THE ORIGIN OF "SOLVENTLESS"
In 2010/2011, Paul Tokin of TokinDaily came to my home to sample what I was making. I was producing ice-water hash, and after controlling a lot of variables, batches started coming out golden, oily, and melty, unlike anything the market had a word for at the time. Butane Honey Oil (BHO) was taking over, and I needed a way to show people this was something different.
Paul saw it right away. He shot macro photographs of the work, including his February 2011 shot of "Pre-98 Bubba" hash, some of the earliest documentation of it. In our conversations, the idea took shape: if one product was defined by solvents, this one was defined by their absence. I came up with "Solventless Wax," as butane “earwax” was a popular term at the time and with it Paul helped with "SHO," Solventless Hash Oil. Paul's eye, his camera, and his reach helped carry the word out to the world. Soon there after the term Solventless became the umbrella for anything created mechanically without the use of chemical solvents.
At first, I had a lot of naysayers, haters and self proclaimed “scientists” saying water is a solvent. And to that I responded with the explanation that water is the universal solvent, however the way in which we use it is merely a vessel to carry the hydrophobic mechanically separated Trichome heads to their destination with a goal being not to lose anything to the water.
From a few of us sharing dabs and photos, the word spread through menus, vendors, and consumers until it became a household term adopted throughout the world!
Today, "solventless" is moving through the ASTM standards process, so a word born in conversation is on its way to becoming part of the industry's official language.
