It’s been a busy week in Avid Dabber-land! Last week was a whirlwind of excessive coffee drinking, food truck gluttony, and rubbing elbows with some of the best growers and extractors from Oregon. I got to hang with a bunch of awesome people and enjoy some of Portland’s culinary scene, but most importantly, I got to experience some of the finest flower and hash available in the state.
Last time I shared some of the temperature ranges I prefer when dabbing. This week, I wanted to show a little love for my Nectar Collector. If you’ve never seen or used a Nectar Collector, it is tool with an inventive approach to dabbing. I love the simplicity and portability, and how self-contained a Nectar Collector makes the dabbing experience. It’s always met with some degree of awe and wonder whenever I bust it out in front of someone who hasn’t had a chance to dab with one before.
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What Makes a Nectar Collector Different?
When I introduce someone to the Nectar Collector, there’s usually a moment of confusion as they try to figure out how this long, glass device is used. Simply put, it’s a “percolating dab straw.” Like a standard dab rig, Nectar Collectors are designed to vaporize hash and concentrates. They are portable and use a dish to help avoid some of the mess of tooling your dab when on the go. And of course, what’s a dab without proper percolation? A Nectar Collector offers water-filtration typical of the common dab rig, but in a spill-proof design.
How Does a Nectar Collector Work?
What makes the Nectar Collector’s functionality so unique is that instead of applying a dab to the surface of a nail or banger, you apply the hot tip to a small pile of hash in your dish.
To prepare your dab, you can load just about any amount of hash in the serving dish. When I take my Nectar Collector on camping trips, I’ll drop the whole gram in the dish and have dabs on deck for the entire weekend.
With your hash is sitting in the serving dish, heat the tip of the Nectar Collector just like you would with a standard nail or banger. With the tip of the Nectar Collector red hot, give it about a minute to cool down before you take your dab. Most Nectar Collectors will come with a quartz tip, a titanium tip, or both. I prefer the quartz tip, but the titanium tip offers more durability since it is less susceptible to breaking if it drops out.
Once the tip has cooled to your preferred temperature, tap the hot tip along your pile of concentrate sitting in the dish. Take note, the longer you hold the tip against the hash, the larger your dab will be. I’ve found the best way to control the size of your dab is to repeatedly tap your Nectar Collector until you’ve pulled enough vapor through.
From there, the vapor will travel up through the Nectar Collector, percolating through the water chamber until it meets you at the mouth piece. Exhale and enjoy!
Pros & Cons of Dabbing with a Nectar Collector
Pros
Unique – The novel design of a Nectar Collector is always sure to catch attention.
Design – The spill-proof design makes travel easy, and the fact that you can take it apart makes cleaning simple.
Portable – It’s easy to take with you and offers a mess-free dabbing experience on the go.
Self-contained – No tools needed; just heat, dab, and enjoy.
Cons
Multiple components – Thanks to gravity, the component pieces can detach and fall if not properly secured. Pro tip: You can use a keck clip to help keep your glass attachments secure.
Long and unwieldy – The long shape can be a bit awkward and cumbersome, especially when passing around a Nectar Collector with a red-hot tip.
Lack of temperature control – While you can find e-nail adapters and heater coils that work with a Nectar Collector, the traditional heat and cool method doesn’t offer the same standardization as a typical quartz banger. It will take some trail and error to find the sweet spot and manage the temperature fluctuation.
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Avid Dab of the Week
This week’s dab features some flower rosin I pressed myself from Goji OG grown by From The Soil in Elma, WA. After pressing and collecting the rosin, I left it to cure for 48 hours, allowing it to butter up into a creamy, opaque consistency. The flavor is a mix of earthy pine and subtle hints of berry sweetness on the exhale.
Have you dabbed with a Nectar Collector? Share your experiences in the comments section below or post them to Instagram and tag me (@the.avid.dabber) using #aviddabber. Keep your nail hot and your eyes locked on Leafly for the next installment of The Avid Dabber. Until next week, ONLY DAB THE BEST!
