Different Types of Wax Dabs - Beginners Guide

Different Types of Wax - A Complete Beginners Guide

Shatter - Glass-Like, Very Brittle - Butane - Cured Flower or Trim

Shatter has a glass like appearance, its amber in color and its super brittle. Some say that it's easier to handle than stickier concentrates because you are able to break off pieces sized to your perfect dab. With its more solid consistency, this type of wax is easier to cut though using a hot knife / heated dab tool making it much easier to maneuver. Shatter is stable at room temp and doesn't lose its effectiveness as quickly as other concentrates when it's stored properly!

There are a few downsides to using shatter. When using a standard dab tool instead of a heated dab tool you might end up with a bunch of tiny pieces of shatter instead of the dab size you were originally looking for. Especially trying to scoop out a dab from a silicone jar, shatter can snap in multiple places and even fly out of its container! Yikes!

Most dabbers prefer to store their shatter inside the freezer for easier handling. However, when cold concentrates are placed inside a banger that's heated to 500+ degrees, you might experience something called thermal shock. The temperature difference between the two can cause your quartz to crack and even shatter (no pun intended). It's best to allow your concentrates to warm up closer to room temperature before attempting to use them!

Colder concentrates hitting a hot nail or banger can cause quite a bit of splashing, which ultimately results in waste or excess reclaim. This type of concentrate is made with solvents as well, some people prefer options like rosin that is made with heat and pressure instead of butane!

Wax - Soft, Semi-Clear, Easy To Manipulate - Butane or Propane - Cured Flower or Trim

Wax is a softer type of concentrate, it is easier to manipulate and it has almost a gel-like consistency. Its semi clear usually also amber in color. Wax is pretty easy to handle making it easy to size your dabs, however it is a lot sticker than shatter. It can and will get stuck to things like dab tools, your fingers, tabletops, clothes, and more. Since it's thicker and more viscous, wax can be stored and scooped out of a dab jar without fumbling your concentrate.

As mentioned before, its sticky composition requires a higher dab temperature to be fully vaporized off of your dab tool. Unlike other concentrates like shatter or diamonds which can sometimes fall off your dab tool, wax tends to be a little harder to get rid of completely.

Wax is super versatile and can be used in many different applications, you can use it inside of a vape, an electric dabbing device, you can spread it over flower and more. Like shatter this type of concentrate is made using solvents like butane or propane.

Budder - Whipped and Creamy - Butane or Propane - Cured Flower

Budder is like wax; it just has a more creamy whipped kind of consistency. It's still as sticky yet malleable as wax is with a richer texture. Budder tends to be the more flavorful option out of all the different types of concentrates because of its higher terpene content. It's easy to handle when it's at room temperature, however in warmer climates it may start to melt and have more of a liquidy consistency making it a lot harder to dose your dab or even scoop it with a dab tool. Like wax, budder needs a higher temperature to fully vaporize, sometimes leading to excess residue and more clean up.

This type of concentrate is great for experts and beginners, it's easy to use it in many different dabbing methods. It's creamy and easy to spread making it a perfect pairing with flower if you're looking for an extra boosted high! Budder is also made with solvents such as butane or propane.

Crumble - Dry, Dough-Like or Honeycomb-Like - Butane - Cured Flower or Trim

Crumble has a very dry dough look, it can also have a bit of a honeycomb pattern to it! This very distinct appearance is hard to miss and its name goes perfectly with its consistency, crumbly. Crumble will get darker over time so it's easy to spot when this type of concentrate is older, when it is first made it should have a nice yellow color to it!

Known for its dry powdery texture, crumble is easy to break apart and dab with. Dosing should be relatively easy but scooping it up with a dab tool can sometimes be a problem since it tends to break. This is a more dry type of wax similar to shatter, so it'll produce less residue and less waste when using it for dabbing. Crumble is made with solvents like butane or propane, it can also be made with co2 which will produce a more wet sugary consistency.

You can use crumble in a variety of different dabbing devices, however it's a little harder to manage when using something like a nectar collector. The powdery kind of texture is not the best match when you are attempting to edge a dab nail and it might be harder to handle when it's crushed up into tiny little pieces much like shatter.

Sauce - Runny Terp Rich Liquid - Butane and Propane Blend - Fresh Frozen Whole Plant

Sauce is a runny type of liquid concentrate that is filled with terpenes, often called terp sauce for this reason. It's sticky yet smooth, similar to the consistency of maple syrup. Sauce is the most similar to distillate however it has terpene and flavors while distillate on the other hand is stripped of terps and is flavorless.

This type of concentrate is somewhat easy to dab with, you need to be mindful of the temperature in the room. When you're dabbing in a place with a hotter climate, terp sauce can become quite watery as it melts. The watery type of consistency might be harder to handle, especially with a dab tool.

Its heightened terpene content makes it a perfect match to low temperature dabs so that you can get the full aromatic flavors and effects. You often see sauce as an added terpene rich boost to diamonds. Sauce is made with solvents, actually a mixture of both butane and propane which have a low boiling point allowing this liquid to stay terpene rich even through the extraction process.

Diamonds - Crystalline THCa Structures in Sauce - Butane and Propane - Fresh Frozen Whole Plant

Diamonds are crystal like structures they look like semi clear glass shards, sometimes its appearance might be closer to white but oftentimes it has a slight yellowish hue. People prefer diamonds because of their high potency. As mentioned before, you often see diamonds and sauce paired together for a terpene rich yet super potent dabbing experience.

Dabbing diamonds is pretty straight forward and simple since the crystals are already separate from each other. Dosing your dab should be a breeze. This type of concentrate is better utilized with a quartz banger or dab nail setup, electric dab rig, or portable enail instead of a nectar collector and electric nectar collector devices.

Diamonds are made with a mixture of butane and propane just like sauce, it’s actually a by-product of sauce harvested through a process called diamond mining. Mining involves the use of heat and pressure which results in the crystal structures, almost like real diamonds!

This type of concentrate on its own is shelf stable because of its dry texture, unless it is paired with sauce. Then you might want to be mindful of heat and hotter room temps to avoid a melted mess.

Distillate - Clear Thick Liquid - Ethanol or CO2 - Fresh Frozen or Cured then Refined

Distillate is a super thick liquid found in weed cartridges / weed pens. If you have ever puffed on a disposable, you most likely were smoking distillate. This sticky thick liquid is perfect for pens and similar devices, as it is heated up it starts to get runny making it easier to vaporize on a cart or vape pen coil.

You can find distillate packaged up in a syringe, making it super easy to dose your dabs. This type of concentrate is also very versatile, you can dab it, you can eat it, you can put it on your flower and more! The choice is yours!

Distillate is made using solvents like ethanol or CO2, distillation separates THC from all the other compounds through heat. While other concentrates have terpenes and other cannabinoids, distillate is completely stripped of everything making it flavorless and more potent!

RSO - Thick and Dark Medicinal Oil - Ethanol - Cured Whole Plant

RSO also known as rick simpson oil is a very thick and dark oil often found in syringes and used for medicinal purposes. This concentrate is considered to be a full spectrum concentrate that contains all compounds including thc, cannabinoids, terpenes, and proteins.

Since RSO is mostly for medicinal purposes, it is used sublingually, meaning under the tongue or it can be applied onto your skin to treat a specific area. There are also RSO gummies, edibles, and if you prefer a flavorless option there are capsules. It is very easy to dose your dab with this type of concentrate, because of its medicinal properties RSO usually comes pre packaged with dosing instructions. You are less likely to find RSO within the grey or black market sales of concentrates!

Rick Simpson Oil is made using solvents, particularly ethanol. The entire plant is placed inside the solvent then the solvent is evaporated leaving behind this super potent oil with tons of uses and potential benefits!

Rosin - Vary in Color Thick - Heat and Pressure - Cured or Fresh Frozen Hash or Flower

Rosin can vary in color, it can be green, brown, gold, and even almost white. Its consistency can also vary with more of an sticky oily texture ranging to a more waxy budder like texture. The secret to rosin is its extraction process. Rosin is made by using pressure and heat through something called a rosin press. There are no solvents used like other types of concentrates, rosin is completely free of butane, propane, ethanol, or CO2.

Resin - Cured or Fresh Frozen Flower or Trim

Live Resin is made through an extraction process where the plant is frozen right when its harvested to preserve all the beneficial compounds and terpenes. After it has been completely frozen, every part of the plant is crushed and then solvents like butane or CO2 are added in to extract the desirable compounds. The solvent is then removed and the live resin is ready for consumption from there!