The Oxford Dictionary now recognizes one of the most popular forms of cannabis consumption and defines dabbing as follows:
dab·bing
/ˈdabiNG/
noun
- 1. the action or practice of inhaling small quantities of a concentrated and vaporized drug, typically cannabis oil or resin
Cannabis connoisseurs like you have been blazing weed in pipes and bong-like vessels for at least 3,000 years, and while the skill level of glass artists has never been higher than today, there is not a whole lot of functional difference between current heady weed pipes and ancient reefer-roasting relics.
Dabbing cannabis concentrates, on the other hand, is an act that has evolved rapidly in the past 15 years. From the days of glowing hot titanium nails and glass domes to today’s mindblowing array of dabbing devices and electronic options, the way that people dab has seen more change in a decade than smoking weed has seen in millenia.
But whether you are timing the temperature on your quartz banger or setting the timer on your PuffCo or other electronic dabbing device, there are some common Do’s and Don’ts that can help you optimize your dabbing experience.
A Connoisseur’s Guide to Dabbing Cannabis Concentrates and Extracts
It doesn’t matter if you are dabbing live rosin, cured resin, full melt bubble hash, THC diamonds, or any other popular form of cannabis concentrates, these 10 Do’s and Don’ts can be useful for those new to dabbing as well as experienced terp hunters.
DABBING DO’S
- Make sure you have a good set and setting. This should include a place to sit your ass down when/if necessary – it is not uncommon for folks to get light headed during or after a fat dab. This also includes being safe with your consumption, especially in public. The proliferance of handheld electronic dabbing vaporizers have emboldened many of us to do a dab wherever we damn well please. Well, please be careful, buds.
- Stay fed and hydrated. In this case, beer doesn’t count. A source of water is highly recommended to not only help quiet a coughing fit, or soothe an inflamed throat, but to just help keep you more alert. We are supposedly made of 60% water (plus like 20% terps, 15% carne asada, 5% bones and whatnot), so it’s only natural to chug some while dabbing.
- Know what you are dabbing! Especially if you are newer to dabbing cannabis concentrates, ask how the product was extracted. If it sounds weird, pass. Everything from the strain(s) used to craft the concentrate, to the process used to extract the cannabinoids and terpenes, to the temperature and type of device used to deliver the vaporized form of the concentrate to the consumer’s endocannabinoid system will influence how that dab affects the person who takes it.
- Be mindful of the pros and cons of dabbing cannabis concentrates at lower temperatures versus doing dabs at higher temperatures. There are many nuanced differences but, simply speaking, lower temp dabbing tends to deliver more flavor but with the potential for slightly muted effects and less volume on the vapor cloud per hit. Higher temperature dabbing creates huge clouds and – in many cases – a faster onset of effects, sacrificing some terpenes (flavor) in the process.
- Do try to keep dabbing cannabis concentrates as just one form of your cannabis consumption. If your health allows, try to leave room for other ways to consume, be it edibles, topicals, etc. We think that the optimal cannabis experience involves the full spectrum of cannabis consumption methods.
DABBING DON’TS
- Don’t take the first dab of your life while standing up. Just don’t.
- If you are new to hitting a glass dab rig but you have hit a bong a billion times, DON’T try to “clear” the tube by grabbing anything anywhere near the “bowl” which in this case will be a searing hot quartz banger or e-nail coil.
- Don’t feel bad insisting on smaller dabs, regardles of your experience level with weed in general. Also, don’t feel like you have to go back in for that second or third “dab” after the first one destroys you. A lot of heads will pressure people to keep hitting that twice or thrice burnt cannabis concentrate and more often than not those follow-up tokes taste like booty. One and done is a viable strat, fam.
- Don’t forget to clean the chamber of whatever device you used to do your dab. Whether it was out of a PuffCo Peak or a crazy quartz terp tower, a thorough wiping with a clean Q-Tip is necessary after each.and.every.hit when dabbing cannabis concentrates.
- Don’t dab distillate. Again, just don’t.
The Bottom Line on Dabbing Cannabis Concentrates
It has been fascinating to follow the dabbing trend blast off over the past decade and a half.
From turkey basters full of butane to 20’x40’ booths at MJBizCon, it’s hard to know if we are approaching the technological singularity of hash extraction and dabbing cannabis concentrates, or if we’ll still be torching bangers in the year 5024.
Holy smokes that last dab got me baked!
