6ºF, allows extraction specialists to separate more of the terpenes during the concentrate extraction. 

It also removes more of the solvent in the end.

PHO is consumed in a variety of ways: oil rigs, pens, or even joints. 

PHO vs. BHO: What is the Difference?

Are you a BHO or PHO kind of person? 

What’s the difference? 

Well…

One big difference between PHO and BHO (Butane Hash Oil) is consistency. 

PHO more often than not will have a buddery consistency (softer) whereas BHO will more likely have a shatter consistency (glasslike, brittle).  

Another difference between the two is the boiling point. Propane has a lower boiling point (43.6º F) than butane (32º F) which means little heat is needed to purge the solvent. 

This temperature difference affects the consistency of the concentrate and makes it much richer in terpenes. 

Propane hash oil is also known for having fewer residual solvents in the concentrate. 

This is a HUGE deal.

PHO Safety

With concentrates, there is always a risk of a gas leak that could spark and cause an explosion. 

PHO extraction tends to be a safer means for companies to operate in a licensed facility. Closed-loop extraction systems ensure propane doesn’t leak. 

How To Smoke PHO

Unlike smoking a bowl, you are going to need a specific set of tools. Tools that will make any wax concentrate cower in fear of you.

The Tools Needed:

• A dab rig - A small, bong-like smoking apparatus 

• Nectar collector - A straw-like smoking device

• Vape Pen - Concentrate vaporizer

When using a Nectar Collector, specifically designed trays/dishes are a must. 

These kinds of products are made out of glass, quartz, or silicone. 

After putting a small dab onto the container, blowtorch the tip of the collector. 

While heated, drag the hot nail across the wax while sucking through the mouthpiece. 

Deals on Concentrates In Denver

The Lodge has two dispensaries locations in downtown Denver.

Current deals on Concentrates are:

• 8gs of White Moose WAX or SHATTER for $90

• Full Spectrum Diamonds for $15

Herbs 4 you is located in the Capitol Hill Area.

Current deals on Concentrates include:

• 500mg High Potency cartridge for $15.82

The Stone has two dispensary locations nearby: Denver and Lakewood. 

Current deals for Concentrates include:

• $11.91 Sesh Cartridge 500mg

• 8 1000mg activated Syringe for $146.16

Rocky Mountain High has 4 locations spread around Denver.

Current deals for Concentrates include:

• 8g White Top concentrates for $99

Trenchtown Cannabis is located off Sheridan Blvd.

Current deals for ounces include:

• $55 Dab party pack: 2 concentrates (wax or shatter) and accessories

Pure Marijuana dispensaries are located throughout the Denver area.

Current deals on Concentrates are:

• BOGO Wednesdays: Any one thing ½ off

• $12.95 Wax & Shatter

• $19 1000mg Syringe 

Chronic Therapy has a location in Wheat Ridge and Cortez.

Current deals on Concentrates include: 

• 8 grams of silver tier Wax or Shatter for $120

RiverRock has a location in downtown Denver.

Current deals on pre-rolls are:

• 8g In-House concentrates for $85

Happy Dabbing!

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