What’s up VapeFusers!

One question we get asked pretty often from a beginner herb vaper is: “How finely should I grind my herb?” This question is super simple to answer, but there is naturally a lot of confusion due to the many different types of grinders available on the market.

While many cannabis connoisseurs still prefer the traditional finger chop or scissor chop. For those of us with less of a passion for sticky fingers and scissors, herb grinders are a super convenient way to grind up your dried cannabis for use with a vaporizer.

Vaporizers come in so many different shapes and sizes, but funnily enough, the size of the grind needed to create vapor doesn’t differ at all. This is awesome as it means that you never need to invest in more than a single grinder regardless of your vaping setup.

Premium herb grinders like the GrindeROO 4-piece Metal Herb Grinder pictured above are the best way to grind your herb as they offer a consistent grind and are unlikely to become damaged due to wear.

Now, I’ve seen that many of the locals over here in Denver smoke bowls a very different way than what I’m used to, coming from Australia. Instead of grinding the weed down, like I’m used to, they just rip up a nug and chuck it in the cone piece.

This is definitely not the way to pack the chamber of a vape, if you’re just chucking your buds in you’re not going to be creating any kind of consistent heating pattern and thus almost no visible vapor.

When I think of bongs back home its an ice tea bottle, a bit of garden hose and a coffee grinder in place of a GrindeROO. We at least ground our weed up, but the powdery consistency it would need to be in order to pack massive bowls I was used to was definitely not suitable for vaping.

Bongs ruin the taste of your herb, leave a gross smell in your mouth, and generally stink the place up. Vaping is the way healthier alternative that’s tastier and more economic.

When you’re grinding herbs to pack into your chamber you want to make sure that it’s consistency is sitting between that of matcha tea powder and a whole nug, anywhere too close to either spectrum and you’re gonna have a bad time.

To begin with, you’re going to want to de-stem your cannabis buds so that you’re not fitting unnecessary herb matter into the chamber of your vape. This creates more vapor and will make it far easier to grind your herb.

With low to mid-range cannabis this can be tedious, especially if it’s been grown using PGR chemicals, but with most organic bud it shouldn’t take longer than a few seconds.

Space the tiny chunks of bud evenly across the surface of your herb grinder and put the toothed pieces together. After a couple of decent full-rotations, your herb should be ground to perfection.

The consistency of the herb is similar to what would be used in a joint or blunt; ground enough to clump together, but not so ground that particles will come through the mouthpiece.

Most portable vaporizers come with a packing tool, but if you’ve got a narrow pinky finger it generally has the same effect, that is if your chamber isn’t hot! Make sure not to compress the ground cannabis too hard as this may restrict your vape’s airflow.

You should fill your chamber to the top and press it down lightly, then continue to pack loosely on top, before gently pressing it down. You should be able to turn the chamber upside down without losing any of your ground herbs.

If you want to ensure that you haven’t packed your chamber too tightly, attach your mouthpiece or the rest of your device and attempt to pull through. If you can’t taste your herb, then maybe you have to rethink your packing method. Remember, less is more!

Top 3 Things to Remember when Packing your Vape Chamber:

1. Remove the sticks and stems from your cannabis. Remember –  (buds – sticks = happy grinder).
2. Don’t over-grind or under-grind your herb. Too little and it won’t generate as much vapor, too little and you’ll be pulling specks out of your teeth.
3. Don’t overpack your vaporizers chamber. If you push the herb down too far you’ll struggle to pull any vapor through. Less is more!