Marijuana Concentrates (Meant for Inhalation)

Badder testing applies to solvent-extracted concentrate whipped during the purge until it takes on a soft, creamy consistency, typically 60% to 90% total THC. The agitation is what defines the product and what separates it analytically from a slab left undisturbed.

For badder submissions, important details include:

• Solvent used and purge time
• Whipping temperature and duration
• Source material grade, including fresh frozen
• Vacuum level applied during purge
• Storage temperature since production

Whipping folds air into the concentrate. That opens the surface up and helps solvent escape, but the same exposure accelerates terpene loss and oxidation once the product is jarred. Warm, aerated material also stays soft enough that cannabinoids can settle, so the container is homogenised before subsampling.

Common submissions include: badder, batter, whipped BHO, and live badder.

Budder testing applies to concentrate whipped warmer and longer than badder, giving a denser, opaque, butter-like texture at roughly 70% to 90% THC. It is the same extract taken further through post-processing, and the additional heat is what matters for the result.

For budder submissions, important details include:

• Post-extraction whipping temperature and time
• Solvent used and residual purge conditions
• Whether nucleation was intentional
• Colour and opacity of the finished product
• Storage conditions since production

Extended heat drives potency up by volatilising terpenes, so the cannabinoid percentage rises as the aromatic fraction falls. It can also push THCA toward decarboxylation, which shifts the balance between THCA and active THC on the certificate — a distinction that matters for how the product is labelled.

Common submissions include: budder, whipped wax, cannabis butter concentrate, and live budder.

Caviar testing applies to whole cannabis buds coated in hash oil or concentrate, commonly reaching 50% THC or higher. It is a composite article rather than a single extract, which makes the way the sample is prepared central to whether the result is meaningful.

For caviar submissions, important details include:

• Base flower cultivar and grade
• Concentrate type used as the coating
• Approximate coating-to-flower ratio by weight
• Curing or drying time after coating
• Unit weight as sold

The concentrate on the outside is several times more potent than the bud beneath it, so a chip off the surface and a fragment from the core give completely different answers. Only whole-unit preparation produces a figure that reflects what the customer actually buys.

Common submissions include: caviar buds, oil-coated flower, and premium coated units.

Caviar pre-roll testing applies to finished units built with caviar or moon rock material inside a ground flower shell, reaching 50% to 90% THC or higher. Everything is sold as one unit, so the label claim has to describe the whole article.

For caviar pre-roll submissions, important details include:

• Total unit weight and core-to-shell ratio
• Concentrate and kief used in the core
• Shell material: flower, shake, or trim
• Paper, cone, and tip specification
• Units per production batch

These are the least uniform units in the catalogue. A potent core wrapped in ordinary flower means any partial sample misrepresents the product in one direction or the other, and unit-to-unit variation within a batch can be wide enough to matter on its own.

Common submissions include: caviar joints, moon rock pre-rolls, and premium infused units.

Crumble testing applies to concentrate purged at lower temperature over a longer period until it dries into a brittle, easily broken texture, typically 60% to 90% THC. Texture here is a direct record of how the purge was run.

For crumble submissions, important details include:

• Purge temperature and total duration
• Vacuum level maintained
• Starting material moisture content
• Solvent used in extraction
• Storage container and headspace

Extended low-temperature purging generally clears solvent well, and the dry structure gives it plenty of routes out. The trade-off is exposure: a high surface area also means terpenes evaporate and cannabinoids oxidise faster in storage than they would in a dense slab.

Common submissions include: crumble, honeycomb crumble, dry wax, and crumbled BHO.

Crystalline solid testing applies to a single cannabinoid purified to roughly 99% through chromatography and recrystallisation, with essentially everything else stripped out. Purity is the product, so purity is what the analysis has to establish.

For crystalline submissions, important details include:

• Target cannabinoid: THCA, CBD, CBG, or other
• Chromatography method used in purification
• Recrystallisation solvent
• Stated purity from in-process testing
• Intended use: formulation input or direct sale

At this concentration the interesting question is not how much of the target cannabinoid is present but what makes up the remaining fraction. Solvents from recrystallisation and trace cannabinoids that survived purification are both in scope, and the analysis runs near the top of the calibrated range where dilution has to be handled carefully.

Common submissions include: CBD isolate, THCA crystalline, CBG isolate, and purified cannabinoid powders.

Diamonds testing applies to THCA crystals grown out of a saturated extract solution, usually 90% to 100% THCA. Unlike a chromatography isolate, these form in-house from cannabis extract, so they carry whatever came through the extraction with them.

For diamonds submissions, important details include:

• Crystallisation method and time under pressure
• Whether diamonds are submitted alone or in sauce
• Solvent used in the original extraction
• Source material, particularly if fresh frozen
• Crystal size and total batch weight

THCA is not psychoactive until heat converts it to THC, so total THC is reported as a calculation rather than a direct measurement — and at this concentration the conversion factor moves the final figure substantially. Whether the sauce is included in the sample also changes the answer significantly.

Common submissions include: THCA diamonds, diamonds and sauce, crystalline THCA, and high-purity crystal lots.

Distillate testing applies to extract refined by fractional distillation into a clear, near-odourless oil at 80% to 95% THC. It is the workhorse ingredient behind cartridges, edibles, and tinctures, which means an error here propagates into everything built from it.

For distillate submissions, important details include:

• Number of distillation passes
• Target cannabinoid and any ratio formulation
• Whether terpenes were reintroduced after distillation
• Crude input source and extraction solvent
• Batch volume and intended downstream products

Distillation removes most of what is not cannabinoid, but it does not remove everything. Heavy metals and some pesticides carry through the process, and the high concentration means anything that survives is now more concentrated than it was in the crude.

Common submissions include: THC distillate, CBD distillate, ratio blends, and cartridge base stock.

Hard hash testing applies to trichome resin separated mechanically and compressed into a dense solid, running 20% to 60% THC or higher. Traditional production uses no solvent, which changes the panel but not the need for contaminant screening.

For hard hash submissions, important details include:

• Separation method: dry sift, hand rub, or ice water
• Pressing temperature and pressure
• Source material grade
• Colour, texture, and pliability
• Age since pressing

The wide potency range reflects how much non-trichome material made it into the press. Pressing also drives the material dense enough that sample preparation has to break it down properly — an incompletely dissolved subsample under-reports what the block actually contains.

Common submissions include: pressed hash, temple ball, dry sift hash, and traditional hashish.

Ice water hash testing applies to trichome heads separated by agitating cannabis in ice water and collecting the material across a series of mesh bags, typically 30% to 70% THC. Grade is defined by which screen the material was caught on.

For ice water hash submissions, important details include:

• Micron range the grade was collected at
• Source material: fresh frozen or dried
• Wash count and agitation time
• Drying method: freeze dried or air dried
• Residual moisture at submission

Residual moisture is the variable to watch. Hash that has not been fully dried carries water that both dilutes the potency figure and creates conditions for microbial growth — which is why freeze-dried material and air-dried material from the same wash can return noticeably different results.

Common submissions include: bubble hash, full melt, 6-star hash, and micron-graded lots.

Honeycomb testing applies to butane extract purged under conditions that leave an open, sponge-like structure, generally 60% to 90% THC. The pores are formed by solvent boiling off under vacuum, which ties the texture directly to the residual solvent question.

For honeycomb submissions, important details include:

• Vacuum pressure and purge duration
• Purge temperature profile
• Solvent blend used in extraction
• Slab thickness during purging
• Handling and storage since production

The structure cuts both ways. Open pores give solvent an easy escape route, but they can also seal at the surface and trap pockets underneath — so a single point sample is not enough. Testing draws from across the slab rather than one location.

Common submissions include: honeycomb wax, porous BHO, and vacuum-purged slabs.

Live resin testing applies to solvent extract made from flash-frozen cannabis rather than dried and cured flower, typically 60% to 90% THC. What justifies the premium is not potency but the terpene content preserved by never drying the input.

For live resin submissions, important details include:

• Time from harvest to freeze
• Whether the cold chain held through extraction
• Solvent used and extraction temperature
• Purge conditions after extraction
• Source cultivar and its terpene character

A terpene panel is what substantiates the “live” claim, and it is the test buyers actually care about here. Warm processing or a broken cold chain shows up as a flattened terpene profile — the concentrate can still be potent while having lost the quality it was made for.

Common submissions include: live resin, live badder, live sauce, and fresh frozen extracts.

Live rosin testing applies to extract pressed under heat and pressure from ice water hash made with fresh frozen material — no solvent at any stage, running 60% to 90% THC. It sits at the top of the solventless category and is priced accordingly.

For live rosin submissions, important details include:

• Micron grade of the hash pressed
• Press temperature and duration
• Whether the material was freeze dried before pressing
• Cold cure time after pressing
• Source cultivar and harvest batch

No solvent means no residual solvent test, but everything else on the panel still applies — contaminants present in the source flower press straight through and concentrate. Given what this product sells for, terpene analysis is also what documents the quality claim.

Common submissions include: live rosin, cold cure rosin, hash rosin, and full melt press lots.

Moon rock testing applies to cannabis buds coated in concentrate and then rolled in kief — three distinct materials in one unit, each with its own potency. Total THC frequently exceeds 50% and can go considerably higher depending on the build.

For moon rock submissions, important details include:

• Base bud cultivar and density
• Concentrate used as the adhesive layer
• Kief grade and coating thickness
• Drying time after assembly
• Unit weight and units per batch

Three layers mean three different potencies stacked in one article, and the kief shell sheds easily in handling. Both the sampling method and the condition the units arrive in affect the result, so units are prepared whole rather than sectioned.

Common submissions include: moon rocks, kief-coated buds, and triple-layer premium units.

Infused flower testing applies to dried bud treated with concentrate, kief, or terpenes to raise potency or shape a flavour profile, landing anywhere from 10% to 50% THC. The finished potency depends entirely on how much was added and how evenly.

For infused flower submissions, important details include:

• Base flower potency before infusion
• Infusion material and target uplift
• Application method: spray, coat, or tumble
• Whether terpenes are cannabis-derived or botanical
• Drying time before packaging

Application method determines whether the batch is consistent. Tumbling distributes more evenly than hand coating, but either way potency varies bud to bud far more than in untreated flower — which is why the sample has to be drawn across the batch rather than from a single unit.

Common submissions include: distillate-infused flower, terpene-enhanced buds, kief-dusted flower, and coated retail lots.

Infused pre-roll testing applies to finished units where concentrate, hash, or kief has been added to the fill, applied to the outside, or run through the core. Potency typically sits between 20% and 50% THC, well above a standard pre-roll.

For infused pre-roll submissions, important details include:

• Infusion type: hash, kief, distillate, or rosin
• Where the infusion sits: inside, outside, or as a core
• Unit weight and infusion weight per unit
• Base fill material
• Paper, cone, and tip specification

Placement changes how the unit has to be handled. A distillate core behaves differently from kief dusted on the outside, and external coatings transfer to packaging in transit. Testing works from the complete unit as it will be sold, packaging contact included.

Common submissions include: hash-infused pre-rolls, kief-coated joints, distillate-core units, and rosin-infused pre-rolls.

Shatter testing applies to concentrate purged without agitation so it sets into a translucent, glass-like slab, typically 70% to 90% THC. Leaving it undisturbed is what produces the clarity — and what makes the residual solvent question harder than it looks.

For shatter submissions, important details include:

• Solvent used and purge duration
• Vacuum level and temperature during purge
• Slab thickness
• Clarity and colour of the finished product
• Storage temperature since production

A dense slab has the lowest surface-area-to-volume ratio in the category, so solvent has the least available escape route and purging takes longer than the texture suggests. Shatter also destabilises over time — nucleation clouds the slab and shifts the crystal-to-amorphous balance without changing total potency.

Common submissions include: shatter, glass, stable slabs, and pull-and-snap concentrates.

Tarantula testing applies to pre-rolls wrapped in concentrate-infused paper and rolled in kief, producing the ridged exterior the format is named for. Potency spans 30% to 90% or higher depending on how heavily the unit is built.

For tarantula submissions, important details include:

• Concentrate applied to the wrap
• Kief grade and coating weight
• Base flower in the fill
• Total unit weight and units per batch
• Packaging and handling after assembly

Almost all the added potency sits on the outside of this product, where it is most exposed to handling loss. Material that transfers to packaging in transit is material the consumer never receives, so the condition of the unit on arrival is part of what the analysis reflects.

Common submissions include: tarantula joints, concentrate-wrapped pre-rolls, and kief-coated premium units.

Wax testing applies to solvent extract agitated after extraction until it turns opaque and takes on a soft, malleable consistency, usually 60% to 80% THC. It is the broadest label in the category and covers a range of textures between shatter and crumble.

For wax submissions, important details include:

• Solvent used in extraction
• Agitation method and timing
• Purge temperature and duration
• Source material grade
• Consistency: soft, firm, or sugared

Because “wax” describes texture rather than a defined process, two submissions under the same name can have been made quite differently. The opaque, agitated structure sits between shatter and crumble on solvent retention — better routes out than a slab, fewer than a dry crumble.

Common submissions include: wax, sugar wax, soft wax, and agitated BHO.

Vape cartridge testing applies to filled, finished hardware ready for retail, typically 70% to 90% THC. Unlike bulk oil, the article being tested includes the cartridge — and the cartridge contributes to the result.

For cartridge submissions, important details include:

• Oil formulation and any carriers or diluents
• Cartridge manufacturer and coil material
• Fill volume and units per batch
• Time between filling and submission
• Storage temperature since filling

Heavy metals are the reason cartridges are tested as assembled units. Lead and nickel can leach from coils and housings into the oil over time, so a cartridge that was clean at filling may not be weeks later. Testing filled hardware after a storage interval is what captures that.

Common submissions include: 510 cartridges, disposable vapes, pod systems, and filled retail units.