What is dabbing? The craze of recent times.

Introduction

What is dabbing? It’s the craze of recent times.

A good few years back, I was watching a YouTube video about new cannabis techniques and advancements, and they mentioned dabbing.

It was a fleeting comment, giving very little information, and to be honest, I totally forgot about it. 

Fast forward a few months, and I was watching videos of people doing 1 gram dab challenges and coughing up a lung..

To be honest, I didn’t see the appeal.

Nowadays, everyone is dabbing and dab rigs, enails and bangers have a huge place in the market.

Dabbing accessories are coming out thick and fast.

DABBING – THE CRAZE OF RECENT TIMES

What is dabbing?

Dabbing, to put it simply, is vaporising cannabis extracts using heat in a dab rig or vaporiser.

Using a dab rig (a bong, but not with a flower bowl, instead, there’s a special bowl made for extracts), you heat it up, let it cool down a touch, then put the extract in the bowl, put the carb cap on and inhale. Simple….

Using a vaporiser, you do it that same as you would flower, although some vaporisers can’t do extract, or have an extract setting. So be sure to check.

The extracts are normally made by dissolving the cannabinoids and terpenes from the plant material with a liquid solvent, and then removing said solvent using heat and a vacuum, leaving behind a clean extract.

What is dabbing? It’s the craze of recent times.

When did it all start?

I thought all of this started between 2010 and 2015, but doing research for this, I found that to be totally wrong, but technically right.❌✅

Let me explain.

The first published reference to an open loop extraction (think the glass tube home made extraction videos you see on YouTube) was in 1999 titled “Hash Honey Oil Technique”.

This dangerous and crude technique was the start of the butane hash oil (BHO) extract form of cannabis.

The technique was quickly changed to a closed loop system, reducing the danger, and ultimately cost (you can reuse your solvent, hence save cost).

However, extracts have been around for a very long time.

Using alcohol to extract the cannabinoids has been going on for years, think the famous Rick Simpson Oil (RSO) also known as full extract cannabis oil (FECO).

In fact, even hash is a form of extract.

The big difference between these older forms of extract to the modern day “dabbing extract” is purity and concentration.

Hash often contains plant material, even if only at a microscopic level, and this lowers its ability to be dabbed.

Although modern day techniques like ice water extraction with bubble bags can produce very high quality and stable bubble hash that can be dabbed to a degree.

Purple Kush Hashish

RSO/FECO contains large amounts of plant waxes and lipids that whilst beneficial to us, stop the extract from being truly dabble.

The vaporising of these extra things in the concentrate can be dangerous, although there is some argument over that.

In short, hash contains contaminants and RSO is a full plant extraction.

BHO, unlike hash and RSO, is a lot purer, containing only cannabinoids, terpenes and minimal waxes.

Therefore BHO tends to be higher in THC per gram then hash or rso, and a lot cleaner.

Since that first BHO extraction process was created, it has been refined and experimented with.

Many different solvents are now used from CO2 to butane and the process varies depending on what end product is desired.

From 2003 to 2009, many people honed the process, and an entire new world opened up in the underground cannabis community.

People were soon producing shatter, crumble, sugars and many other forms of cannabis extract.

At the same time, the dab rig was born and started to become the popular method of consumption for extracts.

These two things resulted in a huge boom of cannabis extracts globally. ????

Legalisation in the U.S and Canada has meant advancements in the hardware used along with the use of true scientific testing, has made cannabis extracts a true art and science.

In 2010 cannabis extracts made their debut at the High Times Cannabis Cup.

It was shortly after this extracts started to be sold legally in dispensaries in legal states in the U.S.

Then in 2015 cannabis rosin started to show up.

The story goes that Phil “Soilgrown” Salaza was using hair straighteners to flatten out hash and pressed a bit to hard and saw an oil coming out of the hash.

Fast forward some years and he is now co owner of the Sashsquash Rosin Press!

Rosin is a solvent less method of extracting the cannabinoids using heat and pressure. The resulting oil being known as rosin, can be dabbed or smoked.

What is dabbing? It’s the craze of recent times.

So why is it different to smoking?

When you smoke, combustion is used to burn the material and you inhale the smoke.

When you dab, heat causes the extract to vaporise and the vapours are then inhaled.

In short, your not smoking it!

This alone means it’s healthier.

Although, a poorly made extract with very high levels of solvent remaining, can be just as bad as smoking.

But let’s assume the extract is clean.

Also, you tend to get a cleaner high.

No smoke, means less toxins (in theory), amounting to a pure cannabis high.

Also, due to the lower temperatures used in dabbing, a better taste profile is present, resulting in a more enjoyable experience

So much choice...

The extract market now is awash with new forms or names of extracts than ever before.

Taking rosin alone, you now have fresh live rosin (made from freshly harvested buds), fresh frozen live rosin (this time the plant is frozen straight from harvest and pressed once frozen), hash rosin (made from pressing hash instead of buds) and many more variants of the above.

If you take solvent extracts into account, you have, to name a few:

Shatter (a glass like material that shatters like glass when cold)

Crumble (a wax like consistency that crumbles).

Sugar (in this form the thc has started crystallize and looks like sugar) and…

The Ultimate. Diamonds and Sauce (the THC has fully crystallised and forms diamonds of varying sizes, and the terpenes have become a golden like sauce around the diamonds).

The other thing to consider is, what dab rig?

Does the dab rig come with everything, a banger (the bowl made for extracts), a carb cap, a reclaim chamber, should it be quartz should it have this….and what are all these things..?

It’s enough to make you feel like a complete novice in a world you thought you know so well.

DABBING – THE CRAZE OF RECENT TIMES

What I would say, is to start with a simple all in one dab kit.

Something like the “Dab Lab Yabba Dab set” it’s a great place to start.

It comes with everything you need to get started. ✅✅

Well, no extract, but everything else anyway!! 

 If you decide you enjoy dabbing, you can then move into something with a bit more beauty, like the “Black Leaf Recycler” bong that also comes with a banger for dabbing.

What is dabbing? It’s the craze of recent times.

So is it worth it...

Yes.

It’s very daunting when you first dab.

The question “will it fuck me up?” is often asked.

Like any form of using cannabis, we all have our limits and tolerance levels.

My advice is simple, start small.

Don’t be scared, just be sensible!!

Once you get going with dabbing, you will start to enjoy the world of extracts.

The wide variety of extracts and flavours, plus combinations of the two.

Add to that some of the incredible glass dab rigs being made, you can also end up with a gorgeous ornament, that also gets you very high!!