Thinking About Infusing Your Own Joints, Are We?

There are ample reasons for infused joints to be in the spotlight these days, they are the national best seller among pre roll products and a favorite among cannabis connoisseurs seeking elevated flavor, enhanced aroma, and of course, potency in their joints.

The marriage of flower and concentrates elevate the joint smoking experience by incorporating highly concentrated extracts of trichomes and cannabinoids from the cannabis plant inside, or outside, your joints. While most cannabis has THC levels between 15-30%, concentrates can carry levels over 90% - a fitting name indeed.

Understanding Cannabis Concentrates

Concentrates are extracted from the cannabis plant using solvents or pressure, squeezing the cannabis to produce a buttery rosin drip that is as natural as the plant itself. You could categorize these extraction methods into two categories: solvent-based and solventless.

Solvent-based concentrates use a chemical process to extract the terpenes and cannabinoids from the cannabis plant, often employing the solvents butane or CO2. The solvent extraction process works by adding a solvent to the cannabis plant material in order to dissolve the cannabinoid and terpene rich resin. After this process, the solvent is removed the purging with a vacuum and heat.

The extracted resin goes into a vacuum oven under a low, steady heat to evaporate the solvent without affecting the terpenes and cannabinoids. The vacuum gives the solvent the ability to boil at a low temperature, protecting the resin from degradation through heat. After this process, tests are run on the solvent-extracted resin and the process is repeated until the solvent levels are below industry standards as solvents are not safe for human consumption. Alcohol is also a common extraction solvent.

Concentrate Varieties for Infusion

The variety of cannabis products is vast, real vast, and so are cannabis concentrates. Different extraction methods produce different concentrates in multiple forms and consistencies, affecting how one would proceed with infusing their flower for their a delectable, highly potent infused joint.

Rosin: As stated earlier, rosin is produced through heating and pressing the cannabis material to draw out the terpene and cannabinoid oils, producing a thick, saucy cannabis concentrate. Simple, void of residual solvents and strong af, rosin is highly sought after for concentrate enthusiasts.

Live Rosin: The key difference between rosin and live rosin is the process before the pressing, while rosin is produced through pressurized extraction of cannabis plants, live rosin comes from cannabis that was flash frozen after harvesting. The process of flash freezing is to lock in the freshness of the cannabis and fend of degradation, essentially producing a less fresh product than live rosin.

Resin: Ooey and gooey, resin employs solvents to separate the concentrate extraction from the plant. Following the extraction, the solvents are burned off through heat in a vacuum over and the process is repeated until the concentrate is near pure.

Live Resin: Similar to live rosin, live resin is produced in the same way as resin but with flash frozen cannabis. Terpenes are preserved through this method creating an aromatic and flavorful concentrate as fresh as the flower was when it was harvested.

Hash: A timeless classic, hash is produced through the compression of cannabis kief and trichomes, yielding a highly flavorful and potent extract that is time-tested over centuries and is one of the oldest and most popular THC extracts.

Bubble Hash: Created by separating trichomes and kief from the flower through a blend of ice and cold water agitated in a container or bubbleator. The water is then separated through simple force, producing a high quality that has no impurities based on the solvent used, H2O. Cannabinoids are left intact and the method is widely used and adored.

Kief: The dust that falls through the sift of a grinder, kief is very accessible and manageable for infusion of a joint or a bowl topper.

Distillate: Targeting specific cannabinoids, distillate is made using specialized equipment to extract active compounds from the cannabis plant, then removing other plant compounds like chlorophyll and terpenes. This produces a potent, thick, flavorless compound that is often used as a base in edibles or in weed vape pens.

Moon Rocks: For the brave, moon rocks are created by rolling concentrates with flower then dipping them into kief for a blog of sticky dusty bud that is ready to send you to the stars.

Gather Your Supplies, It’s Time to Infuse

A trip to the dispensary isn’t required to be a connoisseur of infused joints, if you have the supplies to roll a joint and handle concentrates, you’re good to go. Supplies and considerations include:

Flower & Grinder: Since you’re not confined by what infused joints are on the shelf, choose the flower you enjoy the most, run it through the grinder ensuring a consistent grind that isn’t too fine. Consistency in your grind influences the quality of your roll, inconsistencies in bud particles can cause air pockets in your joint, encouraging the dreaded canoeing of a joint.

Concentrate & Infusion Device: Whether you have a specific extract in mind or you’re just working with what you got, gather your concentrate and a tool you can use to handle the often thick, sticky, messy concentrate. A dab tool is very helpful, two in fact helps you scrape concentrate off the first device to glob the blob of extract into your joint. A lighter can also be considered an infusion device as concentrate can be heated and dripped on or inside a joint for a potent infusion or a sticky medium to attach to more extracts you wish to add.

Papers & Packing Tool: You may roll a big ol’ baseball bat infused king sized joint or a mini dogwalker that’s around .3 grams, you can make it all work. Choose your desired papers and a packing stick to help you distribute the flower and concentrate into your infused joint. Packing in the final stages is aided by the packing stick and they are a great alternative to your fingers which will get sticky and waste concentrate in the end.

Rolling Tray & Dab Mat: While not 100% necessary, try cleaning up a surface after infusing a joint on it, you’ll most likely need some isopropyl alcohol to get the sticky up off your surface. Your rolling tray keeps things tidy and easy to handle, the curved edges aren’t bad either for scooping your flower into your joint

Internal and External Joint Infusion

It’s time. While joints are a classic, infused joints take them to another level, big time, it’s like you’re smoking a joint with a few dabs on the side. While this might put a novice smoker in the couch, the experience and final product are beautiful. The process is pretty simple but can take some time to master as concentrate is much harder to handle cleanly than flower, though sticky flower can gum up your fingers as well, buttery concentrate can feel like glue.

Internal Joint Infusion

Concentrating your extracts inside of the roll side by side or mixed in with the flower, internal infusion can be used with any concentrate and can be done in multiple ways. A common approach is to roll your desired concentrate with your flower, creating a less sticky mixture that you can handle and roll without too much trouble. This can be done inside the joint during your roll or before you even put the flower into the paper. Rolling becomes pretty easy as your roll will be easy to mold and compress into your joints' highly potent core.

Another method is the snake method, rolling the concentrate into a rod that can then be placed on your flower laid out in your paper. Getting the concentrate consistent throughout your joint can be easier with the snake method because the rod of concentrate you make is easy to fashion evenly and place on your bed of flower. You’ll have a massively concentrated core at the center of your bud, the internal combustion benefits the smoking experience as there isn’t direct combustion as you would experience when concentrates are coated on the outside of your joint.Spearing oil on the inside of your paper before putting flower down can be a bit tricky, but if you add some heat from a lighter, dripping the concentrate onto the paper can be easier than spreading it. Dusting dry concentrates like kief or hash over your flower is a very simple method of infusion because you’re just adding another dry solid onto a dry solid. And for non-dry extracts, you can simply glob, drip, crumble or drop chunks of concentrate on top of your flower to create a potent mix of flower and concentrate ready to roll!

External Infusion

Similar to internal infusion but on the outside and void of flower, concentrates are smeared, dripped, or dusted on the external portion of your joint. This extra layer of potency on the outside of your joint can look intense or beautiful. Concentrates are oils, so you’ll have greasy marks on your joint, but these oils also create a sticky environment, perfect for rolling in kief, providing a 1-2 punch that’ll taste great and give you those lovely stoner eyes we all know and love.

Heat is key for coating the outside of your joint with resin, rosin or distillate, a liquid oil is much easier to manipulate and maneuver than a sticky, thick consistency. With a far lower viscosity, you’re able to control the drip of the concentrate, spread the oil evenly on the papers, and create a sticky surface if an added layer of kief is desired. And if you’re feeling saucy, a combination of internal and external infusion can be done to guarantee a trip to the clouds post-sesh.

Happy Infusing

If you can roll a joint, you’ll be able to navigate infusion, if you’re not as skilled at rolling, employ your blaze buddy for assistance. You may also want to add them to your sesh because an infused joint is going to elevate you quite a bit more than a standard flower joint which should be clear as we’re working with concentrated THC byproducts.

Infused joints can be smoked the same way as a normal joint but there are a few things to consider. Concentrates are highly combustible, so while you may have a flame on your joint from the burning paper when lighting, that will intensify and sustain ignition much stronger than a non-infused joint fueled by the addition of cannabis oils. The flame will burn off concentrated terpenes and cannabinoids, so you should keep the combustion period short and contain the flame by blowing it out then continuing to pull on the joint to evenly light.

Gather your bud, buds, and extracts - it’s time to get lifted, and since infused joints smoke slower than your average joint, they’re perfect for group sessions or multiple smoke sessions when you need to pace yourself and save the rest for later. Happy infusing!