A little hash history never hurts:

I firmly believe that if you want to do something, you should learn a bit about it beyond the "how-to" aspect. If you want to make your own hash, it may help you to have a a grasp on the historical context. Will it make you a better bubble hash extractor? Well, I'll tell you this: it won't make you any worse! Back when hash began to enter the Western consciousness, there were no extraction bags or hash extraction machines to help. It was truly a labor of love to manufacture this cannabis extract.

Hashish arrived in Europe by way of the Asian continent in the 1700s. Though primarily a recreational substance, hashish was touted by a number of medical professionals as not only an anesthetic, but a homeopathic cure as well. In a 1839 study, hemp was recommended for allieviation of symptoms such as rabies, cholera, and tetanus. Around the same time, Psychiatrist Jacques-Joseph Moreau recommended hash as the primary medication for treatment of psychiatric symptoms. By the 1900s hash compounds were used in nearly every country in Europe as well as the USA for treatment of pain, migraine, dysmenorrhea, pertussis asthma, insomnia, stomach ache, depression, diarrhea, diminished appetite, pruritus, hemorrhage, Basedow syndrome, and malaria.

But hash wasn't just about medicine. Recreationally, hashish became popular among the artist crowds in Europe, with "hash houses" popping up in major cities. These hash houses were communal places specifically created for hash smokers to come together to smoke and socialize. Famous hash proponents include Théophile Gautier, Dr. Moreau de Tours, Victor Hugo, Alexandre Dumas, Charles Baudelaire and Honoré de Balzac. Baudelaire later wrote about being under the influence of hash in his book, Les paradis artificiels. About this time, American author Fitz Hugh Ludlow wrote the 1857 book The Hasheesh Eater about his experiences with the drug as a youth. You have a book in you dying to get out? Maybe hash can provide that inspiration you need.

Things changed for hash stateside with the Marihuana (sic) Tax act of 1937. The law placed a high tax on Cannabis, essentially making it inaccessible (an illegal) for the vast majority of people. Alongside the devil's lettuce, its extracts were banned as well, including hash.

Marijuana and hash were still enjoyed during this time, primarily among musicians and artists. It wasn't until the counterculture revolution of the 1960s that hash began to become more popular with more "mainstream" users such as the hippies, college students, and soldiers. Movies such as Midnight Express drew attention to hash, the major plot point of the film involves a young American arrested in Turkey as he attempts to smuggle Turkish hash back to the states. Despite President Nixon's War on Drugs of the early 70s, some cite this era as the beginning of cannabis "normalization," a process that is still underway, but gaining traction not only in the US but around the world. So now you might be saying, "that's great historical context, but what about hash extraction? When did people start making hash? When did they start doing ice water hash extractions?" Fear not, I've got that covered.

Initially, hash was made by collecting the sticky resins from cannabis buds by pressing or rubbing the flower between the maker's hands and then forming the sticky resins into a small ball of hashish called charas. Later, mechanical separation methods were developed to remove the trichomes from the dried plant material either by using a dry tumbler or sifting the material through a screen. The resulting powder is "kief" and when it's compressed into blocks, sometimes with the aid of heat, you have hash.

Ice-water separation is a common mechanical method of isolating kief. The ice-water method uses water, ice, filtration bags with various gauges of mesh screens, plant material, and agitation. The advantage to ice water extraction is that the has products is solid, brittle, and easier to handle than the sticky charas. Ice water extraction allows large quantities of pure resin to be extracted from plant material. It's a clean process done without solvents as the trichomes break away from the plant material, sifting through a series of bags which traps plant material and impurities.ter extraction method the resin becomes hard and brittle and can easily be separated. This allows large quantities of pure resins to be extracted in a very clean process without the use of solvents, making for a more purified hashish. It's also worth mentioning that there are non-mechanical chemical methods available but these result in oil products that are not classified as true hash.

So there you have it, the hash knowledge you wanted and the recommendations for the products that will help you use it. Happy hashing!

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