Recently, there has been an explosion of experimentation in the weed concentrate industry. Professional canna-chemists are creating dozens of novel concentrate consistencies to satiate dabbers’ demands. Besides old-school hash, cannabis fans can pick up high-potency concentrates that mimic everything from sauce to hard candies. Arguably, the three most discussed (and confused) cannabis concentrates include shatter vs wax vs crumble.

While shatter, wax, and crumble aren’t the same, they aren’t as distinct as many tokers believe. Each of these concentrates may have a different texture, but customers shouldn’t rely on this feature when deciding which product to buy.

shatter wax crumble

Shatter

Alternatively known as “pull and snap” or “taffy,” this butane-extracted concentrate has the glossy, stiff texture of quickly cooled molten glass, hence the clever moniker. While other concentrates are defined by the agitation they sustain during extraction, shatter is distinguished not by agitation, but rather how it’s cooled. It involves a lengthy purge, heat, cool, repeat process (of at least 48 hours) that transforms the sticky resinous oil into the brittle dab we know and love.

Wax/Budder

Alternatively referred to as badder, batter or crumble, the creamy, moldable textures of wax and budder are the result of a whipping process that incorporates air while evaporating residual solvent. An aggressive whipping will result in a drier, more crumbly wax, while an abbreviated, less intensive whip will result in a creamy budder. Waxes and budders can have percentages, perfumes, and flavor profiles identical to shatter or oil, meaning the only significant difference is their malleable texture.

Alternatively known as “pie crust” and occasionally crumble, honeycomb has an aerated texture reminiscent of an actual beehive. Creating honeycomb requires a complex series of post-extraction actions; the raw, freshly extracted slurry is gathered, spread out onto parchment paper, vacuum purged, and then pressed to promote nucleation. To save you a Google trip, nucleation happens when matter enters a new thermodynamic phase and rearranges its structure. In this case, it’s the press that impels the extract to reorganize itself in the familiar honeycomb formation.