The quality of cannabis vape oil is often unknown by consumers. Here’s a helpful checklist to run through with your THC Distillate Oil, Liquid Live Resin Oil, PGVG THC Juice, and more types of vaping oils.
Quality Checklist
- Color
- Filth
- Age
- Hardware
- Taste
- Effects
- COA
1. Oil Color
Color should be light yellow. There should be no discolored strands (brown, deep red). These are oxidation rings meaing O2 gas from the air is degrading THC and Terpenes inside. Just like how olive oil and other cooking oils brown over time.
2. Filth
No floaties. Filth is solid (usually dark) particles floating in the oil. It can be plant matter, but it shouldn’t be in there. If you see filth floating in your vape carts, it’s a sign the oil is low quality.
Don’t confuse filth floaties with THCA crystals (diamonds). THCA crystals look like clear-to-white sugar swimming in the delicious vape oil goodness. Filth is usually a piece of plant matter.
3. Age
Less than 1 year from PKG/MFG date. A consumer packaged cannabis vape on average stays good (“fresh”) for 1 year after they were filled into carts or purified unless stored. It varies depending on the cartridge hardware and packaging. A proper stored vape cart (minimal headspace, low O2, good O2/H20 barrier) will remain a similar color for 1 year. After a year, the cannabinoids and terpenes naturally start degrading. It’s normal, but you should preferably be smoking on freshly manufacturing vape oil to get the best experience.
Check for the MFG/PKG (manufactured/packaged) date that’s required to be on labels. This should be less than 1 year old. If you’re vape oil is older than 1 year, it’s probably ok to consumer, but run through this checklist and observe the other important factors.
4. Hardware
The best vape cart hardware supplier is CCELL. Check for their engraving near the threads. If your vape hardware looks old, rusted, cheaply made, falling apart, or suspect in any way, do not consumer the vape.
5. Taste
Taste like fresh cannabis flavors. No rancid or stale flavors. Take a non-inhlatatoin hit first. Just for the flavor. If the vapor tasts rancid or stale, then it probably means the product is old and the flavor compounds or cannabinoids have degraded.
6. Effects
If you notice the vape is causing headaches within 10 minutes of consumption, you probably should not use that vape again as it’s low quality. If all is ok, and it even tastes good, but the product does not get you high as expected, it’s probably low purity or low quality oil that can also happen from aging.
7. COA
If you purchase a legal cannabis product, the seller is required to have a Certificate Of Analysis (COA) which is a third party lab test for potency and contaminates. Check the label of your product’s Batch ID or Lot # and see if you can find the matching COA on the manufactures website. The COA will tell you the THC potency, heavy metal levels (hopefully ND; non-detectable), pesticide levels, and more.