What is a THC Distillate?

With the legalization of cannabis, the race is on to create a product that will give you the most intense and cleanest high possible. There are many different types of cannabis extracts and concentrates on the market, ranging from tinctures, to shatter, and other dabs. But if you’re looking for something that is pure THC without contaminants, not even other cannabinoids, you should consider THC distillate.

What is a THC Distillate?

A THC distillate is a concentrated form of cannabis that is the end result of the distillation process. Distillation works by taking advantage of the fact that various chemical compounds will evaporate and condense at different temperatures, allowing you to precisely extract one particular compound from hundreds of thousands of other chemicals. This results in the purest, highest quality THC extract possible.

A huge advantage of THC distillates is that you can create any sort of cannabinoid and terpene profile you want. Since each of these compounds can be individually separated, you can combine them into thousands of individualized concentrates. This way you can take advantage of the synergistic effect of cannabinoids and flavonoids for medical use, or you can just have purified THC for recreational use.

The possibilities are endless, if you’re a chemist, that is.

Benefits of a THC Distillate

Instant Effect

Depending on how you ingest THC distillate, it can start working almost immediately. Since there’s no additional plant matter to digest, your body can process the THC much faster and you can reap the medicinal and recreational benefits almost instantly.

Contains no Harmful Solvents

One of the biggest dangers of smoking and vaping is that you’re inhaling a large number of contaminants that can be harmful to your health. Even cannabis concentrates, such as shatter and waxes, will contain trace amounts of butane from the extraction process, which can be dangerous to your health.

THC distillate is 100% pure with no additional contaminants or solvents. Not only is this healthier, but it also results in a much cleaner vapour that doesn’t have the harsh quality found in normal cannabis smoke.

Convenient and Easy to Use

Since THC distillate doesn’t contain any contaminant or even any of the terpenes that give cannabis its characteristic smell and taste, it’s incredibly versatile and easy to use. It’s a great way for medical marijuana patients to ingest their medicinal dose without having to smoke tons of weed per day and offers a lot more discretion than other cannabis options.

Mix and Match

The distillation process allows you to completely isolate one compound out of the hundreds of thousands of compounds in a raw extract. This means that you can individually isolate THC, CBD, and the various terpenes and flavonoids found in cannabis. That’s how you’re able to get a product that’s almost 100% pure THC and is both odourless and flavourless.

Since a lot of cannabis’ medical benefits come from a huge range of compounds, using 100% purified THC isn’t beneficial for medical use. It’s been established that the main cannabinoid responsible for pain management is CBD and that its effect is amplified by the presence of other cannabis compounds.

Luckily, since the distillation process can extract and purify all the compounds found in cannabis, you have access to a wide range of medicinal chemicals. So if you’re trying to produce a medical distillate, you can mix all these other cannabis compounds back in. That allows you to produce a THC distillate that is more potent than simply smoking a joint and can provide a whole host of medical benefits almost instantly.

Ways to Consume a THC Distillate

What makes distillates so appealing is that they are hugely versatile in how they can be used. Since the THC is already activated during the distillation process, you don’t need to heat it up to achieve the full effect. Let’s take a look at the various ways in which you can consume THC distillate.

Dabs

Dabbing is becoming increasingly popular as people start getting used to the idea of cannabis concentrates. Dabs are usually vaporized on a hot surface and the resulting vapour is then inhaled through a dabbing rig.

In a Joint

If you just want a bit of an extra kick, you can sprinkle a tiny bit of THC distillate on your rolling paper. This can save you on a flower as you’ll get most of your THC from the distillate, but it will still give you that visceral pot smoking happiness. And, since THC distillates usually come in oil form, you’ll find that your joint burns cleaner and lasts longer.

Sublingually

By placing a drop of THC distillate under your tongue, you manage to bypass your entire digestive system and deliver a hit of THC directly to your brain. It’s a great way to use THC discreetly, and since you use a dropper to apply the distillate, you can control and fine-tune the amount of distillate you use.

Vaping

Vaping is hugely popular as more people start moving away from traditional smoking. You can take advantage of all the various vape pens that are on the market and simply fill your vape tank with THC distillate. Try and get a distillate that has some terpenes added back in, so that you can enjoy the subtle nuances of cannabis flavour.

Edibles

Edibles are incredibly popular, and you can unleash your inner chef with THC distillate. Unlike using weed when cooking, THC distillate doesn’t need to be activated and doesn’t need to infuse into any oils. This makes it much easier and reliable to use. Especially so because it doesn’t need to be heated and you can use it in cold foods as well.

An added bonus is that you can control the taste of the distillate, depending on the effect you want to achieve. By default, THC distillate can be completely flavourless, or it can contain extra terpenes for a bit of earthy flavour. This gives you an extra bit of flexibility when it comes to spicing up your cooking with some cannabis goodness.

How do you Make THC Distillate?

Simply put, to make THC distillate, you must distill the cannabis extract. The distillation process relies on the fact that different chemicals will evaporate and condense at different temperate. So, by carefully controlling the temperature of the cannabis extract, you can boil off and then later collect every single compound individually. This produces an incredibly pure distillate of only one particular compound.

The important thing to keep in mind about THC distillate is that it won’t contain any other compounds or solvents. All the other compounds in cannabis, such as the terpenes, flavonoids and even other cannabinoids will have different boiling temperatures and during the distillation. You can gather and purify them separately or collect and mix them back together. This means that the compounds can be separated from any solvents from the extraction process.

THC Distillation Method

The actual method of THC distillation is a bit more complex. First, the various cannabis compounds need to go through extraction. This removes them from the plant and is done by crushing cannabis buds and soaking them in a solvent. The solvent is any chemical that can bind to cannabis compounds. This allows everything else to go through a filtering process. Common solvents include butane and supercritical CO₂.

The solvent is then boiled off to produce a relatively pure cannabis extract. The extract will contain most of the terpenes, cannabinoids, and flavonoids found in cannabis. But, even the most highly purified concentrates will still contain trace amounts of solvent. The downside is that may be harmful to your health.

What the distillation process does

The distillation process will take this concentrate and essentially split it up into all its component parts. So you’ll have each terpene, each cannabinoid and each flavonoid in its own container, ready for use. This also allows the little bit of solvent to be completely separate, resulting in products that are 100% pure.

While people have historically made distillates in their backyard or even in their bathroom, distilling cannabis is a complex process that you shouldn’t try at home. If you’re an expert chemist, you may be able to rig up a still that works. But otherwise you’ll have to spend a lot of money in order to buy all the equipment you need. The process of creating a THC distillate is fascinating. However, it’s something you really shouldn’t try at home.

Where Can you Buy a THC Distillate?

It’s almost impossible to make your own THC distillates at home. So your best option is to find an online dispensary that sells THC distillates.

Cannabismo is one of Canada’s largest and most popular online cannabis dispensaries. We’re popular for a reason. Not only do we have high-quality THC distillates, but we also have plenty of other products as well.

We place our customers first and take their satisfaction very seriously. So if you have any questions, or just want some advice on anything cannabis, don’t hesitate to get in touch with us.