Concentrates represent the most significant growth sector in the cannabis industry, and dispensaries need to have suitable extracts to stay competitive. It can be hard to identify the best concentrates in Colorado because there are so many different options. To help get a better grasp on the industry, learn more about one of the methods that have gained popularity in some circles: ethanol extraction. While we don’t use this method here Chronic Creations, it’s essential to understand all of your options.
How Does Ethanol Extraction Work?
Ethanol is a clear, flammable liquid best known as being the intoxicating ingredient in liquor– think grain alcohol. For extraction purposes, it can be used as a solvent to free cannabinoids from cannabis plant material. There are a lot of different varieties of ethanol extraction, which can occur at either hot or cold temperatures.
Basically, either heat, pressure, or physical agitation are used to help the ethanol extract desirable organic compounds from cannabis. In some cases, ethanol distillation methods will be used as opposed to or in conjunction with other extraction processes. Ethanol cannabis distillate setups look a lot like what you might expect if you’ve ever seen a whiskey or moonshine still.
Pros of Ethanol Extraction
Since ethanol isn’t quite as dangerous to store as propane or butane, facilities are allowed to keep more of it on hand. The large quantities will enable them to process massive volumes of cannabis at once. Already, though, any dispensary should be able to get more than enough cannabis extracts from PHO or BHO extraction.
Another benefit of ethanol extraction is that it can eliminate the need for some additional steps like dewax and winterization if it’s done correctly. Ethanol-based processes are also some of the preferred methods for creating tinctures and full-spectrum hemp extracts.
Cons of Ethanol Extraction
One of the downsides to ethanol is that it’s a polar solvent, which means it will remove some unwanted water-soluble compounds like chlorophyll from the plant. Partially for this reason, post-extraction processing can be labor-intensive for ethanol extracts, because there’s a lot of filtering and refinement to do.
There’s also a limit to the type of products you can make with ethanol. It’s good for tinctures, but almost worthless for making shatter, wax, and sauce. This difficulty is thanks in part to ethanol’s high boiling point, which can make extractions take longer and be more difficult. For that reason, our team at Chronic Creations uses other extraction methods to make sure we can produce the products our clients want.
Best Concentrates for Dispensaries in Colorado
Here at Chronic Creations, we take great pride in refining our extraction process to make sure it’s the best in the business. Part of the way we stay on the leading edge of the cannabis concentrate industry is by staying up to date with all the different extraction methods. We’re familiar with ethanol extraction, but avoid it in favor of hydrocarbon extraction. In our experience, hydrocarbon extraction is superior because it pulls out the desireable compounds without all the fat, wax, and chlorophyll.
No matter which extraction method you use (even if you’ve tried ethanol extraction), count on us at Chronic Creations to provide all the services you need to make your recreational marijuana dispensary successful in Colorado. We can perform quality control for hash oil products, even if they were made by someone else. Only the purest, cleanest, most potent concentrates can pass our test. Let’s make sure your customers are getting the kind of product that will keep them coming back.
In addition to quality control, we offer packaging services that will protect your product and help it sell more. Most importantly, we offer a 14-day turnaround for hash oil concentrates that we make with state of the art hydrocarbon extraction. Your product won’t sit around and lose freshness– we capture its qualities at peak potency and flavor. We offer free consultations up front to ensure the highest chance of success and provide feedback at every step of the process. Contact us today to learn more.
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