Kief

Kief is one of the easier concentrates to produce, but can still offer a more intense effect than that of its cannabis flower counterpart. Here, we describe what kief is, why it’s popular, and how it’s consumed.

What Is Kief?

Kief is perhaps the easiest and simplest form of cannabis concentrate to make. It’s all of the crystal-looking goodness that falls through when you grind your cannabis flower. These crystals come from the top of the gland of a cannabis plant. These crystals are known as trichomes.

Also called keef, this cannabis concentrate has been collected and consumed for thousands of years. High-quality kief is less potent than shatter or wax but still tends to be stronger than flower. Also sometimes referred to as dry sift, kief from top-tier cannabis plants tends to be blonde or light tan in color. Kief that is greener typically contains more plant matter than just trichomes, such as parts of leaves and stems.

How Is Kief Made?

Kief isn’t “made” like other concentrates in this guide are. Rather, this concentrate is made by collecting the most potent part of the cannabis plant and becomes a lightly-colored powder that is packed with cannabinoids. Kief is versatile and relatively easy to consume.

Much of the cannabis plant material falls through as well, including those-hair like strands. Many consumers sprinkle their kief on top of a glass pipe or put it in a joint. It is simply made but is highly effective. Kief has some of the best terpene profiles you’ll find in cannabis because it contains a lot of plant material that makes it taste delicious.

How Do I Collect Kief?

The easiest way to collect kief is to use a grinder with three chambers. These quality grinders usually have a screen made of stainless steel. This screen will collect kief powder that inevitably breaks off when you’re grinding cannabis flower for consumption in a joint, pipe, bong, etc.

If you are interested in collecting kief, the best way to do so is to use a three-chamber grinder, rather than a single chamber one. In single-chamber grinders, kief may stick to the inside of the device instead of falling to the bottom as it does with three-chamber grinders.

If you’re growing cannabis and want to collect large amounts of kief, a great way to do this is to use a silkscreen, which is sold in art supply stores. For more information on the screen capture method of collecting kief, we elaborate on this in our Cannabis Plant Guide.

How Do I Consume Kief?

Once you’ve collected your kief, it’s time for the fun part, which is consuming it. The most common way of consuming kief is to smoke it, but you could also add it to your cannabis flower for decarbing. For more info on cooking with cannabis, be sure to check out our corresponding guide on the matter.

Like flower, kief can be smoked or vaporized on its own, although most consumers tend to sprinkle it on their pipes or into joints. Since kief is a fine powder, however, it may fall through your pipe and end up in your mouth if you’re not careful. Due to its finely ground nature, kief will likely stay lit because it tends to hold a flame.

You may also want to add kief to your morning coffee. Adding kief to a hot beverage or food will activate its cannabinoids, and can be a great way to microdose. Some dispensaries get creative with pre-rolls, sprinkling kief on the outside of joints, which look appealing and may get you higher than a joint alone.

Benefits Of Kief

Cannabis connoisseurs like kief for its higher potency than cannabis flower. Kief is easy to make and has a higher amount of cannabinoids and terpene content than flower. Kief can contain up to 50% THC, depending on the original cannabis flower.

Kief is popular because it’s a by-product of flower, and you’re going to grind your flower anyway, so you might as well collect it and put it to good use. Kief can be great as a morning pick-me-up, as an additive to your evening meal to help with pain relief, or sprinkling into your evening sleep-time tea, depending on the source cultivar.

Kief is perhaps the easiest to make and the least expensive cannabis concentrate. Kief is the by-product of grinding dried and cured cannabis flower. Kief can be consumed in just about every way that cannabis concentrates or flower can be. It makes a great addition to a joint or bowl. Kief is just one of the many cannabis concentrates that may interest you as a canna-curious consumer.

What We Learned: Kief

Kief is one of the most common cannabis concentrates, and also the easiest to make. Here is what else we learned in our Kief Chapter:

• Kief is all of the crystals known as trichomes that fall through when you grind your cannabis flower.
• Kief has been collected and consumed for thousands of years.
• High-quality kief is less potent than shatter or wax but still tends to be stronger than flower.
• Also sometimes referred to as dry sift, kief from top-tier cannabis plants tends to be blonde or light tan in color.
• Kief that is greener typically contains more plant matter than just trichomes, such as parts of leaves and stems.
• The easiest way to collect kief is to use a grinder with three chambers. These quality grinders usually have a screen made of stainless steel.
• The most common way of consuming kief is to smoke it or vape it, but you could also add it to your cannabis flower for decarbing and cooking.
• Kief can contain up to 50% THC, depending on the original cannabis flower.

Moving right along. If you’re ready to move on to the next chapter of our Concentrates Guide, answer the question below, and let’s keep it moving.