Already vaped bud, or AVB, has many uses. You can make edibles or capsules, but making a cup of AVB tea is even easier. If you're a tea lover, you're probably already excited to try this idea.
Unlike fresh cannabis, already vaped bud is ready to be eaten or drunk. That's because AVB has already been decarboxylated by the heat of vaping. This activates the THC and CBD, so that you can experience the full effects of cannabis.
You can steep AVB like any other dried herb or flower. But there are a few things you should do to make sure you get the strongest effects, and the best possible taste, from your ABV tea.
What is already vaped bud (AVB)? Or is it ABV?
Vaped weed has been given the catchy name already vaped bud (AVB). But some people call it already been vaped (ABV) bud. Cannabis lovers couldn't come to a decision (we relate!), so people use both AVB and ABV. We’ll do the same in this article.
AVB is usually yellowish to brownish, and dry and crumbly to the touch. It's also conveniently ready to use for cooking edibles or making hot drinks.
After your vaping sessions, save your AVB and store it in an airtight container like a mason jar. Later, whenever you're in the mood, you can make use of it.
Make a Tea Using AVB Weed
You've got a lot of options when making ABV tea. For example, you can steep the AVB by itself in boiling water in a tea bag, ball, or strainer, for 15-20 minutes. Once it's infused, pull out the strainer, squeeze the AVB to get out as much tea as possible, and then drink it straight.
But this way of preparing AVB tea won't give you the most potent effects, and you might not like the flavor. This is because water doesn't do a great job of getting cannabinoids from the ABV.
If you eat the leftover dregs after you're done your tea, then you can expect full effects and a nice high to follow. You still need to eat or drink something with some fat content to help you absorb more THC and CBD.
But eating the soggy ABV weed isn’t the most appetizing option. If you want a stronger weed-infused tea without having to eat the AVB, try a different method.
Milk, cream, butter: cannabinoids bind to fat
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 tea 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. There are some barista-style soy and almond milks out there that are creamier than standard soy milk - use those for best results.
Sprinkle the AVB grounds into a pot of milk and simmer it on the stovetop for 15 minutes, and then strain out the weed afterwards. Or, you can heat up the milk on the stove or in a microwave, then steep the weed in your cup in a bag.
After you're done drinking the tea, you can still eat the dregs for a slight extra kick. But when steeping in milk, you’ll get most of the benefits and effects of the cannabis.
Grinding your AVB, even using a coffee grinder, will help make your ABV tea stronger. Grinding up vaped bud exposes more surface area to the hot milk, which means even more cannabinoids being dissolved into your drink.
Recipes for ABV Tea
In terms of flavor, ABV and a rich milk or cream already tastes pretty good. But you can experiment with creating your own blends. You don't have to use any actual tea leaves in your mixture, but if you want the caffeine kick, you'll want to choose black or oolong tea.
Green tea doesn't usually pair well with milk. Rooibos and yerba mate work well too, if you want a non-caffeine option, although yerba mate still has caffeine-like properties. Many herbal teas are great too, as long as they taste good when combined with milk.
Black and oolong tea become bitter if you steep them for a long time, so you might want to brew a tea concentrate that's separate from your AVB, and then add it in later. You can steep that for 2-5 minutes, but you want your ABV steeping for longer, to get the most possible THC and CBD out of the cannabis.
Best ingredients to add to AVB tea
In general, you want to add ingredients that will pair well with a milky tea. Flavors like cinnamon, masala or "chai" spices, vanilla, even cocoa, work great. Peppermint, chamomile, and even shredded coconut all work great too.
And of course, sweetening it with sugar or honey according to your taste can help make it a more delicious AVB brew.
Be careful with adding citrus ingredients - a bit of bergamot in your Earl Grey is fine, but too much citrus in a milky tea can cause curdling.
How potent is tea using AVB?
The strength of ABV tea is based on two things. First, the strength of the weed strain before you vaped it. The higher the THC in the original cannabis flower, the more potency might still be left in the leftover already vaped bud.
Second, if you vape at higher temperatures and for a longer session, you’re extracting more of the THC and CBD, so there’s less potency left over. Heavily vaped cannabis will also taste worse. So keep these two factors in mind when making ABV infusions.
Because it's in a liquid form, AVB tea kicks in faster than edibles, but it can still have a creeping effect that doesn’t peak for hours. So it's best to start slow. Use just a sprinkle of already vaped bud at first, and see how it affects you.
AVB Coffee, Coconut Oil, and Capsules
It's a pretty similar process to make ABV coffee. You can add AVB to your ground coffee when making a cup in a coffee machine. But because you're not brewing it with milk, you'll run into the problem of not extracting enough cannabinoids.
A better method is steeping your AVB in hot milk or cream, and then just adding that to your coffee, which you can prepare normally. You can also use your ABV to make cannabutter or coconut oil, and then add the butter or oil to your coffee. Of course, adding AVB coconut oil or butter is also something you can add to tea.
You can even fill gelatin capsules with AVB weed, which you can use whenever you like. Although capsules aren't as delicious or fun as AVB tea, they're quick, discreet, and convenient. Again, since cannabinoids bind to fat, eat something with some oil content when you take a capsule.
Water curing AVB to improve the flavor
Not everyone likes the taste of AVB. it's a bit bitter, and if it was vaped heavily, it can be quite bad tasting. You can easily mask the taste with other ingredients like honey, or you can also water cure ABV.
All you need is some cheesecloth, a bowl, water, and some patience. 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. Then dry out the AVB. When you use it later, the AVB won't have a strong taste anymore, and won't mess with the flavor balance in your recipes.
Best Dry Herb Vaporizer for ABV
Smoking weed burns many cannabinoids (THC and CBD) into smoke before you can breathe them in. Vaping cannabis in a dry herb vape gives you both stronger sessions and leaves usable leftovers. You can even vape tea!
In order to get good results from your AVB, you need to have a quality dry herb vape. Otherwise, your vaporizer won't heat cannabis to a reliable temperature. It won't heat it evenly, and might not decarboxylate properly.
This means your leftover AVB can be burnt in pockets, and not properly activated in others. It will result in worse flavor, and fewer effects when using it in recipes and tea. Of course, most importantly, your vapor will be weaker and you’ll end up spending more on bud.
Portable dry herb vapes
If you want an overview of some of the best vapes out there, have a look at our dry herb vape comparison. All of the vapes in our comparison feature precise temperature control, but the Furna vaporizer has an edge the others lack, making it far more portable.
Furna features a swappable oven system that lets you pre-pack multiple ovens with cannabis, in advance, before leaving the house. Then when you're on the go, you can instantly swap a used oven for a fresh one. No more need to find somewhere discreet to clean and reload your vape.
You can also get cannabis concentrate ovens and ovens for 510 oil cartridges, and they're all just as convenient to swap. It sure beats the messy, inconvenient process you have to deal with when using other dry herb vapes for concentrates. Check out the Furna vaporizer to see what you think about swappable ovens.
