How to recognize quality Hashish

October 02, 2020 Marco Cappiello

Those who love cannabis flowers usually also love the hashish that is produced from them. Known as “smoke,” hashish is still a product of the cannabis plant, but unlike flower, it is processed.

Lately in the world of fair cannabis, a type of hashish with a high CBD content has made its entry , which is produced from the most resinous industrial hemp plants and light cannabis crops and is certainly worth a try.

In any case, regardless of the active ingredient, it is important to recognize good quality hashish before purchasing it and not after having been "ripped off". In this article we will deal with precisely this, here is what we will see specifically:

What is hashish and how is it obtained
Difference between cannabis and hashish
Hashish analysis
Hashish problems
Quality hashish

What is hashish and how is it obtained

Hashish is the most famous of the many concentrates that can be obtained by treating cannabis flowers , more precisely it is cannabis resin.

It therefore goes without saying that the higher the quality of the cannabis plant, the higher the quality of the hashish can be. The same thing goes for the potency or active ingredients, if we extract hashish from a light marijuana we will have a lighter smoke, if we extract from a strong variety we will have a very powerful hashish.

And again, if we extract hashish from a legal cannabis plant, we will have a legal hashish based on CBD and with a THC percentage of less than 0.2% . Depending on the type of hashish you want to produce, a certain extraction process is used.

Dry extraction: it is the classic extraction, the cannabis flowers and often other parts of plant matter rich in trichomes , such as marijuana leaves , are collected and beaten for a long time on a sieve. The powder that falls on the sieve, essentially a concentrate of active ingredient, is pressed with a suitable tool and our block of hashish is ready. It's a bit like what happens with grinders that have a collector underneath: after grinding grass for several months, we can open the container, pour the powder onto a surface and press it properly. Here is a simple but very powerful homemade hash.

Rubbing between the palms of the hands: perhaps the simplest technique for producing hashish, it is typical of India. The cannabis flowers, and sometimes the leaves, are harvested from the cannabis plant and rubbed long and hard between the palms of the hands. All you have to do is rub your palms together and the resin will come off, forming a ball of hashish. Although it is a fairly crude technique, it is the one used to make charas , a type of hashish highly appreciated for its flavor and effects. It is important to remember that the palms of your hands must be very clean because any dirt would be collected with the resin.

Ice-o-lator extraction: This is an extraction method that uses cold water and dry ice to separate the trichomes and obtain the resin. The cannabis flowers and the rest of the plant matter are placed in a bucket with ice and cold water and then shaken and stirred for some time. Everything must be filtered in a special multi-layered bag with increasingly finer meshes, called ice-o-lator , through which the trichomes can be separated and collected in the different layers, thus obtaining different degrees of purity of the product. It is the technique used for the famous and much loved bubble hash .

Difference between cannabis and hashish

The main difference between cannabis and hashish is that the first term refers to the inflorescences of the cannabis plant , the classic herb we are used to.

Hashish on the other hand is what we know as “smoke” , it comes in solid tablets. It is a concentrate that is produced through an extraction process and as we have seen, depending on the extraction process, one variety can be obtained compared to another.

Since it is a concentrate, the active ingredient is present in a higher percentage so the effect is very powerful.

Another difference lies in the method of intake , if in fact we can vaporize cannabis flowers of any variety without problems, we can vaporize hashish only of some varieties, the dry sieved ones, which are a little less sticky and are easily divisible into individual pieces to vaporize.

Precisely due to the limitations linked to vaporizing hashish, it is preferred to use cannabis for therapeutic purposes, it is no coincidence that we talk about therapeutic cannabis and not therapeutic hashish.

Hashish analysis

Exactly as with cannabis flowers, it is important to learn to distinguish quality hashish from poor quality hashish in order to avoid unnecessary purchases but above all in order to avoid taking substances without active ingredients or in some cases even harmful to our health. .

In case we are buying in the context of legal cannabis, given that we have the possibility, let's not forget to carefully read the information contained in the packages or on the website.

Let's then see what elements need to be analyzed to ensure we are dealing with a quality product:

Appearance : Quality hashish appears compact like a bar or piece of chocolate. Depending on the type of hashish, the grain can be sandy and dusty or soft and rubbery. A great way to check its quality is to heat it under the flame. Look carefully, if bubbles form that seem to be frying, it means that the product you have in your hands is rich in trichomes and therefore of excellent quality.

Color : depending on the variety, the smoke can be brown or black . It can vary from light brown to dark brown or from a more or less intense black. Some types of hashish are black, dark brown on the outside and light brown on the inside. The smoke must not have greenish hues or contain traces of vegetal matter

Tact : hashish must never be dry. It tends to be soft, a little sticky and easily malleable. Harder varieties should soften immediately when heated with flame. Better to be wary of smokes that are excessively hard or that crumble between your fingers.

Smell : the aromas of hashish should be perceived "with the naked nose", which means that without heating the smoke we should be able to perceive its scent, an unmistakable intense and sweetish smell. If the smoke stinks or has a suspicious odor, the advice is to throw it away because it may have been mixed with other substances.

Taste : a pleasant and sweetish aftertaste is characteristic of a quality hashish, while a heavy and acidic aftertaste are symptoms of a less valuable smoke.

Effects : if high in THC , a quality hashish has a very powerful effect, which is felt from the first two puffs and is long-lasting. If high in CBD , the relaxing effects should be felt almost immediately, both on a muscular and mental level.

Hashish problems

Unfortunately, not all hashish producers are serious and not all of them work ethically and honestly. It therefore happens that to save money and earn more, someone cuts hashish or cannabis with other substances.

Cutting means contaminating the inflorescences before the extraction process. They range from harmless starch, to the more harmful sand and refined glass, to dangerous rubber from car wheels.

The famous "tire" , a term used to indicate a low quality smoke containing everything except cannabis resin, comes precisely from this dangerous habit of some decidedly unethical hashish producers.

Another problem may be related to the raw material with which the hashish is produced. If the marijuana plant has not been grown well, if it has been grown with pesticides, if flowering has been forced too early, the cannabis flowers may not be particularly clean or not rich enough in trichomes.

In this case we could end up with a hashish that is not very pure or with a hashish with a low active ingredient.

Quality hashish

If you were to organize a small tasting with the best hashish varieties, which ones would you choose?

Here are some tips to avoid mistakes:

Charas (THC): as we have seen, it is produced by rubbing between the palms of the hands. It has an intense, piney aroma and flavor and a very powerful psychoactive effect, with a THC content of up to 26% . It is extremely malleable but not very easy to work with.

Hash 00 (CBD): a 100% legal resin concentrate with a light honey brown color with a CBD content of around 20% and a THC percentage of 0.2%, as required by law.

Afghan (THC): the THC content reaches only 7% so the psychoactive effect is well balanced and never excessive. Dark brown or black in colour, it has a spicy aroma and a spicy, strong flavour.

Choco Hash (CBD): with a CDB content of around 18%, a color similar to that of milk chocolate and an intense and fragrant aroma, here is another type of completely legal hashish.

If the article was of interest to you, share it on social media with the rest of the Community, every single share helps us support our blog and keep you 360° informed on the world of Cannabis.