Cannabis concentrates are a popular product on the market, and with good reason. While these products come from cannabis plants, they’re substantially more potent than the buds themselves. There are various options available, including hash oil and hashish. At first glance, you might think these two concentrates were the same. Here, we’ll dive into the difference between a hash oil vape and raw hashish to help you determine which one might be right for you.

What Are Concentrates?

Concentrates are exactly as the name suggests. They’re concentrated cannabis products. The process of making them involves extracting and concentrating the beneficial compounds within the plant, in particular, cannabinoids. The resulting products are substantially more potent than the original flowers from whence they came. Where the most potent flowers don’t typically reach much more than 30% THC, some of the most potent concentrates can be as potent as 90% or more THC.

Hash Oil Vapes

Hash oil is the extracted oil from the cannabis plant. It goes by many names, including wax, BHO, dabs, and several others. No matter what the name, the process of making hash oil involves the use of a solvent. Two of the most common solvents are butane and supercritical CO2. Butane is the most affordable solvent, but it can lead to unsafe products if the extractors don’t evaporate it all out from the final product. CO2 costs a bit more, but it’s significantly safer.

One of the most common ways to use hash oil is as a hash oil vape. Generally, vape pens take liquid hash oil, but you can also find other concentrate vaporizers on the market. Inhaling the vapor provides fast-acting results without the harmful side effects that come with smoking joints.

Raw Hashish

Raw hashish, often called hashish (or just hash), is a solventless concentrate. What this means is the product doesn’t require the use of a solvent to pull cannabinoids and other compounds from the plant material. Instead, the process involves removing the trichomes from the plant matter and collecting them. Makers then press the trichomes into blocks or bricks. The end product ranges in consistency and color. Some are brittle and crumbly, while others are soft and sticky. Colors vary from pale yellow to red to black.

There are two basic methods for making hashish, hand rubbing and sieving. Hand rubbing involves rubbing the plants by hand to remove trichomes, which can be messy and potentially impact the quality of the final product. Sieving involves grinding dried buds into a fine powder and putting the powder through a series of smaller and smaller mesh screens.

There’s also a third method of making hash, the final product often called “bubble hash.” The method for bubble hash involves freezing buds and then submerged in ice water. The buds get mixed and the trichomes fall off. Finally, the trichomes get filtered through a series of “bubble bags.”

The type of concentrate you choose depends mainly on your personal preference. You may also find that you prefer one sometimes, and another one at other times. There is no one perfect product when it comes to cannabis. You can have multiple favorites and enjoy trying new things, too.