Dabbing is a way of vaporizing cannabis concentrates – shatter, wax, live resin, rosin – off a heated surface instead of burning flower. The gear looks scientific and the ritual looks intense, but the method is simple once you’ve seen it broken down.
The kit
- Dab rig – a water pipe built for concentrates.
- Nail or banger – the surface you heat. Quartz is the common pick; titanium and ceramic also work.
- Dabber – a small tool for handling the concentrate.
- Torch – a small butane torch, or an e-nail if you’d rather set a temperature and skip the flame.
- Carb cap – optional, but it traps heat and makes low-temperature dabs work better.
Temperature is the whole game
The sweet spot for most concentrates sits around 157-204°C (315-400°F). Heat the nail evenly – many people heat until it just starts to glow, then let it cool for 30-60 seconds before touching concentrate to it. Too hot scorches the flavour; too cool leaves puddles. Everyone develops their own count. Start longer on the cool-down than you think you need.
Taking the dab
- Start with a very small amount – concentrates are much stronger than flower, so a piece the size of a grain of rice is plenty to begin.
- Touch the dab to the inside of the warm nail while inhaling slowly.
- Rotate the dabber so everything vaporizes instead of sticking.
- Cap it if you have a carb cap, and finish the draw gently.
Clean as you go
Swab the nail with a cotton swab while it’s still warm, and rinse the rig with warm water regularly. A clean rig tastes better and heats more evenly – most “bad dab” stories are really “dirty nail” stories.
Start low, go slow
The standard advice applies double with concentrates: small amounts, patience between draws. There’s no prize for the biggest dab.
Curious which concentrates we carry? The menu is live on this site, or ask at the counter of our Keswick shop – we’re happy to start you off sensibly.