Hash, or hashish, is often used interchangeably with weed, but the truth is that it’s totally different. Yes, it is still a form of cannabis, but there are some different benefits that make it an increasingly popular form of weed to smoke. Here’s our guide on everything you need to know about hash weed and how to use it.
What is hash weed?
Hash vs. weed: what’s the difference? Hash comes from the weed plant, but it’s just a part of it—some would argue, the best part. Hash is a concentrated form of the kief, or trichomes, the little hairs and resin on cannabis flowers that are jam-packed with THC and other cannabinoids.
The kief of the flower is what gives it its flavor (from flavonoids) and unique effects (from terpenes). If you take the kief away from the flower, there aren’t a whole lot of psychoactive elements left on the flower. So, imagine taking a bunch of that powerful resin and concentrating it into its own smokable substance. It’s going to get you much higher per hit than if you smoke the flower. This makes potency the biggest difference between smoking weed and hash, and it is quite a big difference. Be careful and start slow when smoking hash for the first time, especially if you are new to cannabis!
So, what makes hash different than other concentrates? Essentially everything you smoke or vape other than untouched, raw flower is made of those extracted trichomes in some concentrated form, whether it be wax, oil, shatter or tinctures. Hash is just the raw version of those forms, all pressed and ready to smoke. It’s solventless, where solvents are used with the resin when making many different forms of wax and oils.
How do you make hash weed?
Since it’s the rawest form of concentrate, you can make hash on your own pretty easily. It’s as simple as rubbing a nug between your hands until the sticky resin comes off the flower and forms into a little ball. That’s hash! You can load that right up into a bowl or bong and take a hit.
Another super easy way to extract the resin to make a hash concentrate is to purchase a grinder with a kief collector. When you grind your nugs, a good amount of the resinous hairs will fall through the fine screen each time into the bottom compartment. After a while, you’ll have collected a bunch of it right in your grinder that you can either sprinkle on top of a packed bowl for an added punch of THC, or press it and load up a bowl or roll a joint of just the hash.
You can also make hash at home with the bubble hash, or ice water hash, method. To do this, plop some nugs of bud into ice water to freeze the trichomes. This will cause the resin glands to break off and separate easily from the rest of the flower when stirred up. Then, filter the liquid through fine screen bags a few times, let the kief dry, and you’ve got your hash.
We love hashish because of how easy it is to make and how potent it is. Sometimes it’s fun to mix up your smoking session, and you can do this even if you just have raw bud lying around. Sprinkle some kief on top of your hit or extract larger amounts of it to press and pop into a bowl. Just remember to consume it with caution—the effects of hash are definitely a force!
