Shatter is a cannabis extract with a hard, glass-like texture that boasts high levels of THC. If you want to buy shatter online in Canada, then here’s all you need to know about this potent concentrate.
What Is Shatter?
Shatter is one of the most potent concentrates available on the market. It often boasts THC levels in excess of ninety percent and can be helpful in aiding patients with existing high tolerances. Shatter is produced by extracting the plant compounds from raw cannabis flower with the use of a solvent coupled with heat and pressure.
Shatter has an attractive translucent appearance and is bright amber or dark yellow in colour. It gets its name from its glass-like texture and the fact that it’s often brittle. The texture of shatter can vary based on the cannabinoid profile, and some forms of shatter may have a more viscous texture with high concentrations of THC.
THC and CBD Content In Shatter
Shatter is most well known for its high THC content, but varieties high in CBD are also widely available. CBD shatter serves the medicinal market by providing therapeutic levels of cannabidiol without any of the psychoactive effects associated with THC use. To enhance the medicinal effects, many producers reinfuse terpenes back into the shatter after the fact.
How Shatter Is Made
The process of making shatter involves specialized equipment and flammable solvents. Shatter production should always be left to the experts due to the very real risk of accidents.
Shatter production involves packing raw cannabis flower into a tube and applying a solvent along with heat and pressure. Butane is the most common solvent, but liquefied petroleum gases (LPG) and ethanol are common alternatives.
The solvents serve to strip the raw cannabis of the cannabinoids. It produces a potent solution that must be purified due to the presence of solvent residues often unsafe for human consumption. In a process known as purging, producers remove the solvent to safe levels. If you buy shatter online in Canada, then it’s extremely important that you only purchase shatter from reputable sources due to the risk that excess solvent residues pose.
Purging a solvent from shatter involves the use of a vacuum oven. By heating the solution in a closed environment and lowering atmospheric pressure, the solvent gradually releases in gas form. Once the solution cools, what remains is a thin sheet that’ll turn an attractive yellow-gold colour rich in a concentrated form of cannabinoids.
How To Consume Shatter
The most common way to consume shatter is by dabbing it. Dabbing involves preheating a “nail” with a butane or propane torch before dropping a small amount of shatter onto it where it instantly vaporizes. Consumers then place a cap over the nail to capture the vapour before inhaling.
Dabbing temperatures commonly range between 120 – 160 degrees Celcius. If you dab at too high a temperature, then you risk destroying some of the beneficial compounds like terpenes. More expensive dabbing rigs often come with a built-in temperature gauge that can offer precision control of temperature that leads to a more tailored consumer experience.
Smoking Shatter
One way to enhance the potency of your flower is to add some shatter to the mix. One option is to roll your shatter into a fine line and place it on top of the flower before rolling a joint. Another method is to roll what’s known as a twax joint. This involves rolling a thin line of shatter around the outside of the joint.
In what is a more simple option, some prefer to add it to a bowl by placing a small piece on top of the flower. Start with small amounts though; shatter is exceptionally potent, and if you’re not quite used to high doses of THC, it may come on surprisingly strong.
Consuming Shatter in Edible Form
It’s also possible to consume shatter in edible recipes, just be sure to decarboxylate the shatter first. Decarboxylation is the process of converting THCA and CBDA to the active forms we know as THC and CBD. Without this step, the shatter won’t produce strong effects when ingested. To decarboxylate shatter, here’s what you’ll need to do:
- Preheat your oven to 90°C.
- Line a baking tray with parchment paper and place the shatter on top.
- Bake it for twenty-five minutes in the oven, keeping an eye out for when it starts to melt and then bubble, at which point the decarboxylation process is complete.
- Once cooled, infuse it with fat and then add it to your edible recipe.
How Shatter Can Benefit Patients
Dabbing shatter provides patients with a potent dose far beyond that of smoked flower. Some forms of shatter contain THC alone; others contain additional plant compounds like minor cannabinoids and terpenes that can serve to enhance both the medicinal properties and flavour.
Shatter is highly effective for patients who need to treat conditions such as chronic pain where they require higher than average doses of THC. Many people start out consuming flower but soon run into issues with a tolerance that slowly builds over time. Where recreational users can refrain from consuming cannabis for a short time to reset tolerance, medicinal patients may not have that luxury. Shatter enables such patients to overcome existing tolerances with higher levels of THC.
How to Store Shatter Effectively
All forms of cannabis tend to degrade over time. To slow down the process, it’s essential to minimize exposure to light, heat, and humidity. The best way to store shatter is to wrap it in parchment paper and place it in an airtight mason jar in a dark, cool cupboard.
Buy Shatter Online in Canada
Shatter is one of the most potent cannabis concentrates available and offers patients an easy to administer form of marijuana to treat a host of conditions as well as overcome existing tolerances. If you want to buy shatter online in Canada, then at Low Price Bud, we’ve got your needs covered. We stock a wide range of cannabis concentrates that include several forms of shatter. Head on over and check out our selection produced from a variety of strains with differing effects sure to meet your particular needs.