Dry herb vaping continues to be a consistent favorite among vapers. It marries the potency and complex taste of flower with the smoothness and convenience of vaping. While dry herb vapers should be well aware why vaping flower is wonderful, they may be unintentionally wasting weed. Before you dump your used weed into the trash, stop! It may have more to offer.
This weed that's commonly thrown away is called already vaped bud (or AVB), and you shouldn't throw it away. Even though it isn't producing vapor anymore, you can still enjoy some residual THC through a variety of methods. In this article, we'll talk specifically about what AVB is and assorted ways you can easily enjoy it.
If you're looking to get the most out of your dry herb, keep reading!
What Is AVB Weed?
AVB weed is "after vaped weed," which refers specifically to weed that has been used in a dry herb vaporizer. Vaped weed doesn't turn to ash (especially in convection vapes), but your flower will eventually stop producing vapor. You know your weed has been exhausted when it turns yellow or brown, and the flavor is somewhat popcorny.
Figure 1 Firefly 2+ vape loaded with dry herb. Vaporizers like the model shown will produce AVB after extensive vaping.
Remember, if you burn your weed, you won't get AVB weed. Combustion vapes (that burn weed or produce smoke) will just leave ash. In order to get AVB weed, you'll need to use a device that provides consistent heat below 451F degrees (233C), so you don't cause the weed to combust.
Many vapers just throw away AVB weed. However, for those who want the best bang for their buck, you can actually use AVB weed in a variety of ways and still get a pleasant high.
How Does AVB Weed Work?
Many vapers are surprised to hear that AVB weed can still provide a pleasant high. However, if you're used to making your own edibles, then you've essentially been making AVB weed and not even realizing it!
When you vape weed (or when you prep weed in an oven for edibles, your flower undergoes a process called decarboxylation, commonly referred to as decarbing). When you decarb weed, you heat the weed without burning it, and in doing so you activate the cannabinoids inside. This is required to activate the THC for your body to absorb, to get high.
Figure 2 Fresh weed on the left next to AVB on the right. When weed would be categorized as AVB, it turns a brown, yellowsh color. Source: https://dutch-passion.com/en/blog/what-to-do-with-already-vaped-weed-n975)
Heat activates the THC, which is why vaping, smoking, or baking weed for edibles works. If you just ate raw flower, you wouldn't feel high at all. When you vape weed, you're essentially decarbing it and inhaling the fumes. When you get to the point where you've made AVB weed, it may not produce vapor, but all of the THC that remains is activated and ready for absorption.
How Much THC Is in AVB?
It can be tricky to determine exactly how much THC remains in AVB. The actual amount will be depending on a variety of factors, but AVB usually has upwards of 20% of the original THC content from your weed. The actual amount can vary, so here are some factors that can impact the actual amount of THC present:
What Temperature Do You Use to Vape?
The hotter you vape your weed, the less residual THC will remain in your AVB. Higher temperatures vaporize cannabinoids more effectively, which means there will be less leftover. However, if you vape at moderate or low temperatures, you'll find much higher concentrations of left-over cannabinoids, including THC.
It will take some time to find the best temperature to vape weed based on your preferences. Be patient and find the temperature levels that are the best fit for you.
How Long Do You Vape?
If you tend to have lengthy vape sessions, you'll end up with less THC in your AVB. This should make sense because the longer you vape, the more THC you extract from your weed.
How Much THC Was Originally Present?
The more potent your weed, the more likely you'll have higher levels of THC in your AVB. Top-shelf strains that have 25-30% THC are likely to have a noticeable amount of THC present when the bud stops producing vapor. Likewise, bottom-shelf strains that have low THC levels will have an even smaller amount of THC in the AVB.
Can You Smoke AVB?
You can smoke AVB. However, it's not going to produce as strong a high as smoking fresh bud, and you need to brace for the flavor. It will not taste great. Remember, AVB has had the majority of the terpenes evaporated out of it, and terpenes are responsible for giving weed its aroma and complex flavors.
Without the terpenes, the resulting flavor will be extremely bitter. The vast majority of vapers have a difficult time handling the taste of AVB when it's smoked. But don't worry, there are a lot of other ways you can enjoy AVB and avoid the unpleasant flavor.
What Can You Do With AVB?
There's a variety of ways you can enjoy your AVB, and most of them are surprisingly simple. Take a look and see which method might be the one that best fits you:
Water Curing
We mentioned that you can smoke AVB, but a major problem is the extremely bitter taste. An easy way to get rid of the bitterness is to water cure your AVB. In short, you'll wrap your AVB in cheesecloth and soak it in water for several days (up to a week, if you prefer). Then, you just need to quick dry it in an oven so it can be stored without growing mold.
Figure 3 AVB wrapped in cheesecloth and soaking in water. This is part of the water curing process. Source: https://www.vaporizerwizard.com/blog/how-to-water-cure-your-already-vaped-bud-avb/)
This method is so effective because of the chemical nature of the cannabinoids in weed. THC, CBD, and others are not water-soluble. However, the chemicals that create the bitter taste in THC are, so soaking AVB in water will slowly remove the bitter-tasting chemicals without removing the residual THC.
Smoke It Again
We mentioned this before, and we'll say it again! You can smoke AVB. If you're looking to smoke it, you'll want to water cure it beforehand to be able to tolerate the extremely bitter taste.
Sprinkle It on Food
The great thing about AVB is that it's already decarbed, which means you don't need to do any special prep to be able to extract the THC. This means you can literally sprinkle on your food and chow down to get a nice little buzz. You'll definitely want to water cure your AVB beforehand, so you don't ruin a meal!
Make AVB Capsules
Since the THC in AVB is already activated, many vapers will put AVB into capsules to make their own AVB pills. This technique avoids the nasty taste, so you won't need to water cure it if you don't want to take the time to do so. To help absorption, you'll want to mix in a little oil or eat something fatty with it to help draw out the THC.
AVB Weed FAQs
We've found that dry herb vapers have a lot of questions about AVB. Here's a quick summary of some of the most common questions we get, and you'll find that some of these have already been answered!
Can You Eat AVB?
Yes! You can sprinkle it in your mouth and get a nice THC buzz. Remember, vaping the weed decarbs it, so all the cannabinoids have been activated and are ready for absorption. The taste and texture might be unpleasant, so we recommend mixing it in with food. If you're in a hurry (or can tolerate the taste), then feel free to sprinkle it right in your mouth!
Can You Smoke AVB?
Yes! It won't be as strong as fresh bud, but you can smoke it. Just brace for the super bitter taste!
Does Smoking AVB Get You High?
Yes! The high won't be as strong as when you vaped the fresh flower, but smoking AVB will definitely get you high. The more potent the original weed was, the more potent your AVB will be!
Final Thoughts About What To Do With AVB
If you want to get every single drop of THC out of your flower, then don't throw away your AVB! It will still pack a decent punch, and if you water cure it, you'll avoid the biggest drawback of using AVB: the bitter taste. Here are a few points to keep in mind if you're confident that you want to regularly enjoy AVB.
- Use a convection vape. A conduction vape unevenly heats flower, which means some of your weed will be AVB while other bits will still have plenty of vapor to give. Convection vaping evenly heats your entire bowl, so when it stops producing vapor, you'll know the entire bowl has been converted to AVB.
- Water cure your AVB. This will eliminate the bitter taste and make it easier to enjoy.
- Consider sprinkling it on food or making edibles instead of smoking it. After all, you chose a dry herb vape instead of smoking it, so why would you decide to start now?
