Learn the best ways to smoke hash and the tools available, and quickly take dabs within seconds. It's much easier today to take a dab of THC wax and get instantly high, compared to the time it takes to roll up the hash. Dabbing exploded in popularity almost a decade ago and has remained a popular choice among many seeking instant effects from THC. There are multiple ways to smoke hash efficiently, including using a dab rig or a nectar collector.
What Is Hash?
Hash, weed hash, or hashish, is one of the oldest forms of cannabis. The first type of hash or cannabis concentrate was made from cannabis trichomes.
The gathered trichomes are processed into the final form, which may require aging or be ready more or less immediately. There are many new types of hashish available today that did not exist only a decade ago. This includes extreme purities of THC, which can reach up to even 99%, known as crystalline concentrate.
How to Smoke Hashish?
If you’re wondering how to smoke hash, it demands on the type. It's common to add any of the mentioned cannabis extracts to joints or bowls. Some people may smoke kief alone in a bong bowl, or pipe. The most popular method of smoking the newer cannabis concentrates is dabbing.
There are many ways to smoke hash, with some being much better than others. In the years before cannabis consumption became mainstream, you would use a special hash pipe.
Also, makeshift techniques, like hot knives, could be used in a pinch. Now, however, we have access to much easier, and potentially healthier, ways to smoke it.
Electric Dab Rig
A dab rig is a water pipe designed for taking dabs of typically shatter, sugar wax, diamonds, rosin, or live resin extracts. The Giza is an electric dab rig that will heat up cannabis concentrates into smoke at the click of a button, and do so within seconds.
Electric Nectar Collector
Another easy way to smoke hash is with a nectar collector. Especially, with an electric nectar collector. Which will not require a butane torch to heat the dab nail, instead it's replaced by electricity.
The dabbing process is simple. Tap the heating end of the electric nectar collector to the cannabis concentrate.
The primary difference will be cleaning the nectar collector tip right after use.
After using it with many types of hash, the tip will collect some build-up from the dabs. A little attention from an alcohol wipe or cotton swab should clean it easily.
First Types of Hashish
Below are the original types of hash that started it all, and are typically smoked by themselves or combined with cannabis.
Lebanese & Moroccan Hash
Lebanese and Moroccan hash are both very similar and made with a dry-sift technique. This is the same process that creates kief in the bottom of your grinder.
The hash is created by repeatedly applying gentle heat and high pressure to the kief. Eventually, the kief forms a cake or block, which is then stored or consumed.
Afghani Hash
Afghani hash is a black hash that is also known as chars. It is a dry sift hash like many others, but in Afghanistan, there is a tradition of mixing small amounts of black tea into the hash.
This makes it dark and dough-like, so you should avoid vaping or dabbing Afghani black hash, and smoke it more traditionally.
Bubble Hash
Bubble hash, or ice-water hash, is a relatively easy way to process bulk flowers or trim to make hash. It involves mixing the plant matter with ice and water, allowing the trichomes to freeze and break away from the plant material.
The result is sent through a series of increasingly fine screens to create several grades of hash. Bubble hash can be smoked traditionally or easily dabbed due to low plant matter content.
Kief
Keif is the term for the trichomes broken off your weed when you grind it, falling through the screen into the sandbox at the bottom. From there, the kief can either be used to top a bowl, line a joint, or be pressed into hash.
New Types of Cannabis Concentrates
We will discuss in detail the modern-day types of cannabis extracts that have become the most popular hash types today.
Rosin
Rosin is an extract that subjects cannabis nugs or trims to high pressure and gentle heat. Modern methods involve a tabletop pneumatic or hydraulic press that can heat and press the flower, melting the cannabinoid compounds and terpenes into a potent golden goop.
Sugar Wax
Sugar wax is a concentrate that is made with an extraction method that can involve the use of solvents or CO2. The cannabis plant matter is combined with the solvent or supercritical CO2, then the solvent agent is purged, leaving behind the concentrate.
If the purge happens at a slow, controlled rate, some concentrated solution will form small crystals. This is the “sugar” that is seen. Sugar wax is best consumed with a cold-start dab in a rig, or with a nectar collector.
Shatter
Shatter is another extract, generally made with solvent or CO2 extraction. The texture of shatter is unique, however, and while it is softer when heated, when it’s cold it becomes extremely brittle. Shatter can be challenging to get into a banger, but it’s a great candidate for a nectar collector.
THC Diamonds
Diamonds, or crystalline THC, are a special extraction that takes much longer to produce than others. The purging stage is done incredibly slowly and with highly controlled temperatures.
The strict purging environment and timeline lead to the extracted solution forming a crystal structure over time. These crystals are best used with a dab rig. While you can use a nectar collector, care should be exercised to not inhale smaller pieces that may be in the dab slick.