Hashish oil is made in many different ways, and at the simplest level it’s oil that’s extracted from the buds of the cannabis sativa or cannabis indica plant. The reason it’s more potent than bud or standard hash is because it has a higher concentration of THC. Learning how to make hash oil isn’t overly difficult, but getting your hands on all the right supplies can be.
How to Make Hash Oil
We will start by saying that making hash oil in your home isn’t a good idea for most people, as it involves flammables and open flames. There is a risk of fire and one can develop even if you’re handling the torch very carefully, plus in worst case scenarios there could even be an explosion. Proceed with caution.
Now that that’s out of the way, let’s talk about making hashish oil and give you a basic overview of the process. First, someone will grind the cannabis up as finely as possible. Then they flush it with a solvent, usually ethanol or carbon dioxide but occasionally makers will choose butane because it is cheaper. That is really not a good choice, though, because it’s toxic and potentially explosive.
Heating and then pressurizing the mixture will release the hash oil from the cannabis bud fibres. Once the mixture is cooled, you can collect the finished product.
Most people will then scrape the oil into some type of container. Glass containers are preferred because they don’t allow the oil to stick to the sides of it quite as thoroughly. Another popular choice is to then put the container in a freezer, as the cold temperature will make it less gooey and easier to handle.
That’s the basics of how to make hash oil. The next step in our exploration of the ins and outs of hash oil? How to smoke hash oil.
How to Smoke Hash Oil
Again, there’s a need to be very up front about certain facts that we’re sharing in your best interests. Hash oil is nearly always much more potent than marijuana in its flower form, or standard hashish (which is most commonly gold seal hash or rock hash). For this reason it is best to proceed with caution. The best rule of thumb for it is to take a toke and then wait for a minute or two before taking a second one, and then the same wait for taking a third one, and so on.
There is no risk of an overdose of THC, but it can make people pass out, vomit, or more generally just be ‘too’ high and that’s never enjoyable. We’ll go ahead and assume that you’d like to enjoy your hash oil, so just take it slow and see where your right level is.
Dabbing
With precautions out of the way we’ll get right into means of enjoying hashish oil. First up on the list is arguably the most celebrated ways of smoking it these days – dabbing. Before you smoke dabs of hash oil you’ll need 3 things to go along with the oil itself:
- A bong or similarly styled glass pipe with chamber
- A titanium extension for the pipe where you’ll place the hash oil
- A blowtorch
Now you’ll heat the titanium extension using the blowtorch until it is visibly burning hot. Proceed to press your dab of hash oil against the heated bowl and inhale.
Vaporizing
Vaporizers are increasingly popular these days for the fact they are healthier alternative to smoking. Vapes are good for bud, hashish, hash oil or any of the derivatives like shatter, butter, etc.
No matter which substance is in them, a vaporizer doesn’t burn it like a pipe, bong, or joint will. Instead, the vaporizer’s battery heats up its atomizer to a temperature so hot that the THC resins ‘vaporize’ and you are able to inhale them WITHOUT inhaling any smoke at all. I personally love my vape (DaVinci Ascent – the best around in my opinion) and it’s my preferred way of enjoying cannabis.
Using a hash oil vape is fairly straightforward. Most of them will have a glass lined chamber or a removable glass jar that you insert into the atomizer chamber. Simply put some of your hash oil into the chamber or jar, close it, and power up the vaporizer. Choose the temperature that’s best for vaping your oil and wait for it to show you the ‘ready’ display that indicates the chamber is now at that temperature. Take a draw and enjoy!
Topping
Topping is a better choice for those who’d like to enjoy some hash oil without getting a powerful, super concentrated dose in just one toke. It involves simply drizzling some of the oil onto some marijuana bud, either in a joint or on top of a bowl you’ve just packed. This is a much less intensive way to enjoy it, and it really does a nice job of upping the potency of joint or bowl as well as changing the flavour nicely too. Try it, see if you like it.
One little tip here though; ideally you’re keeping your hashish oil frozen so that you can extract it and relocate it more easily. Use some type of implement like a pin or even toothpick to scoop out and spread your oil. Otherwise the body heat from your fingers will cause it to goo up again big time and some of it will be hopelessly stuck on your fingers rather than in your bowl or joint.
Edibles
Alright, anything you can eat doesn’t involve smoking, but we still think we should mention edibles here. ‘Pot gummies’ are also all the rage these days, and there is a lot to be said about them for people who’d like to get high without the odour that comes with smoking it in any manner. Edibles are typically made from hash oil as well, and making them is often as simple as mixing the oil into the confectionary syrup before baking it into a gummy.
That’s our introduction to making and smoking hash oil. Of course, there’s a whole lot more information out there so if we’ve piqued your interest with our quick overview here then we encourage you to learn more.
