Rosin is making explosive waves in the world of cannabis and many people are fascinated with it. As rosin talk continues, newbies in cannabis may be wondering what rosin is and how to choose and use rosin presses to get this trending cannabis product.
The growing popularity of rosin and rosin presses is part of the increasing demand for cannabis as countries legalize marijuana either for medical or recreational consumption.
If you’re one of those cannabis explorers interested in rosin presses and solventless concentrates for your desired cannabis experience, this article tells you everything you need to know about rosin and rosin presses.
What is rosin?
Before guiding you to rosin presses, let’s digress to rosin. Perhaps you’re one of those unfamiliar with rosin, or are interested in knowing more about it. If so, then you’re about to know what it is and why virtually everyone in the cannabis world is talking about it.
Rosin is the new hottest concentrate in the cannabis market. It is a solventless concentrate derived from a cannabis flower using a combination of heat and pressure. With enough heat, pressure and time, a sticky resinous or sab-like substance rich in terpenes and cannabinoids is extracted from the flower.
Rosin is known as a solventless concentrate or shatter because its extraction does not require solvents or foreign chemicals.
The final product extracted through rosin pressing is highly potent, pure and tastes and smells exactly as the cannabis strain from which it is extracted.
Why is rosin highly popular?
Rosin is the talk of the cannabis market. It is even poised to take over the extracts or concentrates market. There are very good reasons for this exponential popularity and trending talk about it.
Rosin is highly concentrated
An undisputable reason for rosin’s ever-growing popularity is the fact that the extract is exceptionally concentrated. Many cannabis lovers want a product that is highly potent for the best cannabis experience. When pressed the right way with delicate care on time, heat and pressure, rosin is exceedingly potent.
Rosin pressing retains all the terpenes
Medical patients with cannabis prescriptions are looking for a product that retains all the terpenes necessary in pain management, anxiety relief and other medicinal benefits cannabis has been proven to help in treatment.
The retention of all the terpenes has therefore made rosin highly popular among medical patients. Nevertheless, the above-mentioned two characteristics of rosin are not the top reasons for its increasing popularity. There’s more.
Rosin has zero impurities
Many cannabis lovers see rosin as a healthier concentrate because it is 100% pure. It is exclusively solventless. Unlike other processes of creating concentrates that require adding substances such as butane or propane, rosin pressing requires no additions of foreign chemicals or substances.
Extracting rosin from the cannabis flower only requires combining heat, pressure and time. The process is 100% clean and pure. The exceptionally pure process is the number one reason why Australians and the rest of the cannabis world are choosing rosin over other concentrates in the market.
Rosin is simple to make
If you ask any cannabis lover who has tried to make rosin from home, they will tell you that the process is fairly easy. You do not need any expert knowledge to extract the concentrate from the flower. It is even pretty possible to use hair straightener to make rosin.
As long as you have the correct tools and apply the right pressure, heat and time on a quality bud, you’re assured of a concentrate rich in THC and terpenes.
You can either use DIY rosin presses or buy a simple rosin press from the shops.
What is a rosin press?
A rosin press is a piece of equipment used to extract rosin from a cannabis flower. It combines pressure and heat like a hair straightener to extract out a resinous substance from cannabis flowers.
It uses a pair of highly heated plates to apply the right pressure on the cannabis material placed between the plates, forcing terpenes and cannabinoids to ooze out in a sticky sap-like substance called rosin.
Rosin presses can be used to press any cannabis material such as keif, bud or hash. As long as you apply the right pressure and heat within measured time, the oily extract will come out clean and pure.
The process is solventless and very simple. The equipment and investment used to make rosin are minimal.
The purpose of rosin press is to extract the sticky sap-like substance from the cannabis material with extraordinary ease and speed and without adding any foreign substances or chemicals.
The final product extracted from the starting cannabis material has similar features as some other cannabis products such as Butane Hash Oil (BHO). However, unlike the industrial cannabis products, rosin pressing does not require solvents.
The solventless quality of rosin is the reason every cannabis lover or medical patient is talking about it.
Due to the 100% purity of rosin, the demand for rosin presses is also growing rapidly. Many cannabis users are considering making DIY rosin presses to use from home while others go for commercial rosin presses.
Homemade presses are made from hair straighteners, with the cannabis lover using clamps or manual squeezing to force resinous substance out of the cannabis material. Commercial models are designed to use levels, hand cranks, hydraulic or pneumatic cylinders.
Types of rosin presses available in the market
- DIY rosin press
- Manual press
- Pneumatic press
- Hydraulic press
- Electric press
- Hybrid press
How to use a rosin press
Different types of rosin presses have different tricks and tips that influence how they work to extract the resinous substance from the cannabis material. The most significant distinction between presses is the amount of pressure that one needs to apply and the manner in which the pressure is generated in the process of rosin extraction.
For manual presses, the extraction of rosin from the cannabis material requires squashing it using a clamp or screw system. Hydraulic and pneumatic presses rely on liquid hydraulic or an air pump. On the other hand, electric presses generate the required pressure using an electric motor.
Temperature control
Gauging how much heat is required during rosin pressing is one of the most important aspects of the process you need to grasp.
Although different rosin presses will require different starting materials, if you are to get the best quality rosin extract from your cannabis material, you need to understand some temperature rules:
- When pressed at low temperatures, which is 65-105 °C, the amount of rosin extracted is lower. Nevertheless, the terpene content is higher, the flavor is much more refined and the extracted product is highly stable and powerful.
- When the cannabis material is pressed at higher temperatures of 105-120 °C, the yield is expected to be higher, but the terpene content is likely to be lower. The flavor is more likely to be subtle while the end product is less powerful.
The ideal rosin pressing temperatures vary with the amount of starting material and the duration of pressing.
Pressure control
When you use high pressure, it allows you to extract rosin at lower temperatures and even shorten the duration of pressing. However, extremely high pressure can be counterproductive. Excessive pressure may cause the plant material to contaminate the rosin, leading to an ‘unclean’ end product.
Although there is no universal optimum rosin pressing pressure, if you’re trying to extract rosin from cannabis material you should consider the plates’ surface area and the pressing pounds.
Rosin yield
The amount of rosin a press produces depends on the starting material used. A cannabis flower has the best quality rosin yield.
If you choose the flower for the rosin press, it is more beneficial to select small nugs. They will allow you to maximize the surface area while still allowing better rosin movement to the collection area.
If you want higher yields you can choose to press trim, kief and hash over flowers. Nonetheless, the quality of the yield is lower.
Time control
The pressing duration is measured in relation to the pressure and temperature to be applied and type of press being used.
When using large-scale rosin presses, they’re pretty quick and the duration of pressing is shorter, particularly at higher temperatures with high-quality cannabis material. Overexposing the starting material to heat compromises the quality of the end product.
What to consider when choosing the rosin press to buy
- The use of the press (personal or commercial use)
- Frequency of use of the rosin press
- Amount of cannabis material you want to press
- Expected life spam of the press
- Yield profile of the rosin press
- Space available to accommodate the press
- Noise tolerance (Some presses are extremely noisy)
- Cost (or your budget)
Legal Disclaimer: The Green Box does not condone, promote or incite the use of any illegal substances or to get anyone in conflict with their region or state laws. The use of smoking products is only to be used for medicinal herbs, Tobacco, Souvenir, and Educational Purposes.
