A Stoner's Guide: Already Vaped Bud ( AVB )

Have you ever been disappointed after going through an 1/8th in a weekend? Looking sadly into your ashtray down at $50 worth of ash? Well, the times of wishing you could truly get your money's worth out of your flower are long gone!  

When you use a dry herb vaporizer, you can actually re-use the flower you've already vaped! So, every hit you take can get you high, twice!

Vaporizing your cannabis, from a dry herb vaporizer, essentially combines the process of smoking & preparing flower to make edibles. This is called decarboxylation. The flower is heated just below the combustion point, where most of the terpenes and cannabinoids are melted off into a vapor. After a few hits, the plant is still intact and ideally a brownish/green color.

The leftover flower is called AVB (Already Vaped Bud), or ABV (Already been vaped).

AVB can be reused in quite a few different ways. You can make edibles, drinks, eat it straight, or even (re)smoke it. (If you are desperate).

AVB won't be as potent as flower that is heated in the oven when it comes to making edibles, this is due to the quicker and often hotter decarboxylation process that happens during vaporization.

How potent is AVB?

The first factor in determining how potent your AVB is is the temperature that was used to vaporize (or decarboxylate) the cannabis. If you vape using a lower temperature the THC % will be higher. With a higher temperature, the THC % will be lower.

The second factor is how long your vape session is, less time vaporizing means more THC left inside the cannabis. 

The third and final factor is the THC percentage of the flower to start with. All cannabis strains differ in their THC content, your AVB will also differ in its THC content. 

Using a vaporizer to decarboxylate the cannabis tends to extract around 65%-75% of the available cannabinoids. So, if the flower started at 20%THC it is likely that the AVB has between 6-8% THC.

 What are the best ways to use AVB?

When you are choosing how to re-use your AVB there are a few steps you can take to get the best experience. First of all, AVB does not taste good. When eating edibles- the last thing we want is to have to choke our way through a bad-tasting, bitter cookie. 

You can reduce the taste of AVB by “Water-curing” This is just the process of straining the AVB before using it. Put the ABV in the cheesecloth, and soak it in water in the bowl. Leave it for a few hours, then pour out the brown water, and add fresh water. Repeat the process until the water stops turning brown. 

Once the AVB is dry, grind it up, in any type of grinder, even using a coffee grinder, which will help make your ABV edibles or drink stronger. Grinding up the AVB exposes more surface area to whatever you are making the AVB with, which means even more cannabinoids are able to dissolve into the mixture.

Tea and coffee

Cannabinoids like THC and CBD are fat soluble. This means brewing AVB weed in water doesn't extract that many active ingredients. So instead of steeping your AVB tea or coffee in water, use a beverage with some fat content.

You can heat up milk that's higher in fat, like whole milk. Or you can use a dairy alternative that is fatty.

You can either put the AVB grounds into a pot of milk and simmer it on the stovetop for 15 minutes and then strain out the AVB afterward. Or, you can heat up the milk on the stove or in a microwave, then fill a cheesecloth or tea bag with AVB and let sit for 15 minutes to eliminate having to strain the pieces of AVB out.  

Once you have your AVB milk you can add it to any tea or coffee.

Butter and oil

In a saucepan, heat butter and water together to a simmer until the butter is melted. When using oil, it should be heated alone. Coconut oil is a popular choice for making canna-oil. 

Add in finely ground AVB, then you will let the mixture simmer at a low temperature for around 2-3 hours. Then you can strain out the pieces of flower. 

Once the mixture has cooled down, store it in the fridge and use it in place of non-infused butter or oil in any recipe.

AVB capsules 

You can even fill gelatin capsules with AVB and take them whenever you like. Although capsules may not be as fun and delicious, they're discreet and convenient. Again, since cannabinoids bind to fat, eat something with some fat or oil content when you take a capsule or even fill it with coconut oil. 

Just eat it   

That's right- you can just eat it straight. The most popular way to do this is by mixing it into yogurt, peanut butter, or jam. It might not taste the best, but it is simple.

What are the best types of vaporizers for making AVB?

There are plenty of vaporizers to choose from, but if you are planning on reusing the flower then convection vaporizers are the way to go. Convection vaporizers use hot air to circulate through the flower and evenly vaporize the flower. Convection heating will give you evenly vaporized AVB with little to no risk of burning the flower. 

Portable convection vaporizers make it easy to re-use all the cannabis that you smoke throughout the day. With some of the discreet vaporizers out there, it has never been easier to enjoy your flower twice. Linx Vapor’s portable convection vaporizers not only feature true convection heating to decarb your herb so it never burns, but are sleek and simple. Meaning you can vape all day without turning any heads. 

Linx Vapors dry herb devices have made waves since the release of the Linx Gaia in 2016. The Linx Gaia features full temperature control, 100% convection, and a pure quartz chamber. The Linx Gaia was named “Best Portable Vaporizer” by High Times. 

After the Gaia’s success, Linx Vapor released the Linx Eden. Named the “Best Vaporizer under $100” by Medium, the Linx Eden is affordable and reliable, and with its large quartz chamber, it's easy to save up that AVB. The Linx Eden Switch is the advanced model of the Eden, featuring a removable chamber that makes loading, vaping, and cleaning a breeze! With any of these vaporizers, you won't only be making a better choice for your health, but for your wallet too!