Beyond Buds, Next Generation: Marijuana Concentrates and Cannabis Infusions by Ed Rosenthal and Greg Zeman
Every once in a while a book comes along that makes me want to try concentrates. I’m still not sure about infusions though. But I am sure that given the new-found legality of cannabis in many states, there will be people who experiment with our favorite plant in ways that have not been thought of before now. For whatever reason, the cannabis plant can be morphed into new substances that can take us down the road to high.
Both authors are well known and respected in the cannabis industry and both Mr. Rosenthal and Mr Zeman have written several books before about the same thing. They have also written books about cultivation and other cannabis topics of interest. This could be called a reboot of the last version of this book, which was published in 2015. 2015 was a different era for legal cannabis and extracts, so you could think of this as a new edition…or just a new book. In the wine world, Hugh Johnson’s (and now Jancis Robinson too!) has been published since the 1971, so you can’t fault the authors for the continued publication of this book.
Concentrates Explained
This book got me chomping at the bit to try some of the concentrates that are described in it. I’m not ready to dab, mostly because it’s just too complex to operate. I’m generally not a concentrate guy. Extracts and concentrates can be very confusing. They certainly are for me. The best parts of cannabis flower can be explained and understood easily. But when it comes to concentrates and extracts, there’s a bit of the mad chemist in them. If it’s an extract, how were the THC and other good parts of the plant (think terpenes, and lots of other elements besides THC) extracted? Alcohol? Butane? CO2? Water? Ice water? This book will explain it all to you in a way that you can understand. There is a ton of information in this book.
Which is the Best?
I’m generally not a concentrate person. I usually don’t really know where they’re from and how they were made. I like flower and its components. Flower is something tangible. I know where it came from. I can see it. I can see how’s it’s trimmed and I can see what it looks like. Not so for concentrates. I’m depending on the label and Flower is something I can smell and hold in my hand and understand. When I see a concentrate, I always wonder what it is. I don’t smoke vape pens because I don’t know where the oil came from. Was it cut with something that I don’t know?
Last year there was the big vape scandal. Never mind that it was mostly product from black market producers, it was scary and several states had dispensaries pull their vape products off their shelves. Not a good scene.
There is one concentrate company that I know and I know where the product comes from and how it was made. Water seems to bee the best way to extract the ‘good stuff’ from flower. It’s difficult to do, but the results can be outstanding.
Conclusion & Caveat
There is one disconcerting issue in this book. There seem to be many advertisements for products. I’ll leave it at that, but somehow there shouldn’t be advertising or the appearance of advertising. We live in a different world now with these kinds of emoluments, but shouldn’t there be a way to tell there are ads?
Overall, this book is a great addition to any cannabis library and to anyone who wants to know and understand concentrates and how they’re made and all the different varieties of concentrated cannabis.
