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When it comes to good old, honest cannabis concentrates there’s nothing quite like hash. From its earliest days as a knife-wielding assassin’s supplement for murder, to the modern craze over bubble hash, hashish or “hash” has garnered quite a cult-like following.
Hash is one of those wonders of weed that always seems to be a favorite, no matter what technological advancements change the ways in which we consume cannabis. Sometimes, like the saying goes, if it ain’t broke don’t fix it – so, if you have the need for weed, spend your cash on hash!
The hash craze might seem like it’s reached its peak today, but hashish is one of the oldest and most storied cannabis products in human history. Traditional hashish medicines and cultural rites date back well over a thousand years in written history, but there are a lot of theories that suggest hash consumption might stretch back as far as two- to three-thousand years.
Cannabis history, like the rooms where it has been smoked for untold generations, is rather hazy. It’s unfortunate that we’re so bound to written or archaeological accounts because there is a rich culture & history with cannabis all over the globe, throughout the human story. What we know about hash officially dates back to the 10th, 12th and 13th centuries where multiple records make references to “hashish assassins” in the Middle East. These “high killers” were known to consume cannabis in the form of a finger-rub hash, either smoked or ingested as part of the ritual of their chosen profession.
This imagery of murderous marijuana users did nothing to improve the stigma surrounding cannabis throughout the centuries, and today we can assume that some of the demonization of this incredible plant has to do with some long-held misapprehensions of cannabis cultures. All things being equal, cannabis is thankfully in the midst of a major shift in attitudes towards its place in societies all over the world.
Front and center in this fight for acceptance and understanding are some of the most potent concentrates we’ve ever seen: wax, resin, distillates, high-potency oils, shatter and of course, hash. The modern ‘renaissance’ surrounding these life-changing, high-potency cannabis concentrates has led many new schoolers to discover traditional hash products like hand rolled hash, bubble hash from fresh buds or homemade hash from dry sifts. It’s easy to get your hands on some of the highest quality hash online or in stores, but you can also spend a little time making your very own homemade hashish.
Is it easy to learn how to make hash at home? Yes. What’s better for DIY hash: homemade hash press? Or hand rolled hash? Both, and we’ll explain why. What’s the trick to making bubble hash with fresh buds you growed on your own? There’s nothing to it! Let’s hash out the intricacies of homemade hash so you too can experience the wholesome highness of potent pot concentrates that is hash.
BENEFITS OF HOMEMADE HASH
Before you learn how to make hash from dry sifts or perfect making bubble hash with freshly grown buds, you should decide whether hash is for you or not. Hash is easy to make, easy to include in your joints or edibles, and it provides a truly full-spectrum experience that will make you appreciate cannabis even more. Unlike other concentrates or extracts, you can make hash from dry sift or learn how to make hash without silk screens with little know-how or equipment. If you’re like many hash heads today, a little DIY doesn’t scare you and neither do the high-potencies you can obtain with your own homemade hash.
If you need a bit more convincing, here’s a quick hit list for the benefits of learning how to make hash at home:
Volume: you can make a lot more for less cost if you take the time to roll/press your own
Potency: you can control the strain/genetics and try to produce certain cannabinoids or terpenes with your homegrown, homemade hash
Variety: feel free to flavor it, mix it, bake it, roll it, rub it, brick it or whatever suits your needs
Consistency: whether you want hash for medicinal or recreational reasons, you get to play around with how it’s consumed, it’s potency, it’s textures & flavors, etc
Healthy: you can avoid any chemical additives, preservatives, flavorings or other processing agents that might be present in some store-bought hashes
Pride: can’t ignore the satisfaction of creating something beautiful, delicious, mind-blowing or unique
HOMEMADE HASH PRESS VS HAND ROLLED HASH</h2
This section is really splitting hairs because learning how to make hash at home is completely up to you. Just like there are some joint-rolling purists who claim “by hand is best” while others shell out hundreds of dollars for a reliable blunt-roller, hash can be made at home with equipment or just your 10 digits.
Homemade hash presses are very common, quite affordable, and they certainly make homemade hash experience a little easier. On the other hand (literally), hand rolled hash is more hands on… sorry, the puns are getting ridiculous… so it will require a lot more time, care and artistic fervor. It’s tough to simply say “one is better than the other” because homemade hash presses and hand rolled hash can achieve the same thing: high-quality, homemade hash that will knock your socks off.
Arguing between these two methodologies is like when an organic outdoor grower fights with an indoor hydroponic cultivator. Both can be amazing growers and achieve incredible yields, but they disagree over the details of how it’s made when they should be marveling at each other’s buds. It doesn’t matter how you grow pot – it just matters that you do. The same sentiment is true for learning how to make hash without a silk screen, making bubble hash with fresh buds, or making hash from a dry sift: it’s all good, just do what better suits your skills & setups.
HOW TO MAKE HASH AT HOME
Hash is typically derived by sifting trichomes through very fine mesh sieves or fabrics that can separate the potent cannabinoid sugars from the rest of the plant materials. Once sifting has been completed, this resinous kief can be glombed together into ultra-potent bricks or balls that resemble raw chocolate.
You don’t need any equipment really – a simple finger rub can get the job done if you practice hand rolled hash techniques. Hash is the purist’s concentrate because it’s traditional and it combines the resinous glands and all their cannabinoids & terpenes together without the need for chemical agents or the separation of compounds from plant material.
The best way to make hash at home – according to the majority of hash fans online – is to use the ‘bubble hash’ method. There are a number of other techniques, some that are hundreds of years old and can be cool to try too, but for the purposes of this article we’ll focus on the convenient, efficient bubble hash method.
Making Bubble Hash With Fresh Buds, Kief, Trim Or Shake
WHAT YOU’LL NEED:
4 x Bubble Hash bags/bucket (5 gal.)
3 x Ultra-fine mesh or <25 micron fabric/bag
1 x Stirring implement
3 x Knives or spatulas
4 x Towels
1 x Hose + access to hot/cold water
3 x Metal trays, wire racks or parchment paper
200-300 grams of cannabis buds/kief/trim/shake
WHAT TO DO:
1. Try to use cold or chilled buds, kief, trim or shake and make your hash in a cool environment as this helps to keep the bubble hash mixture at the right temperatures
2. Put one of the fine mesh or micron sieves in one of the buckets/bags
3. Fill the bag/bucket ⅓ with ice + 200-300 g of chosen cannabis
4. Add another ⅓ ice and top up with cold water
5. Let the iced buds/kief/trim/shake sit for 15-30 minutes
6. After this duration, stir the ice/water/cannabis for 5 minutes to agitate the frozen/hardened trichomes, this will separate them from the plant material
7. Let the bag/bucket sit for another 5-10 minutes to allow the trichomes to sink to the bottom of the mesh/sieve
8. Lift your sift/mesh out of the water once trichomes have coalesced, then drain the ice/water. Keep the cannabis and trichomes aside in another clean/empty bag/bucket
9. Line the remaining bags/buckets with mesh/fabric/bag for sifting in descending order (i.e. less fine, finer, finest from top to bottom to further separate the trichomes at each filter stage)
10. Place your buds/kief/trim/shake and first filtered trichomes into this layered filter bag/bucket. Next, pour new, cold water onto the cannabis
11. Sift the plant material and trichomes through the stages of filtration until the water is golden or amber in color (this means the resin glands have separated and settled). If your water is still green, it is too agitated and you need to further sift out the plant materials
12. Drain the water from the bags/buckets, you should be able to visibly detect trichomes and resinous glands in the sieves/fabrics/meshes. Place these filters on towels and gently dab the outsides to further collect any excess moisture
13. Scrape the trichomes and resins from the bags/buckets. Place onto your finest micron mesh/fabric/bag (<25 is ideal to avoid repeating the process too many times)
14. Repeat steps 11-13 for all filters, make sure you’ve collected all the trichomes and resins
15. Repeat steps 1-10 if you can see any trichomes/glands on the already washed/filtered buds until you’re confident you have extracted the full yields from your cannabis
16. Spread the hash over your trays/racks, on parchment paper if possible, and store them in a dark, dry and cool place. Drying can take 24-72 hours, depending on air circulation, so be patient.
There you have it! Your very own homemade hash batch. This might sound like a lot of steps, but once you’ve run through it a couple times you’ll see why DIY bubble hash is the favorite way to make homemade hash. Next, you’ll need to invest in a homemade hash press or learn how to hand roll your hash – keep an eye on Haute Health for an upcoming blog on this very subject! For now, go enjoy your personal hash batch and show it off to your friends & family.
