Often called solventless shatter, cannabis rosin is potent, flavourful, versatile, and perhaps the purest of all the cannabis concentrates.
Discovered quite by accident (as so many great things are) back in 2015 by Californian cannabis aficionado Phil “Soilgrown” Salazar, rosin has quickly gathered a reputation as being not only a rich, delicious concentrate, but also being the easiest to make.
Let's see what makes this squishy treat so desirable...
What Is Rosin?
Squeezed cannabis flower. That's technically what rosin is. The extraction method is to literally squish the goop right out of the buds. Think about it, whenever we drink orange juice or use use olive oil, we are enjoying a product that was creating by squeezing until we end up with a orange/golden delicious ending.
In this case, the orange/gold partially translucent material that is given to us by this process retains a huge amount of the flavourful and beneficial terpenes & cannabinoids from the cannabis resulting in (typically) a very pure, very potent, full-spectrum concentrate.
This resinous sap is thick, goopy, and quite sticky. If then stretched and pulled for a while, you end up with a rosin taffie which stretches and snaps like old-school taffy. Rosin can also be further refined into budder or wax.
Considering its versatility, its purity, and its simplicity, it's easy to see why rosin has created such a splash in such a short amount of time. Rivalling the most premium of concentrates created with dangerous solvents in terms of flavour and potency, rosin is quickly becoming the best concentrate option for many cannabis users.
How Rosin Is Made
So, back to Phil Salazar. An avid cannabis experimenter, Phil decided one day to try squeezing some hash in an attempt to make a full-melt dab. Noticing that oil was leaking out from the press (a hair straightener) from accidentally applying too much pressure and heat, he simply mixed it back in with the hash and thought little of it.
After a few more times of this, Phil had a great idea. What if he was to apply more pressure and heat, and create more of that oily substance he had seen? In this moment, hash rosin was born. With some more experimentation, he soon discovered that pressing fresh flower yielded the same results, and this time it was even more flavourful and effective than the hash. Phil soon shared his creation with the world and rosin popularity exploded.
Still basically made in the same way, large scale rosin presses now take the place of the hair straightener, but the process and the resulting sticky deliciousness is the same:
1. Lay out your bud with a piece of parchment paper on either side. You can also first wrap your bud in a micron screen filter (or tea bag) for super pure rosin!
2. Apply your heat and pressure. Aim for 280-330°c and squeeze for 3-8 seconds. Yes, it's actually that quick. You'll know it's ready when you hear the sizzle of the resin escaping and hitting the heat.
3. Remove the plant matter. This is way easier if you use the filter method when squeezing.
From there, you can fold, stretch, spread, or whip your rosin in to your desired final product like taffie, budder, wax, or enjoy straight up.
How To Use Rosin
Like most concentrates, dabbing is the best way to consume your concentrates. A simple dab rig setup, like shown below, works a lot like a bong and is a quick and easy smoking setup.
Dab rigs use a high temperature resistant nail instead of the normal bong bowl in to which you would put your flower. Want to know more about how to dab? Check out this short (2:27) video.
Rosin is a bit more versatile than other concentrates and many prefer to add their rosin to a bowl, or even to the inside (and/or outside) of a joint resulting in super-powerful smokeables!
These creations are great for those who want to become a puddle for a few hours. Handle with care, especially if you are not too experienced.
Rosin is also a great go-to for edible lovers. As it is already decarbed, you can mix some rosin directly in your creations, infuse it in to oil or butter, or even just add it to your morning tea or coffee.
Good Buds Mango Taffie Rosin is available (most times), as are dab rigs & tools, at Good Roots Cannabis, your favourite little pot shop in Sherwood Park.
Check out more on our series here:
Happy Tokin'
The Good Roots Gang