If you aren’t familiar with dry herb vapourizing, it’s when you take your ground-up herb and instead of rolling it in a joint to smoke, you put it in a device called a dry herb vaporizer which heats the cannabis below the point of combustion – releasing a vapour you inhale rather than smoke.
One of the greatest things about dry herb vapourizing is your ability to essentially customize your high. Some dry herb vapourizers come with pre-set temperature settings, however you can also buy vapourizers with precise temperature control, allowing you to set the exact temperature you want.
- A low temperature is from 160°C (320°F) to 182°C (360°F)
- Medium is 182°C (360°F) to 190°C (375°F)
- High is 190°C (375°F) to 220°C (428°F)
READ MORE: 3 reasons to switch from smoking cannabis to dry herb vaporizing
Boiling points for a customized experience
Terpenes and cannabinoids (such as THC and CBD) have boiling points that give you the advantage of releasing the properties you want and avoiding others. For example, if you want to stay alert you would use a lower temperature so you don’t release a terpene like Linalool, which can make you feel drowsy. The boiling point for linalool is 198°C (388°F) so if you set your vaporizer to a medium temperature, you won’t release linalool.
If your cultivar has CBD, you’ll need to set your vapourizer to at least 180°C (356°F) as that’s the boiling point for CBD.
THC has a boiling point of 157°C (315°F) and using that temperature can have interesting effects. You’ll feel only slightly elevated, which is a good thing for the daytime when you need to be more alert. Some people are very into low temperature vapourizing and it’s worth trying very low temperatures to see how it makes you feel.
Best temperature for taste
The flavour comes through beautifully when you use a good vapourizer fit with a glass straw or bubbler attachment, however even if you don’t have that, the tasting temperature is 180°C (356°F) up to 365f. The higher you set the temperature the less taste you get from your cultivar. Cooler vapour gives you better flavour.
I recommend starting at a temperature of 180°C (356°F) for a couple of draws so you get the flavour of the terpenes then raise the temperature if you want it higher; that way you get to experience flavour and desired effect.
That’s what I love most about dry herb vapourizing as it allows you to play around with temperatures so you can have a different feel. Try setting your vapourizer at different temperatures from low to high and see what works best for you.
– Shannon Chiarenza is the founder of weedmama.ca
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