Does vape-bonging affect taste?

I bought my Solo first and never used it with a bong (PV never restock their PVHEGONGs). I got so impatient with them, I went ahead and bought the LSV so I can pair it with my bong. Once I received the LSV, I never touched my Solo. Well, my LSV completely died on me a week ago and I've sent it back for repair/replacement.

Anyways, I've been using my Solo since I dont have the LSV.
And I must say... using the Solo dry... I think it tastes better.
I can taste all the terpenes and it's wonderful.
With the LSV+bong, I almost get a grassy taste.. that's the only way I can explain.
But the same bud in my Solo tastes better.

I wonder why this is?
Of course, the LSV's vapor density blows the Solo out of the water.
And I have not used the LSV dry so I cant compare them... but the bong water does change the taste for me.
And I use filtered drinking water in my piece.
Anyone else notice this?

A lot of this has to do with the temp of the water as well as how much diffusion is taking place. Just some variables to take into consideration here.

Lol, I dont know how diffusion slipped my mind.
That's definitely it.. my mistake. I'm quite medicated right now lol

A slipped mind does diffusion escape.
----Yoda

I have a solo, volcano, vaponic, MFLB.. And with all of them, most of the flavors disappear when vape-bonging. Nice to get a big milky hit sometimes with a bong, but would not recommend it all the time.
But what about the cloud? I heard it tastes way better without the water..

With my LSV through hot water through my SC tube, none of my flavors disappear. Same flavors as I get dry through the wand except it's less harsh.

on the contrary i actually prefer the taste i get off a bong, to each their own i suppose..

vapenaturo said:

I have a solo, volcano, vaponic, MFLB.. And with all of them, most of the flavors disappear when vape-bonging. Nice to get a big milky hit sometimes with a bong, but would not recommend it all the time.
But what about the cloud? I heard it tastes way better without the water..

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It does taste much better without a water piece, but the heat and dryness of the vapor in that situation is just far to much for me to take so I hardly ever do it, and when I do it's through a whip.

Both my Solo and LSV give me better flavor through my Lev Lattice with warm/hot water compared to dry hits. I also notice that the flavor lasts longer when using water.

I still need to do hot water testing, but with room temperature water, much of the flavor is certainly lost.

I have the same setup (lsv + solo) and the solo absolutely has better vapor quality. The lsv has good taste, but only for the first hit, and only if it isn't turned up too high. The solo on the other hand tastes pretty fresh for a few hits, even at max temp. Granted the solo hits are much smaller than the lsv, which can easily roast a bowl in one hit.

I find I like the flavor much better when its water filtered. The more diffusion the better. I find dry vapor so intense that the subtleties are washed away.

Vaporbonging is nice but not worth the extra money for the bong imo. In the short amount of time that I've been vaping I've only noticed a slight improvement in the harshness/hotness that I get when I hit it from a bong than straight from the whip. I expected it to be a lot smoother. I still get a heavy cough and a tickle in the back of my throat. As for as taste I would have to say that my DBV tastes the same (GREAT!) whether it's hooked up to a bong or not.

When trying a new strain (or a new batch of a favorite) I'll use a direct draw... but for general, daily use, I prefer running it through water.

My new water piece has much less diffusion, while gentling down the harshness it can get.

First puff dry, then water

OO said:

I still need to do hot water testing, but with room temperature water, much of the flavor is certainly lost.

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hot water helps but there is flavor that is lost...

i like vape-bonging when i'm trying to get the last little bit out of the material where there isn't much good flavor left anyways

I personally think that less diffuse is better....

I vape bonged for the very first time today using my UD. I agree that the flavor is less intense through water...but I definitely noticed a difference on my throat!

Hey partners try this: First two or three hits with no water filtration and then hit the bong. With this you can get the best flavor and the most from the herbs. Specially recommended for Log users.

Or use a swagger showercap and get the best of both worlds!

mvapes said:

Or use a swagger showercap and get the best of both worlds!

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You'd have to sell your house for these expensive glass...

If you guys have extra money just for glass then I envy you.

Water does reduce the taste but taste is the least of my concerns ...

It really depends on so many factors. I hated using my SSV with water pieces because the vapor would have to travel through the tubing and into the piece.

I feel that water to air ratio, bore size, amount of diffusion, and distance traveled by vapor all affect the taste. I can't notice much difference in taste if any when using the VXC dry or pairing it up with a small 38mm bore tube with a simple two hole diffy.

dirtpie said:

It really depends on so many factors. I hated using my SSV with water pieces because the vapor would have to travel through the tubing and into the piece.

I feel that water to air ratio, bore size, amount of diffusion, and distance traveled by vapor all affect the taste. I can't notice much difference in taste if any when using the VXC dry or pairing it up with a small 38mm bore tube with a simple two hole diffy.

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Have you ever tried using a shorter whip when running through water? I'm considering trying this because when I use my 12'' bong the vape has to travel an extra foot before reaching me.

I had whip set aside that I would cut as short as possible to hook the WPA into my tubes. The old ice chambers SSV used to sell were a good pair, but I found the taste to be lacking still.

As mentioned above, I think diffusion has a lot to do with flavor. Volume of the glass piece plays a role, too. Contrary to what I thought would happen, less diffusion or less volume doesn't always seem better. Some diffusion is better than others, though. And, different glass seems to pair up better with different vapes. Why? I don't know! You'd think same meds, same temp, same glass would be pretty much the same no matter which vape you use. But, after extensive testing it doesn't seem so.

I play with water temps sometimes, but find room temp bottled water to be best for taste. Cold water promotes bigger hits, but seems to knock back taste. Hot water (120-125F or so?) is soothing, but IME taste really gets lost.

On my EQ, I try to use less than 6" of good clean silicone tubing of the widest bore I have (3/8" ID I think - not too tight on EQ glass fittings). Lev Lattice hits great and don't notice much loss in flavor, but have to be careful clearing that beast! Very small low volume showerhead and similar ice cube are good, but not as tasty. Tall straight inline (3xDonut design) is similar, but even less sweet taste. For taste, I'd say lattice is almost as good as straight from the tubing.

With the nano, using the 18mm gong, the lattice just doesn't do it for me. Much flavor is lost and the volume doesn't seem to mate well with the nano. On smaller glass, just some flavor loss but it's still gone. The inline works like a champ and virtually no flavor loss compared to dry. This team is stunningly tasty and efficient!

On MFLB-PA with tubing to vape adapter, the lattice is just a pain in the ass. It can be done, but more work than fun. Oddly, my inline doesn't taste much better. A little, but not worth using it. But, my low volume ice-cube gives pretty good taste - the small showerhead even better. Still not as good as no water with MFLB, but pretty close.

My Zob circ-perc, knocks down flavor no matter what I use it with - any of my vapes or a DBV I get to use pretty often. It is great with combustion and can give a nice big hit from a vape, but have found it to be a horrible piece for taste. Stacks many, large-ish bubbles. Too much diffusion combined with big volume? Think so, but not sure. All I know is it's a taste killer on anything I've tried it with. Found a 10 arm bubbler to be about the same, though not quite as bad flavor-wise. Wasn't very fond of the chug/draw/suckback on that one either.

By the way.... the lattice with DBV is nothing special taste-wise, but be careful with that combo. Something about the two of them together really brings on a heavy stoning!

I have experienced that depending on the density and the spectrum of cannabinoids vaporized, you get different tastes and harshnesses. The most important factors for this are airflow and temperature, and every vape has it´s own.

When you vaporize through a bong, even without water, you decrease airflow. That simple fact may affect taste and density. But denser vapor is also harsher, so you need some water filtration. If you add the exact amount of filtration, taste gets almost untouched and you get wet soft vapors. When there is too much water (or humidity), thc tends to stick everywhere so you loose flavor and efficiency.

Sometimes you don´t need water filtration, just a little water at the bottom of the bong catching particles and humidifying the vapor, making it a little softer.

When I use my Wychwood I use just a little water at the bottom of my bong. With the Buddha, I use It with water and when I hit a "Matasiestas" (Spanish phrase meaning nap killer, I use it with my friends when we fill a volcano easy chamber to the top, put volcano on 9 and fill an arm-large bag) I use my bong and add a little percolator for some extra filtration.

Hope this helps, took me years to gain the necessary experience ;-)