While most cultivators growing weed are focused on the buds, producing homemade hashish is relatively easy and can be a great way to maximize a crop. In this article, we take a look at a couple of easy home techniques and recommend the best 5 cannabis strains for making hash at home.
Hashish, or hash, is the term used for the collected resin (from trichomes) from the cannabis plant, which is shaped and moulded to provide a sticky black substance that is most usually crumbled before using. Cannabis has been used to make hashish for many thousands of years and is still popular today in regions such as North Africa, the Middle East, Nepal, India and Afghanistan and the Indian sub-continent which have rich hash making traditions.
How to make homemade hash using the hand rub technique
This is a very easy, if messy, way to make homemade hashish requiring no more equipment apart from a clean pair of hands and high tolerance for stickiness! It is the trusty method used by generations of hash makers from the Indian sub-continent. Just take a (non-dried) bud and roll them and roll it round in your hand without applying too much pressure – the aim is to take off the resin without other plant matter. Once you have a sticky film of resin on palm, fingers, scrape it off and roll it into a ball on a clean surface. The process can also be used with trichome rich sugar leaves (although the quality won’t be so good). It’s time consuming and volumes aren’t huge, but on the positive note it will prevent you from scrolling through mindless trash on your mobile phone!
Making homemade hashish from weed with a silk screen sieve
Another easy technique to for making homemade hash involves the purchase of a cheap silk screen. This is more effective for collecting hash from trim and less sticky on the hands! To loosen up the trichomes it’s a good idea to put the plant matter in the freezer for a while in a suitable lock bag. Place the screen, frame side down over a large sheet of paper (grease proof baking paper is a good recommendation) and simply move the trim around the screen which will knock those resinous trichome heads onto the paper below. Once a good amount has landed, use a blade or another hard edged implement to scrape them up and mould them into a ball of hash.
Paradise Seeds has a reputation for breeding plants which are high in oily resin so if you’re interested in maximizing the homemade hash experience, here’s our list of recommended strains.
The best 5 cannabis strains for making hash at home
Allkush (Afghani Indica x Southeast Asian sativa)
The clue to the magic hash making properties of this Paradise Seeds legacy strain lies in the ‘Queen of Hash’ nickname it picked up soon after it was first released. Its suitability for hashish reflects the origins of the parentage - this strain’s origins stem from the famed Afghan Kush region where indigenous indicas thrive on mountainsides and produce plants which are resin rich with a powerful sedative effect. A quick flowering plant, Allkush is very manageable and produces big colas.
Sunset Paradise (Thin Mint GSC x Sunset Sherbert)
Paradise Seeds spent time in the R&D process to produce its own luxury scoop of the popular Gelato strain and it sure was worth the wait! This strain won the American category in Holland’s prestigious HighLife Cup in 2021. Growers have remarked about the ‘second wind’ of resin production mid-way through the flowering stage which brings an oily intensity to its big hard buds. She’s a worthy Californian candidate for the list of hash producing cannabis strains!
Purple Mints (Purple Kush x Skunk #1 x Cookies)
Purple Mints is an extremely potent plant with 22% THC and a terpene profile that sounds like something out of Willy Wonka’s factory with its blend of strawberries, bananas, fuel and mint. The underlying whiteness in the layer of trichomes which coats the buds is an indication of the supremely resinous nature of this awesome plant which makes it another stunning hash producing cannabis strain from the Paradise library.
Apricot Candy (Dutch Dragon x Thin Mint Cookies)
Sativa lovers have been discovering the joys of this 20220s remix of a classic Paradise legacy strain in the form of Dutch Dragon, upgraded with Thin Mint Cookies genetics. While its colorful big buds are prized by sativa flower gatherers, hash makers will be impressed by its gushing resin production. Oily buds are a recipe for extremely sticky fingers, which makes them perfect for the hash production process.
Californian Gold (Afghani x US Skunk x South Asian indica)
This indica weed variety makes the top 5 recommended hash producing cannabis strains list because of its reputation for pumping oil, which has been likened to the rush of ‘amber honey’ as its buds approach harvest time. This should come as no surprise, looking at heavy influence of the Indian sub-continent in the genetics of this indica plant. This one is a pleasure to cultivate in the grow room with a fast finish time and good yield.