@GetLeft , As a vape maker, the colour and 'evenness' of the abv is certainly something I've been obsessing over for a long time. Vaporizers, being a relatively new thing, are still evolving quickly. And the techniques involved are evolving even quicker it seems. In the marketplace, there are a lot of trends and marketing strategies floating around. This seems to make things... complicated.
I think its helpful to shed my expectations of what 'fully extracted' looks like, and instead try to feel out my own way with each unique vaporizer and herb strain.
@KeroZen I'm definitely going to try out your style and report back!
@VaporWare I am with you on the 'overcooked spots'. IMO this does indicate uneven heat application. Where it becomes noticeable in the quality of the vapor could be disputed for sure. And when it shows up during a session also plays a big role. Obviously you wouldn't want to taint a fresh chamber by scorching it on the first hit. But a little extra browning on the last hit might be perfectly acceptable.
I was actually quite surprised to see the amount of green in these photos. When under normal indoor lights this same abv looks pretty much straw/light brown. But under these bright lights, colour balanced, the green is very much enhanced. Just goes to show that you can't trust photos on the internet. Un-colour balanced, I could make these appear brown, but that wouldn't be 'scientific' hahah. This was also a high CBD strain which, in my experience with this particular strain, produces less vapor and tends to finish up a little lighter.
Convection heating does come with it's own unique set of challenges as well. If you just consider the thermodynamics of it all... it's clear to see why the top of a chamber gets more cooked than the bottom. The game is to shoot for that balancing point where the heat application is optimized for the most full extraction vs. overheated top layer. This is my style, the no stir style.
Grind consistency and pack does play a role in airflow, and that air carries the heat...so it would make sense that more even airflow = more even heating.
For loading the stem, the 'suck it up into the chamber' method seems to pack the chamber tighter, especially near the bottom. So I like to sprinkle my material into the chamber instead.
If I am feeling extra fancy... sifting ground herb into an ultra-consistent grind size, sprinkle packing the chamber, and super light tamping will produce the best performance. But I almost never take the time to sift. Maybe a little sifter/loading funnel accessory is in order, haha.
Looking to place vaporizers in some sort of larger context, I always come back to the well established worlds of coffee and tea. Both of these practices involve extraction, and the 'fullness' or method of extraction varies by technique and personal style.
One interesting thing to note is that you almost never see coffee/tea being fully extracted. To take the half-spent coffee grounds out of your coffee maker and boil them to extract another cup of coffee would be madness! Yet I imagine that last cup of coffee would look like a cup of coffee, and give some caffein effect.
It's just interesting to note where these similar practices have ended up and then try to imagine where the future of vaporizing will go.
___
I think the Nomad is akin to pour-over coffee and an electric kettle, it's not exactly the
most basic way to make coffee, but it's close. It's just coffee, the vessel, and hot water.... but start to go down this path and you'll find a huge variety of personal styles, grind consistencies, temperatures, techniques, etc..
The closer you get to the fully automatic coffee maker, the closer you get to consistency in your cup right out of the box, but the further you get from personal expression/exploration.
On the other hand, someone with practice can make perfectly consistent coffee with a pour-over rig... but the question is whether or not that process fits into your life.
Perhaps when someone asks what vaporizer they should get, you should ask them, who do you want to be?
Okay I've gone too deep now!
