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Dab Vocab: The Leaf’s Concentrates Glossary

Concentrates are clarified and extracts explained in the Leaf’s handy, heady glossary.

Illustration by Matt Jackson

Forms of Concentrates

Fresh Frozen
The process of freezing Cannabis plant material right after harvesting it, typically with dry ice, to preserve trichomes for concentrate extraction. 

Ice Water Hash
Made when trichomes are separated from fresh frozen plant material using nothing but ice, water and filter bags. Also referred to as bubble hash, it is usually dabbed but can also be mixed with flower and smoked.

Full Melt 
The highest grade of ice water hash, usually rated at five or six stars. Fully melts and leaves very little to no residue or char on the banger.

Star System 
What stars are we talking about here, you say? Ice water hash is rated on a scale of one to six stars based on quality and meltability, with one being the lowest quality and six being the highest. 

Flag of Hash 
Pressing out water hash using parchment paper into a flag shape in order to dab it off a nail.

Traditional Hashish 
Produced for centuries in countries such as Morocco, Afghanistan, Nepal and India, traditional hashish is made by either separating the trichomes from a live plant with one’s hands (charas) or by agitating dried, cured plant material over a screen (dry-sift), then compressing the collected resin to form a solid brick or ball of concentrate that is typically brown in color.

Piattella 
Six star bubble hash that’s been washed and cured using a unique process that preserves resin. It has a consistency similar to soft fudge and can be cut with a knife. 

Live Rosin 
Solventless hash oil made by using water and ice to agitate the trichomes off of the fresh frozen plant material, which is then placed into a rosin press that uses heat and pressure to extract the rosin.

Squishing 
Also called “pressing,” this is the process of using a rosin press to apply heat and pressure in order to “squish” live rosin out of the plant material. 

Fresh Press 
Rosin that goes directly from the parchment paper it was pressed onto and into the jar. Tends to have a glassy, stretchy consistency like taffy.

Cold Cure 
Fresh-pressed rosin that has been stored in a jar, cured at low temperatures, and agitated until it has more of a batter-like consistency.

Full Spectrum Extracts 
Includes all compounds of the Cannabis plant such as cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids, rather than isolating just one specific compound.

Wax 
An umbrella term used to describe concentrates that appear soft and waxy in appearance.  Typically extracted using butane or hydrocarbon solvents, and comes in a variety of forms referred to as butter/badder, honeycomb, crumble, sugar and more.

BHO 
Butane Hash Oil, or a form of concentrates extracted using butane, and available in various consistencies. Excess butane is purged using a vacuum oven.

Distillate  
An extract made with a distillation process that separates all materials and compounds from one specific cannabinoid, often THC. Can be used to dab or vaporize, but is most often found in edibles, topicals, vape cartridges and other products.

Diamonds 
Cannabinoids which have been purified and isolated to form crystalline solids that look like diamonds. 

FECO
Full Extract Cannabis Oil. A dark, tar-like extract made by soaking plant matter in a solvent – typically grain alcohol. Often used for severe pain relief. Sometimes referred to as Phoenix Tears or Rick Simpson Oil (RSO), after the Canadian engineer and Cannabis advocate who helped popularize its medical use to treat tumors and other cancers.

Shatter 
Named for its glass-like consistency that tends to crack or shatter when broken, typically gold or amber in color. 

Hash Hole 
Also referred to as a “donut,” hash holes are rolled with a snake of hash rosin surrounded by flower. As the flower and rosin burn together it creates a perfect ring of hash resembling a donut, with bubbling rosin in the hole.

Jam 
Bubble hash that has been pressed and heated until the microcrystals of THCa separate from the terps in the rosin, creating a jam-like consistency with small chunks of crystals.

Producing Concentrates

Extraction 
The process of removing the resin from fresh frozen plant material to make a concentrate.

Solvent 
Extraction methods can use solvents, such as butane or CO2, to create products like BHO or CO2 extracts.

Solventless 
Extraction methods not dependent on solvents can use techniques involving ice and water, or heat and pressure, to remove oils. This is used to create products like rosin or traditional hashish.

Resin 
A sticky substance found in trichomes that can be collected or extracted from the plant to make various forms of concentrates.

Micron Screen 
A series of mesh screens that allow trichomes to fall through to each successive screen while producing hash.

Micron Grade 
Refers to the fineness of a micron screen. Common micron screens for making hash are 73, 90 and 140 microns. The higher the number, the finer the mesh.

Smoking Concentrates

Dab Rig 
A water pipe that is used to inhale Cannabis concentrates.

eRig 
A device that electronically heats a nail for dabbing rather than using a torch. Learn more about Focus V, one of the innovators in eRig technology, in this month’s issue or at LeafMagazines.com

Nail 
An attachment that connects to the downstem of a rig, like a bowl in a bong, to hold and heat up the concentrate.

Banger 
A bucket-shaped attachment on a rig to dab concentrates off of, made in a variety of materials, sizes and designs.

Quartz 
A common material used to make bangers that can withstand high temperatures for longer periods of time, making it the most common and ideal material for taking dabs off of.

Terp Slurper 
A style of quartz banger with a dish attached to the bottom, invented by glass legend JP Toro. When a concentrate is heated up and melts, holes in the bottom of the banger allow oil to seep out into the dish, enhancing flavor and minimizing waste.

Carb Cap 
A device that seals around the banger to help regulate the amount and direction of air going to the nail on a dab rig.

Dabber 
A tool that is used to scoop up dabs and place them on a banger.

Dab Mat 
A mat made of non-stick material that is placed underneath a rig when dabbing to protect the glass and keep it in place.

Terp Pearl 
Small balls that spin around the bottom of the banger while dabbing to distribute the concentrate and heat evenly.

Torch 
A device filled with butane that is used to heat the nail of a dab rig to high temperatures.

Iso 
Referred to simply as “iso,” isopropyl alcohol is great for getting sticky resin off surfaces and is used to disinfect and clean dab tools and rigs between uses.

Fun Terms

Head Stash 
Your personal, private reserve stash of those extra special or rare terps you don’t want to share. “My roommate better not have smoked that jar from my head stash while I wasn’t home.”

Headie 
A piece of glass you’re proud to pull up to the sesh with. “Hey man, can I take a dab of this fire off your new headie?”

Glob 
A dab of epic-sized proportions. “I need a giant glob after the day I’ve had.” 

710 
The dab version of 420. And if you haven’t gotten it yet, “710” spells “OIL” upside down and backwards. “What event are we pulling up to for 7/10 this year?”

Wook 
A hippie who likes to take a lot of dabs and hang out at music festivals to see jam bands. “Wow, there sure were a lot of wooks on lot at the Grateful Dead show last night.”

This article was originally published in the July 2023 issue of All Magazines.

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