Shatter

One of the most common cannabis concentrates, shatter is one of the first to make its appearance on the legal market. In this chapter of our Concentrates Guide, we cover what this product is, how to consume it, and so on.

What Is Shatter?

Shatter is a potent cannabis concentrate that is made with an extraction machine using a solvent such as butane. Shatter gets its name from its brittle texture, and because it is almost glass-like and can break and snap easily.

Shatter is usually a bright yellow translucent substance that resembles dried honey. This also makes shatter a highly photogenic substance, which is why you’ll see images of it appear in many social media feeds.

While its cannabinoid content is usually high, shatter doesn’t translate cannabis terpenes all that well. Shatter is just one form of concentrates, which also includes live resin, wax, cannabis oil, and so on. Depending on the original plant, shatter can be either Sativa or Indica. Concentrates like shatter have gained in popularity due to their high THC content, often reaching up to 80%.

How Is Shatter Made?

Like other cannabis concentrates, shatter is made using an extraction machine and a chemical solvent, usually butane or CO2. Cannabis plant matter is loaded into a column or a tube inside of a closed-loop extraction machine. From there, the chilled solvent is passed through the plant matter, stripping it of its essential compounds like cannabinoids and terpenes.

Once this process is complete, the pre-shatter mixture is removed from the machine and heated to remove as much residual solvent as possible. After the mixture is heated, it is allowed to cool on metal sheets. As soon as this mixture is cool enough to settle, a layer of shatter appears and is ready to be scraped off of the sheets and put in containers for purchase.

As previously mentioned in our Concentrates Guide, making these cannabis products requires intense heat and highly flammable materials. Because of this, we strongly recommend against anyone trying to make their own concentrates at home. It’s best to leave this to extraction lab professionals who have been properly trained to handle and dispose of these hazardous materials.

In some legal states, there is a requirement that concentrates like shatter undergo third-party lab testing. Concentrates like shatter should be tested for pesticides, heavy metals, and residual solvents. These tests should also involve screening the concentrate for potency and cannabinoid and terpene content.

How is Shatter Consumed?

Similar to wax, cannabis shatter is consumed either by using a device called a dab rig or in vaporizers, also called a dab pen. Great brands make high-quality vaporizers and dab pens for consuming concentrates, like Dr. Dabber, Puffco, and Grenco Science. Concentrates like shatter require higher temperatures to consume than flower does.

Many consumers add their shatter to pipes, bongs, and joints with flower. This method will combust both the flower and the concentrate. However, vaporizing cannabis concentrates is the best way to get the maximum benefit from all of the essential compounds these products offer.

Benefits Of Shatter

As we discussed in our other chapters in our Concentrates Guide, one of the main benefits of consuming these products is that you can consume less than that of flower or edibles to achieve the same effect. Not only is this better for your wallet than smoking more flower, but it can also be better for your body as well.

Since shatter is typically between 50% to 80% THC, you can achieve the same medicated effect from one inhale of this concentrate as you can from several inhales of flower. As such, dabbing or vaping shatter tends to lead to effects that are felt faster than flower and much faster than edibles. These effects may be a bit too intense for occasional consumers, but medical patients can benefit from concentrates thanks to their ability to help relieve ailments like chronic pain.

However, the start-up costs for consuming concentrates are higher than smoking flower. With flower, you can purchase a pack of rolling papers for a few dollars and roll your own. With concentrates, the products themselves cost more than that flower, and the devices like dab rigs and vape pens can cost hundreds of dollars.

What We Learned: Shatter

Shatter is yet another popular cannabis concentrate that new consumers should learn about. Here’s what we learned in our Shatter chapter:

• Shatter is a potent cannabis concentrate that is made with an extraction machine using a solvent such as butane.
• Shatter gets its name from its brittle texture, and because it is almost glass-like and can break and snap easily.
• Shatter can reach up to 80% THC, so its effects are felt faster and more intense than its flower counterpart.
• Concentrates like shatter require higher temperatures to consume than flower does.
• Shatter should be properly tested by a third party for substances like heavy metals and residual solvents.
• One of the main benefits of consuming cannabis concentrate products is that you can consume less than flower to achieve the same effect.
• Similar to wax, cannabis shatter is consumed either by using a device called a dab rig or in vaporizers, also called a dab pen.
• Great brands make high-quality vaporizers and dab pens for consuming concentrates, like Dr. Dabber, Puffco, and Grenco Science.

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