Hashish
How To Judge Hashish
Hashish produced in countries like Nepal, Afghanistan, India, Pakistan, and areas that surround the Himalayas has traditionally been produced primarily by rubbing live marijuana flowers with hands or other implements.
The aim is to get the soft and sticky resins to stick to a surface that can be taken somewhere to be processed. It is usually dark brown to black on the surface with a lighter colored interior. It can be adulterated with almost any type of oil including coconut and palm oils.
Middle East hashish from countries like Morocco, Turkey, and Lebanon is produced using the sieving process. The hashish is usually harder and drier than rubbed hashish. It can vary in color from yellow to red to brown.
If you break a piece open, you should see the very small granules of resin that make up hashish made by sieving. It can be adulterated with a variety of things like henna, tarmac, and can even include sand and tar extracts.
You can usually tell rubbed and sieved hashish apart by the color and how pliable it is. Rubbed has a black or dark brown exterior and is more pliable when fresh. It also has a strong smell. Sieved hashish is golden yellow to red or light brown in color. It is drier (less pliable) than rubbed and the smell is subtle (less strong).
Depending on where you live, you may have limited access to hashish. In most parts of North America, rubbed hashish imported from areas that surround the Himalayas is more commonly available. Smaller amounts of sieved Middle East hashish are occasionally sold.
If you have the option of choosing, rubbed hashish is almost always superior to sieved. However, good sieved hashish should be chosen over low quality rubbed hash. Hashish can be mixed with other chemicals (usually oils) to increase its weight, but this decreases potency. Dealers do this to increase their profit.
Hash Tips
Adapted from hashish by Robert C. Clarke.
How pliable is rubbed hashish? It should be harder at room temperature and become softer and more pliable after hand warming. Hold the piece in your hand for a few minutes. The higher the percentage of resin, the faster it will soften enough to be kneaded. Really hard hashish can be potent, but it is almost certainly far older and harsher.
How pliable is rubbed hashish? Sieved hashish is usually a bit drier and harder than hand rubbed hashish, so hardness might not be an indication of age.
How fast does it burn? The rate at which hashish burns is determined by its density, which is determined by the ratio of resin to plant matter. Fluffy or spongy hashish is predominantly plant matter. Denser, purer hashish burns slowly and completely.
What does it taste like? If a small piece of high quality hashish is put in the mouth and chewed, it often produces a peppery sensation. If hashish tastes like vegetable matter or contains gritty/sandy dirt, it is contaminated.
What are the characteristics at room temperature? In general, at room temperature, good hashish is fairly easy to crumple and it has a pleasant aroma. If it is very hard and brittle with a bad smell or no smell at all, it's either old or adulterated.
How does the smoke smell and taste? When good hashish burns it produces a pungent, spicy aroma, like fine quality incense. Good hashish always smells and tastes rich and sweet.
What color is the smoke? When high quality hashish burns it gives off milky white to slightly blue gray smoke. If the smoke produced by using hashish in a pipe or joint is brown, it is a sign of contaminants.
If the smoke is very dark brown or black, the hashish is highly adulterated with substances which might be hazardous to your health, and the hashish is likely of exceptionally low quality.
After you have smoked, look at the ash that was produced. If it is white-gray in color, it probably is fairly clean hashish. It may not be potent, but it hasn't been adulterated with unhealthy substances. If the ash is a dark color, it probably has been contaminated and you should not ingest any more.
Taste Test:
Do you want to finish the joint, or move on after a few tokes?
Is it inviting, or does it leave a bad after-taste?
Does the dry toke have memorable flavors?
Spicy, sweet, rich?
Hashish that has been adulterated can leave a bad after-taste. If you don't want to finish a joint because it doesn't taste very good, it may be an indication of an additive. Good hashish has a sweet rich taste. A dry toke (taking a toke from an unlit joint) will have a clean spicy taste.
If you have never tried hashish, it will be hard to decide if the hashish you intend to buy is worth the money before trying it. If in doubt, buy a small amount (a gram or less) and decide if it was worth the price.
If you spend $20 for a piece of hashish, was it as good as $20 worth of marijuana? If it was, you may wish to pick up some more. If it wasn't as good as $20 worth of marijuana, avoid it and spend your money on high quality marijuana.
In most cases, the hashish sold in North America, Europe, Australia, New Zealand, and other countries that are not hashish producing nations is of low to medium quality. If you really like high quality hashish, you are better off growing marijuana and using it to make hashish yourself.
Books Hashish
Over 350 very well researched pages about the history, consumption, production, and other aspects of the substance known as hashish. The book is easy to read and the only book to get if you are interested in making, using, or learning about hashish.
The first 300 pages thoroughly trace hash history, methods of consumption, pressing, storing, and cultures. The last 50 pages go into great detail about traditional and modern methods of making, hashish.
Well illustrated with dozens if not hundreds of black and white images and graphs, with 16 full page, full color images. Appealing to hashish and marijuana users and history lovers.
Hashish
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