With the ever-expanding cannabis product offerings, keeping up can be a challenge. Stay up-to-date and learn everything you need to know about this new cannabis concentrate gaining in popularity. You may have heard of terpenes, and you might have heard of weirder weed concentrates such as “butter” and “wax,” but it’s unlikely you’ve heard of terp sauce.
Unlike weed butter, this kind of “sauce” or “terp juice” wasn’t exactly made to be spread.
Instead, it’s a form of cannabis concentrate that’s enticing smokers with a rich flavour profile and equally as unique effects.
Want the full scoop on terp sauce Canada? Read on and learn more about why this isn’t just your run-of-the-mill hash oil.
What is Terp Sauce?
Terp sauce is a cannabis product with numerous benefits to justify the higher cost. The technical name for this product is High Terpene Full Spectrum Extract (HTFSE).
As a full-spectrum product, this product is more than just a fancy name. Out of cannabis products available, terp sauce is for the connoisseur cannabis consumer in all of us. The term high terpene describes this product better than any other. It can be one of the best smoking experiences you can have out of the cannabis concentrate offerings.
Terp sauce can come in a variety of consistencies. The pure version contains large amounts of terpenes and cannabinoids. terp sauce can have as much as 60% terpenes, with the remaining 40% consisting of THC and other cannabinoids.
You can also buy terp sauce with THC Diamonds. This concentrate contains higher amounts of THC, as the diamonds are nearly pure THCA ready for decarboxylation and consumption. Before we discuss more on how this is unique as a cannabis extract, we first have to understand Terpenes.
What are Terpenes?
Terpenes are volatile aromatic compounds. The word volatile describes how they easily separate from the flower into the atmosphere. They are aromatic because they produce a scent.
Terpenes are the master category of smell-producing compounds in the plant kingdom. When you smell the terpene pinene or myrcene, you are smelling identical compounds as found in pine trees and mangos, respectively.
Terpenes are responsible for the pungent aroma of cannabis. The cannabis plant is able to produce an incredible variety of these terpenes, and that is why the smell can vary so much from strain to strain. Beyond smelling good, terpenes are said to have other benefits. The most popular one, the entourage effect, will be discussed now.
The Entourage Effect
The entourage effect describes the additional benefits that occur from consuming cannabinoids alongside terpenes and the rest of the plant’s original cannabinoids. While cannabinoids like THC and CBD are the primary drivers of the effects of cannabis, they are influenced by terpenes and the other, less popular cannabinoids within the cannabis plant.
The obvious example is how a pleasant smell and taste will enhance your experience. Inside the body, these terpenes are said to have synergies with cannabinoids. This means that terpenes can enhance or modify the impacts of THC or CBD and experiences that follow.
While better described as the entourage hypothesis, this concept requires further research. The experience of smoking is undoubtedly impacted by terpenes. Further research should help us understand how these terpenes may also benefit the impacts of THC and CBD inside our bodies.
What Makes Terp Sauce Unique
There are several factors that make terp sauce an unrivaled product. The amount of smell and flavor in this product is far more intense than any alternative product. The highly concentrated and flavourful terpene profile makes for an amazing smoking experience.
Terp sauce may focus on the terpenes, but don’t let that trick you into thinking this product isn’t potent.
This concentrate nearly perfectly preserves natural terpenes and cannabinoids found in cannabis flowers, even the ones that are typically purged from other concentrates in order to increase their potency.
By preserving all of the original cannabinoids, terp sauce remains a full-spectrum extract. We’ve mentioned above about the benefits of this through the entourage effect. While other concentrates such as rosin and tinctures may also be full-spectrum, it’s arguable that none of them pack as much flavour as terp sauce.
Other cannabis concentrates lead to some loss of terpenes, such as distillates and isolate. The ability to be highly concentrated in both terpenes and THC or CBD is what makes this product unique in the cannabis marketplace.
How is Terp Sauce Made?
Terp sauce is made through curing (aging) live resin. The difference between this live resin vs. shatter and other concentrates is the preservation of terpenes.
For those wondering what live resin is, it involves using fresh cannabis flowers that are flash-frozen instead of dried flower to produce the initial extract.
The flower is not dried and cured as is usually done while making smokable buds. Usually, the flowers are flash-frozen to preserve the exact chemical profile, and then stored in refrigeration.
As terpenes are highly volatile, they can disappear into the air when not preserved properly, and freezing the flower can help to prevent this from occurring.
BHO extraction is commonly then used on this product before being allowed to age. Expertise is needed to perform this step properly and ensure that all butane is removed from the final product. The liquid terp sauce is then processed and packaged either by itself or with THC diamonds to make diamond sauce.
Aging is used to allow for a process called nucleation to occur. This fancy word describes the process of separation that occurs with terpenes and cannabinoids. This is what allows for the terp sauce to separate from the THCA compounds, which can then be made into THC Diamonds.
The Term Diamond Mining is used in the industry to describe this combination of making terp sauce and THC diamonds at the same time.
Looking back to shatter, this product does not form crystalline structures when it undergoes nucleation. Producing shatter involves trying to prevent nucleation, while Diamond mining takes advantage of it. The final products of nucleation are separated into THCA crystals and terp sauce.
How Do You Smoke Terp Sauce?
Smoking terp sauce is a highly flexible and easy process.
You can smoke it in any glassware, vape it with a vaporizer, or dab it using a dab rig. Whichever way you like to get high, terp sauce can likely replace or supplement other cannabis products and concentrates.
Just add a little terp sauce to your bowl for improved flavor and aroma. As a liquid, it may not work as well in joints, but you can still drizzle a little bit inside for some added punch.
You can use certain vaporizers if they allow wet concentrates like terp sauce. Dab rigs can be an excellent way to efficiently consume terp sauce with less waste.
Will You Get High From Terp Sauce?
Yes, terp sauce often contains large amounts of THC. That is what makes this product more comparable to other concentrates with high cannabinoid content. Do not let the pleasant aroma distract you from the fact that this product will get you high.
Stay within your tolerance, starting with a tiny dose and gradually increasing it. terp sauce is a full-spectrum product so getting high is to be expected. While you may enjoy the wonderfully pleasant aroma when smoking or vaping terp sauce, expect the high to hit you shortly afterward.
Final Thoughts on Terp Sauce
The next time you run out of concentrates and thinking of restocking on your stash, reach for some terp sauce instead.
The full-bodied, full-spectrum taste of a complete terpene profile and the health benefits that follow from this concentrate’s unique composition may just end up being your concentrate of choice!