Continuing the discussion from Deodorization Techniques:
Good info. Thank You!
Do you know if much other than steam distillation going on in India?
Certainly isolating terpenes from sources other than cannabis changes the constraints. Steam distilling cannabis presumably means drying it out and going back after the cannabinoids in most cases. Way less energy intensive if you can just chuck the biomass once you’re done.
I can not prove it, this is just what I was told once about a year ago from a highly trusted source in the industry. It does make sense though, and if you ask around, some experienced people will say “a molecule is a molecule is a molecule.” I have also heard the argument that these isolated terpines are cleaner than what you would pull from steam distillation of cannabis anyways.
I believe these terpines are extracted in various ways. For example, some may use CO2 extraction to pull specific compounds, and I see a lot of etoh extractions for things like lemonine. I can not guarantee the methods used since I don’t know their source. True Terpines is the leader here for this specific use case of terpines, but there are others (Holy Terps, Bloom Terpines, and Blue River). Also, this is not hard to do yourself once you get profiles. I have yet to taste distillate with reintroduced terps that don’t taste fake or like chemicals, so there is still a a lot of progress to be made here in WA.
There are some people doing steam distillation, but you are correct and you need to dry out the product before extracton. Another way to get them is to decarb in an oven and collect them via cold trap. I have yet to try this, but it is another suggestion I have come across.
For speed and ease of process, I think most people just destroy the terps and reintroduce “fake” (non-canmabis derived) ones. That seems to be the trend for vape karts here. I see some people experimenting with live resin, rosin, bho and terp sauce in karts, but typically it’s distillate + truterps. The biggest problem here is getting a product that will burn correctly with the karts themselves. You can’t just push shatter or rosin into a kart without thinning down the consistency somehow, and typically people are doing it with decarbed oil (however you get there) and some sort of thinning agent (pg, peg, mct or terps).
I think co2 is a bit different, but that is another topic for another day.
doh!
You’re absolutely right, once you step outside cannabis, you can target a single terpene for capture, and grab it using the appropriate methodology for that particular molecule/biomass combination. Really should take these blinders off every now and then.
I’ve got a handful of examples of extracts that worked and tasted appropriate in carts as decarbed crude. I think I’ve actually had two EtOH’s and 2 Hydrocarbon extracts that I would put in that category. My decarbed extracts were usually destined for tinctures or edibles, so didn’t start with premium material…therfore color wasn’t appropriate for retail carts. They worked quite well for party favours or patient meds.
The concept that most operations are tossing their terps, then reintroducing using stuff they had to purchase makes my head hurt. I’ve always hated the disposable nature of prefilled carts. Tossing the terps just adds insult to injury.
Terpene capture via CO2 was the primary reason I decided to look at CO2 again.
which is another conversation 
I am gonna try and figure this one out myself. I am not sure that people won’t purchase darker oil, especially if the price is much lower. I see a lot of BHO and RSO karts here that have Amber oil in it. Once it is winterized, decarbed and thinned down, you can usually see though the Amber oil at that point.
I am still not convinced distillate is the best experience for all.
agreed. there is no “one size fits all”.
the distillate I sampled @Beaker’s the other day was definitely a different experience to the live resin I was comparing it to. It was the first time I actually found distillate to be more enjoyable than the high terpene fare I usually target.
And this was the stuff that he recovered from the implosion…
Beaker said it had a bit of taste to it. I found it to be once of the most neutral distillates I’ve tasted. Except for the other samples Beaker has shared.
Distillate is generally only considered from what I can see from a certain point of view. That viewpoint generally seems to judge based on how clear and light the product is for sure however so far I have yet to see distillate include anything but the same old brown to orange and dark colors. Generally I suspect it tastes about the same too meaning terpene profiles of various nature but more or less about the same for same potencies.
However there is another form that for me is possible owing to the methods I use. I can selectively target other components of the crude extract to include in otherwise purified THC and not just the terpenes. I can easily hold out terpenes too from DCVC and put just those back in during the final step but have not done this yet. I save the ones that smell good and leave them out and they collect fruit flies lolz…
The one thing that really tasted unique and almost reminiscent of old school hash flavor but crystal clear otherwise was leaving in the green chlorophyls intact and still green. No thermal breakdown (appreciably). Imagine a water clear dab with a light green tint. Not like tar but like spring grass green and light. I personally love that stuff for a different flavor and feeling. Something about a little green flavor seems relaxing.
Maybe we will see commercial producers adopt methods to offer this sort of distillate as well.
if you found yourself here, and haven’t looked here and here as well, then here are a couple of other threads on the subject.
If you’re currently isolating terpenes from cannabis, or elsewhere, then @TerpFiend wants your feedback in