Hashish - Manufacturing Processes

Manufacturing Processes

Hashish is made from cannabinoid-rich glandular hairs known as trichomes, as well as varying amounts of cannabis flower and leaf fragments. The flowers of a mature female plant contain the most trichomes, though trichomes are found on other parts of the plant. Certain strains of cannabis are cultivated specifically for their ability to produce large amounts of trichomes. The resin reservoirs of the trichomes, sometimes erroneously called pollen (vendors often use the euphemism "pollen catchers" to describe screened kief-grinders in order to skirt paraphernalia selling laws), are separated from the plant through various methods.

Mechanical separation methods use physical action to remove the trichomes from the plant, such as sieving through a screen by hand or in motorized tumblers. The resulting powder, referred to as "kief", is compressed with the aid of heat into blocks of hashish. Ice-water separation is another mechanical method of isolating trichomes.

Chemical separation methods generally use a solvent such as ethanol or hexane to dissolve the lipophilic desirable resin. Remaining plant materials are filtered out of the solution and sent to the compost. The solvent is then evaporated, leaving behind the desirable resins, called honey oil, "hash oil", or just "oil". Honey oil still contains waxes and essential oils and can be further purified by vacuum distillation to yield "red oil". The product of chemical separations is more commonly referred to as "honey oil". This oil is not really hashish, as the latter name covers trichomes that are extracted by sieving, hence leaving most of the glands intact. The reason hash oil is fluid, is that the resin glands have been broken, leading to what is called a Bonani.

• A hash store in Kathmandu

• Hashish oil