Using a dab rig is one of the most popular methods of consuming concentrates.
To use a dab rig, you simply heat up the banger, drop your concentrate into it, and it will immediately start vaporizing the concentrate
This method is best for taking larger dabs as you can choose how much you want to dose as long as it fits in the banger!
While rigs are the best method for larger dabs, they are still suitable for smaller dabs as well.
Nectar Collectors are great for stoners on a budget!
Nectar collectors are designed to be portable and easy to use. They usually have a glass or metal tip connected to a tube and many can be taken apart for easy portability.
The preparation for a nectar collector is very similar to a dab rig, but instead of heating up the banger, you simply heat the tip of the nectar collector.
One of the main benefits of a nectar collector is the ability to be exact on how much you dose, whether the dab is large or small.
With a rig, you have to dose by separating the dose from the concentrate. With a nectar collector, you simply hold the hot end of the nectar collector against the concentrate and hold it there until you feel like you have taken a big enough hit. This allows you to be a lot more exact with how much you use with smaller doses.
E-Nails and E-Pens are electronic versions of bangers and nectar collectors. Unlike their non-electronic counterparts, these products do not need to be heated with a torch to be able to be used!
To use these devices, you simply turn it on, set the temperature exactly where you like, and when the device reaches the temperature, it is ready to be used.
This allows you to be exact with what temperature you like to dab!
E-Pens are extremely useful in their portability since all you need to dab is the pen. In the same fashion as a nectar collector, you simply touch the end of the pen to the concentrate and it will start to vaporize. With a nectar collector, you would have to be carrying around a torch as well to heat it.
If you want to be perfectly exact with the temperature you are dabbing with, these would be the best option for you!
A popular way to raise the potency of flower is to add some concentrates!
There are multiple ways to add concentrate to flower, depending on the method of consuming the flower. The majority of people will either use a joint or a bowl to smoke flower with concentrates.
Joint- There are multiple methods to infuse a joint. You can put the concentrate on the outside of the joint by spreading it on the joint or rolling the joint around in concentrate. You can also put the concentrate on the inside of the joint, either by mixing the concentrate directly with the flower or putting a strip of concentrate down the middle of the joint while rolling it.
Bowl- The best way to infuse wax into a bowl would be to put a layer of flower at the bottom of the bowl, put a layer of concentrate next, and then add another layer of flower on the top. This sandwiches the concentrate between the flower layers and will melt the concentrate into the bottom layer after the first few hits. Other methods you can use with a bowl would be to either infuse the flower or put the concentrate on the very top of the bowl and torch it to melt the concentrate across all of the flower.
Vaporizing- If you own a dry herb vaporizer, you can add concentrate when you add your flower! The best method would be to sandwich the concentrate in between two layers of flower like you would with a bowl. You would want to be careful on how much you add, as you wouldn’t want the concentrate to drip past the flower into the mechanics of the vape.
Shatter is the most solid form of concentrate. It usually comes in a flat glass-like consistency and has two varieties to choose from. You can either use a brittle shatter that will break immediately and is easy to dose into a banger or a pull and snap shatter that is more stretchy and is better for laying into the middle of (or around the outside of) a joint.
Budder and Badder are very similar consistencies. The main difference is that badder is whipped longer to give it a saucier consistency, while budder is more solid and more of a foamy consistency. Both consistencies will have a thick foamy layers of terp sauce. Out of cured extracts, these are by far the terpiest, though live concentrates still preserve far more terpenes.
Diamonds and Sauce is one of the most time consuming consistencies to create. The purpose of the extraction is to separate the cannabinoids from the terpenes, which results in two different products, HCFSE (High Cannabinoid Full Spectrum Extract) Diamonds and HTFSE (High Terpene Full Spectrum Extract) Terp Sauce. This is done through a similar process as most BHO concentrates, but instead of purging out the solvent, it is left in the jar and sealed to continue to separate the cannabinoids and terpenes. When the products are separated to the desired consistency and size, the solvent is then purged at low temps to maintain the integrity of the terp sauce. Diamonds and Sauce can either be created with cured or live starting material, but live sauce is even more flavorful with a higher terpene percentage.
Terp Sauce: The terpenes collect into a very liquid consistency. Most Sauces without added cannabinoids will be testing over 50% terpenes, which is where you get all your flavor from the extract. This sauce is extremely flavorful and is usually recombined with some of the separated cannabinoids or put into a cartridge due to the viscosity and the high terpene %.
Diamonds: After terpene separation, what remains are crystalized cannabinoid molecules that can test around 95-99% total cannabinoids. Depending on the amount of time that the solvent stays in the jar, depends on the size of the diamonds. Usually diamonds are either extracted and sold separately or broken up into smaller pieces and mixed evenly into the terp sauce to create a very flavorful extract.
Live Resin is done through a similar process to the rest of BHO products, but the starting material is flash frozen, immediately after harvest. This keeps the terpenes at their best possible state throughout the entire extraction process. The resulting product is much tastier with higher terpene content than any other BHO concentrate other than Sauce (thought it is possible to find a Live Sauce for the utmost tastiest experience). Live Resin usually comes in more of budder consistency with an even mix of cannabinoids and terpenes in comparison to other Live Consistencies, like Diamonds and Sauce, where the terpenes and cannabinoids are separated and recombined to create a layer of terpenes around the cannabinoids, rather than evenly distributed amongst the extract.
Rosin is the highest quality dabbable concentrate available. Coming in consistencies similar to Live Resin, Rosin takes it a step further by eliminating any solvent. All that is used in the extraction process is heat and pressure, which will preserve more terpenes and cannabinoids, resulting in a cleaner taste and more pronounced high!
Rosin comes in all different types of consisistencies and tiers of quality. The starting material is one of the most important factors. With Rosin, Live (Fresh Frozen) starting material is terpier, just like with hydrocarbon products, but with rosin, some companies also refine the material down to hash before pressing it to concentrate the starting material to just the trichomes. This creates a more potent and more flavorful extract due to a high percentage of terpenes and cannabinoids.
With Rosin, there’s always new kinds to try out. Many brands also tier out their Rosin with their own proprietary tier system, so there are many different ways to find which extract you are looking for!
Hash is the most refined plant based product in the cannabis industry. Hash is generally used along with flower products to raise the potency, but it can also be pressed together and dabbed if refined enough.
The most basic form of hash is called dry-sift. This is when plant material is rubbed along mesh screens until the trichomes fall through the mesh and are collected below. With this type of Hash, it is extremely easy and cost efficient to produce. It also creates a very high quality and potent product, and many people can make this from home.
The other method to make hash is called bubble hash, and this create a more refined product than dry sift with less plant material. With bubble hash, the starting material is. put into a vat of water and stirred until the trichomes break off the plant material. The extract is then filtered through mesh screens and dried. This refines the plant down to almost pure trichomes and is a great option to add to flower or (if it is high enough quality), it can be dabbed as well!
Majority of people are familiar with kief because of the screen at the bottom of their grinder. When it comes to kief, there are many ways to produce a very simple product. All kief production methods are very similar. They all involve filtering the trichomes through a mesh screen, but the quality of the kief depends on the micron size of the mesh.
Majority of commercial kief is mass produced, so it is rather hard to find good kief in the market. Some of the best kief you can find will be in the bottom of your grinder due to a very small micron size in most grinders.
It does take a very long time to collect a good amount of kief in your grinder, so it is always a great option to shop for in dispensaries due to the higher cannabinoid and terpene concentration than regular flower. Commercial kief usually tests in the 40-55% range of THC and it is a full spectrum flower product, so it does have other cannabinoids as well.
Due to it being plant based with high amounts of chlorophyll, it mixes extremely well with ground flower. It is pretty much the same consistency and can be used to raise the potency for a great price!