In constant struggle for the regulation of cannabis, mainly in the medicinal field.
28-07-2017 07:00:13 - Updated: 28 July, 2017
There are many ways that the marijuana plant can be consumed and hashish is one of them. Today we talk about the main methods of extracting resin from the marijuana plant to make homemade hashish, as well as the tools you will need for it. If you were one of those growers who discard the remains of the harvest, it is possible that after reading this article you will bang your head against the wall, because with the resinous leaves of the harvest obtained outdoors with your outdoor marijuana seeds you will be able to make a top quality hashish.
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Introduction
What an awful stigma has always had hash, right! The truth is that I would love to take a group of people on the street, take a sample of about 100 people, for example, and ask them the following question: “could you tell me what is hash?” I am convinced that, regardless of age or sex, many of them would not know to give me a correct answer, beyond that itâs a drug. In fact, hash is scheduled as an illegal drug, though it always comes well to know more what hash really is.
So, today, I would like to dedicate a blog space to this product whose most known origin is Morocco, as well as the different techniques to elaborate it in a homemade way, the staff that you will need for it and, of course, the history and the effects its consumption generates.
But as I always say and if you have read some of my texts, I wouldnât like to put the cart before the horse, so, if it feels right, I will love to accompany you on a previous tour where I am going to talk you about everything you need to know before you get stuck into homemade hash elaboration.
Everything you need to know before making homemade hash
As I said, I am really convinced that many people do not know exactly what is hash. Probably is not your case, because otherwise you would not be here, but it never hurts to refresh our knowledge and, therefore, I will start with something as simple as the definition of hash.
Made of compressed resins from marijuana plant, hash is obtained by physical or manual extraction, as we said, mainly using flowers and leaves of female marijuana plants.
Flavor, aroma and other features of the plant will have much to do with the strain of female marijuana plant we use, and the main effects caused by hash on the human body when it is consumed are: mainly sedative effects, since in its composition there is a higher concentration of CBN (cannabinol) which provides a greater sedative effect. This higher content in CBN is due to air and light as sources of THC oxydation, a fact that normaly occurs during Hash elaboration.
The rest of psychotropic and medicinal effects are the same which are attributed to cannabis as they can be time and space distortion among others, also contributing some degree of psychological addiction due to the social ritual that involves smoking Hash, with no significative physical withdrawal symptoms.
Other side effects which depend on THC concentration in Hash are: lack of coordination, inability to learn, paranoia, lung damage (Hash is made for smoking), or experiencing psychotic episodes, which may be pertaining to overdose cases, being all of them, transient, mild or moderate and very variable, depending not only on the administered dose, but also on the metabolism you have for each consumption. Your dose always has to be individualized and meticulously tailored to each consumption, and to each homemade Hash batch.
Infographic about hashish
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But, if hash is the extraction of resin from the marijuana plant and the effects are similar, what are the differences between cannabis and hash?
In addition to the above, it is clear that the first thing that strikes you is the differences in colors. While cannabis has different tones from green to purple, as we can see in the buds, hash show tones from yellowish brown to dark brown, differentiating shades according to elaboration conditions. In addition, its appearance is also completely different: while cannabis is green vegetal matter in itself, hash is usually made and marketed as pellets or small bricks form, giving it an unpleasant, sticky and clayey form. Nothing to do, then, with cannabis in this sense.
On the other hand, a significant difference, and for which there are people who prefer more determinated product than another, is the effect they both produce. So that, the effect of hash is NOT always more potent than that of marijuana, since on many occasions THC levels are relatively low. In fact, nowadays, we find tests from marijuana plants with THC values that surpass many Hash preparations.
This is due to the fact that on many occasions growers do not pay attention to marijuana plants selection for Hash production, including in their processes fertilized plants, hermaphrodites, males, seedlings etc.
However, although it is important to note that Moroccan Hash is one of the most concentrated in THC, most of them do not exceed the THC content found in our marijuana plants and maybe we must take into account that Hash stands out also for its high CBD and CBN concentrations, not only for THC, resulting in its sedative effects for the most part.
The key is in the CBN. The CBN is included along with the THC in the psychoactivity index calculations and we almost always find more CBN in Hash.
When it comes to knowing if cannabis or hash are of good quality, there are also differences. In the case of marijuana is easier to see at first sight, because if you know how to identify good buds correctly, it is not necessary to burn the weed. However, in the case of hash you must do it: The effect of the first puff will give you the response. In few seconds you can know its potency and purity. Another way of knowing its purity is by means of a semiquantitative cannabinoids analysis in tin layers for chromatography techniques.
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Precisely, when you smoke is when you will see another of the differences between cannabis and hash: the aroma. In the case of cannabis is more floral, however, hash is more intense and smells of musk. This is because during Hash preparation we lose many of cannabis terpenes, fundamentally the monoterpenes, that is due to “light” molecules tend to evaporate before in the environment. Monoterpenes are responsible for the citrus and bittersweet aroma of cannabis.
In this sense and taking into account all work has been done in recent years to prevent fraud through illegal crops, the fact is that Europe enjoys a more than good reputation in terms of hash quality in spite of Morocco is still the main producer and exporter of this natural product.
What are the trichomes
Making a stop along the way, I’ve talked about trichomes before. Do you know what they are? If not, this is of interest to you, because it is one of the essential parts of cannabis plant. And itâs essential to know the different kind of trichomes that exist in cannabis plants to make a dry resin extraction as best as possible, with the highest purity. The trichomes are glandular-like formations that protrude from the surface of leaves and chalices.
Trichomes are divided into 2 categories if we consider their secretive nature of cannabinoids:
- Glandular trichome with globular head (“Stalked”): they are the most abundant and develop during flowering. They are the ones that more cannabinoids and terpenes produce, reason why they are the ideal ones to make hash.
- Bulbous or sessile: These are more abundant in the small leaves attached to the buds. They also develop during flowering, Â are smaller than the previous ones but they also provide resin of high quality.
Therefore, to produce the best Hash, you can only consider buds and leaves rich in sessile and stalked type trichomes.
This type of trichomes as well as their maturity can be tested by yourself with lens microscope of 25 to 50 magnifications, which you can find also in our paraphernalia section at PEV Grow online store.
Now you know the main differences between hash and marijuana. Let’s move on then. Do you know which is the most famous hash? Indeed, that of Morocco, so briefly, we will see a little of its history and why it has become more than famous.
History of Moroccan Hash
As you know, the best known hash is what is imported from Morocco. However, Â despite the fact that their true origin is unknown, historians agree that Hash could reach north Africa during the Muslim conquests, which position us between fifteenth and seventeenth centuries, but many centuries would pass until commercialization of the same one be known massively around the world, back in the 60s and 70s, the golden age of hippies.
The hashish, as they call it in this territory, is usually consumed with black tobacco, coiled in the form of joint or pipe. However, in the Rif area, consuming Hash is part of some typical rituals. In fact, until the 1950s, this region enjoyed privileges when it came to cultivating and consuming this product, something that other areas in Morocco did not have. Today, it is estimated that in this part of the country, thousands of people live from the hash processing, an ideal area for its production, given the high temperatures occur there, necertheless ending with other type of crops greatly can benefit cannabis plant from which its resin is extracted.
How to make homemade Morocco-style Hash
Although there are many methods to make hash, it could be said that they are divided, mainly, in two: Resin extraction in dry and in ice, being first, the methodology more habitual. But since hash in Morocco is still considered one of the best in the world, today we want to dedicate a special section to the production of this product in a home-like and country-like way (although it is also made that way in countries like Lebanon or Afghanistan) , i.e by sieving and beating.
It is a very simple method, but it requires some experience if we want to achieve the best results. In Morocco, elaboration requires the following steps:
1- Take a large bucket and place a fine mesh in it to sift the vegetable matter.
2- Select the most resinous buds and place them on this mesh covering with plastic.
3- Take a rod and beat the vegetal matter until the resin is dropped into the bottom of the bucket with which hash will be made.
At this point it is necessary to take into account the size of mesh we use, since it must be tried to avoid that the vegetal matter does not break in small clusters becoming mixed up with resin, reducing quality in the final product.
In case of you like to store marijuana buds and not to lose the resin renmants, in PEVGrow we offer a 00box sieve, which will help you to preserve and sift the resin from marijuana buds without altering its taste or smell, without waste any valuable component of the plant.
One of the advantages of this box is that tapestry mesh is made up of 136 microns, a measure more than ideal, since it will help you to avoid mixing the rest of vegetal matter with pure resin, which, by the way, is always available in the drawer unit of the mentioned box. And yet, one of the aspects that you have to take into account when choosing the correct sieve is precisely the mesh size: the smaller this, the less likely vegetable matter will pass and the greater quality in the final product .
At this point and as far as the choice of raw material is concerned, I recommend that you use buds from the top of the plant, because they are the ones that have the most amount of trichomes. In this way, the final product will be more potent and of higher quality.
Once we have done the last step, we will have the resin so that we can either smoke it directly in a bong or press it. If you choose the first option and as something new, from PevGrow we propose the Vriptech vaporizer, ideal for both herb and resin, by using a borosilicate blubber or bong.
In case of you want to press the resin obtained and make your own Hash pellets, we propose a small pollen press, as a very affordable tool (it only costs 10 euros).
And if you are looking for a complete kit what can take it away where you want and for a good price under 30 euros, Cannaflex Simple Siever contains: a 150 microns sieve of 560mm in diameter, a spatula to pick the resin up and a small sieve of 25 Microns to press our homemade hash.
If you are one of those who have more capital to achieve an excellent homemade hash, we recommend the king of kings as far as the extraction of dry resin is concerned which is also based on traditional method of making hashifrom Morocco : The Pollinator Resin Extractor P 150 / P 500.This modern device facilitates your resin elaboration, since it contains an electric engine that will do the work for you.
The steps to follow are the same as in the previous case: we wet and freeze the buds and then we put them into the Pollinator. Close the cover and start the engine up, at this point, the results depend on you. If you leave less time, you will have more resin, but the quality will be less than if time is longer. The most intertesting? That in half an hour, more or less, you will have all resin extracted.
Other traditional methods to extract resin
Pakistan, India or Himalaya are other points on the planet where hash has a very good reputation. It is precisely in these places where the artisanal way of elaborating Hash balls or charas are the following:
- Before cutting the buds, when the flower is in full bloom (and the trichomes in their site), pass the hands through the buds so that the resin get stuck.
- When we have enough, we will remove it carefully, so that we do not take vegetable remains.
The good part of this method is that the quality of the product, if done well, is really good and pure, with a black color that draws attention. Although we must also tell you that it is not our favorite method because of the low performance it entails.
Tips to preserve homemade Hash
Now twe know how to elaborate Hash and the tools we need to process it in the purest Morocco style, we only must know how to preserve it in order to consume whenever we feel like it. In this sense, several aspects have to be taken into account:
- It must be protected from air, light, moisture and heat so that all its properties are preserved and, avoiding for example, the appearance of mold and oxidation processes.
- Hash powder is damaged before pressing.
- It is recommended to keep it in sealed containers, although we intend to consume it in few days.
- Note the packaging date and the strain from which Hash derives, so that we take it into account, in both a positive and a negative sense, for the next extractions we make.
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Conclusion
What do you think about this tour of homemade hash? Remember that there are three very simple steps: choose the central buds, as they are the ones that have the greatest amount of trichomes, wet them and freeze them, then use the sieve with a mesh of small microns (between 135 and 150 is ideal) and stirring until resin extraction is complete.
If you enjoyed this post, I would love to invite you to share it in social networks, besides to contribute a little bit telling us your experience when you make Hash. Donât hesitate in share with us any other method or trick you have or any bad experience you underwent making Hash and people should avoid.
From PEV Grow we tell you Thanks for your help
In the late sixties we got a pound of hash from ibida Spain at the hash bizarre that was soft and had gooey white in it.. If you got a hit of the joint we concocted you would be stoned. What was it.
i wonder what variety of plants were used to make the soft black 80s hash in OZ, if it was just general indica or a certain range. Wasnt harsh, tasted rich and smelt like incense.
That is probably one of the most important points đ if like to know too. Will be a nice land race strain.