Everything You Need To Know About Cannabis Wax

If you regularly buy marijuana online, you will have noticed most sites have a section for concentrates.  Wax, shatter, live resin, budder, badder, BHO, cannabis e-juice, honey oil, crumble, honeycomb — the variety of names and types of concentrates can be bewildering. 

When North America first started turning on and tuning out in mass quantities in the 1960s, it was all much simpler. Except for the illegality and supply shortages, of course. There was grass and there was hash. On rare occasions there was grass or hash oil that could only be smoked by smearing it on a rolling paper and rolling a pot or, more often, a tobacco-filled joint. Given the limited sources of cannabis at the time, it was rare for someone to have both oil and weed. 

Those Mad Men days where everyone smoked tobacco are long gone, and cannabis concentrates are available in many different forms with many more choices of ways to ingest them. 

Cannabis wax has become one of the popular concentrates on the market today. Here’s some information about what it is and how to enjoy it safely.

Cannabis Wax, Weed Wax, BHO, Honey Oil

Known as cannabis wax, weed wax, Butane Hash Oil (BHO), or honey oil, this powerful concentrate is regularly used recreationally and medicinally. It gets the name BHO from its method of creation: cannabis flower is heated with butane or another solvent to extract the cannabinoids (THC and CBD) and the terpenes. When processed, the concentrate looks a lot like and has a similar gooey consistency with — let's get this over with now — ear wax. If, you know, you were able to collect a large quantity of ear wax and put it in a jar. 

Aesthetics aside, cannabis wax has THC levels that start at about 30% and can reach as high as 90%. Its incredible potency means a little wax goes a very very long way. 

You may have concerns about using a cannabis product that involves butane. The good news is that properly made cannabis wax won’t have any butane residue because butane quickly evaporates when exposed to oxygen. Because of its incredible volatility, however, cannabis wax is not really suitable for DIY production. In other words, don’t try this at home. 

Ethanol, carbon dioxide, freezing, or water are other solvents used to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes from flower to produce cannabis wax. Professionally manufactured wax is always filtered to get rid of the solvents used. 

How to Enjoy Cannabis Wax

Because it's sticky and not all that easy to handle, cannabis wax doesn't easily lend itself to smoking in joints or inhaling via vapes. It is possible, though, and those are definitely the least equipment-intensive consumption methods. 

There are three main ways to enjoy cannabis wax.

Dabbing Cannabis Wax

Despite all the equipment required, dabbing is one of the best ways to ingest cannabis wax. 

You’ll need:

●     A dab rig (a specialized pipe or bong)

●     A dab nail designed for your pipe or bong (they come in different sizes and are made of various materials, including titanium)

●     A dome or glass hood to cover the dab nail. The dome traps the vapour so you can inhale it after it cools down slightly.

●     A crème brulee mini torch, and

●     A dabber, a tool to apply the dab of cannabis wax. Dabbers are available in glass, metal, and ceramic.

Whether you’re an experienced toker or just starting out, remember this is potent stuff. Start with a tiny crumb of cannabis wax. Turn on the torch and heat up the dab nail. When it’s hot, turn the torch off and cover the nail with your dome. Let it cool for 45 seconds or so, use your dabber to apply a tiny bit of cannabis wax to the nail inside the dome, and slowly inhale, hold, and exhale. If this is your first time dabbing, you might want to try this sitting down.

Vaping Cannabis Wax 

If you already vape, you know the drill. You'll have the best results vaping cannabis wax if your vape has titanium coils and either a quartz or ceramic heating chamber. The good news: you're not actually smoking if you use a vape.

If you're investing in a new vape, you might want to look for one advertised for use with both flower and concentrates. That means a vape with temperature controls between 315-450°F or 157-232°C. 

Bowl Topping Cannabis Wax 

While it's the least popular way to do cannabis wax, it's undoubtedly the easiest and requires the least equipment. Add a single crumb of weed wax to a packed bowl or to a joint you're rolling, light it up, and inhale. A dabber would come in handy to avoid touching the wax directly with your fingers and prevent wastage. Remember, this is neither kief nor hash. Usual quantities do not apply.

A Very Little Dab Will Do Ya

Regular cannabis consumers tend to sneer at the advice given with edibles to start with tiny doses of between one and five mg and increase the dose next time. It's advice that may be better suited to cannabis wax consumption. At 90% potency, a single dab can pack a punch that's closer to a haymaker than a jab. 

That potency is a blessing for medical marijuana users looking for fast relief from pain and experienced recreational users who want to take their toking to the next level. But with cannabis wax, less is definitely more, especially if you're smoking it in conjunction with weed that's already high in THC. 

We're not saying,  Don't try this at home. But perhaps your very first dab of weed wax should be a social event with trusted friends who are old hands and already have a dab rig and all the other gear required. One gram of concentrate can contain as much THC as five grams of flower. 

Given the equipment required and the potential for fire and even explosions when making cannabis wax, if you’re curious about concentrates, it’s best to buy your wax from a reputable online site whose products you’ve already tried.