The Quest For The Perfect Dab!
Eva in Bloom and The Quest For The Perfect Dab!
Featuring a review of the Honey Dabber II and Element Live Resin Strawberry OG.
Off-duty Bloom City Club Bloomtenders love to sample products, and If you’re going to try something new, you might as well really give it a go! That’s what I said yesterday morning as I prepared to do my first legit dab using The Honey Dabber II as my dab tool of choice. I don’t have a rig currently, but the honey dabber blew my socks off! I had used concentrate in a pen battery and liked it, but the effect was similar to vaping with a potent oil cartridge: a nice flush of THC, but nothing overwhelming. I wanted an authentic dab.
So here I am, honey dabber in hand, open jar of Element Live Resin and my Scorch mini-torch. I’ve read the website and feel pretty sure of myself. I hold the torch on the end of my glass dabber for 40 seconds and plunk it onto a chunk of sweet-smelling Live Resin. I get a hot taste of something bad in my mouth and very little if any vapor makes its way to my mouth. I furiously torch and dab, trying to get a good draw. Each time is a fail!
I feverishly text my work friend, Chandra “Ugh! I’ve been trying to dab all day, getting nothing.” She responds “LOLZ, go to the shop and see if they can help”. 10 minutes later I’m getting a step by step, troubleshooting tutorial from Shayna the shift manager at Bloom, “Take a bit of concentrate – about half a grain of rice size and move it to the side of the jar where there is room to put your nectar collector tip. You want to get that glass tip RED HOT. I don’t care how many seconds it is, just get it RED HOT. Now wait a moment before dabbing – that’s probably what made your dab taste bad the first time, you used the red hot tip immediately. Make sure your mouth is making a good seal on the mouthpiece or vapor will escape instead of drawing up into the nectar collector.” She watches me carefully follow her instructions. I feel like I’m learning something very complicated and ritualistic, like a Japanese tea ceremony. I thank dear Shayna for being so patient and willing to spend time nurturing my dab skills. She also says “Be careful, a dab takes maximum effect in 5 minutes’ time and can feel very intense, especially if you’re not used to it!” I laugh, “Okay, Shayna, not my first rodeo, but I appreciate your concern, lady!”
Once home, I really put my back into it. I manage to get a moderate lung full and it has a nice, mild effect. Still doesn’t seem as potent as I’ve heard it can be. Chandra comes over and we give it a go. By the way folks, it’s now 7 pm in the evening and I’ve been diligently dabbing all day trying to get ripped with not much success. I say to Chandra “Do I seem high to you?” She says “Yes, hahaha!” I’m still not convinced, though.
The next morning, I have a nagging feeling that I’m missing out on something. It’s 8:28 am and I am nothing if not tenacious. I’m standing at my dresser, my 2 chill cats staring impassively at me. One more try, I think. I scrape up my last nice dab of Element Live Resin Strawberry OG and place it in a nice pile, torching the bananas out of my nectar collector! I wait a moment and then ever so carefully and meticulously dab the hell out of it. I exhale a pillow of smoke. The Strawberry OG Live Resin produces very smooth vapor. I begin to feel dizzy, like maybe I better sit down and prepare myself. I think, “Shayna, you were right all along! My girl was looking after me!” I feel a strong velvety warmth descend over my face and body, while a deep relaxation keeps me seated for a few moments. Euphoric and dreamy all at once, the dab has me anchored in the magic of the present. This is a nice rush! The strongest sensations build for about 20 minutes and then the relaxed and happy high stays with me for about an hour and a half.
It took 2 days of trying, but I finally got the hang of the Honey Dabber II and can now add dabbing to my list of cannabis usage skills. While I don’t think it could ever steal me away from my love of smoking flower, it offers a lot of benefits: clean vapor, potent pain relief, tasty delicate craft cannabis flavor, and discreet use that is virtually scentless. I can’t wait to wander through the concentrates garden with my trusty Honey Dabber II by my side, knowing I can always grab a friend to help!
Eva Morrigan is a contributing blog writer for Bloom City Club. In addition to being a budtender at Bloom, Eva is an advocate for medical cannabis and enjoys researching and reporting on topics vital to the cannabis community. In her spare time, she enjoys reading tarot.