Hashish

Hash is the oldest form of cannabis concentrate and has been consumed by humans for centuries. What is hashish, how is it made, and are there any benefits from it? This chapter in our concentrates guide addresses these questions and more.

What is Hashish?

Hashish, also called hash, is a cannabis concentrate that is traditionally made by compressing and then processing the parts of the cannabis plant that makes humans feel medicated. These parts are the flowering buds, and more specifically, called trichomes.

These trichomes are found in a concentrated form when broken off of a plant, which is a fine powder called kief. If you’ve ever broken up cannabis flower with your hands and got sticky crystals on them as a result, you had some kief on your hands.

Depending on how hash is made, it can appear in a number of different colors and have various textures. For instance, Moroccan hash is made by repeatedly applying significant pressure to kief.

Ice water bubble hash is made by stirring the harvested plant material in an ice bath, which detaches the trichomes. The trichomes are then filtered through mesh bags called bubble bags, which collect the unusable plant matter and allow trichomes to pass through.

Hash Has a History

As stated in the intro, hash is the oldest concentrate that we currently know of. History tells us that hash was consumed in Central and South Asian cultures many years before raw, dried cannabis flower was consumed.

In fact, some people in these cultures may have looked down upon anyone who happened to consume the flower alone. Cannabis flower was often seen as an unrefined, crude product that is only suitable for consumption by peasants.

Of course, we know today that this is not the case. Additionally, we have many other ways of making hash today as well.

How is Hashish Made?

Hash is most commonly made by pressing kief. Kief is the collected crystals of cannabis flower, which are called trichomes. The kief is heated and pressurized, which forms the well-known pressed, brown-colored substance.

The reason hash turns its iconic brown is because of the pressure required to properly extract the cannabinoids, terpenes, and other compounds. Another popular method of making hash is bubble hash. This method uses ice water and mesh materials to separate trichomes and form them into hash.

How Does Hash Make You Feel?

Just like every other concentrate, the potency of hash depends on many factors and variables. These factors include extraction method, the facility, and of course, the original harvested cannabis plant and how well it’s grown.

Benefits of Hashish

If correctly done, the benefits you’d get from the source cannabis material should logically be increased when consuming hashish rather than the original flower. For instance, maybe you’d smoke a bowl of flower to help ease your chronic pain. With the hash version of that cultivar, perhaps you could achieve the same effect with fewer inhales.

The Future of Hash

Hashish, the oldest cannabis concentrate, is still popular with consumers today. Hashish can be made using several different methods, with each technique resulting in a product that has a different color and texture. Advancements in the cannabis industry have improved the quality of hash over the years, and these improvements will only continue as the market evolves.

What We Learned: Hashish

There is much to learn about cannabis concentrates, and hashish is one of the most important. Here’s what we learned in our Hashish chapter:

• Hashish is the oldest-known cannabis concentrate.
• Hash is traditionally made by compressing and processing trichomes of cannabis plants, which contain cannabinoids and terpenes.
• Depending on how hash is made, it can appear in a number of different colors and have various textures.
• Ice water bubble hash is made by stirring the harvested plant material in an ice bath, which detaches the trichomes.
• Moroccan hash is made by repeatedly applying significant pressure to kief.
• Processed hash turns brown because of the pressure required to extract cannabis compounds properly.
• The source cannabis material and the extraction method are the two biggest factors in determining the quality of your hash.
• Consuming hash may be beneficial for medical consumers as it can allow them to achieve a similar medicated effect with less product than flower.

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