All About Shatter: Exploring the Glass-Like Concentrate

Cannabis legalization has expanded our use and knowledge of the plant over the last few decades. For many people, cannabis used to be about smoking doobies, bowls, or bongs. These days there are many different methods of consuming cannabis, one being cannabis concentrates.

When smoking herbal cannabis, a person is consuming cannabis with an average THC level between 14 and 24%. When it comes to cannabis concentrates, the THC level increases to 50-70% on average, with some varieties having a THC level In the 90 percentile range. These concentrates can be used in making foods, beverages, topicals, and other products such as cannabis inhalers, pain patches, capsules, and more.

The most popular way to consume cannabis concentrates, though, is by inhalation. Concentrates are vaped using electronic vaping devices, dab rigs, and nectar collectors. A small amount of concentrates can be consumed, producing potent effects. When it comes to the world of cannabis concentrates, you have options. In this article, we’re going to explore shatter.

What Is Shatter?

Shatter is a variety of cannabis that has a hard glass-like appearance and texture. This variety of cannabis concentrate is very high in THC compared to other cannabis extractions, such as crumble, budder, or badder. Shatter commonly has a Swiss cheese-like appearance. Some varieties of shatter have a bit of elasticity to them. This type of shatter is commonly referred to as snap and pull. Shatter like this can be twisted around joints or blunts. This is usually referred to as twaxing.

How Popular Is Shatter?

Shatter is one of the OGs of cannabis concentrates. Many people will remember firing up a burner and getting a butter knife hot to get their dab on. That was called hot knifing. Shatter is still very popular, but its popularity has declined over the recent years.

The reason for this is that a wild world of other varieties of cannabis concentrates has surfaced. While shatter offers very high THC levels, it is often times lacking in the flavor department because terpenes are destroyed during the extraction process. For people looking for a more flavorful cannabis concentrate, there are better options than shatter.

A lot of people enjoy shatter because of its potency. The high THC level present in shatter makes it very efficient at helping control symptoms of stress, depression, anxiety, chronic pain, and more. Because of the extremely high levels of THC, shatter is very fast and effective when it comes to working.

How Much Does Shatter Cost?

The price point of shatter depends on a few different factors. You can find shatter from as cheap as $5 a gram or upwards of $60 a gram or more. The price of shatter depends on the quality of the product. It was made from, and where it is being purchased. The thing about shatter is you can make it using everything from trim to top shelf buds and everything in between. A good gram of shatter these days will set you back somewhere in the neighborhood of around 20 to $40 on average.

How Not to Make Shatter

Making shatter should be left to the professionals. A lot of people are tempted to make shatter at home. The process is commonly called blasting. The problem with this is that too many people are irresponsible and end up hurting themselves or others. There have been several stories in the media over the last few years about houses blowing up because of people trying to perform cannabis extractions in them.

The process of making cannabis extractions releases volatile fumes into the air. These fumes have caused many explosions and also can cause potential health problems. Making shatter at home runs the risk of leaving behind potentially harmful residuals from the extraction process. These residuals can cause headaches, and breathing issues, not to mention lead to long-term lung damage. Shatter, like other forms of cannabis extraction, should be made in a controlled environment with the proper equipment and the right training.

How Is Shatter Made?

There are various methods for making shatter. In the most basic of terms, the extraction process to create shatter involves taking plant material such as trim or buds and extracting the cannabinoids from it using a solvent such as butane, propane, or others. There is also solventless shatter which is made using CO2.

Once the cannabinoids have been extracted from the cannabis material, the liquid is cooked off. This results in a sticky residue that will eventually become shatter. Before it can become shatter, though, it must be put through a purge process inside of a temperature-controlled vacuum chamber. After a certain amount of time in the vacuum chamber, the product will be free from any potentially dangerous residuals.

Are There Different Types of Shatter?

Shatter will have a different flavor profile depending on the type of material used. Nug run shatter tends to have the best flavor of all shatters. Obviously, buds, in most cases, will result in an extract that tastes better than if made from the trim. The color of cannabis concentrates used to help tell a little bit about the quality. Though that wasn’t always the case, as sometimes darker concentrates were absolute fire.

Extraction techniques and methodologies are continually evolving. Hydrocarbon extraction is one type of technique that produces very flavorful shatter by reintroducing cannabis terpenes at the right stage. CRC, or color remediation clarification, is a process that has recently surfaced with concentrates. It’s supposed to remove impurities leaving behind a clean, beautifully colored concentrate. The unfortunate side of this is that people can run floor trim and make it look good. Generally, the cheaper the shatter, the cheaper the quality as it is with many things. Good shatter, however, is some pretty amazing stuff. If you think you like the sound of shatter, you should check out THC diamonds!