Whether you’re enjoying an edible, an oil, a capsule, or a dab, you are actually consuming a cannabis extract. The ability to infuse cannabis extracts into other products makes them convenient and a common ingredient in many products, including ours.

Depending on the kind of extract you are trying to produce, there are several different methods to make it. Some methods use chemicals or solvents, and others are solvent-free. The extraction process can influence aspects like purity and cleanliness of the final product.

As part of our mission to support wellness through all-natural ingredients, we want to empower our customers to make informed choices about the products they use. That’s why we’d like to take a few minutes to talk about cannabis extraction and how it can impact the quality of your products.

Solvent-based Extraction vs Solventless Extraction

All cannabis extraction methods can be grouped into two categories: solvent-based extraction techniques and solventless extraction techniques.

Solvent-based extraction techniques use solvents such as butane to separate specific components from the cannabis plant material. A solvent removes trichomes and various cannabinoids and terpenes from the bud into a single mixture. Afterward, a heating process purges the solvent from the mixture, leaving behind the cannabis extract.

By comparison, solventless extraction techniques achieve a similar product without the use of chemicals or solvents. Rosin is an example of a solventless process. Made by placing cannabis buds or hashish into a rosin press (a machine similar to a hydraulic press), the press uses only pressure and heat to squeeze the extract out of the plant material. Because solventless extraction techniques do not use solvents or chemicals, the final products are free from added extraction agents.

Why Does it Matter How Cannabis is Extracted?

Why does any of this matter? For us, product quality is an important consideration when it comes to cannabis products. We want to provide our customers with information to help them make confident choices about the products they use.

For those who care about the cleanliness and purity of their cannabis, extracts made through solventless oil extraction processes are appealing to people who wish to avoid products that may contain trace amounts of chemicals.

In theory, the purging process used in solvent-based extraction methods should remove solvents from the final product. However, the process may present opportunities for error, and traces of solvents can sometimes remain if not purged correctly or for a long enough period of time.

As a result, many people prefer extracts made through solventless methods. Due to the federal status of cannabis, there is limited research on this topic. To bring you the highest quality products possible, we prefer to avoid these additives whenever possible.

Lab Results

Ultimately, regardless of the extraction process, cleanliness and purity are the goal. The best way to ensure that an extract is clean is through lab testing.

At Papa & Barkley, we stand behind the quality of our products. That’s why we’re always willing to provide our customers with a copy of our lab testing results. Find our analysis on any of our products via our certificate of analysis page. If you don’t see the certificate you’re looking for listed, just send a message to our customer service department and we’ll be sure to help you out.

Clean Cannabis Extracts

At P&B, we make all products using our proprietary whole-plant solventless infusion process. We avoid the need for solvent-based extraction by soaking sun-grown cannabis flowers in an oil base. This allows us to skip the use of certain extraction processes and provide our customers with some of the cleanest plant-based products possible. Our extracts are full-spectrum—meaning you get the full plant profile, not just a fraction of it.

Clean extracts mean clean products. If you’re looking for cannabis products with verified purity, check out our shop for a wide selection of premium CBD products including capsules, oils/tinctures, topicals, and more. Have a question about our process or our products? Don’t hesitate to reach out, we’re always happy to chat with our customers!