Smoking flower has become fairly standard nowadays, but adding some hashish to the party is a surefire way to elevate the experience.
Today, we’re taking you through the different methods of smoking hash. Of course, you could enjoy it with your usual bong, pipe, or joints. However, if you want to make things a bit more interesting, there are quite a few ways to do so.
How to Smoke Hash
Just as everyone has their preferred method of consuming cannabis, everyone has their own way of enjoying hash. As we mentioned earlier, though, you can elevate your experience tenfold if you take some more unorthodox approaches to consumption.
That being said, we'll start off our discussion with an overview of the basics.
How to Smoke Hash in a Pipe
Smoking hash using a pipe is probably the most beginner-friendly method out there, mostly because it is the easiest. You can use any pipe of your choice, but a wide-mouthed glass pipe is a preferred tool for this one.
Feel free to add some of your favourite buds into the pipe, but you can also consume it on its own. If you’re using some bubble hash, you’ll need a metal screen to hold it in place.
What You’ll Do:
- To begin, break your product down into smaller pieces, just as you would with flower. The difference here, of course, is that hash is a collection of cannabinoid and terpene-loaded trichomes removed from the cannabis plant, so it will expectedly burn a lot longer. Placing your entire stash into the bowl will lead to avoidable wastage.
- The next step would be to prime your hash for smoking. To do this, place it under the flame of your lighter until it softens up. You’ll then notice it slowly change in texture, from a solid state into something a bit more crumbly.
- Once it crumbles, you can then begin to sprinkle it into your pipe. In that state, it could also be the perfect topping for your bowl of ground-up bud.
How to Smoke Hash in a Bong
Thanks to similar mechanics, you can apply every step of the aforementioned process to smoking out of the bong.
What You’ll Do:
- As always, begin the hash smoking process by priming it. Be sure not to burn your hash, so move your lighter around to widen the surface area of your flame.
- Once the hash is a lot softer in texture and consistency, you can now use it to sprinkle its bits into the bowl. The average bong can fit up to 0.4 grams of broken down hash, but feel free to consume your preferred amount.
- Fill your bong halfway through with water, and add some ice into the straight tube if you want the smoke to cool down on the way to your lungs.
- Light up the bowl, inhale until the smoke fills your lungs, then release it in a smooth exhale.
How to Smoke Hash in a Hookah
Now, it may not be the most efficient system on this list, but smoking hashish and flower out of a hookah is the best way to share the good times with friends (around 3 or 4 others per hookah, to be exact).
Unlike the bong or hash pipe, using a hookah is a bit more elaborate. Here’s what you’ll need:
- Hash
- Flower
- Hookah
- Charcoal
- Tin foil
What You’ll Do:
- Begin by rolling your hash into small balls. Your sizes will vary, but you’re all good as long as they fit the shisha bowl. The average hookah bowl should fit up to six small hash balls. Place ground-up flower around these balls and in the spaces between them.
- Fill the base of your hookah with water. Make sure to fill it at least 75% of the way.
- Start heating your charcoal off to the side, and take them off the heating element once they start getting red. Then, cover the bowl tightly with some tin foil, place the charcoals over the foil, and have someone do initial inhales so the charcoal starts heating the bowl's contents.
How to Smoke Hash in a Joint
When it comes to smoking a hash joint, it’s all about layering ground-up flower and hashish in proper portions. For this one, you’ll want to use some of your favourite buds to act as a cushion for your hash when you roll it up.
What You’ll Do:
- Just like how you would roll a joint, begin by taking some rolling paper and laying it out horizontally on a hard surface. Some like to crumple it up to take out the creases, but that’s an optional step.
- Add a layer of your ground bud. Then, top it off with some hash crumbles.
- Roll it up tightly, and leave some space for the filter before you seal it. Then spark up and pass it around.
Hot-Knifing Hash
The name itself isn’t very inviting in terms of safety, but it is one of the old school ways of smoking hash. As the name suggests, it involves the use of a knife and flame, so always proceed with utmost caution when trying out this method.
What You’ll Need:
- Hash
- A handheld torch or stovetop
- Two butter knives with insulated handles
- A glass or metal straw
What You’ll Do:
- Using either the stovetop or your torch, heat the blades of both knives. You’ll know you’ve heated them enough when the blades have begun to turn red.
- Once heated, place a piece of hash between the two knives and press them together. The hash should light up immediately.
- Smoke will form at this point, and you can begin taking hits. Do this by catching the smoke using the straw; inhale as if you’re sipping on a beverage.
We also want to stress, however, that using plastic straws or a cut-off bottle instead of glass and metal is highly dangerous. Not only are they more likely to catch on fire, but will release highly toxic fumes if/when that occurs.
The Classic Glass and Pin
Here’s another old school way of smoking hash that's much less hazardous than hot knifing. This method dates back to the pre-joint/blunt times, and was one of the first ways it was enjoyed in the Middle East.
As the name suggests, all you’ll need is a pin, a thin cork coaster, glass or metal straw, and a water glass.
What You’ll Do:
- Take the pin or needle and poke it through the coaster. Make it stand like a lightning rod on top of a roof. If you’re using a paper clip, unfold one side to extend it. The unfolded part should act as a base underneath the coaster.
- Take a small piece of hash (about the size of a pea) and stick it onto the pin. Light the hash using a pocket lighter until it starts to burn.
- Take the water glass and place it over the pin to capture in the smoke.
- Once you’ve enclosed enough smoke, stick the straw under the glass and start inhaling.
Vaping Hash
If you’ve vaporized buds or concentrates in the past, you won’t have a difficult time with hash. The only difference in this process is the fact you’ll need to vape at a higher temperature, specifically around 200°C (or 400°F).
What You’ll Do:
- If you’re using a vaporizer that’s suitable for concentrates, you can simply add it into the chamber. Then, do the usual: fire up the device and inhale.
- If you’re using a device that isn’t suitable for concentrates, you’ll need to grind up some flower to blend the hashish with. Just mix the ground-up bud with hash in your grinder, then add a pinch of that blend to your vape.
Dabbing Hash
Yes, you can dab your hash. Most dab rigs are built like glass bongs, but the difference is that it's fitted with a nail, which is semi-similar to a bowl, but with a hole in the side leading into the pipe, rather than one at the bottom. You'll heat the bottom of this nail up to 230°C (450°F) using a handheld torch.
What You’ll Do:
- Fill your dab rig up to ¾ with water. Using the torch, heat the bottom of the nail until it gets slightly orange/red.
- Once you get to your peak temperature, let it sit for 3-5 seconds, then place a small piece of hash onto the nail. Then, place a carb cap (specially designed nail cover) over the nail.
- Then, to officially begin your dabbing adventure, lift the carb cap off and start inhaling.
Not So Recommended Ways of Smoking Hash
Apart from the usual methods of smoking hash, there are other ways to do it that aren’t exactly healthy. We advise sticking to the aforementioned methods, but for the sake of awareness here are the not so recommended ways.
- The aluminium foil bowl: This method involves shaping some aluminium foil into a custom smoking bowl. Once you have that formed, place the hash into the bowl and light it up with a pocket lighter. Do this process really slowly to avoid burning yourself. The aluminium foil bowl is the easiest and most cost-effective method in this list, but it's also one of the most dangerous if you aren't careful, so proceed with the utmost caution.
- The aluminium-plastic bottle toke: This is essentially the aluminium foil bowl method, but using a plastic bottle as the base upon which it sits. First, take out the lid and replace it with foil.
Then, poke some holes in it for added air flow. You’ll then poke two holes on each side of the bottle. Then, take some hash, fill up your foil bowl, and heat it up. Once you get to your desired temperature, cover up one of the bottle holes, and inhale the smoke through the other.
Again, be really, really careful when doing this, as touching a flame to plastic will not only cause it to burn, but release toxic fumes into the air around you.
How to Check If Your Hash is Good
Of course, you wouldn’t want to compromise your smoking experience with bad hashish. There are several ways to check if your hash stash is still in perfect condition. These are factors you’d want to take note of:
Colour
If you’re working with hand-rubbed hash, you should be looking at a darker shade that’s between brown and black. Any hints of green means you’ve left in too much plant material, and that'll harshen the experience in general.
For dry sift hash, you should be seeing a light yellow to a reddish-brown appearance. Harder-pressed stuff will appear darker on the outside and lighter on the inside. But if you pressed it a bit lighter, the colour should be consistent all throughout.
Consistency
Dry sift hash shouldn’t be too dry, and if so, it was either stored poorly or way too much filler must’ve been added. In terms of consistency, you’d want to have a little moisture, but nothing especially noticeable.
For lightly-pressed dry sift hash, you’d want to have a softer, more crumbly texture that’s a bit sticky and oily. A hard-pressed hash will be a bit stickier and a lot harder, but it should soften up once the warmth of your hand touches it.
Hand-rubbed hash should feel a bit denser and uniform in terms of consistency. Along with that, because of the added oils from the process itself, it shouldn’t be as sticky. Also, be sure to process it properly to avoid mold and moisture from developing inside.
Taste
The taste of your hash will be consistent depending on the plant it comes from, but the method you use does play a bit of a factor. Hand-rubbed hashish will have a spicier, more floral flavour to it. On the other hand, dry sift hash usually bears an earthy taste.
Ultimately, though, you’ll know your hash is clean and safer to consume if it does not bear any hints of a plastic-like, chemical flavour.
The “Bubble Test”
If you really want to determine the quality of hash that you have, the bubble test is your best metric. To do this, take a butane lighter and put your hash under a clean flame.
You’ll know you have good quality hash when it bubbles and pure white smoke emanates from it upon lighting. But if you instead see some soot-like remnants with some black smoke once you put it under the flame, then you’re dealing with contaminated hash.
Enjoying Hash
Now you know the best ways to enjoy hash, as well as the methods to avoid, all that's left to do is to consider your preference, pick a method, and, most importantly, enjoy!
