The different origins of hashish

What is hashish exactly ?

Switzerland has just authorized the commercialization and sale of CBD hashish. This is an opportunity for us to take a closer look at this product, but most importantly to answer an important question: what is hashish?

Well-known in neighboring France, hashish is the name given to cannabis resin, extracted from the flowers of this plant. Of Arab origin, this name means "hay" or "herb." Humans have learned to make and consume hashish since ancient times. The first allusion to hashish can be found in the classic literature "The Thousand and One Nights," in the story "The Hashish Eater". It tells of a wealthy man who squanders all his fortune and wanders aimlessly. One day, in a hammam, he ingests a ball of hashish. He then dreams that he is rich again. When he wakes up, he realizes that everyone around him is laughing, but his experience allowed him to regain his pride and confidence.

Another legend attributes the first consumption of hashish to a certain Haydar, a monk who also founded a religious order, Sufism. Walking alone in a field after falling into depression, his disciples saw him return changed, he was happy and loved life again. He then decreed that his regained happiness was due to hashish. He was even buried at his death surrounded by cannabis plants. Since then, it is said that the Sufis have vowed to keep their understanding of hashish secret, thus preserving the secrets of its consumption and power. Regardless of its origin and its first consumer, hashish spread in the Arab world, but also in India under the name "Bhang." It then traveled, arriving in Europe during the 18th century. During Napoleon's campaign in Egypt, hashish was used to motivate the troops of the French emperor. Western doctors began to investigate hashish during the 19th century, aiming to use it for medical purposes.

Today, hashish is often packaged in small plaques and smoked in the form of joints or with the help of a bong or pipe. If the hash is too compact, it just needs to be heated a little to soften it and make it easier to crumble.

Different types of productions

There are many different solutions for producing hashish, each with its own qualities and drawbacks. Depending on the chosen method, the hashish will have more or less chance of being of good quality. Answering this question gives you a good starting indicator for judging its quality. Let's take a quick look at the main methods of producing hashish:

Dry sifting

The most well-known and popular method used today is dry sifting. The main tool you need to use it is a sieve. By shaking or rubbing the plant through the sieve, you recover a resinous crystalline powder, which is called kif or kief, and which will serve as a basis for creating hashish. The quality of the hashish obtained will depend on the sieve: the finer the mesh, the purer and higher quality the powder obtained will be. On the other hand, if the sieve mesh is too wide, there will be more plant material which will lower the quality of the hashish.

Hand rubbing

This is the second most commonly used technique for obtaining hashish after dry sifting. People who use it usually do so directly in their field. It simply involves walking among the plants, arms open, in order to recover as much sticky resin directly on their skin. Once this is done, all that remains is to recover the resin to make small balls that will then need to be refined. The quality of the hashish will then depend on the care taken to incorporate as little plant material.

Water Extraction

This type of extraction can be done in different ways. You will need either a special washing machine or a bucket, and filtering bags with different mesh sizes. To begin, you will need to freeze your flowers. If you use the washing machine, you will need to put the plant material, water, and ice to maintain the lowest possible temperature into the machine. Then, you will turn on the machine, and the agitation will cause the plant crystals to harden and freeze, and they will detach and float to the surface. Next, you will pass the mixture through the different bags to filter out the plant material and obtain the precious resin. The smaller the mesh size of the bags, the purer the resin will be. The difference with the bucket method is that the agitation to detach the plant crystals is done manually using a blender or any other utensil.

This concludes our short article on hashish. If you want to try some, we recommend our Lebanese Red, our Citrus Gold or the brand new Rasta Rocket, which are sure to delight you! Don't hesitate any longer and come visit our website, where you will surely find what you're looking for.