How to consume concentrates
So, you’ve been smoking flower for years, maybe even used a vape cartridge a few times and now you’ve decided to try to get into consuming concentrates like rosin or shatter in order to level up your cannabis consumption game. Suddenly, you’re presented with a whole new tier of terminology like ‘dab rigs’ and ‘quartz banger’, and you don’t know where to start. Thankfully, we here at Circa 1818 can lend a hand!
Dabbing
Since there are so many different methods for consuming concentrates out there in the world of cannabis today, we’re going to zero in specifically on what has become the most popular, dabbing. In order to begin your dabbing experience, you will need to acquire a few essential components: A concentrate that is consumable through the dabbing method (ie. Shatter, wax, rosin etc.), a timer to keep track of your dabbing time, a hand torch to heat the quartz banger, a dab rig or other similar device that uses a quartz banger or other dab nail as a holder for the concentrate and a dab wand or tool that you will use to transfer the concentrate to the banger. A dab rig usually will come with a dab nail so it’s not something you have to worry about locating separately. You can find tons of different dabbing devices online or in stores as it’s becoming more and more popular. You’ll also want to have some alcohol swabs on hand to clean your dab tool.
I understood…very little of that
That’s ok! Let’s tackle some terminology. We’ve covered concentrates in a separate blog post, so I won’t go too much into that. A dab rig is a device designed exclusively for vaporizing concentrates and utilizes a hardened translucent bowl known as a quartz banger or dab nail to allow consumers to enjoy their concentrated cannabis or cannabis extract following a bit of setup and know how. Consumers use the dab wand to transfer sticky rosin or wax into the dab nail which is then heated with a torch to create a vapor that is then breathe in via a mouthpiece or hose.
Gotcha, so how does that work?
So, you’ve acquired your dabbing device and you have your concentrate in hand. Now you’re ready to get going, the first step you’re going to want to take is adding water to your cooling chamber. This is going to cool the vapor that you breath in so that it isn’t as harsh. If you’ve ever used a bong or water-pipe before, this step will be familiar to you.
Next, you need to prepare your concentrate and get it ready to go on the flat end of your dab tool. Once that’s done, it’s time to heat up your dab nail. Using your hand torch, apply heat to the dab nail portion of the rig, keeping the flame away from the body of the device as the glass will crack if exposed to continuous heat (as always, please use caution when using high flame, the last thing anyone needs is a dab rig related garage fire, it’s embarrassing, and it raises your insurance premiums. So, I’ve been told). Once the dab nail is red hot, it’s ready to go!
The next step is the most crucial and the most fun, it’s time to consume! Now that your dab nail is piping hot, it’s time to transfer your rosin, wax, or oil over to the nail using your dab tool. Using the tool, slowly rotate the concentrate on the interior walls of the dab nail. You’ll notice it start to melt and the chamber start to fill with vapor, so it’s time to inhale through the mouthpiece. Take your time if it’s your first-time trying concentrates in this form as it can be quite intense.
Cleanup
More so than with other forms of cannabis consumption, dabbing requires a bit of diligence when it comes to cleaning your device. Once your session is complete and the dab nail has cooled a bit, it’s a good idea to use the alcohol swabs I mentioned earlier to clean the dab wand. You can also use cue tips and a bit of rubbing alcohol to clean the inside of the dab nail itself, ensuring that next time you go to use it it’ll be ready to go!
And there you go! It’s a bit more involved than simply firing up a joint, but people who dab tend to do that exclusively. If all of this seems crazy involved, there are alternative devices hitting the market that makes dabbing easy; like the Puffco Peak, which operates electronically and removes the need for a hand torch.
Looking to see what concentrates we have in-stock? Click here!
