Hash oil has been around for a long time in one form or another, but it’s only recently returned to the limelight thanks, in large part, to the continued legalization of marijuana and improvements in the way it’s made.
We know that’s a lot to unpack, especially if this is your first foray into the world of weed and weed-related products. Don’t fret. We’re here to help.
In this article, the all-things-cannabis experts at Honest Marijuana will take you on a deep-dive into the pool of knowledge that is hash and hash oil.
What Is Hash Oil?
At its most basic, hash oil is a concentrate of trichomes, terpenes, and resin that have been stripped off the cannabis plant by manual or chemical processes.
Again, a lot to unpack, so let’s take a step back and track hash oil from start to finish.
The Cannabis Plant
All marijuana and marijuana products — including hash oil — start life as a cannabis plant. Cannabis is just like every other plant that grows in the ground: it has the same parts (roots, stems, leaves, and flowers), uses the same sun for photosynthesis, and gives off the same oxygen.
Like other plants, it comes in several varieties (indica, sativa, and ruderalis or hemp) and grows in a wide range of climates. What makes the cannabis plant different from pretty much every other plant on the planet are its flowers (or buds). The flowers of the cannabis plant contain tiny mushroom-like tendrils called trichomes. It’s those tiny trichomes that have made the cannabis plant arguably one of the top five most important cultivated plants of all time.
Inside the trichomes, the cannabis plant produces resin that contains THC, CBD, CBG, CBN, and other active cannabinoids.
The resin inside the trichomes actually serves as a defense mechanism against hungry herbivores like rabbits and deer that would chew the plant down to the ground.
But because many of the cannabinoids — THC in particular — are psychoactive, humans can use them to make hash oil and treat a wide variety of medical conditions or just get high.
So, while the plant matter itself does contain low concentrations of cannabinoids (not enough to worry about), it’s the trichomes that canna-enthusiasts have been concerned about for thousands of years.
Extraction
Now that we’ve identified the trichomes as the focus of our hash oil discussion, the next big question becomes, “How do we get the trichomes — and the cannabinoids they contain — off the plant and into our bodies?”
The answer is extraction.
There are really only two ways to extract the trichomes from the surface of the flower:
Grind it up and burn it in a joint or blunt
Manually or chemically remove the trichomes to make a concentrate
So, all the products you see on the market today are just variations on this theme.
You can pack dried and cured marijuana in your bong and smoke it up that way, or you can purchase a concentrated form and use it accordingly.
You’ve got plenty of options. As of this writing, manufacturers are using trichomes extracts in the likes of:
Wax
Shatter
THC pills
Liquid THC
Creams
Tinctures
CBD oil
Cannabis oil (Rick Simpson oil)
THC strips
CBD strips
Cannabis lube
THC and CBD patches
Isolate
Distillates
Vape juice
That brings us closer to the heart of the article — what exactly is hash oil and why do people love it?
1) Potency
One of the top reasons why people love hash oil is that it’s extremely potent.
On average, the bud you smoke holds at around 10-15% cannabinoid concentration (although creative growers have pushed some strong strains near 50% THC or CBD).
Hash oil, on the other hand, ranges from 60% to almost 90% THC or CBD depending on the original strain used in the extraction process.
Why are the percentages so much higher in hash oil? Because it’s a concentrate that contains trichomes and very little else.
When you smoke your bud, you get the trichomes (cannabinoids), but you also get a lot of extra plant matter in the process. This dilutes the results somewhat because there’s extra “stuff” in the smoke you inhale.
Don’t take this the wrong way and conclude that smoking is somehow inferior to using hash oil. It’s not!
The extra “stuff” you get while smoking doesn’t make a whole lot of difference in the end experience for most people. You’ll still get plenty high.
But with hash oil, because it’s so much more potent (no extra “stuff”), you’ll need less to achieve the same results.
2) Versatility
Hash oil is an incredibly versatile product that you can use in a variety of familiar and, perhaps, not-so-familiar, consumption methods.
These include:
Edibles
Joints
Blunts
Spliffs
Bong
One-hitter
Moon rock weed
Thai stick
Vaporizer
Vape pen
Click on the links above to learn about how you can use hash oil in these particular products.
3) Easy DIY Process
We talked about butane extraction earlier in the article. Another common method is CO2 extraction.
Before we go any further, it’s important to note that butane is extremely flammable and will explode with the smallest spark. CO2 extraction requires technical knowledge and industrial-grade machines to get right.
We don’t recommend trying butane extraction or CO2 extraction at home. Leave it to the professionals and their fancy, expensive, and safety equipment.
That said, there are other, more user-friendly methods for making hash oil. The three we recommend are:
Ice water extraction
Alcohol extraction
Bubble hash extraction
Quality Strains Make Quality Hash Oil
The trichomes in hash oil can come from any strain and be of any quality.
You can use headies, beasters, mids, or regs of Blue Dream, Chemdawg, Yoda OG, or Thin Mint Girl Scout Cookies.
But for a truly righteous hash oil experience, we recommend only using a high-quality variety (headies or beasters) of your favorite strain. It will make the experience so much better.
Plus, with good quality, organic strain — like those grown at Honest Marijuana — you’ll need less hash oil to experience the same effects. A little will go a long way.
You may have to pay a bit more for high-quality hash oil, but you’ll be much happier with how you feel when you use it.
If you want to try your hand at DIY, talk to the budtenders at your local dispensary, and find out what strains they recommend.
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