What is dabbing? Concentrates, rigs, and why doses are so small

A “dab” is a small dose of cannabis concentrate vaporized on a hot surface and inhaled. Where dried flower typically tests between 15–30% THC, concentrates run 60–90% — which is why dab doses are the size of a grain of rice and why this corner of the menu is best approached with some background knowledge.

A traditional dab rig is a small water pipe with a “nail” (usually quartz) that is heated with a torch, then loaded with concentrate. Electronic rigs (e-rigs) and dab pens replace the torch with battery-powered, temperature-controlled heating — a much friendlier starting point, since temperature control is the hardest part of the manual method.

Lower temperatures (roughly 450–550°F) preserve flavor and produce smoother vapor; high temperatures waste terpenes and taste harsh. This is why enthusiasts obsess over timing and quartz thickness.

Concentrates differ by texture and extraction method. Shatter is glassy and stable; budder and badder are whipped and creamy; wax is soft and crumbly; live resin is extracted from flash-frozen fresh plants to keep terpene flavor; and rosin is pressed with only heat and pressure — no solvents — which earns it a premium. All of them are used the same way in a rig.

A first dab should be tiny — a rice-grain smear, not a pea. Effects hit within seconds and peak fast. Experienced flower smokers are routinely surprised by concentrate potency; there is no prize for starting big, and you can always take a second small dab.

If you are new to cannabis entirely, dabbing is the wrong entry point — start with flower or low-dose edibles and work up.