What Is 710 Day and Why Is It Celebrated?

Nearly all of us giggle a little inside when we see 420.  Whether it’s the exit on the highway or your order number for lunch, there is an internal association we all share with one another.   

Another number is eliciting the same feeling for medical and recreational marijuana users – 710.   

While 420 has its ties to cannabis in the flower form, 710 is it’s concentrate cousin. In the image above, you can see that when 710 is inverted, it reads OIL. The legal medical and recreational markets nationwide have allowed patients to explore the concentrated forms of cannabis, and 710 or Dab Day is a dedicated date to the macrodose.    

When Did 710 Day Become A Thing?

At this point, there is a fair amount of evidence that the Waldos of Marin County were the origin of 420.  While that may or may not be true, there is no clear “founder” of 710 Day. Some theories include:  

• Frequent asks at mechanic shops what the “710” cap is for – OIL, upside down, reads 710   
• The Grateful Dead, a band known for its marijuana use and connection to the Waldos, resided at 710 Ashbury Street in San Francisco – a stretch, but with 420’s connection to the band, not outlandish  

Regardless of its origins, 710 Day is truly engrained in cannabis culture. Celebrations like OIL Day and 420, with their vague origins and new meanings, have made patients feel more comfortable speaking about cannabis and its benefits.  

Celebrating 710 requires a deep appreciation of not only concentrates and macrodosing, but of the art of concentrate making.  

What Are Cannabis Concentrates?  

Concentrates, or the extracted resins from the cannabis plant, can be found in many forms.  Like a craft brewery or immemorial vineyard, master growers and extractors manipulate environmental factors and tinker with variables to enhance desirable attributes.    

As with all other marijuana products, concentrates begin as flower. The most desirable compounds, such as cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, are extracted from the plant. This extraction process quite literally concentrates the cannabinoids, lending the name. It’s extremely important to note that dosing concentrates is considered a macrodose, as the dose is high in cannabinoid content compared to other pathways. For example, flower offers approximately 3-6mg per inhalation, whereas concentrates offer 25mg per grain of rice-sized piece.  

How Are Concentrates Made?

 

Extraction can be conducted in one of two ways: solvent-free or solventless.  

Solvent-free concentrates are the most prevalent in the marijuana space. Solvent-free concentrates are extracted using by using a solvent, or a liquid that can dissolve other matter – commonly butane, CO2, or ethanol. The extracted cannabinoids, terpenes, and more, take the form of a thick, viscous crude extract. This crude extract can be manipulated in a host of ways to allow for different textures to medicate with. No matter the end form, concentrates go through a purge process that removes the residual solvent, thereby rendering the concentrate solvent-free.    

Solventless concentrates, on the other hand, are crafted without the use of a solvent. This is achieved by collecting trichomes, or the little mushroom-shaped hairs that cover the marijuana plant where cannabinoids and terpenes are produced. After collecting trichomes, heat and pressure are applied to express the beneficial cannabis compounds in an oil that solidifies into a solventless concentrate.   

Live Concentrates  

Although most plants will be dried and cured at harvest to then be sent to extraction, some fall to a more selective fate:   

At the point of harvest, plants are flash-frozen to temperatures around -200℉.  Like frozen vegetables at the supermarket, freezing the cannabis plant close to harvest helps preserve the cannabinoids and terpenes, as well as other parts from degrading. This is where the term “live” comes from – by flash-freezing the flower, essentially you preserve the plant’s living terpene profile. 

After the freeze, the plant resins are extracted in a similar fashion to dried and cured plants, but their end products will be marked with the label “Live” or “Liquid Live.”  Products made from frozen, live plant material will often have brighter smells and flavors than cured, and with significantly more terpenes – a very true-to-flower experience.   

For experienced patients and connoisseurs, product profiles that have significant terpene content can hold more allure, much like a single barrel scotch would for the right pallet, as these terpenes provide the scent, flavor profile, and strain-specific effects of cannabis. For newer patients, high terpene contents can be mildly irritating or “tickly” and may result in coughing or mild irritation of the airways.   

Not only does the live process retain more terpenes through extraction, it also affects which terpenes are present. When terpenes are exposed to oxygen, chemical reactions take place.  The oxygenation of monoterpenes breaks them down. The release of these monoterpenes (volatile top notes) is part of why cannabis can be so pungent, but it also leaves isoprene units behind which bond with the existing monoterpenes. This is how the sesquiterpene (heavier more blended earthy/woody smells) levels are increased after the curing phase. Because this chemical reaction is “paused” live resin extracts contain more of the volatile terpenes that normally would not be present in a cured concentrate or flower.  

With the variety of concentrates available, 710 Day celebrations are more exciting than ever. And, the best way to celebrate? By dabbing your favorite texture.

Dabbing: How To Medicate With Concentrates 

Concentrates have very little plant matter content, if any at all. While some vaporizers are capable of vaporizing concentrate, there are tools designed exclusively for concentrates: dab pens and dab rigs.   

With concentrate pens, the “dab” would be applied near or carefully on the coil.  After re-attaching the mouthpiece, it is ready to vaporize. Hold down the button to apply heat directly to the concentrate.  Each handheld vaporizer will take a little getting used to, as they all have different components and will heat up at different rates.   

The terms “nail” and “rig” refer to the heatable surface and water pipe respectively.  Nails are made from titanium, ceramic, or quartz and come in a variety of styles. We will explore these in detail in a future post.  The nail is either manually heated with a blowtorch and allowed to cool to an appropriate temperature or kept at an ideal temperature via a heated metal coil, also called an e-nail.     

Once the nail is properly heated, the dab tool with concentrate would be applied to the hot surface.  It is moved around to heat the concentrate as evenly as possible and promote smooth vapor production.  A dab is usually inhaled over 2-5 pulls depending on how hot the nail was.   

Usually a dab tool, which looks similar to a dentist’s pick or a clay carving tool, is used to pick up and apply the concentrate. These can be made from glass, titanium, stainless steel or ceramic.  

Carb caps are an accessory that are used to control the direction of the airflow to the nail, as well as maintain the temperature of the nail longer.  Having control over these two factors allows someone to dab at a lower temperature without wasting their product, in turn leading to a more flavorful and enjoyable experience. Also, the lower temperature can reduce the irritation sometimes experienced when dabbing. High temp dabs typically provide larger vapor clouds on exhale, whereas low temp dabs provide significant flavor and less vapor.  

A Comparison Of Marijuana Concentrates    

With cannabis concentrates, the biggest differentiator is texture. The most common forms to consider for 710 Day include:

Budder, Crumble, Wax   

• A solvent-free concentrate
• Typically extracted with butane, propane, or ethanol   
• Physically agitated instead of heat purged leads to high terpene content and homogenous texture   
• Difference in textures depends on process and starting materials   
• Can be made from cured or live raw flower     

Shatter  

• A solvent-free concentrate
• Typically extracted with butane, propane, or ethanol   
• Purged with heat and pressure to create the signature brittle translucent shatter look   
• Typically made from cured material for stability   

Sugar And Sauce  

• A solvent-free concentrate
• Typically extracted with butane, propane, or ethanol  
• Allowed to naturally purge under its own sealed atmospheric pressure which allows the THCa and CBDa to crystallize and separate from the terpenes (mostly)   
• The only difference between sugar and sauce is the ratio of crystallized cannabinoid to terpene + cannabinoid liquid   
• Almost exclusively made from flash frozen material for live processing   

Crystalline   

• A solvent-free concentrate
• Similar to the sauce and sugar processing method, the difference being crystalline is 99% cannabinoids with no terpenes (the crystals are separated from the sauce)   
• Without terpenes to “guide” the product, THC crystalline from one strain is practically identical to crystalline from another strain  
• Can be used to increase the potency of other concentrates   
• Perfect for a THC only application, however lacks the ensemble effect     

Rosin

• A solventless concentrate
• Crafted by collecting trichomes, then applying heat and pressure to them
• Can be created using live or dried and cured flower

Distillate    

• A solvent-free concentrate
• Using heat, cannabis flower or concentrate is vaporized then re-condensed.  This removes even more of the plant material while activating the cannabinoids.   
• Very high cannabinoid content, low terpene content unless reintroduced   
• Less variance of cannabinoids and terpenes than live resin   
• Low terpene content means less irritation upon inhalation   

CO2 Oil   

• A solvent-free concentrate
• CO2 extracts a wide range of cannabinoids and a narrow range of terpenes resulting in higher CBG, THCv, CBN and lower terpene content  
• Less irritating vapor to sensitive users   
• Usually activated cannabinoids due to high pressure extraction   
• High pressure extraction can obliterate contaminants   

RSO    

• Produced with ethanol to break down all cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids   
• Typically eaten or applied topically   
• Due to high plant material content it is not recommended for vaporization   
• Widest range of all therapeutic molecules cannabis has to offer   

What is 710 Day? The Newest Way To Celebrate Cannabis  

710 is more than just a subculture of 420. It is a celebration of a wonderful blend of chemistry and craft, a new depth that aficionados and connoisseurs can enjoy and explore. With a plant that promotes a spirit of unity, perhaps it is best we appreciate all forms of cannabis.   

Next time you’re opening a concentrate, inhale the luscious aroma and take a moment to appreciate all the hard work that went into nurturing that plant through its life and then carefully and meticulously extracting it. For the same reason home-cooked meals nourish more than just our body, when humans put love into something, the end result yields something magnificent.