Nowadays, you can find various readily-available cannabis concentrates that have literally flooded dispensariesโ shelves.
With the tremendous progress of solventless extraction methods, it is easier than ever before to pick up highest-quality cannabis concentrates to enjoy without feeling concerned about the hazardous effects of toxic solvents such as butane.
But does this mean you should deprive yourself of the delight of making your very own, top-grade cannabis concentrates? Definitely not! And thatโs exactly why we are happy to share the best DIY water hash recipes below.
Plus, if you happen to grow your own cannabis plants, making water hash is a wonderful way to take advantage of the otherwise commonly thrown away trim, even when it comes to trim obtained from male marijuana plants.
Brief Introduction to Water Hash
For centuries, people have applied various methods in order to extract the very heart of cannabis โ the delicious trichomes (the sparkling glands of marijuana plants that work like tiny cannabinoid factories). Meanwhile, making water hash has been a beloved method for enjoying DIY delicious cannabis concentrates all over the world for a long time.
The very name water hash is intricately related to the process that is applied in order to make it, as it (obviously) involves the use of water. It is through a water process that the glands are collected from cannabis leaves, flowers and/or trim. But how is this even possible?
Quintessentially, cannabinoids are not water soluble compounds. With this in mind, ice and water arenโt damaging to the resinous glands when in contact.
Water hash offers a truly unique, exciting experience as it is an all-natural product full of potency and deliciousness. Hash resin can be easily pressed into hashish by simply applying the pressure of your palm.
Hash resin can be smoked loose, too, rolled into a blunt, joint or a spliff, and it can be also inhaled using a pipe, bong, chillum, or a hookah. Yes, water hash can make up for a five-star dabbing experience but this is only applicable if it comes to top-grade water hash.
If you do dedicate all your care, attention and precision, youโll inevitably learn how to make your very own top-grade hash but stay real about it, there will be some trials and errors if you want to perfect your skills.
As to the quantity of water hash you can make, it really depends based on the number of trimmed cannabis buds/leaves/stems that you use, as well as the methods you choose to apply. Readily-available systems offer the best results because of the precision of the automated process. Anyway, you can get very crafty and enjoy a decent batch of water hash, too.
It is quite ironic but solvent-extracted cannabis concentrates such as wax, shatter and various butane hash oils actually did a favor when it comes to the progress of water hash extraction technologies as the consumersโ hunger for solvent-less, natural cannabis concentrates that provide a full-spectrum experience upon consumption had risen tremendously alongside the growing cannabinoid extraction and concentrates industry.
Nowadays, you can come across solvent-less wax available in dispensaries, which is actually water hash of highest quality, with a mesmerizing flavor profile.
Finally, making water hash doesnโt require the use of any flammable materials and/or machinery so it is a pretty beginner-friendly process that wouldnโt lead to anybody getting injured because of any dangerous techniques applied (unless you cut yourself while trimming your green ladies or something similar, just a heads up to always mind your safety).
The Basics of Making High-Quality Bubble Hash
To start with, you can use cannabis leaves, trim, shake, and/or flowers for making water hash (a combination of some or all of these also works great). In a nutshell, you can take advantage of all gland-bearing plant material available, no matter if it is obtained from male or female cannabis plants. Got frozen cannabis plant material? This is what you need!
#1 โIce cold water + very cold environment
Now, the secret of making water hash is ice cold water. To be more precise, your goal is to keep the entire environment as cold as possible.
It is ice cold water (near to freezing) that makes the trichomes snap off. Heat does exactly the opposite as heat wonโt allow for the trichomes to become brittle enough. You need brittle trichomes as this is the only way agitation can make the miracle of producing water hash happen. Whatโs more, keeping the temperature in your workroom cool also prevents terpenes from ending up vaped off. The more terpenes are vaped off, the less flavorsome hash youโll end up with.
Once all cannabis plant material gets agitated in ice cold water, it is left to settle. Lastly, water hash becomes ready to smoke as soon as it has dried well.
Simply put, keep the environment and cannabis plant material very cold.
The second basic principle for making good quality hash is to keep humidity at bay.
#2 โ Always work with frozen plant material
If you are positive you want to turn your plant material into water hash, it is best to place it in the freezer as soon as you are certain about your plans. This way, it will be protected from bacteria and any possible mold. You can keep in the freezer for up to a month or so (the more you keep it, the more the flavor might get damaged, though).
In any case, do make sure to place the plant material you are about to use in the freezer until it is cold enough (very cold!) before you get down to the actual process of extracting the active cannabinoids.
As a rule of thumb, freshly frozen material is what works best.
#3 โ Coarsely chopped weed is what you need
Thirdly, you need coarsely chopped cannabis plant material so donโt overdo yourself when trimming and, subsequently, grinding. You want to touch the resinous glands the least amount as possible so that you can extract more in return for your delicate attitude and attention. Also, be extra careful with stems and donโt forget to remove the hard ones because they can easily tear off bubble bags.
#4 โ High-quality filter + high-quality plant material = high-quality water hash
Nonetheless, mind the two factors that are crucial pin-pointers in making high-quality hash: the size and quality of the filter you use + the excellence of the cannabis plant material you use. Everything else is merely a matter of patience and developing better the techniques applied as you become more experienced.
By micron size filtering the glands, you get rid of the trash and end up with good hash! 1 micron is .001 millimeters (one-millionth of a meter).
Stirring is yet another crucial part of the water hash making process. It is by stirring that you literally break the trichomes free. After stirring, glands sink to the bottom and get collected in the lower bags while the rest of the plant material floats right in the top bag being more lightweight than glands.
What about the color and potency of water hash?
Your DIY water hash can widely vary in color (just like water hash made with the use of cut-edge techniques and equipment). It can be whitish, reddish, brownish, purplish or exhibit a mix of different hues.
As to the potency of water hash, a high-quality final product (which can be achieved only by using high-quality plant material), can reach up to 80% cannabinoid potency, not lacking behind solvent hash products available in stores.
The Simplest Method for Making Water Hash
Wondering what makes this particular method the simplest one? Well, basically all you need is a homemade shaker, so there is no fancy equipment involved. Plus, this method is the least time consuming of all other options.
Do mind, though, that being the simplest, this method is not the best in terms of the purity of the water hash youโll end up with + it produces the least amount of hash, compared with other methods. The reason why you wonโt be able to purify water hash thoroughly is the mere absence of the application of micron-gauged bubble bags (filtering bags).
One final kindly reminder: considering that the agitation is manual, your labor will be more intensive, although, on the bright side, you donโt even need electricity! With this in mind, the simplest method for making hash can be employed literally anywhere as long as you have cannabis plant material available.
Step 1: Using a coffee grinder, bud grinder or simply a blender, bring cannabis plant material to a coarse powder. The consistency of the powder should resemble that of, for example, dried basil used for cooking.
Step 2: Transfer the coarsely ground plant material into a jar (a 2 part, a quart or a pint jar can work equally fine). Make sure the jar is 1 quarter full, no matter of the size of jar you opt for.
Step 3: Proceed by adding equal amounts of ice cold water and ice until you almost fill the jar to the top. Leave approximately 1 inch at the top of the jar. Once you seal the jar, start shaking it. Keep shaking for a good 10 minutes or so.
Step 4: Transfer the ice, water, cannabis plant material mix into a suitable bowl of your choice. Place the bowl in the refrigerator and leave it in for an hour. Doing so will allow for the mix to settle. Donโt worry if most of the ice melts, thatโs okay.
Step 5:Once the mix settles, take it out of the refrigerator. Use a slotted spoon or tea strainer to remove away the cannabis plant material floating in the jar. The 10 minutes of manual shaking cannot separate all glands so consider this the first round of your water hash making journey with this particular method.
Step 6:As soon as you have removed the floating plant material, let it resettle by leaving the bowl aside for 15-20 minutes.So here comes the delicate part of the process. You want to drain off about one half and up to two-thirds of the water very slowly. Make sure you are saving all of the water hash material that will be left in the bottom of the jar (it is in the bottom of the jar where the hash magic takes place). The precious plant material in the bottom will look much like silt.
Step 7: Line the cone with the paper coffee filter. Start pouring the mix from the bowl through the cone very carefully and slowly. You will notice that the water hash is getting collected at the very bottom of the filter. Because of this, water will drain rather slowly at some point, so be patient and allow it to fully drain.
Step 8: Once water is fully drained from the filter, remove it from the cone. It is time to let it flatten along with the still wet water hash trapped inside. After placing the filter on a clean towel, start removing water manually by applying pressure. Keep pressing as to remove as much water as you possibly can.
Step 9:Now, what you need to do is to split the coffee filter. Just mind the seam and split it along it. If you do this properly, the split filter will resemble a butterfly with spread wings, ready to fly high.
Step 10: Using a card, knife or a spoon, collect the material from the split coffee filter. Just keep scraping it until itโs loose from the paper. As a rule of thumb, the dried material will be easy to collect; if it is too moist than needed, youโll face a hard time trying to scrape it. If so, keep straining the water.
Also, do keep in mind that it is perfectly fine if the hash is dry before being removed from the filter, although it is typically left aside to dry after it is removed.
Most noteworthy, if the hash material is not completely dry, you must allow it to air dry freely. This will take about a day or two but no more or there is a higher chance of mold.
Once your water hash is dry, it is ready to use. You can also feel free to store it. For best storage, use a dark glass airtight jar. Preferably, the jar should be only slightly bigger than the amount of hash you want to store inside. Limit any contact with light, oxygen, and heat. This way, you can store your hash for several months.
Making Bubble Hash with Bubble Bags
One of the best working methods for making water hash is by opting for readily-available bubble bags. Bubble bag systems can be reused for multiple successful DIY water hash making operations.
Another benefit of bubble bags is that you can find these in various sizes such as twenty-gallon, five-gallon, and one-gallon, to name a few. Plus, you can opt for a single set or you can opt for a set of, for example, four or eight bubble bags accordingly. It is good to keep in mind that the eight-bag system technology is capable of separating hash into refined categories. It is the size that makes the difference between mature, premature or super ripe THC glands, allowing these to be separated into fine grades.
As far as working with bubble bags is concerned, it is a pretty beginner-friendly and straightforward process.
Firstly, it is the coarse filter bag that has to be secured in a bucket, followed up with the addition of the cannabis plant material, water, and ice.
The plant material is then agitated with the use of either a drill, a paint-mixing attachment or a kitchen mixer (keep in mind the paint-mixing attachment can work wonders; this is a method developed by hardcore water hash cannabis connoisseurs).
Next, you need to let the material to settle. Once settled, you want to pull out the starter bag and squeeze it. Donโt throw away the bulk of the cannabis plant material that is left held in this bag. You want to set it aside instead. Thatโs because the plant material can be processed once more. Although you wonโt be able to achieve top-grade water hash after the second processing, the material is excellent enough for implementing when cooking various edibles.
More importantly, letโs focus on completing the process of making top-grade water hash using bubble bags. For this purpose, the empty bucket should be lined with the additional bags. The finest bag must be placed on the very bottom. Next, the water mix has to be poured into the bucket, straight over the lined filtering bags.
Finally, pull the bags out one after another. Now, the sweetest part: collect the material youโll find trapped at the bottom of each filtering bag. After allowing the product to dry, your water hash is ready to indulge in! Donโt toss the water out as it can work great for watering plants in your garden.
DIY Water Hash – Final Thoughts
Learning how to make water hash can be extremely rewarding in every meaningful way.
Just please, donโt get impatient at the very final! The last steps that need to be followed are super crucial. If you donโt dry the final product properly and carefully, once stored your water hash can easily get moldy, which simply spells disaster (total waste of effort and cannabis plant material).
Finally, we want to kindly remind you that the water-plant material mix left over at the very end of the water hash making process should not be thrown away in the toilet/sink.
The mix contains essential nutrients that will work beautifully for watering plants. It can be also used as mulch or added to compost. After all, those who understand the herb also understand that we, the human beings who consume it for either medical or recreational purposes, become one with the living Nature. Thus, we need to learn to treat the living nature with the love and respect it deserves for providing us with all its blessings, cannabis plants included!
Anyone can enjoy becoming a DIY water hash master, will you be the next homemade hash guru?