If you’re a fan of using a vaporizer for consuming cannabis, you may have wondered how the flower was transformed into a liquid. This cannabis 101 blog will answer that and more! For those who are vape-curious, let’s start with a little background on vaping. The process of vaping has been around for about a century and was initially used for inhaling ‘medicinal compounds.’ In recent years shops popped up all over in the United States and rose to extreme popularity in 2018. The main factor for choosing a vape is the drag’s smoothness, which can make the high hit you reasonably hard if you’re not careful. Another factor for choosing the vape pen is the variable temperature that can match the concentrate’s specific melting point for maximum control of the cannabinoid’s effects. This control includes the intensity of the hit and the amount of juice you consume.
Converting Flower to Concentrate
The first step in making vape juice from cannabis flowers is making a concentrate. When the flowers are ready and beautifully covered with their crystals, they are harvested. While fresh, the flowers go through several ways to obtain the trichomes and create concentrates, including resin, rosin, shatter, or distillate. For more details on how concentrates are made, head over to our blog on How Do They Make Concentrates.
Mixing Concentrate into Juice
The next step to vaping is the mixing in and proper ratio of the concentrate with terpenes and diluent. Think of it as your favorite summertime lemonade. Just enough lemon juice, sugar, and water (with a splash of vodka) make the perfect sweet and sour liquid to sip away the hot afternoon. Too much of any one ingredient will make it unbalanced.
Distillates, hash, resin, shatter, and rosin concentrates, among others, can be used for vape juice. Starting with the base concentrate heated up under low heat (under 315 degrees Fahrenheit). Once the concentrate is in a liquid state, the flavorful terpenes and carrier liquid (diluent) are mixed. The mixture is stirred until well blended, then taken off the heat source and allowed to cool. Once cooled, the juice is evaluated for proper viscosity for pen vaping. If needed, the mixture may be reheated to add more terpenes and diluent, or more concentrate if it’s too runny.
Juicing the Vape Cartridge
Filling the vape cartridge may differ depending on the cartridge’s specific brand but is similar for most brands. The cap or stopper is removed and put aside. A syringe is an easy and efficient method commonly used to measure and inject the juice into the cartridge. Then the cap or stopper is added, and voila, you have a cannabis vape ready to go.
Do-It-Yourself Cannabis Vape Juice
There you have it, cannabis flowers to the vape pen, as simple as converting flower to concentrate, mixing the concentrate with terpenes and diluent, and filling the vape cartridge. It sounds easy. Technically, yes; however, if you’re going to try this at home, ask for advice from an expert budtender or vendor. You’ll want to be sure to have all the ingredients and tools to be successful such as a digital scale and high-quality ingredients. And, please, whatever you do, do not microwave your concentrate! Doing so will only kill your buzz in the end because the cannabis molecules overheat. If you’re a careful DIYer and like science, you can be successful. Any extra juice can be stored in a sealed, dark bottle, in a dark and cool place for up to a year.
