I've recently created more than my fair share of threads on Reddit asking for recommendations on where to buy the most potent shatter. Most of the time, half the replies I get are from people telling me that shatter isn't worth it and to try X instead. The X varies from one suggestion to another. I've had people suggest live resin, rosin, distillates and FSEs. So, I'm creating this thread to get guidance from people with experience with concentrates. For one thing, it'll be easier to keep track and for another, it'll be easier to see when people are contradicting one another. So far, I've read that live resin was more potent than shatter in one thread, but read the exact opposite in another. Google seems to indicate that there's no significant difference between concentrates when it comes to potency, but people on Reddit are pretty passionate about telling me otherwise.
Important criteria:
- Potency, potency, potency. I've only had Blood Diamond OG shatter from CannaWholesalers before and what I liked about it is that it got me higher than I'd gotten in decades from being a heavy bud smoker. I'm chasing that dragon, right there.
- Bulk. More precisely, small bulk. I'm looking for 14g of... well, whatever it is. Or the equivalent of 14g, if it's not measured in grams.
- Cost. This is not as important at potency, but I'll be buying a QP of buds soon and would prefer not to spend a fortune on concentrates on top of that. Ideally, I'd like to get the most bang for my buck for preferably less than 400 bucks.
- Can be used in a Yocan Evolve Plus. Yes, I know the YEP has a pretty bad reputation around here, but I just bought one recently to try shatter for the first time and I don't want to have a fight with my wife about all the money I'm spending. While I'm open to buying something else in the future, I need to get more mileage out of my YEP first. I've had distillates suggested to me, but I haven't really done my homework on them yet and I don't quite know how to use them. As far as I can see, those wouldn't work in my YEP.
Options presented to me (along with what I found on my own) so far:
- Buy 14g of shatter from King Tuts, along with 3.5 grams of rosin. Between their low costs and the discount for first purchase, this would take me comfortably within my 400 bucks and would get me the most quantity for the price. I'm a bit concerned with the potency part, however.
- I'm waiting for an email response from High Voltage Extracts about whether they would be willing to sell me 14g. Their website and FAQ say there's a one ounce minimum, but someone suggested that I email them. So, that's done. I've only read good things about their quality, but I'd obviously be sacrificing quantity compared to the option above. Potency is more important to me than anything else, so if there's really a significant difference between what I'd get here and the first option, I'd be perfectly happy to make that sacrifice.
- 14g of Black Label shatter from SweetLeaf. While they're not getting a lot of great reviews around here, their mix & match system is the best one out there. Basically, they're still in the mix because I like the way their website works and because they do have a handful of people who say that they're really good.
- 14g of live resin from SweetLeaf. This takes me pretty close to my 400 bucks. I haven't really read much about their live resin, but I figure some people here can tell me more. They also offer mix & match, but they only have two kinds and one gets significantly better reviews than the other.
- 10g sampler of raw resin from Hystar. For 320, this is "pound for pound" a more expensive option, but Hystar seem to have a good reputation. The thing is, I don't know what raw resin is, as opposed to live resin.
- Stick to what I know: Order 14g of Blood Diamond OG shatter from Cannawholesalers and call it a day. It did the job the last time around.
- 14g of Antimatter Shatter - Extreme from BlueMoonCannabis. At 378 (after the first purchase discount code), this is one of the costlier shatter options out there, but a Redditor showed me pics of it and it looked absolutely amazing. He's made some pretty good arguments for it. The problem is, I wish there were a few other people also singing its praises. It's hard to pull the trigger based on a lone recommendation, even if it's a really compelling one.
- Buy distillate cartridges from DistillatesDirect. While this reportedly meets my potency criterion, it can't be used with my YEP. Furthermore, I don't know the first thing about how to use it, proper dosage to get the most out of it and so on.
I've also had some suggestions to get concentrates, regardless of type, from InstaMOMs like CE or OKG. I've also had a couple of glowing recommendations for Grass Chiefs' shatter, but their registration system is coming just short of asking me for my blood type and a semen sample. It's pretty damned intrusive.
There were other suggestions, but off the top of my head, those are the ones I remember most.
So, assuming some of you are still reading, do you have words of wisdom? Do you have a suggestion among the options I listed? Do you have a suggestion outside of those options? Something else?
Thank you. Sorry about the novel.