How to Rehydrate Weed
Knowing how to rehydrate weed when it's on the dry side is a crucial step toward enjoying your product to the full. This is because cannabis flower needs a certain amount of moisture to express its aroma and flavor profile.
Experienced cannabis consumers will know that excessively dry weed lacks the depth of a good marijuana bud while overly moist cannabis flower can go moldy. Finding the perfect balance—and knowing how to rehydrate cannabis when it's too dry—is key to the perfect experience.
Why Does Weed Need to Be Rehydrated?
Weed often needs to be rehydrated because it dries out over time and loses its unique flavors, aromas, and some of its potency. Inhaling very dry weed can also be harsh on the throat while cannabis with the right moisture content will be more pleasant to inhale and have a better taste and smell.
Like other plants, fresh cannabis contains a lot of moisture when harvested. The buds go through a drying process to get them ready for consumption. However, further drying at home can put the moisture level out of balance. If you reach for bud that's very dry to the touch, smells musty, or irritates your throat when you inhale, rehydrating it could help to improve its flavor, aroma, smoothness, and burn time.
What Are the Effects of Weed That Is Too Wet or Too Dry?
Consuming weed that is too wet or too dry may not give you the experience you expect.
When Weed is Too Dry:
You may notice the following when consuming very dry cannabis:
A loss of flavor and/or aroma: When cannabis becomes very dry, it can lose some of its terpenes and flavonoids. This results in the flower losing its unique flavor and scent profile.
Loss of potency: When cannabis has been dry for a long time, exposure to oxygen and light can degrade the cannabinoids. This could make your high less satisfying.
Harsh to inhale: You may notice more coughing when your weed is too dry.
When Weed Has Too Much Moisture:
Mold and pathogen formation: Bacteria and pathogens thrive in humid conditions. Moist weed therefore has a higher risk of developing mold.
Difficult to grind: Moisture can make cannabis flower harder to break down with a grinder because it's wet and sticky.
Difficult to burn: It can be harder to smoke wet weed because it doesn't burn evenly (if it burns at all).
It's less cost-effective: Flower with more moisture content is heavier but you're getting less smokable cannabis.
How to Rehydrate Weed the Right Way
There are various steps you can take to rehydrate marijuana:
Use a Damp Cotton Ball or Paper Towel
Put some damp cotton balls or damp paper towels into an airtight container along with your dry weed. Leave it for up to a whole day. Make sure the cotton balls or towels aren't excessively wet (to prevent mold growth) because it can be hazardous to smoke moldy weed. Check on your weed every few hours and remove the cotton or towels when the weed reaches peak hydration.
Use a Humidity Pack
Humidity packs can help rehydrate dry buds and also prevent them from drying out in the first place. This is because they offer the optimal humidity levels to store cannabis flower.
Use Hydro Stones
A hydro stone is a flat terracotta disc that you soak in water before leaving it in the weed container. Make sure the stone isn't too wet to avoid mold growth and remove it when the weed reaches the moisture level you’re looking for.
Add Food Items
Adding a lettuce leaf, a slice of bread, or a tortilla could help rehydrate weed.
Add Lemon or Orange Peels
Place fruit peelinside the container with your dry buds. Citrus peels are often used, but banana or apple peels could also work. Keep a close eye on your weed if using this method and only keep them inside the container for a short amount of time. You may notice some flavor transfer when using the fruit peel method so choose a fruit you like!
Add Some Fresh Weed
Rehydrating weed using fresh weed is preferred by many over using food items as it avoids any scent transfer. Put some fresh nugs in your stash and check back in a day or two.
How to Prevent Weed from Drying Out in the First Place
Knowing how to rehydrate dry weed can help you revive otherwise unusable flower. However, looking after your weed so it doesn't dry out in the first place will give you the best experience. To keep your weed healthy and flavorful:
Keep it away from oxygen and light: Dark and dry places offer the optimal conditions for storing weed. Keep it in an airtight container in a cool place away from direct sunlight.
Avoid high or low temperatures: Find a space with constant temperatures of between 60 °F and 70 °F to avoid the formation of condensation and mold.
Avoid excessive humidity: Consumers living in humid cities like Seattle, WA, can use adaptive humidity control packets to maintain the right humidity level in each container of flower.
Research shows that the drying and storage practices used for cannabis buds affect their terpene profile and cannabinoid content. That’s why it’s so critical to store your buds correctly.
Look After Your Weed for the Perfect Experience
Cannabis offers a blissful experience for the senses as well as its famous high. Maintaining the right moisture level in your buds helps to maintain your weed's unique mix of flavors, aromas, and effects.
Keeping your weed well stored—and knowing how to moisten dry marijuana—are part of giving yourself the best possible experience with your weed. Keep your buds appropriately moist and let the good times roll!