Kief VS Hash: What’s The Difference?

Cannabis legalization has opened many avenues for recreational and medical cannabis users.

Kief and hash are a couple of the most common ways to indulge in concentrated cannabis products. Both contain a potency that’s stronger than flower, but not as strong as concentrates like wax and shatter. 

What’s different about kief vs hash, though? 

While they both are made up purely of cannabis trichomes, they’re completely different products. 

Here we’ll take a look at kief vs hashish to gain a better understanding of these popular cannabis extracts.

Key Takeaways: Hash VS Kief

• Kief is composed of trichomes containing cannabinoids and other beneficial plant compounds (like terpenes and flavonoids) that are collected by grinding or screen filtering cannabis plant flower.
• Both contain a much higher Delta 9 THC concentration than flower. 
• Kief can be used to make hash, moon rocks, hash oil and other hashish products, while hash can be used to make hash rosin. 
• Smoking is a common consumption method for both kief and hash, typically done by topping either on a bowl or rolling paper filled with ground flower.

What’s Kief?

If you haven’t tried kief yet, you’re in for a treat.

Kief is made of the trichomes of the marijuana or hemp plant. These resinous glands that cover cannabis buds and sugar leaves are what give weed its crystal-like appearance. They look like little hairs with a long stalk and a resinous gland tip (also called a trichome head). 

In the trichome head are all the goodies we want, like cannabinoids, terpenes and flavonoids. 

Kief is fairly easy to collect on your own. All it is, after all, is the fine powdery-like substance that collects in the bottom of your weed grinder. 

Kief is basically trichome crystals that are removed from or fall off of cannabis flowers. People often collect kief crystals or separate them from the weed plant matter by using mesh bags or mesh screens.

These crystals that fall off your buds and can be collected. For instance, in a three-part grinder, there is the part that actually grinds the weed, the section that contains the ground weed plant matter and the last section that contains the kief.

Not only can kief be smoked on its own, it can also be used to top a bowl, rolled up in a joint or spliff and used to make hashish. 

That’s right, kief is a key component of hash.

What Is Hash?

Hash (aka hashish or charas) is a concentrated form of resinous trichome glands. People have been making hash for centuries, with its use dating back to at least 900 AD. The word “hash” actually translates to grass in Arabic.

Hash can be made in several different ways. And there are several different “types” of hash.

One of the most easy (and fairly simple) ways is to collect kief and compress it using pressure or heat. Dry sift hash is made by sifting buds through specialty mesh screens. Bubble hash is made using ice water and mesh screen bags, and butane hash oil is created using butane as an extraction solvent. 

Weed can even be rolled through the fingers, where kief collects on the fingertips to make what’s dubbed finger hash. 

Hash is more potent than flower, with a D9 THC concentration that averages about 60-90%. 

But which is more potent: hash or kief?

Is Kief Stronger than Hash?

While kief and hash are both created from sticky, cannabinoid-rich trichomes, hash is stronger than kief.

Kief typically contains a concentration of THC that averages 50-60%. Hash, on the other hand, has a Delta 9 THC content that averages between 60-90%. 

The higher potency of hash is typically attributed to the way it’s extracted, with modern extraction methods (like ice water and BHO extraction) significantly enhancing the strength of such products. 

If you’re looking for a stronger product when debating if kief vs hash is best for you, hash is hands down the stronger of the two.

How to Make Hash from Kief

You can make your own hash from the kief you collect. There are a few different methods used to make these cannabis concentrates. 

Following is one of the easiest ways to make your own hash from kief you collect yourself. 

• Collect trichomes from the cannabis flower you have on hand by sifting the cannabis flower through a series of mesh or silk screens. Each screen is finer than the last, and more trichomes will separate though each screen. 
• Collect the powder-like marijuana crystals that have collected in the final sifting box. The remaining cannabis plant matter can still be smoked or used, so don’t get rid of it! 
• Using a press, place the cannabis kief between parchment paper, then squeeze the press together. All it takes to make hashish is to apply pressure. When this occurs, it changes the taste and effect, making it much stronger than plain cannabis flower buds.
• What you result is a brick of hashish that is rich in cannabinoids and is very concentrated in THC.

An alternative method for extracting cannabinoids from cannabis flowers is by making bubble hash. 

This involves an ice water extraction method that uses ice, water, cannabis flower and micron screens of varying sizes (25 microns up to 220 microns) in a bucket.

Ice, water and weed are added to the micron bags lining the bucket until it’s filled to the top. Then a spoon or ladle is used to agitate the mixture for about 10-20 minutes, which loosens trichomes from the flower where they’re filtered through each screen. 

Each bag is strained after each round of stirring the mixture, where trichomes are collected and dried to produce bubble hash. 

Bubble hash is commonly used to make hash rosin, one of the purest cannabis concentrates popular with cannabis connoisseurs who appreciate pure, potent concentrates.

Is Kief More Versatile Than Hash?

Even though kief is used to make hash, kief isn’t necessarily more versatile. When it comes to kief vs hash, both cannabis products are used in very similar ways. 

Check it out. 

Both Can Be Used In A Pipe Or Bong

Kief sprinkled on top of your cannabis in your pipe or bong can seriously enhance your experience. Just grind up some cannabis, place it in a clean bowl, take a pinch of kief and spread it on top of the flower for a high that’s much stronger than regular weed.

Same thing goes for hash. Topping your bowl with a bit of hash is one of the easiest and most common ways to consume hash. And doing so will get you super high.

Add Kief Or Hash To A Joint

Mixing cannabis with kief or hash in joints is also a common consumption method.

When using kief, simply sprinkle a fine layer throughout the joint on the rolling paper, and you’ll reap the benefits of your joint’s enhanced potency.

Hash can also be added to your joints. Just break up the hash into tiny pieces before sprinkling it uniformly over the flower in the rolling paper to ensure a smooth and even smoke.

You can also do what is referred to as twaxing your joint, which involves using both hash oil (or your favorite cannabis concentrate) and kief. It’s basically a joint rolled in BHO or another concentrate heated up to a spreadable consistency, then rolled in kief.

Both Are Used To Make Moon Rocks

Moon rocks are tiny morsels that pack a powerful punch. Moon rocks are cannabis buds dipped in hash oil and then rolled in kief. They’re super potent and prized for their high Delta 9 THC content.

Sometimes referred to as “cannabis caviar,” moon rocks get their name from their out of this world high and their appearance that resembles actual rocks found on the moon.

Vaporize or Dab Kief and Hash

Both kief and hash can be dabbed or vaped, although dabbing kief can get a little tricky. Kief is best suited for dry flower vapes, while hash should be used in a vaporizer designed for concentrate use.

Dabbing kief involves heating the nail of your rig with a butane or propane torch and letting it cool down before adding a bit of kief. Keep in mind that kief will likely gum up the nail if you’re not using the highest quality kief you can find, and why dabbing hash is much more common than dabbing kief.

Both Can Be Used To Make Cannabis Edibles

Kief can be used to make ganja butter just like regular flower. Not only is kief butter super potent, some even say it tastes better than regular weed butter.

All you need to do is decarb your kief prior to following your regular cannabis butter recipe to activate THC’s psychoactive effects.Hash can also be used to make some super potent edibles.

Hash butter is prized by medical marijuana patients as its potency can significantly enhance the edibles’ effects. Just like kief, hash must go through the decarboxylation process in order to produce an intoxicating effect.

Kief VS Hash Rosin

Hash rosin is an entirely different product than kief. 

While hash rosin is essentially made from the same trichomes used to create kief and hash, it’s created by applying heat and pressure to hash. Hash rosin is highly potent and excellent for those interested in smoking one of the purest forms of marijuana concentrates.

Hash rosin is made with what’s known as a rosin press, but can also be made at home with a hair straightener and parchment paper. The heat and pressure of the plates ruptures trichome heads to create a sticky resin. 

Hash rosin is highly intoxicating, and considered much more potent than kief or traditional hash. If you’re new, start with a small dose to see how it affects you. You can then adjust accordingly until you experience the effects you desire.

Wrapping Up

Both hash and kief are created from trichomes, the tiny crystals on cannabis flowers that contain cannabinoids and terpenes. Kief can be used to make hash, but hash is also produced using other various extraction methods. 

Though THC percentages are generally higher when it comes to hashish and hash oil, kief is still needed to effectively produce these marijuana concentrates. It’s also an excellent way to make potent cannabutter that can be used in edibles. 

Hash and kief are both more potent than cannabis flower. If you’re looking for the strongest of the two, however, hash is where it’s at. 

Whichever way you decide to consume these tiny cannabis trichomes, we’re certain you’ll enjoy the potently powerful effects they contain.