LifestyleStrains & products

7 Excellent NorCal Cannabis Extracts You’ve Got to Try

Published on August 22, 2018 · Last updated July 28, 2020

Find Some Excellent Extracts NearbyThroughout the summer, California producers have struggled with bottlenecks at testing laboratories, revamping packaging for child-resistance, and scaling up to provide steady supplies to retailers. But now there’s finally clean, tasty, and incredibly potent hashes and concentrates available that you’ve just got to try!

This round-up of seven amazing cannabis concentrates compliments our Great Cannabis Concentrates of Southern California, with most of these brands primarily found up north around San Francisco, San Jose, and Santa Cruz. Sample premium cold-water hashes along with the purest live resins, shatters, sauces, and diamonds made by extract artists at the top of their game.

Utopia

(Courtesy of Utopia)

Places to Find It:Caliva in San Jose, Santa Cruz Naturals in Aptos, Elemental Wellness in San Jose

All of the flowers used to make these connoisseur-quality extracts are sourced from Utopia’s own garden or from certified greenhouses and indoor farms in Santa Cruz and Mendocino counties. Each batch of C. Banana, Golden Lemons or Clementine extract is single-source, meaning product is never blended from different gardens or harvests. Utopia captures the unique flavor profile of each cannabis flower through their refined extraction methods, resulting in cannabinoid and terpene levels as high as 97% and 16% respectively. Look for their limited “Diamond Line” extracts, featuring big chunks of THC-rich diamonds in a flavorful terp sauce.

Beezle Extracts

(Courtesy of Beezle Extracts)

Places to Find It:Magnolia Wellness in Oakland, Berkeley Patients Group in Berkeley, Humboldt Patient Resource Center in Arcata

With a proven track record for producing award-winning cannabis products, Beezle continues to raise the bar for the industry with their super-premium “Black Label” product line. Going beyond their usual offerings of shatter, batter, budder, and sugar made from either live or cured resin, the Black Label distinguishes itself with enormous diamonds of THCA that can weigh up to two grams each, floating in a sauce of terpene-rich oils. Get ready for incredibly tasty dabs with mind-melting potency, featuring strains like Banana Fire OG, Creamsicle, and Bay 11.

710 Labs

(Courtesy of 710 Labs)


Places to Find It:
Bloom Room in San Francisco, Airfield Supply in San Jose, Left Coast Collective in San Diego

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Based in Colorado, 710 Labs recently established a presence in California, with products on the menu at many Bay Area dispensaries garnering rave reviews. Look for live rosin and “live badder,” a type of budder / batter blended to perfection. Expect to enjoy single source extracts that express a strain’s ratio of terpenes in a naturally concentrated proportion, preserving the essence of the flower as much as possible. Recently featured strains include Lemon Meringue, Gorilla Dosha, and East Coast Sour Diesel, made into tasty water hash, live resin, rosin, sauce and more for your dabbing pleasure.

Biscotti

(Courtesy of Biscotti)

Places to Find It: Magnolia Wellness in Oakland, Barbary Coast in San Francisco, Caliva in San Jose

An Italian cannabis brand flourishing in the U.S., the dedicated hashmakers behind Biscotti specialize in producing ice water hash made using age-old techniques. Their Resina bubble hash is a loose collection of trichomes, jarred in glass, and sealed with distinctive black wax. Biscotti also makes pressed hash called “biscottinis,” (like a little cookie), and a rosin called “Olio,” that’s their highest-potency offering, along with hash-infused pre-rolled joints.

Nasha

(Courtesy of Nasha)

Places to Find It:KindPeoples in Santa Cruz, Airfield Supply in San Jose, From the Earth in Port Hueneme

Producing cold-water hash in the traditional style, the founder of Nasha spent time living in the Indian Himalayas to learn about ancient extraction techniques as well as the culture surrounding hashish. This type of hash is sometimes called “solventless,” meaning that no petrochemical solvents such as butane were used in its production. It’s just ice and water agitated along with flowers to separate the THC-rich trichomes away from the cannabis plant. Look for Nasha’s temple balls, an old-school form of hash that’s been formed into a resinous, shining ball—somewhat of a rarity in a modern marketplace crowded with new innovations.

Terp Preservation Society

(Courtesy of Terp Preservation Society)

Places to Find It:The Heart of Humboldt in Arcata, Satori Wellness in McKinleyville, Kind Courier in San Francisco, Barbary Coast in San Francisco

Straight outta Humboldt, the amazing flavors of extracts from Terp Preservation Society made it worth the extra effort to track down these products. Using unique local strains including Sour Epoxy, Mendo Breath, and Harry’s Wonder to create sauce, diamonds, and live resin, this brand has successfully transitioned into compliance and is back on shelves in the Emerald Triangle and Bay Area.

Loudpack

(Courtesy of Loudpack)

Places to Find It: KindPeoples in Santa Cruz, Harborside in Oakland, Santa Cruz Mountain Herb in Santa Cruz

An all-star team of growers and extractors works behind the scenes at Loudpack, which uses award-winning cannabis strains from DNA Genetics and Crockett Family Farms to create their line of live resin and sauce. After a recent, devastating fire at their greenhouse in Monterey County, Loudpack has recovered and is getting back to producing quality extracts, flowers, and pre-rolls for Cali connoisseurs. Look for Larry OG live resin in stores now, along with Strawberry Banana, Gelato, and Pacific Frost extracts.

If you’re new to consuming cannabis, start with very small amounts of extracts, since these products are much stronger than flowers. Follow our step-by-step guide to dabbing if you’ve never tried extracts before, and learn more about the different types and textures of these sticky, golden globs of terpenes and cannabinoids. Check out gadgets that can make dabbing a lot easier, and invest in a good device designed for ingesting these precious concentrates most efficiently.

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Elise McDonough
Elise McDonough
Elise McDonough is a cannabis edibles expert and author of the Bong Appétit cookbook and The Official High Times Cannabis Cookbook, and Leafly's Product Specialist for Northern California. A veteran of the cannabis industry since 2002, McDonough has sampled over 500 edibles as a judge for the Cannabis Cup.
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