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Jeff Zorn is the founder of Cannabis Training University (CTU), an online cannabis school with 50,000+ students since 2009. CTU is an IACET Accredited Provider, and its courses cover cannabis cultivation, business, medical cannabis, budtending, cooking, extraction and industry regulations.
What are the main types of cannabis concentrates?
Two families: solvent extracts and solventless concentrates. 9 of the 14 common types here are made with a solvent.
Solvent extracts (shatter, wax, live resin, distillate, CO₂ oil, RSO) dissolve the plant’s resin in butane, propane, CO₂ or ethanol and then remove the solvent. Solventless concentrates (kief, hash, bubble hash, rosin) separate the resin with screens, ice water, heat and pressure. “Live” on a label means the plants were frozen fresh at harvest instead of dried.
Checked October 2026 · Sources below
Solvent extracts all start with a solvent wash and end with a finishing step that sets the texture. Solventless products are separated by hand, water or press.
Each type compared by how it is made, how it looks and handles, and what it starts from.
Showing all 14 types
| Type | How it’s made | Texture | Starting material | Lab-reported THC |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Shatter | SolventHydrocarbon extract, purged of solvent and left undisturbed so it sets clear | Glass-like, brittle; snaps | Cured (dried) | — |
| Wax / budderIndustry term | SolventHydrocarbon extract whipped or stirred while it is purged, so it turns opaque | Soft and creamy, like frosting | Cured (dried) | — |
| CrumbleIndustry term | SolventHydrocarbon extract purged until it dries out | Dry, crumbly, honeycomb | Cured (dried) | — |
| Live resinIndustry term | SolventHydrocarbon extract made from plants frozen right after harvest instead of dried | Sauce, sugar or budder | Fresh-frozen | — |
| Diamonds & sauceIndustry term | SolventTHCA crystallizes out of a hydrocarbon extract over days to weeks; the terpene-rich liquid left behind is the sauce | Hard crystals in a runny liquid | Often fresh-frozen | — |
| Distillate | SolventA crude extract (ethanol, CO₂ or hydrocarbon) is winterized, then refined by vacuum distillation | Clear, thick oil; little flavor unless terpenes are added back | Either; often dried trim | — |
| CO₂ oil | SolventCarbon dioxide held above its critical point (31 °C, 73.8 bar) is the solvent | Amber oil, runny to thick | Cured (dried) | — |
| RSO / FECOIndustry term | SolventWhole flower soaked in a solvent, commonly ethanol, which is then evaporated off | Thick, dark, tar-like oil | Cured (dried) | — |
| Tincture | SolventCannabinoids carried in ethanol, glycerin or a carrier oil | Thin liquid | Cured (dried) | — |
| Kief | SolventlessTrichomes knocked off dried flower through a mesh screen (dry sieving) | Fine, loose powder | Cured (dried) | 35–50%1 |
| Hash | SolventlessKief or other separated trichomes pressed into a block | Firm to pliable block | Cured (dried) | — |
| Bubble hashIndustry term | SolventlessPlants stirred in ice water to knock trichomes loose, filtered through mesh bags, then dried | Sandy granules to paste | Either | Similar to kief1 |
| Rosin | SolventlessFlower, kief or hash squeezed between heated plates | Sap-like to budder | Cured (dried) | — |
| Live rosinIndustry term | SolventlessRosin pressed from bubble hash made from fresh-frozen plants | Jam-like to budder | Fresh-frozen | — |
1 Kief about 35–50% THC by dry sieving; ice-water hash roughly the same, depending on the starting plant (Lazarjani et al. 2021). A dash means we found no dated lab or peer-reviewed figure for that type, so we leave it out. “Industry term” marks trade names rather than technical or legal terms.
Average total THC by product type, from 44.5 million legal retail purchases in Washington, July 2014 to September 2016.
Source: Smart et al. (2017), Addiction 112(12), from Washington’s state traceability data. Figures are sales-weighted averages across all extract types, not a range for any one product.
More on the category: cannabis concentrates explained.
Sources: Lazarjani, M.P., Young, O., Kebede, L. and Seyfoddin, A. (2021), “Processing and extraction methods of medicinal cannabis: a narrative review”, Journal of Cannabis Research 3:32 (doi.org/10.1186/s42238-021-00087-9): methods, kief potency, CO₂ critical point. Smart, R., Caulkins, J.P., Kilmer, B., Davenport, S. and Midgette, G. (2017), “Variation in cannabis potency and prices in a newly legal market: evidence from 30 million cannabis sales in Washington state”, Addiction 112(12): 2167–2177 (doi.org/10.1111/add.13886). Washington State Liquor and Cannabis Board, WAC 314-55-104, Cannabis processor license extraction requirements (WSR 24-16-064, effective August 31, 2024; app.leg.wa.gov). California Department of Cannabis Control, Manufacturing license types (cannabis.ca.gov). Checked October 2026.
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The Budtender Certificate course covers the cannabis products a dispensary sells, concentrates included, with a certificate at the end.
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