Difference between kief, wax, hash and shatter

The millenary plant of marijuana it’s not only the green bud you smoke, it’s way more than that. As any other plant, it changes at each stage of its growth and you can get different benefits from them. There are some difference that you need to know:

Kief

Kief (sometimes transliterated as keef or kif) is one of the most attractive and with more history cannabis concentrates that exist. Some call it the caviar of the cannabis world.

Kief Is the name of the resinous crystals that protect the cannabis plant against pests. Insects do not like aromatic terpenes or cannabinoids. But we humans do!

Moroccans have used it in abundance for hundreds of years. Its main characteristic is that it is a very powerful trichome concentrate which can be used in numerous ways.

Its name comes from the Arabic word ‘kayf’, which means ‘pleasure’. Where does it come from? it is the trichomes that are collected in the bottom of a container with a sieve, like a ‘grinder’: the buds are crushed and the trichomes are falling into a compartment below the main one. It is not necessary that the ‘grinder’ have a special space, but if they do, it can help in this task.

As a colorful tip, its history goes back to ancient China: there are writings that speak of a use of silk to sift cannabis, which could be a good antecedent of what is done today to get the kief.

As for the materials, it is advisable to use grinders made of stainless steel or other metallic materials. In any case, the forbidden thing would be to use those finished with acrylic paints, since our product could be mixed with some poisonous ingredient of the paint.

The pure kief (without vegetable remains or too mature trichomes) has different effects than a normal bud. It has been recognized that they have a psychoactive effect far above habitual consumption, which generates much stronger sensations and even more surprising hallucinations.

 

Wax

The Wax is a type of BHO (butane hash oil). It is prepared using butane (a liquefied gas) as a solvent to extract the main cannabinoids and terpenes from the buds and marijuana cuttings.

The resulting mixture is processed to produce a concentrate with an appearance similar to beeswax. The manufacturing process of the Wax varies in order to create a product with different textures and colors.

Similar to the shatter (explained later), the Wax can have a cannabinoid concentration of up to 80%. Unlike this one, the Wax is not translucent, mainly because it is prepared in a way in which its molecules are agitated to obtain an opaque, creamy and waxy final product.

You can get wax with different names: honeycomb, crumble or budder, which will depend on the consistency and texture of the Wax in particular.

The sticky and brittle textures are usually sold under the name of honeycomb or crumble, and creamier as a budder.

There are different ways to enjoy cannabis extracts like the Wax. Remember that certain waxes especially liquid, sticky or difficult to handle, may not be suitable for smoking in a joint, vaporizer or hash pipe, and you will need an “oil rig”.

Due to its high concentration of cannabinoids, the wax produces a powerful and immediate effect. This characteristic makes it ideal for medicinal consumers who need a strong therapeutic effect to overcome chronic pain.

Hash

Also called hashish, this is a product obtained from cannabis from its resin, raw or purified. It is obtained by pressing the resin obtained from the flowering tops of the female feet of Cannabis sativa, sometimes Cannabis indica. Hash is the most basic and traditional form of THC concentrate.

This resin it is pressed obtaining a mass of variable color, usually brown, but also green, yellow or reddish, depending on the variety of the one obtained and the purity. It is usually shaped as bricks, sometimes rounded. Hashish is smoked in cigarettes or pipes, often mixed with tobacco.

It has an interesting origin, there is evidence of hemp use as far back as 10,000 BC in parts of Asia, and Hashish in particular had spread across Arab lands by 900 A.D.  By the 1800s, such creative writers as Victor Hugo and Alexandre Dumas were hashish eaters. In the following years, hash use spread across western nations, with hash remaining the most popular cannabis product in Europe while herbal marijuana took over in North America.

The THC content of hashish is usually 8 to 15%, depending on its quality. You need to be careful because it can be adulterated, colored black to give the best impression of quality.

How to consume it? it can be ingested in many ways but is difficult to burn in a joint.  It is therefore often eaten or added to a regular joint to give an extra kick of pain relief or psychoactive effects.

 

Shatter

Shatter is a special type of BHO (hash oil extracted with butane) all BHOs use butane (a liquefied gas) as a solvent to extract cannabinoids and terpenes (to a lesser extent) from the plant material of cannabis.

It has a golden color and is a hard, glass-like consistency, which is usually shattered when dropped on the ground.

Shatter is translucent and can have concentrations of up to 80% THC and other cannabinoids. Sometimes it is sold under other names such as “sap”, depending on the texture of the final concentrate.

How to get the difference? While the Shatter is hard and glassy, the sap is slightly more liquid, with a texture similar to the sap of the trees.

All these products are prepared practically in the same way, but with slight variations of heat and humidity, to confer different textures.

Shatter and other types of cannabis concentrates are often called “dabs” because the most common way to consume them is with an “oil rig” or oil tower.

Did you know the difference? Have you tried some of them? Comment bellow!