Beginners’ Guide To Terp Sauce

There's a new product taking over real estate on dispensary shelves, so we created this beginner’s guide to terp sauce to demystify this highly sought-after cannabis concentrate.

The cannabis scene evolves fast as more companies get into the market creating their own unique products to stand out. New products keep popping up as cannabis enthusiasts seek higher levels of terpenes to enrich the taste of their experience, as well as the effects.

So what exactly is terp sauce and why is it all the rage? Spoiler alert: It’s saucy and can get you easily hooked!

What is Terp Sauce?

Terp sauce is a cannabis concentrate that's made-up of cannabis terpenes and THCA. In case you missed the memo: THCA (tetrahydrocannabinolic acid) is among the fanciest additions to the phytocannabinoid family. It is the precursor to the intoxicating phytocannabinoid THC. As much as THCA does not impose psychoactive effects like THC, it has a couple of significant therapeutic benefits that are keeping medical researchers awake at night.

Terp sauce is a clean and tasty cannabis extract that is made up of THCA and a mix of potent terpenes. Cannabis concentrates contain a homogenous mix of active ingredients such as cannabinoids and terpenes. They are concentrated meaning that they contain high amounts of the said active compounds. Other types of cannabis concentrates include:

• Butane hash oil
• Hachis
• Kief
• Live resin
• Rick Simpson oil
• Bubble hash
• Rosin oil

How To Make Terp Sauce

Terp sauce is made using flash-frozen cannabis buds. The buds are first made into BHO—cannabis concentrate made using butane—and then left to age and form crystals.  A viscous fluid that engulfs diamond-like THCA crystals is left behind. This is referred to as terp sauce. You have to get it right with the strain first. Go for a strain that is high in THCA as well as terpenes such as Lemon Meringue, Laughing Budhaa, Hawaiian, Thai, and Silver Haze.

1. Use fresh flowers from any of these strains and make BHO. It is also advisable to flash freeze the buds first to preserve the flavor and aroma. Refrigerating the buds produces a similar effect.
2. Purge the cannabis extract with a vacuum purge to off-gas the excess solvent.
3. Pour the extract in a Mason jar and store in an environment that is slightly above room temperature. This is to allow the process of curing and crystallization to take place. Here the cannabinoids will be separated from the terpenes.
4. Allow pressure to build in the jar for 2-3 weeks.
5. THCA crystals will begin to form and sink to the bottom of the jar while a gooey layer of terpene soup forms at the top.
6. Separate the THCA crystals from the terpene sauce and purge them; the THCA crystals are purged for about 72 hours while the terpene soup is purged for 60 hours
7. Mix the terpene sauce and THCA crystals in a UV-proof container.
8. There you have your terp sauce; the potency is in the crystals while the flavor is in the sauce. Indulge!

What Are High-Terpene Full-Spectrum Extracts?

High-terpene full-spectrum extracts (HTFSEs) is a form of terp sauce that consists of around 50% THCA and anywhere between 13–40% terpenes.

Terp Sauce Versus Live Resin

Many terp sauce-makers use live resin as the primary ingredient when making terp sauce. However, terp sauce goes through additional processes to refine it. Consequently, terp sauce has enhanced flavor and potency as compared to traditional live resin.

How To Consume Terp Sauce

Now that you have your potent and flavorful terp sauce, how do you go about consuming it?

The easiest way to consume this highly concentrated form of cannabis is to dab it. Dabbing is the process of smoking highly concentrated forms of cannabis using a dabbing apparatus such as a dab rig or dab nail. Most cannabis concentrates are smoked anyway. You will need a dab rig to achieve this. You can check Amazon for a cheap one that is beginner friendly. Other places to get fancy dab rigs include Grasscity, Badassglass, and Dankgeek.

Dabbing involves heating the terp sauce and inhaling the fumes. It may not be as simple as it sounds because this depends on the dab rig that you choose to go with. Some are very complex and intimidating, it may take some practice before you become a pro at dabbing terp sauce. Hang in here, the experience is worth it.

Benefits of Terp Sauce

Terp sauce offers a myriad of therapeutic benefits especially when the THCA is working in conjunction with the terpenes. THCA offers a number of therapeutic benefits including anti-inflammatory, anti-proliferative, neuroprotective, and antiemetic benefits. The resulting effect is called the entourage effect or cannabis synergy.

Terpenes provide the different aromas that are present in cannabis strains. This may range from pungent fumes of myrcene to sweet smelling linalool notes.

There are over 200 terpenes in cannabis, some are yet to be isolated. Of this, about twenty or so are of therapeutic significance and have been investigated. Terpenes offer a myriad of therapeutic benefits. They include the following:

• Myrcene: sedative effects
• Limonene: appetite suppressant effects
• Linalool: mood uplifting effects
• Caryophyllene: anti-inflammatory effects
• Humulene: anti-inflammatory, antibacterial, and appetite suppressant effects
• Pinene:  bronchodilator
• Camphene: antibacterial,
• Borneol: antiseptic
• Terpeniol: antioxidant

Not only are terpenes flavorful and tasty but also therapeutic. We hope that this beginner’s guide to terp sauce has encouraged you to try them out!

Leading Marijuana University

Looking for more information on terpenes and cannabis products, or interested in finding a job in the cannabis industry? Enroll at the industry's leading cannabis training institute since 2009, Cannabis Training University.