- Local
- Community
- Journalism
Support the independent voice of Denver and help keep the future of Westword free.
Dear Stoner: Why is distillate so cheap now? I read an article about it from a couple of years ago, and it was $80 to $90 a gram. Now I can get a vaporizer cartridge for $20.
High Fun
Dear Fun: Crazy how the industry changes, isn’t it? I remember when wax started to gain steam around 2010; it was about $75 a gram then, and you can get it for $15 at some pot shops now. But distillate, a purified form of concentrates like wax, doesn't have the same yield, so what gives?
While distillate is indeed more expensive to make than wax, declining wholesale flower prices since 2016 have played a huge role in getting cheaper concentrates on the market. Technology is also improving, with new molecular-distillation machines seeing around a 75 percent return of the original concentrate, according to extraction equipment company Lab Society. Finally, distillate isn't the new, hot item that it once was. THCA crystal mixtures and live resin sauce have the same potency levels and a better flavor profile than distillate, which loses all terpenes during the purification process, requiring them to be reintroduced.
Send questions to marijuana@westword.com.
Keep Westword Free... Since we started Westword, it has been defined as the free, independent voice of Denver, and we would like to keep it that way. Offering our readers free access to incisive coverage of local news, food and culture. Producing stories on everything from political scandals to the hottest new bands, with gutsy reporting, stylish writing, and staffers who've won everything from the Society of Professional Journalists' Sigma Delta Chi feature-writing award to the Casey Medal for Meritorious Journalism. But with local journalism's existence under siege and advertising revenue setbacks having a larger impact, it is important now more than ever for us to rally support behind funding our local journalism. You can help by participating in our "I Support" membership program, allowing us to keep covering Denver with no paywalls.
