Wondering how to make hash? You’ve come to the right place!

In this article, the all-things-cannabis experts at Honest Marijuana reveal just how easy it is to make hash and give you several different methods to choose from.

We’ll also offer some suggestions on how to put your hash to use for best results.

What Is Hash?

Hash (short for hashish) is a cannabis concentrate made from fresh resin glands (trichomes) that have been separated from the plant matter of a marijuana flower.

Inside those resin glands, the cannabis plant produces THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, and other active cannabinoids.

Outside, in the wild, the trichomes are actually a defense mechanism to deter hungry herbivores like rabbits and deer from devouring the plant.

But because those trichomes are psychoactive (or medicinal, in the case of a CBD-dominant strain), humans can use them to get high or treat a wide variety of medical conditions.

So when you get right down to it, trichomes — or kief — are what all the fuss is about. The leaves and plant matter in the flowers do contain a low concentration of cannabinoids, but not enough to have a significant effect.

And hash is basically trichomes that — through mechanical means such as heat and pressure or by mixing it with water — you form into a brick, bar, block, or ball.

But Wait…

“But wait,” you say, “I thought hash was something different, like it was grown on trees by werewolves in the land of Narnia.”

Sorry to burst your bubble but absolutely none of that is true.

We understand where your confusion comes from, though. It comes from two different variables playing on your mind.

Those variables are:

• The two different forms of cannabis
• What you call the finished product

Here’s a discussion of each to set the record straight.

Two Options Is All You Get

Imagine that you just bought a zip of cannabis and you’re holding one of the flowers in your hand.

Obviously, you want to get the trichomes in your system as quickly as possible. But how are you supposed to do that?

At this point, you have only two options:

• Grind it up and add it to a joint, blunt, or edible
• Extract the trichomes into a concentrate (such as hash)

We know that might be hard to take at first, given that there are so many forms of cannabis on the market today.

But everything other than dried, cured, and decarboxylated cannabis (the stuff you pack in your bong) is just trichomes extracted from the plant matter and formed into a concentrate.

That includes:

• Distillates
• Wax
• Shatter
• Cannabis lube
• Isolate
• Vape juice
• THC pills
• Liquid THC
• Honey oil
• Tinctures
• Cannabis oil (Rick Simpson oil)
• CBD oil
• THC strips
• CBD strips
• THC and CBD patches

And pretty much anything else you can think of, including hash. They’re all just extracted and concentrated trichomes in one form or another.

Whatchamacallit

The other variable that causes so much confusion for new, and even long-time, cannabis users is the fact that there are so many words that describe the exact same thing in the cannabis community.

Marijuana (the stuff you grind up and smoke) is bud and chronic and pot and Mary Jane and weed and skunk and so many other terms we don’t have room to list them here.

Similarly, concentrate is hash and honey oil and shatter and wax and budder and tincture and cannabis oil and hashish and so many other terms we don’t have room to list them here.

Again, it helps to remember that there are only two options: cannabis that’s been dried, cured, and decarboxylated (basically, plant matter and trichomes together), and cannabis concentrate (trichomes that have been separated from the plant matter).

So no matter what someone else calls it, if it’s dried and cured bud, it’s marijuana. If it’s in another form — such as hash — it’s a concentrate.

Consider this a cheat sheet of sorts for deciphering the cannabis lexicon.

If someone passes you a whatchamacallit and it’s smoking, it’s probably made from dried and cured bud.

If someone passes you a whatchamacallit and it’s oily or looks like rock candy, it’s probably a concentrate.

With the exception of edibles (which are technically dried, cured, and decarboxylated marijuana), if you’re unsure what to call the thing in your hand, go with bud for all plant matter and concentrate for everything else.

What Makes Hash So Special?

As we mentioned earlier in the article, hash is basically just cannabis trichomes that have been separated from the plant matter and smooshed together in solid, liquid, or semi-solid form.

So what makes hash so special?

Just that it’s pure, unadulterated trichomes with nothing to get between you and a truly stellar experience.

And why is that of any import? Because, my skeptical friend, hash is extremely potent.

On average, regular marijuana (the kind you smoke or mix in your edibles) clocks in at 10-15 percent THC or CBD. Creative growers have even pushed those numbers toward 50 percent to give us some of the strongest weed strains available.

Hash, on the other hand, clocks in at anywhere from 60 percent to almost 90 percent THC or CBD depending on the original strain used to make the concentrate.

That significant difference in potency makes for one heck of a ride or some welcome pain relief, and is what all the fuss is about.

Now that you know what hash is, how to distinguish it from a joint or a Backwoods blunt, and what makes it so special, it’s time to learn for yourself how to make this awesome stuff.

How To Make Hash

Hand-Rolling Method

Supplies

Hand-rolling is the most basic and traditional method of producing hash. All you need are your hands (duh!) and freshly harvested buds (NOT dried and cured buds).

Here’s a step-by-step guide for how to make hash using only the tools at hand (see what we did there?).

Instructions

1. Find a clear, flat surface to work on. We’ve had great success setting up at the coffee table in our living room, popping in our favorite stoner classic, and just vegging out while we roll our hash. Your choice.
2. Arrange your marijuana flowers on a cookie tray and cover the space in front of you with a large sheet of parchment paper.
3. Before you start handling your nugs (wink wink nudge nudge), wash your hands with hot water — as hot as possible — and unscented hand soap.
4. Splash some rubbing alcohol on your newly cleaned skin and wait a minute or two for the alcohol to evaporate. If you don’t have rubbing alcohol, vodka or other high-proof drinking alcohol works well and really adds something to the finished product.
5. Remove all the leaves and stems from your cannabis buds. This helps prevent the trichomes from getting stuck in places you don’t want (basically anywhere but your hands).
6. Hold a bud between your palms and gently roll it in a circular motion. Pretend you’re working with PlayDoh or cookie dough and you’re trying to make little balls.
7. After a while, you’ll notice a thick, black resin forming on your palms and fingers. That’s hash, my friend!
8. When you’re done rolling all your buds, scrape or peel the resin off your hands and press it together into a small block or ball.

Hot Iron Method

Supplies

• Kief
• Iron
• Parchment paper (NOT wax paper)
• Hand towel or t-shirt

Instructions

1. Turn on the iron to the lowest setting (no steam).
2. Pour the kief in a pile on the top half of the parchment paper.
3. Spread out the pile of kief until you have a layer roughly a quarter-of-an-inch thick.
4. Fold the bottom half of the parchment paper over the top half so it covers the kief.
5. You can even fold the parchment several more times to create a little packet.
6. Place the parchment paper on an iron-ready surface (an ironing board works great).
7. Place the hand towel or t-shirt over the parchment paper.
8. Apply pressure with the hot iron for three or four seconds (no more or you’ll burn the kief).
9. Remove the iron for another three or four seconds.
10. Repeat this process — three or four seconds on, three or four seconds off — twenty times, flipping the parchment paper every two. (On, off, on, off, flip ten times.)
11. Peel the parchment paper back to check your progress.
12. If it needs more heat and pressure, continue with steps eight and nine above.
13. If it looks good, turn the iron off and let the hash patty cool before handling.

Blender Method

Supplies

• Fresh marijuana buds
• Ice
• Cold water
• Blender
• Small mesh strainer
• Coffee filter or cheesecloth
• Glass canning jar
• Freezer

Instructions

1. Place ice and fresh marijuana buds in a blender.
2. Pour in enough cold water to cover everything.
3. Blend for one minute.
4. Pour the mixture through the mesh strainer into the glass jar to separate out the plant matter.
5. Let liquid sit for 30 minutes.
6. Pour off two-thirds of the water, being careful not to disturb the layer of kief that has settled at the bottom.
7. Place the jar in the freezer for 10 minutes.
8. Pour the remaining liquid through the coffee filter or cheesecloth to collect the kief. That’s your hash!
9. Press to remove all the water possible.
10. Form the hash into your favorite shape.
11. Enjoy!

Bubble Bag Method

Supplies

• Bubble bags
• Stir sticks
• 10-15 pounds of ice
• 3-4 ounces of quality cannabis
• 5-gallon bucket
• Purified water
• Cheesecloth

Instructions

1. Layer your bubble bag or screen (three or four of them) in the bucket from smallest to largest. The smaller the number the smaller the screen.
2. Add 3-4 ounces of high-quality cannabis.
3. Pour half a bag of ice on top of the cannabis.
4. Add enough purified water (about eight cups) to cover the cannabis under the ice.
5. Mix the ice, water, and buds together.
6. Continue to agitate the mixture for 15 or 20 minutes.
7. Let the mix settle for another 20 or 30 minutes.
8. Lift the first bag partway out and let it drain back into the bucket. You can even shake and squeeze the bag to get all the water out.
9. Set that bag aside.
10.  Remove the next bag and scrape out the material at the bottom of the screen (a spoon works great here). Deposit the hash onto your cheesecloth. This is the least pure form of hash (but it’s still good).
11. Remove the next bag and let it drain into the bucket. Don’t squeeze this bag to remove the water. Just let it drain.
12. Scrape out the hash at the bottom of the bag and deposit it onto your cheesecloth. There should be more material in this bag compared to the first one. And it will be lighter in color and contain less plant matter.
13. Continue removing bags from the bucket and scraping out the hash until you’ve reached the last one.
14. Fold the cheesecloth on top of the hash and press gently to remove the leftover water.
15. You’re left with three or four different grades of hash depending on how many screens you used. Keep in mind that you can mix all the hash together.
16. Repeat this process one or two more times to get as many of the trichomes off the bud as possible.

Now that you’ve learned how to make hash, let’s talk about the real fun: how to use it.

How To Use Hash

Hash is very versatile because it’s basically just compressed kief. So anything you can do with kief, you can do with hash.

Here are some suggestions based on method of consumption.

1) Edibles

Edibles are one of the easiest and most discreet ways to consume cannabis — especially with hash.

You can mix your hash into everything from butter and honey to tea and candy. Or even crumble it up and sprinkle it on top of your salad for a bit of mid-day delight.

Just remember that hash is very potent (has a high THC or CBD count), so a little goes a long way.

2) Joint And Blunt

If you roll your own joints and blunts, sprinkle a dash of hash on top before you close to add a kick of flavor and a bump of psychedelic effects to the mix.

You can even moisten your doobie with THC oil and roll the whole thing in hash if you’re really adventurous.

3) Bong And Pipe

After you’ve packed your bong, rub a bit of hash on top to transform beasters into headies.

In fact, using hash is a great way to upgrade low-quality weed (and the low-quality experience it produces) to the grade-A stuff you’ve been fantasizing about.

4) Other Methods

As we mentioned, hash is a very versatile product. You can use it to create moon rock weed, add it to Thai sticks, or vaporize it in a table-top vaporizer or vape pen.

The sky’s the limit when it comes to hash, so experiment with different methods and find the one that’s right for you.

Will All Hash Get You High?

For most people who try or make their own hash, the answer will be a resounding Yes!

For others, the answer will be no.

It’s not that some have a super power that makes them resistant to the psychedelic effects of cannabis (man, that would be a bummer!).

Rather, the effects of your hash depend on what it’s made from.

Yes, all hash is just trichomes from the cannabis plant, but different strains have different concentrations of cannabinoids (THC, CBD, and a bunch of others).

Here’s how those different concentrations will affect your body and brain when you consume hash.

1. If your hash contains one percent THC or less, you won’t feel a thing.
2. If your hash contains one percent to five percent THC, you’ll start to feel something (depending on your cannabis experience).
3. If your hash contains five percent to 10 percent THC, you’ll probably hear a shape or two.
4. If your hash contains 10 percent to 15 percent THC, you’ll be well on your way to Psychedelic City (stop by and say hi when you arrive).
5. If your hash contains anything above 15 percent THC, kiss reality goodbye.
6. If your hash is a CBD-dominant strain used for medicinal purposes, you will not get high.

So, will all hash get you high?

Nope, it won’t. The lower the THC dose and the higher the CBD dose, the less likely you are to get high and the more likely you are to experience just the medicinal effects.

The Best Strains For Hash

CBD-Dominant Strains

1) Pennywise

Pennywise gets its name from parents Harlequin and Jack the Ripper (don’t ask us how) and produces a mental clarity that is both functional and enjoyable at any dose.

Pennywise is a CBD-dominant strain that works wonders treating epilepsy and other palsies.

2) Sour Tsunami

Thanks to its parentage — Sour Diesel and NY Diesel — Sour Tsunami’s 11 percent CBD and low THC (anywhere from 10 percent down to one percent) are great for treating a wide variety of ailments without getting high as a kite, including anxiety, inflammation, stress, pain, and depression.

3) Warlock

Warlock boasts an almost one-to-one CBD-to-THC ratio, but it’s still considered a CBD-dominant strain because, at 13 percent, the CBD content is much higher than normal.

Warlock sharpens focus and relieves boredom, so it’s ideal for treating Attention-Deficit Disorder (ADD) and Attention-Deficit/Hyperactivity Disorder (ADHD).

4) Charlotte’s Web

Charlotte’s Web is, without doubt, the most famous CBD-dominant strain thanks to its 30-to-1 CBD-to-THC ratio and its ability to treat a wide variety of ailments, including arthritis, migraines, fatigue, pediatric epilepsy, PTSD, Dravet’s syndrome, fibromyalgia, and muscle spasms.

THC-Dominant Strains

1) Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies

Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies is a hybrid cross between Durban Poison and OG Kush.

The buds taste and smell minty and sweet — just like the munchies staple from which it gets its name — and have a tendency to bring on a happy, relaxing, and euphoric feeling (just like eating a whole box of those cookies by yourself).

2) Chemdog

Chemdog (or chemdawg) is a hybrid strain derived from the Kush, Hash Plant, and Northern Lights cannabis plants. It offers a decidedly pungent aroma with the earthy flavor of diesel thrown in for good measure.

Once consumed, Chemdog produces a happy, uplifting, euphoric experience. That makes it ideal for making your hash.

3) Sour Diesel

Sour Diesel is a sativa strain bred from Chemdog, Northern Lights, and Skunk No. 1. Like its parents, Sour Diesel has a very pungent and earthy diesel smell and flavor and produces a happy, euphoric, and uplifting high.

4) Blue Dream

Blue Dream is a hybrid strain created from a mix of Blueberry and Haze cannabis. As its parent’s names suggest, Blue Dream tastes and smells sweet with undertones of blueberry.

When consumed, Blue Dream generates an inspiring, euphoric, relaxing high.

Need to unwind before bed? A small dose of Blue Dream hash and you’ll sleep like a baby.

How To Make Hash: Quality In Equals Quality Out

You can use any old strain to make hash, but that’s going to produce a less-than-stellar final product. When it comes to making hash, quality in equals quality out.

Now that you’ve learned how to make hash, use the best bud you can get your hands on — the strain doesn’t matter — so that the end result doesn’t leave you disappointed.

Plus, with a good quality, organic strain — like those grown at bud cargo — you’ll need less hash to experience the same effects. A little will go a long way.