How to Make Rosin Dabs in 4 Steps

I think you’ll agree with me when I say that the universe of cannabis concentrates seems like it’s constantly expanding.

It all started with hash, a particular cannabis product that is believed to be one of the first commercial extracts in the history. Its place of origin is an area where indica strains first came to existence, the Hindu Kush region on the Afghan-Pakistan border.

The traditional way of making hash goes something like this:

A person rubs flowers with his hands until there is plenty of resin sticking to his fingers. He then scrapes it off and forms a rubber-like material that is perfectly smokable and contains upwards of 30% THC.

After industrialization, we were able to introduce modern extraction methods into the mix.

Nowadays, there are tens of different cannabis extracts on the market: budder, wax, BHO, kief, oil and, of course, rosin.

Even though all of these products are made differently, the philosophy is still the same:

Extract the trichomes from female flowers.

Today, we are going to explore one of the few extracts that you can make at the convenience of your home and without any solvents whatsoever—rosin.

What is rosin?

Rosin is a name for a solid cannabis concentrate that is produced with just heat and pressure, without using any solvents.

It has recently gained a lot of popularity with medical and recreational users, as it is very easy to make at home.

The only things you need to make it are a heat source, weed and some parchment paper.

This technique, however, produces smaller amounts of concentrate, so if you’re looking for more sustainable ways to make concentrate in bigger batches, you’d be better off with Rick Simpson oil.

Here’s what you’ll need to make rosin at home:

• Cannabis flowers (the more weed you have, the bigger the yield in the end)
• 2” hair straightener (for melting resinous material from the buds)
• Parchment paper (resistant to grease and moisture)
• Oven glove (for pressing the hair straightener)
• Dab tool (also known as dab stick)

On to the guide:

1. Set the hair straightener to 220° Celsius (this is the best temp for rosin tech) and place it on a flat surface.
2. Fold a piece of parchment paper and put one bud in the middle.
3. Place the parchment with the bud in the hair straightener and press hard for 2-4 seconds.
4. Use your dab tool to scrape off the rosin from the parchment paper.
5. Repeat steps 3-4 to squeeze out every bit of resin from the buds.

How to calculate potential yield size when making rosin?

In my own experience, the best way to calculate the potential yield size when making rosin is to divide the weight of buds you have with 5.

For example:

30 gr of buds can get you about 6 gr of rosin.

10 gr of buds can get you about 2 gr of rosin.

And so on.

The technique I described above is often used for smaller yields and it can produce 0.2-1.0 gr of concentrate with 3-4 buds. More than enough to get you high if you ask me.

That being said, there are ways to make bigger batches using some very expensive rosin presses, which can cost as much as $10,000.

Now the only thing left to do is to grab your dab rig and smoke that rosin you just made.

Let me know if this worked for you in the comments below.