Hempwick For A More Flavorful Smoke

Hempwick in action.

A while back, our own Lakota enlightened us on the benefits of an all-natural hempwick over a butane lighter. These hempwicks are thin strings of hemp material with a beeswax coating that allow the user to light their weed, instead of using a regular lighter. Many weedists use a hempwick for a more flavorful smoke, and since I’m always keen on ways to have a better tasting smoke, I decided to pick one up and see for myself.

At the dispensary, I purchased a 10-inch hempwick for a buck. The wick is thin and looks like a piece of string or twine, but it lights and burns much like a candle wick.

In order to test how much of a difference the hempwick makes in flavor, I decided to alternate wick and lighter use while smoking out of a glass piece, which in my opinion gives the best flavor (aside from a vaporizer, that is). Switching back-and-forth helped me pick up on the slight but evident differences.

The result? An appreciable difference. You know how you can smoke meats with certain woods to infuse the wood smoke flavor into the meat?  That’s kind of the affect the hempwick has. It tasted much more natural, with a hint of smokiness. Using the lighter on the next hit left me with a slightly harsher puff without the trace of smokey goodness. A few more hits later, I said screw you lighter, I’m just gonna use the hempwick from now on, but then realized I still needed it to light the wick.

My conclusion? You should get one; they’re pretty sweet. Hempwick may not for everyone, but given how cheap it is to try, it never hurts to experience the latest gear. Check out I-Tal’s Hempwick or see if your local dispensary has them.