Different Ways to Consume Cannabis Concentrates

New to the world of concentrates and looking for the best way to consume dabs? Look no further. Read on to learn all of the different ways you can use and enjoy your cannabis concentrates.

What are concentrates? 

Cannabis concentrates are concentrated extracts made from the cannabis plant. They come in many different forms, including things like oils, budders, shatters, waxes, rosin, hash, kief, and so on. Since they come in so many different consistencies and flavors, they’re actually quite versatile and people enjoy them for a lot of different reasons.

For example, concentrates are more potent than cannabis flowers. They’re made from stripping away cannabis plant materials and leaving behind nothing but cannabinoids and terpenes. They range from 60-99% THC, while flower usually contains around 10-30% THC. Concentrates offer many similar benefits to cannabis flower, though the effects tend to last longer. Further, a gram of a cannabis concentrate will last you a lot longer than an 1/8th of flower, making them the more economical choice. Concentrates also tend to be more discreet since they don’t smell as strongly as flower.

With so many different kinds of concentrates out there, it can be a bit daunting to find one that works best for you, though. Luckily, we’re outlining some of the different ways concentrates can be used so you can make it easier to choose for yourself the next time you stop in the dispensary.

How to consume cannabis concentrates 

Concentrates can be used in many different ways outside of smoking or dabbing them. Here are some of the most popular ways to use concentrates.

1. Dabbing concentrates

Dabbing is one of the best ways to smoke concentrates. All of your standard BHO or CO2 concentrates as well as things like rosin and live resin can be consumed through the process of dabbing. To dab, you will need a dab rig, a quartz nail or banger, a torch, a dab tool, a carb cap, and a gram of concentrates. To dab a concentrate, you’ll scoop out a small amount of the concentrate with your dab tool, apply it to the bottom of your banger, and cap it with the carb cap. From there, you’ll apply heat using the torch until the concentrate vaporizes and inhale from the dab rig. You will inhale the vapor from the dab until the rig is clear, and then swab out the excess oil with rubbing alcohol and a cotton swab. People like this method since it’s more discreet and the effects hit hard and last a long time.

2. Smoking concentrates

Smoking dabs in a joint

If you have more solid concentrates on hand like crumble wax or shatter, the best way to smoke dabs is to add them to your favorite cannabis flower smoking method. This is one of the best methods of dabbing without a rig. Adding concentrates to a bowl, pipe, blunt, or joint can make your whatever you’re smoking last longer, feel more potent, and burn more evenly. Try adding crumbly concentrates, kief, shatter, or hash to your rolls, bowls, or pipes. You can even take pre-rolls and dip them in warm cannabis oils and roll them in kief if you want to impress your friends.

3. Vaping concentrates

Vaping concentrates is by far the most discreet and convenient method for consuming concentrates since they can be loaded up, taken on the go, and hit as needed. Most dabbable concentrates can be vaped with a vaporizer designed for use with concentrates. To vape concentrates, you’ll load your concentrate into the chamber on your vaporizer according to the instructions. Then you’ll heat the device and inhale through the mouthpiece. The concentrates will vaporize similar to dabbing, except more portably and without so many different parts.

4. Making edibles from concentrates

Making edibles is a great way to use leftover concentrates, though the best concentrate for edibles is distillate. Distillate is a pure THC oil that contains no other terpenes or plant materials, so they feel potent but don’t have a weed-tinged flavor. To make edibles from distillate, you’ll whip up your favorite recipe and add your ideal serving size into the mixture before cooking. People enjoy edibles since they’re discreet and easy to make, but also because their effects last up to 8 hours at a time. They’re perfect for managing longterm conditions and for maintaining your mental effects for longer periods of time. To use them, simply make the recipe, add your distillate, and eat up!

5. Making topicals from concentrates

Topicals can be made from full-spectrum cannabis oils and distillate. They’re a great way to enjoy the different effects of concentrates without causing you to feel high. Most topicals can’t be absorbed into the blood stream, so they won’t cause you to feel high but can still provide relief to many different areas of the body. However, transdermal topicals can be made by adding concentrated cannnabis oil to a concoction with other carrier ingredients that can seep into the bloodstream and cause intoxicating effects. People love topicals for stubborn pain and inflammation, burns, psoriasis, abrasions, bug bites, and infections without the high. They’re used by applying them directly to areas of pain and inflammation on the body.

6. Making tinctures or capsules from concentrates

If dabbing, smoking, or vaping is too inconvenient or inconsistent, many people prefer to make their concentrates into tinctures or capsules. Tinctures, capsules, and pills are made using concentrated cannabis oils. Many people choose tinctures or capsules over other concentrate consumption methods since they’re by far the easiest to dose and they tend to last up to 8 hours. To use them, you’ll hold a tincture under your tongue for about 5 minutes and absorb the cannabinoids into your bloodstream through the glands under your tongue. You can also swallow tinctures, pills, and capsules like edibles, though they’ll take a bit longer to kick in.

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At the end of the day, there are many different ways to consume cannabis concentrates, and each one comes with its own pros and cons. How many have you tried, and which one is your favorite?