When it comes to vaping, most consumers assume that oils and concentrates are the only materials that can be vaped. However, as the legalization movement has progressed, new and intriguing forms of cannabis vaporizers have been developed. With specialized cannabis vaporizers, even bud itself can be heated and condensed into smooth, thick clouds of vapor. For those wondering how to vape flower, here’s all the info you need for your next visit to your favorite Seattle dispensary.
How to Vape Flower: Required Equipment
While some vapes require the use of specific cartridges filled with cannabis oil, other vaporizers extract vapor directly from cannabis flower. As vaping dry herb follows a different process than cartridges or concentrates, consumers may have to purchase a specially-designed flower vaporizer capable of properly heating the cannabis flower.
To this end, there are a number of reputable dry herb vaporizers currently on the market. Of the flower vaporizers available, PAX is known as one of the most effective and efficient pieces of equipment for those inexperienced with dry herb vapes. PAX pens are exceedingly simple to use, come in a variety of sizes and colors, and have settings that can modify the heat and power employed in your vaping session.
Reasons to Vape With a Dry Flower Vaporizer
There are many incentives for cannabis consumers to consider purchasing a cannabis flower vaporizer. One of the most common reasons customers cite when buying their vape is the lack of hassle involved with dry herb vaporizers. While pipes or bongs may need substantial amounts of clean-up with sustained use, dry herb vaporizers are mostly known for their convenience and ease of cleaning, making the process of dosing cannabis comparatively smoother and simpler.
Likewise, dry herb vaporizers are portable and easy to use in a variety of situations. Pipes and other traditional pieces of equipment for smoking often require set-up and a stable environment before they can be used. A dry flower vape, however, can be taken anywhere, making the use of cannabis flower possible without even needing a flat surface to pack your material.
How to Vape Flower Properly
The basics of how to vape flower will be common to every cannabis flower vaporizer, but there are important things to keep in mind when attempting to use your first vape unit.
First, vaping flower can require more patience than using the average pipe or bong. For dry herb vapes like the PAX, heating cannabis to the point where vapor can be extracted takes somewhat longer than if it were ignited directly with a lighter. Some dry flower vapes have adjustable power settings, which can determine the length of time before your cannabis begins to burn.
Likewise, these power settings can determine the power and potency of each load of cannabis. Setting the power on your dry flower vaporizer to “high”, for example, can produce a heavy, long-lasting hit with dense vapor clouds. Likewise, those who prefer a more mild smoke can dial down their intake by adjusting the power to a lower setting. With dry flower vapes, more control is put into the hands of cannabis consumers to shape their experience.
What’s the Difference Between Dry Herb and Concentrates?
Flower isn’t the only thing you can vape out of a vaporizer. Cannabis concentrates have rapidly become some of the most popular items on dispensary shelves and most people are choosing to vape rather than smoke them.
What’s the difference between flower and concentrates?
While cannabis flower is cannabis in its natural state, cannabis concentrates are concentrated extracts that are pulled from that flower. There are many different types of concentrates and several different methods for making them ranging from mechanical in nature to solvent-based.
For example, cannabis kief is a concentrate that is made by physically shaking the trichomes loose from cannabis flower and collecting them. On the other hand, butane hash oil (BHO) is made by using liquid butane to strip the trichomes from the cannabis plant and collecting them.
The resinous trichomes of the cannabis plant have super-high concentrations of intoxicating and therapeutic cannabinoids, and flavorful and tasty terpenes. By collecting these trichomes, cannabis concentrates can reach much higher cannabinoid levels than dry flower. For instance, while the most potent cannabis flower may check in at about 30% THC, the most potent distillate oil can reach THC levels of roughly 99%.
If you’re looking for something more potent and hard-hitting than just flower to vape, then try out some cannabis concentrates. Not sure where to start? Just ask one of our budtenders and they’ll be glad to help you out. When it comes to equipment, there are models of vaporizer out there that can work with both dry flower and concentrates.
Finding the Best Vape For Concentrates and Flower
There’s no perfect one-vape-fits-all solution for everybody. A flower vape can come in many different shapes and sizes and may have certain advantages that appeal to some people more than others.
Moreover, different vaporizers vape different things. While one flower vape may be able to vaporize nothing but dry flower, another may be specially-made for concentrates, and another may be able to vape both flower and concentrates/extracts.
Finding the best cannabis flower vaporizer or concentrate vape for you will require you to think carefully about what exactly you want and need from your ideal vape.
If you plan on vaping flower while out and about, then you’ll probably want a portable cannabis flower vaporizer with good battery life. If you want the biggest vape clouds possible and you’re ok with only vaping at home, then a plug-in tabletop vaporizer may be a better choice.
Moreover, consider whether you only plan on vaping flower or if you may also want to vape concentrates. Never try to vape concentrates out of a flower vaporizer as it may damage the unit. If you want to vape concentrates and extracts, then you’ll need a vape unit that can handle them.
Spend some time researching different vaporizers and checking out reviews on its performance. This way you’ll know exactly what to expect from the unit and won’t risk finding out that it doesn’t meet your needs.
At Greenside Rec, we pride ourselves on our relationships with only the best local growers and manufacturers. Our extensive menu of cannabis solutions includes pre-rolls, edibles, concentrates, cartridges, top-shelf flower, and much more, all served by a friendly and knowledgeable staff. Stop by our Des Moines dispensary to check it out for yourself, or visit our online dispensary menu now.
