Responsible for nearly 24% of the share of all regulated cannabis sales across all regulated markets in the U.S., vaporizer cartridges and electronic vape devices are particularly popular among new consumers and younger users. Second only to Flower in cumulative nationwide sales totals, Vape Carts and Vape Pens offer a level of discretion, convenience, and dosage/effects control that more traditional forms of consumption do not. Here’s how you can pair terpenes with technology to optimize your cannabis experience.
When vape carts and vape pens first hit the scene, most were either filled with lackluster distillate that delivered a less than lackluster high, or some allowed users to load in their own hash or wax which, of course, became a customer service nightmare.
As cannabis vaporizer hardware has evolved, so too has the art of cannabis extraction and hash crafting making top shelf, terp heavy hash and user friendly, effective, and reliable vape carts, pods, batteries, and other associated hardware available to the masses in regulated markets across the country and around the world for the first time in human history.
In impressively large and organically growing numbers, new cannabis consumers, seasoned heads, and everyone in between are trying and liking today’s cannabis vaping experience. With this brief breakdown we think that we can help a few more people find their own path to cannabis bliss by familiarizing folks with this form of consumption.
Sourcing the Active Ingredient in Cannabis Vape Carts, Pods, Etc.
Most active and popular cannabis dispensaries will have a wide variety of pre-filled vape carts or pods on their menus, often featuring well-known farms or brands, or collaborations between the two.
In the prehistoric days of weed carts, the combination of the dissatisfying distillate often being marketed as 95%+ THC, along with the addition of all sorts of artificial flavors, was bad enough to negate the many benefits of vaping that millions of today’s cannabis consumers swear by.
Distillate carts still exist on many menus – hopefully in the lowest price bracket – but today’s weed vape aficionados are blessed with a terptastic selection of vape cart options like live rosin, live resin, diamonds, alternative cannabinoids, and more.
People who dab often tend to fall into one of three camps:
- Solventless hash only – ie. bubble hash, full melt, rosin, sift, etc
- Hydrocarbon hash only – ie. BHO, live resin, diamonds, etc
- Whatever, bro, just gimme a dab!
Knowing what you prefer to vaporize off of a properly heated quartz banger will almost certainly inform you of what type of concentrate or extract you’ll want to seek when shopping for pre-filled cannabis vape carts or pods.
Rather that relying on a logo or a THC total, some good questions to ask the budtender might be:
- What type of hash is in this cart? Is it Solventless?
- Does this product retain and express the full spectrum of flavor and effects as the flower it was created from?
- Are there any artificial flavors or other additives in this product?
- Does it come with a battery or other hardware? What brand? If not, what do I need to have?
- Is there a better value if I buy a full gram instead of a half gram? What do most of your customers seem to prefer?
Timely Innovation in Vape Cart, Pod, Battery, and Pen Technology is Changing Cannabis Culture
As mentioned earlier, primitive iterations of vape carts and vape pens were all too often ineffective and unreliable, built on cheap hardware by people who had no idea what the end use was or how to make it better.
In 2016, CCELL introduced the industry’s first ceramic heating element in a handheld electronic vaporizer, and along with other reputable brands in the space like iSpire and Puffco, have utilized variable voltage/temperature batteries and cannabis-centric cartridges and pods to take this form of consumption to the second most popular nationwide.
Dispensaries may offer a few different options for how your vape cart is presented and used.
- 510 Threaded Vape Cartridge – Still the most popular version of the vape cart, the nearly universal 510 style of threading makes the cartridges that feature it compatible with the widest variety of vape batteries. Usually available in half gram or full gram quantities.
- Vape Pod – Meant to pair specifically with a vape “pod” battery, this style is a bit more discreet than the now fairly distinguishable profile of a standard 510 cart. Ironically, tobacco companies like JUUL made this tech popular only to be driven into irrelevancy for marketing to the kiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiiids.
- All-in-One – These are, as the name implies, both a battery and a tank pre-filled with cannabis concentrate all in one unit. They don’t come apart. You don’t keep and re-use the battery. They’re just always ready to rip and are gaining in popularity due to their blend of simplicity and functionality.
Vape carts aren’t for everyone, but that number of “No Thanks”ers is dwindling nearly as fast as newly converted cannabis vaping fans are created. Luckily for those in the market for cannabis vaporizer tech and terps, we live in the renaissance era of such luxuries, so sip away, Shakespeare!.
As with all forms of cannabis consumption, find a brand you can trust – both farm/hash AND hardware/tech – that is sourcing active ingredients and putting out products that you can rely on and support them with your spending. By doing so, together we can build a better marketplace from the grassroots on up.
