Gone are the times when your only option to consume weed was in a primitive one-hitter or a joint. With legalization gaining momentum all over the world, people can enjoy their herbs in a plethora of ways — from mouthwatering candies to tinctures and vapes.
Speaking of which, vaping is currently one of the most popular ways to consume weed among new users, and an increasingly more available method of consumption.
Vaping weed comes with many benefits, from the lack of smoke during inhalation to more flavorful hits and a cleaner high. People appreciate weed vapes for their convenience, portability, and the ability to microdose cannabis efficiently.
If you’re looking for a beginner’s guide to vaping weed, you’ve just found yourself in the right place.
Everything you need to know about the basics of marijuana and vaporization is in this article.
Enjoy!
What is Vaporization?
Vaporization is the act of heating cannabis to the point where it starts to release cannabinoids and terpenes contained in flavorful vapor. Because vaping weed doesn’t combust your herb, it delivers more cannabinoids and other beneficial cannabis compounds to your system than smoking.
Not to mention that you don’t inhale the whole company of toxic substances released by smoke.
In order to vape weed, you need a device that will heat the herb for you. These devices are called vaporizers.
Understanding the Different Types of Vaporizers
There’s a wide range of different units when it comes to vaporizers:
Tabletop Vaporizers
The tabletop vape is a true powerhouse. Although it will probably never leave your house, it will surely deliver the top-notch quality of vapor. Needless to say, they’re more expensive than portable vapes. On the other hand, they give you the most precise control over temperature, which allows you to personalize your experience in terms of the effects and flavors you want to draw from your strain.
Portable Vaporizers
Portable vaporizers are definitely more popular than their tabletop counterparts. They are easily concealable and today’s units also provide the user with several different heating levels and temperature settings.
The obvious advantage of using a portable vape is that you can keep your sessions low-profile and take your device virtually anywhere on the go. However, portable units won’t provide as much flavor to the user as tabletop vapes do.
There are three types of portable vapes:
- Dry herb/flower vaporizers: these units are designed exclusively for vaping dry herbs. They provide a similar experience to smoking the flower, save for the lack of smoke and a better flavor.
- Concentrates/oils vaporizers: also known as cartridge vaporizers, these are arguably the most popular types of vapes out there. They’re designed for essential oils, E-liquids, and concentrates.
- Hybrid vaporizers: hybrid vapes come with an additional chamber for vaping concentrates. They are separate pieces you need to load with your extracts and place inside your regular vaping chamber.
How to Choose the Right Vape
Now that we’ve highlighted the different types of vaporizers, it’s time for you to choose which unit will be best suited for your needs.
In essence, flower vaporizers will give you the classic cannabis experience, perhaps a more clear-headed one due to the lack of smoke. They are the best for new consumers and those who prefer casual sessions. Dry herb vaporizers are often the go-to pick for microdosing.
Concentrate vapes provide a much stronger experience due to their higher concentrations of cannabinoids. They work well with people who have a high tolerance to THC and with patients seeking fast relief from their symptoms. If you’ve never vaped weed before, we recommend starting with the dry herb vaporizer.
How to Vape Weed in a Dry Herb Vaporizer
First, you need to ground your weed to a fine consistency. Finely ground cannabis will vaporize evenly, allowing you to get the maximum of your heating surface.
Then, pack the flower chamber with your ground material and level it with a flat-ended picking tool.
Close the vaporizer’s lid and press the start button. Your device should start heating the material at this point. Depending on the model, your vape can have different temperature settings for different flavors and effects. Once the LED screen of your vaporizer shows it’s ready — or starts vibrating — you can start inhaling the weed.
Draw the air steadily through the mouthpiece, trying to take slow sips instead of deep breaths. There will be a moment when the vapor starts tickling your throat — this is where you should pull the smoke into your lungs and exhale.
If you have a multi-session vape, you can consume your herbs on demand, but for one-session units, make sure that you use everything during a single session.
How to Vape Weed in a Concentrate Vaporizer
Using concentrate vaporizers, or vape pens, is pretty simple. All you need to do is fill the cartridge of the vape pen with your cannabis oil, attach the cartridge to the battery, and turn on your device. As you inhale the oil, the vape pen will heat it to provide you with thick vapor full of flavors unique to the strain used in your liquid. Since cannabis oils are more concentrated than flowers, a little goes a long way with a vape pen.
There are actually two types of concentrate vaporizers — disposable vapes and refillable ones.
As the name suggests, disposable vapes are meant for a one-time use. Their batteries aren’t rechargeable and you can’t refill the cartridge. Once you’ve used up all your liquid from the pen, you just dump it in the trash.
Refillable pens, on the other hand, are meant for continuous use, meaning you can load your cartridge with a new liquid every time you run out of your current one. Refillable vapes also include more heating options and are known for producing better-quality vapor.
Final Thoughts on How to Vape Weed for Beginners
Knowing how to vape your weed is one thing, but the proper maintenance over your device is of paramount importance if you always want to get the best of your flower/oils. So many people neglect this aspect and end up having a bad experience, even if they invest in the pricier gear.
Most reputable companies add a cleaning kit to their vaporizers, so if your device has one, use it regularly, preferably every other session with your vape.
We hope you’ve enjoyed our guide and that your first experience with vaping will be all about positive vibes!