What’s better than having quick access to oil wherever you are, with just the push of a button? Portable vaporizer pens make for an excellent way to discreetly consume cannabis concentrates on the go. They’re simple to use, and their slim profile easily fits in your pocket or purse. 

But is that vape pen in your bag actually destroying the unique terpenes that give your favorite cannabis strain its delicious flavors and aromas? Is your vape battery a flavor saver? Or a terpene destroyer? Keep reading to find out how to make sure you’re getting the fullest and most natural, possible taste and effect from your concentrates.

The absolute best way to experience the full-spectrum flavor of cannabis with a vape pen is with 100% live resin cartridges. The taste of the distillate found in traditional carts just can’t compare to the natural taste and effect of live resin.

For those who are unfamiliar, live resin is a type of concentrate, like shatter, that can be dabbed, or used in a vaporizer. Its golden-amber hue is similar to the color of other extracts, and its viscosity most closely resembles wax. What makes live resin so special, and one of the most sought after concentrates on the market, is the way in which it’s made.

Click here for our full guide to live resin.

URSA’s live resin is extracted from plants that are flash-frozen immediately after being harvested, which preserves the terps and trichomes that are usually lost during the curing phase, making for a finished product with a taste that reflects the plant’s living terpene profile. URSA has perfected its small-batch, live resin process to capture the essence of the single strain whole plant. 

Using a triple crash and purge extraction system that requires only one chemical touchpoint, URSA creates a live resin that is composed of a combination of terpenes and THC diamonds (molecules). Then, using a low-temperature stabilization process, URSA turns its live resin into the Liquid Diamond Sauce found in its cartridges. There’s nothing added, nothing removed, it’s a live resin 100% free of any additives, fillers, or chemicals.

When buying pre-filled carts, look out for imitations that use misleading language. Some manufacturers blend distillate or some other manufactured THC base with terpenes extracted from a different strain. Lower priced carts may even use cheap, artificially manufactured terpenes. 

Go with URSA, which is committed to creating pure, single source, premium quality live resin. Look on their packaging where they sometimes even mention the name of the farm that provided the unique flower strain used to make the live resin.

Having the right equipment is just as important as having the most flavorful type of concentrate. It doesn’t matter how good your cartridge tastes if your vaporizer is altering terpenes before they ever reach your tongue. 

Most 510 batteries on the market today are designed to produce thick clouds and lots of vapor. In order to realize that effect, most batteries operate on a standard voltage of around 3.7 volts. Higher voltage means hotter burn, which means bigger vape clouds.

Unfortunately, a hotter burn can have unintended consequences, like scorching the terpenes and delivering a burnt taste. Since the bulk of batteries are made to be used with distillate carts that don’t taste all that great from the jump, flavor preservation isn’t the top priority of most battery manufacturers.

For the cannabis connoisseurs out there who want to enjoy all the natural flavonoids of their concentrates. URSA Extracts has developed the lowest temperature vape pen battery in existence so that their signature live resin carts can be properly enjoyed. URSA’s battery has a three-tier variable voltage setting of 1.3, 1.6, and 1.9 volts so users can experience the perfect hit. 

This low-voltage battery heats up your concentrate at low temperatures, which does not burn and preserves the integrity of the concentrate and prevents the formation of carcinogenic compounds in the cartridge. Even though these batteries were designed with URSA’s Liquid Diamond Sauce Cartridges in mind, they can be used with any cartridge with a standard 510 thread.

Beyond the battery, the cartridge hardware can also influence the flavor of your vapor. 

Inside your cart is a device called a coil, which is responsible for heating, and in turn, vaporizing the concentrate in your pen. These coils are usually either made from metal wrapped with a cotton wick wrapped around.

With metal coils, there is the possibility that small amounts of metal can be leached into the oil as it is burned.  To avoid this metal contamination, companies such as URSA have developed cartridges that are made 100% from ceramics. URSA’s cartridges are the only ones in the market that are made 100% from medical-grade ceramics.

Ceramic is a naturally heat-resistant material, which means that ceramic coils will not damage or wear out as easily as their metal counterparts. This also means that ceramic coils can take longer to heat up.

However, even though ceramic coils take longer to reach optimal temperature, they offer far superior heat retention. This makes for a cartridge that is better suited to vaping more viscous concentrates, like live resin. 

Full ceramic cartridges absorb concentrates better than cotton wicks, provide a better-tasting hit, and preserve the viscosity and integrity of the concentrate. They are also less likely to give off the burnt taste of a “dry hit” that is often associated with traditional carts.

For many fans of cannabis, it’s all about the terpenes. Using a vape pen doesn’t mean you have to sacrifice flavor for convenience. Follow these tips to make sure you’re getting the most out of every drop of your concentrates.