Solventless Extraction: A Simple Method For Flavorful Concentrates

If you’ve spent any time exploring the huge world of cannabis concentrates, you’ve probably heard some debate between solvent and solventless extraction.

As the two major styles of concentrates, these products can be found on almost every dispensary shelf. But if you’re anywhere near as dedicated to exceptional, artisan-grade hash as we are, understanding exactly what these methods are—and what they’re not—is key information, so we’re here to help.

Learn the difference between these extraction techniques, how they’re made, what you can find on the market today, and much more. By the end, you’ll feel empowered to make smart, well-informed choices when choosing quality cannabis concentrates.

What Is Solventless Extraction?

Ever since humans figured out how cannabis can relax our bodies and inspire our minds, we’ve been on a search for more potent, shelf-stable, and portable forms of this unique plant. That’s certainly the story behind hash, the world’s first cannabis concentrate—and it all began with solventless extraction.

Solventless extraction refers to the technique of extracting cannabinoids and terpenes, the “good stuff” in the cannabis plant, without the use of chemical solvents.

Traditional pressed hash is made by gently warming and compressing the trichomes—the resinous glands found on cannabis flower where the plant produces most of its cannabinoids and terpenes—and forming it into blocks or balls. This is a solventless extraction method since the cannabinoids and terpenes have been separated from the flower through a mechanical extraction method and then pressed together using only gentle heat and pressure.

Solvent vs Solventless Extraction: What Makes Them Different?

Simple, intuitive, and deliberately low-technology, solventless extracts— such as our flavorful hash temple balls, inspired by the classic charas-style hash of ancient India—have stood the test of time for centuries.

But what about solvent-based extraction? This style of concentrate relies on chemicals—typically CO2, butane, or propane—to strip cannabinoids and terpenes from cannabis flower.

After the flower is suspended in a solvent solution, it’s heated to purge—or remove—all traces of the solvent, leaving an extract that can be formulated into a desired form. But because solvent-based extraction tends to destroy delicate terpenes–the major source of the astonishing diversity of flavors and aromas in cannabis–many solvent-based extracts actually add non-cannabis derived or even artificial terpenes back after the extraction process. When you see concentrates labeled as wax, badder, budder, for example, they are typically solvent-based products.

Are Solvent Extracts Bad For You?

As you’d expect, working with flammable solvents requires extreme skill, care, and experience with laboratory-grade equipment. Solvent-based extraction should only be attempted by professional extractors in a controlled environment.

Between the two, are solventless extracts better for you? That’s a very personal question, but we believe that cannabis tastes best the way nature intended it: without propane, butane, or other flammable solvents. However, that’s not to say that solvent-based extracts are “bad” for you. When made with skill and care, these extracts are purged of all chemical solvents and are safe to consume.

That said, we think it’s worth noting that solventless extracts–which happen to be the only kind we work with here at Nasha–are never treated with chemicals. And, if like us, you think that fewer chemicals in our bodies lead to better health, wellness, and happiness…well, the choice is pretty clear.

Whether or not it’s processed using solvent-based or solventless techniques, all cannabis grown for the legal market is carefully tested for impurities or contaminants, so it’s essential to only purchase these types of products from licensed dispensaries. If you’re still unsure about any given cannabis product, request to see its certificate of analysis or any sort of lab data and look for results related to residual solvents.

Types of Solventless Extracts

There are many ways to consume solventless extracts, and now that you’re familiar with the process, here are a few popular products that rely on this technique:

Unpressed Hash

Unpressed hash is superficially similar to kief—the dried cannabis trichomes that are the essential building blocks of solventless extracts—but with a slight difference. Instead of being pressed into solid blocks or rolled into balls, unpressed hash retains its loose, sand-like consistency, but it has a greater proportion of plant matter sifted out of it than kief. This makes it ideal for enjoying it in various ways.

How To Enjoy Unpressed Hash

While it’s not typically consumed on its own, it’s often sprinkled onto bowls or placed in joints before rolling, which adds a noticeable hit of potency to your session. However you decide to enjoy it, you’ll taste a distinctively earthy flavor, and depending on the strain and the grade, you might experience notes of sandalwood, citrus, spice, or other aromas.

At Nasha, we offer several grades of hash, giving you even more options and ways to enjoy this classic cannabis concentrate.

Pressed Hash

The most recognizable form of hash, pressed hash, comes in the form of bricks or hand-rolled balls and can be sticky, chalky, or oily, depending on the style, the strain, and the grade. Its ingredients are the same as unpressed hash—it’s made from the carefully sifted dried trichomes of cannabis flower. However, after it’s collected, it’s either pressed into bricks or rolled by hand into charas-style balls, which would have looked familiar to merchants plying the trade routes of the Arab Maghreb some five centuries ago.

How To Enjoy Pressed Hash

As with unpressed hash, there are several ways to enjoy pressed hash, from classic chillums to healthstones to simple hand pipes and beyond. You can also craft super potent pre-rolls by mixing the hash with your ground flower before rolling it up and taking a hit.

Ice Water Hash

A variation on classic solventless hash, ice water hash goes one step further by introducing cold water to the process, which produces an exceptionally high proportion of flavorful terpenes.

Sometimes known as “bubble hash,” this technique makes use of a fortuitous discovery: When sufficiently chilled, trichome heads separate more easily from cannabis flower. So, relying on a series of very fine filters, trichomes can be collected while minimizing the proportion of plant matter, lipids, and other unwanted compounds in the final product. Here at Nasha, we use a proprietary ice water process for extraction to preserve the unique cannabinoid and terpene profiles that make the cultivars we work with so special.

How To Enjoy Ice Water Hash

It’s referred to as bubble hash because when heated, you may notice the formation of tiny bubbles, a signal that it’s a highly potent and a more purified product. Like regular unpressed hash, ice water hash can be enjoyed in many ways, adding that little extra punch to your usual smoke.

Rosin and Live Rosin

Rosin has become an excellent way to enjoy the fresh taste of cannabis terpenes and fresh hash. As one of the newer forms of solventless extracts, it quickly made a name for itself as a versatile, chemical-free (and fun to use) style of concentrate.

While classic hash is made from pressed, sifted, and dried trichomes, rosin goes one step further, adding gentle heat and greater pressure to the plant material to produce a richly flavored, aromatic, and potent concentrate. While some rosin is made from cannabis flower, rosin made from hash is widely considered to be one of the purest, most flavorful, and highest-quality solventless extracts available.

Unlike solvent-based concentrates, rosin is never extracted with chemical-based solvents. This flavorful concentrate is so simple and intuitive that many people can do it at home using a device known as a rosin press. This type of method for creating live rosin is what we use to produce our exquisite solventless hash live rosin.

What about live rosin, and is there a difference between the two? While superficially similar, there’s a very major distinction: Live rosin—like all products with “live” in their name—is made with just-picked, flash-frozen cannabis instead of the cured cannabis that’s ready to smoke and what you usually see as buds or nugs. While it’s not considered smokable in this form, flash-frozen weed retains a far higher concentration of aromatic terpenes than cured flower. These are then extracted to produce “live” concentrates.

The result? An incredible, even otherworldly, smoking experience, with flavors and aromas at the forefront of the session. Since this is a new technique on classic rosin, it was never truly experienced before a few years ago. But at Nasha, we don’t stop there. Since we believe that no effort should be spared in the quest for the ultimate smoke, we cold-cure our solventless hash rosin anywhere from a few days to a few weeks. The resulting texture is even wetter and more badder-like, with the flavor and aroma reaching what we believe is their highest possible expression.

How To Enjoy Rosin and Live Rosin

Compared with hash, rosins have a wetter, stickier, and oilier consistency, making them ideal for enjoying with dab rigs, healthstones, nectar collectors, or other concentrate-friendly smoking methods. Whichever method you choose, prepare yourself for some astonishing heights of flavor and aroma.

Explore Nasha’s Flavorful Solventless Hash

Solventless extraction is both the simplest and the purest method of producing cannabis concentrates. This ancient technique relies on heat and pressure, and it’s how classic products like pressed, unpressed, and “ice water” hash are made. Learn more about solventless hash and other products through our blog.

Want to sample the many flavors of solventless hash? Browse our artisan-grade products or stop by one of our retail partners and discover more of our handcrafted offerings. And don't forget to sign up for Nasha Rewards so you can earn rewards on any Nasha product you purchase in California!