Made entirely through heat and pressure, hash rosin is often a prized concentrate, and typically guaranteed to be a high quality product. But what exactly is hash rosin?
In today’s article we’ll explore hash rosin in-depth: What separates it from other cannabis concentrates (and rosins), how dispensaries across the US produce hash rosin, and why it’s made such waves in the US cannabis market. Let’s dive in.
Not Just Hash
“Hash rosin” is
created in a way as to produce an extremely clean and potent form of cannabis, one that can be used in a range of fashions.Even though
, hash rosin is a relatively recent invention.In 2015, Californian grower
sought to create a non-full melt form of hash. He accomplished this by wrapping hash in parchment paper and using a hair straightener to squeeze it.Because there is no plant material in it, rosin produces a resulting hash that is high-quality and melts completely when smoked or vaporized. And despite it’s DYI-origins there is a very specific method to follow for making high quality rosin.
Hash Rosin vs Other Types of Rosin
In the world of cannabis concentrates, there’s often no end to the variety. The main focus of our guide today is hash rosin, but how does it compare to flower rosin and live rosin?
Flower Rosin
Flower rosin is made by extracting cannabinoids and terpenes from cannabis plant material into a concentrated form. Unlike hash (often a rubbed or sifted product primarily consisting of trichome heads), hash rosin made directly from cannabis flowers, which can give it an earthy but fairly harsh profile.
In terms of inhalation flower rosin is known as being far harsher than hash rosin, which means it may be fairly difficult to use regularly. As flower rosin relies on plant material, both chlorophyll and lipids can seep into your rosin which creates an extremely harsh flavor profile.
Flower rosin is generally easier to make than its hash counterpart, however, as it is made directly from the plant material and doesn’t require fresh frozen hash. This means it is also faster to produce; mass production methods often meaning lower prices on the legal market.
Live Rosin
Live rosin is fairly similar to hash products, however, it is made directly from a fresh/frozen product. In most hash products, the plant has been cured beforehand to produce the hash-like taste profile seasoned smokers are familiar too.
Due to the freshness, live rosin can create a better product than using wet or bubble hash to produce rosin. However it is also generally more expensive, as the manufacturing process can be lengthy (and live rosin be labelled as an “artisanal” product).
Hash Rosin: Pros & Cons
Benefits
1) Versatility
Easily one of the biggest benefits to rosin is its versatility. As rosin is fairly easy to use it can be smoked in a range of different ways, or even used to create potent edibles. This is especially useful to people new to cannabis or even experienced smokers looking to spice up their hash routine.
Its versatility also means that rosin hash has pretty high availability throughout the United States. This means that most dispensaries will have this product on sale which can truly save you time and effort after a busy week.
2) Easy Extraction Process
Compared to some other extraction processes found in the cannabis industry, hash rosin is fairly simple to make. Unlike some forms of
, rosin doesn’t rely on specialist hardware so it can be made both at home or in a commercial environment.All you need to replicate it is a hot iron, some parchment paper, and a lot of pressure. Luckily, you can also buy a rosin press, which is a much easier way to apply heat and pressure to create your own rosin at home.
3) Potency
Although it isn’t always true, rosin commonly has a higher potency than some other forms of cannabis plant out there. Due to the manufacturing process and how rosin is produced, the chances of creating a product with more potency than your regular form of hash are pretty high.
This, of course, may not be exactly what everyone is on the lookout for. But for most hash users, a more potent product is generally a fairly attractive option.
If you can appreciate types of hash that pack a punch, then rosin might be the ideal option for you. Before you go ham though, try to sample a smaller amount than usual, just to get a taste for how potent some types of rosin can be!
4) Low Price
Generally, a hash can be a lot cheaper than cannabis depending on your source. As rosin only requires a heat press to produce a usable substance, it can be extremely cheap to produce (and thus, usually fairly cheap to purchase).
It’s easy to appreciate any form of cannabis that comes with a low price factor, which is why hash rosin has quickly become one of the most popular forms of hash out there. Its low price also means it is widely available, so finding a dispensary that offers it shouldn’t be too much of a struggle.
However, you may want to avoid premium rosin products if you don’t want to spend a large sum. Although live rosin is generally considered a “better” product than hash rosin it can also be more expensive, with some dispensaries charging around $80 per gram.
As with most cannabis or hash products, we recommend shopping around to find good deals and the best overall bang for your buck; your local budtender will likely be happy to help you find the product you’re looking for.
Potential Drawbacks
1) High THC Content
As most rosin products are more potent than smoking a bud or bubble hash, they usually will have a higher THC content. Although some smokers may appreciate this, it can be off-putting if you are looking for a softer experience.
Research has shown that a higher THC content can lead to some side effects that may not be found in products with a lower THC content. Symptoms such as a dry mouth and even heightened anxiety have been related to high THC amounts (though this isn’t true for everyone!)
If you are unfamiliar with cannabis and bubble hash products, then you may want to start on a product that has a lower THC content than rosin. This way you can get a feel for THC and decide whether or not a more potent form of hash is something you are interested in.
2) Leftover Residue
If you choose to dab your rosin product, or even smoke it through a vaporizer device, then you may quickly find large amounts of residue. Due to the high lipid counts in some rosin products a gunky residue can be produced which isn’t very pleasant to smoke.
However, this is far more common in plant rosin and less so in hash products, but it is still a potential drawback. A great way to avoid the harshness of rosin residue is to regularly clean out any devices you use.
How Does Hash Rosin Compare to Other Extracts?
Rosin vs Solvent Based Extracts
One of the biggest and best differences between rosin and some other hash products is the lack of solvents used in production. Unlike solventless hash rosin, some hash products use solvents to produce a final product which can lead to contaminants and a chemical flavor profile.
Your typical rosin production cycle won’t make use of any chemicals to produce the final rosin product. This can be a great benefit to some smokers and can help you avoid any unwanted chemicals in your smoking experience.
Dry Sift Hash vs Full Melt Bubble Hash
When it comes to rosin you’ll generally see comparisons between the use of
. We go into greater detail in the link above, but as an overview:Bubble hash is made using a form of ice-water hash extraction, which creates a refined-but-wet hash.
Sift hash is made by sifting the hash through a collection of screens to create a fine and solvent-free end product.
When it comes to quality differences between the two, you will generally see bubble hash coming out on top. But this isn’t always the case as it is more than possible to create a high-quality sift hash that can compete with premium bubble hash products.
You also have to consider its production. Dry sifting hash can be done by anyone and is fairly cheap to process, whereas bubble hash requires the use of ice water – This can be a lengthy process.
At the end of the day, when it comes to rosin, both dry sift and bubble hash produces a fantastic product. As long as the source material is solvent-free, you shouldn’t be able to tell too much difference in your rosin product!
How is Hash Rosin Made?
The Home Production Process
As demonstrated by Mr. “Soilgrown Salazar” up above, creating a hash rosin product at home isn’t too inaccessible. As long as you have some form of hot iron and can apply enough pressure to extract a rosin product, you can easily make your own rosin.
Luckily, we’re working on a guide to making rosin products at home so you don’t need to rely on dispensaries to get your rosin kick. Make sure to check out our upcoming “How to Make Rosin” article, hitting the High There site soon!
The Commercial Production Process
Although hash rosin can be manufactured at home using a range of different tools, the commercial product relies on specialist hardware known as a rosin press. This fantastic gadget applies both the heat and pressure required to manufacture rosin.
However, a rosin press can cost anywhere between $2,000 to $5,000 depending on the size and power of the press. Below you can find a brief breakdown of what exactly happens in each stage of the commercial production process!
1) The Rosin Press is Heated
The first step to the commercial production process is that the rosin press is heated. As this press is used to apply pressure and heat the hash to produce rosin, it needs to reach a specific temperature to garner the best results.
The temperature required will depend on which type of rosin is being used in the rosin press. For bubble hash and dry sift hash, the ideal temperature is anywhere between 140°F and 180°F. Although not the focus of this guide, flower rosin should be pressed between 180°F and 220°F.
Typically, the press is switched on before the process begins to give it time to pre-heat and reach the necessary temperature to get the best results!
2) Hash is Loaded into Filter Bags
Before the bubble hash is placed into the press, it is loaded into filter bags so that the right consistency is reached during the rosin hash-making process. The size of the filter bag depends on preferences but most commercial facilities will opt for a 15 – -25u bag.
It is also extremely common for production facilities to double bag the bubble hash. This slows down the pressing process slowly to prevent the bag from bursting and the final product from being contaminated. It can also slightly protect the hash from temperature damage if the temperature is a little too high!
3 ) Parchment Paper is Folded and Laid in the Press
Before the hash is loaded onto the press, the parchment paper needs to be folded. As tempting as it might be to show off one’s origami skills here, a few simple folds will usually get the job done.
The most common types of fold here are square or triangle folds. Both forms are simple and can almost always get the job done. Once the paper has been folded, the next step is to load the hash product onto the rosin press.
4) The Bag of Hash is Loaded into the Press
Firstly, the parchment paper is placed onto the press ready for the bags of hash. Once the hash is stored inside the filter bags and the paper is in place, slight pressure is applied to the bag to keep it in place and test that the bags won’t burst.
Depending on the manufacture a pressure monitor may be used to check how much pressure is being applied. Most presses don’t want to initially apply any more than 20 PSI to the filter bags at this stage as too much pressure too soon may create a poor end product.
5) Pressure is Applied
To get a final product, pressure is slightly applied to the bubble hash. The combination of temperature and pressure produces consistent rosin that is clear from contaminants and offers a clean and potent cannabis concentrate.
The pressure applied will range largely depending on the amount of bubble hash or ice water hash being pressed. It will also change based on how far into the process you are as the pressure should gradually increase in 30 to 60-second increments.
This process will continue until the rosin produced is consistent and all of the bubble, sift or ice hash has been used. You can expect this to take anywhere between 2 and 5 minutes depending on the amount of hash being pressed.
In terms of maximum pressure, a press shouldn’t apply much more than 5 tons of pressure otherwise the quality of your rosin can drop pretty fast. It’s usually a good idea to slight increments of pressure as opposed to a few large jumps!
What Effect Do Temperature and Moisture Have?
When using a press, the temperature can have a massive impact on how your final rosin product turns out. The consistency of rosin is almost always based on the temperature used in the pressing process, with a higher temperature usually creating a brittle product as opposed to a runny or viscous one.
As well as the temperature, the moisture of the starting material can also truly alter the end product from your rosin press. A wetter starting material will generally create wet hash rosin, which can be hard to smoke but may be easier to use in edibles.
Studies have shown that finding the right temperature is important to generating a high-quality end product. This also applies to how wet the starting material of your ice-water or bubble hash is before using a rosin press.
Ways to Enjoy Hash Rosin
Dabbing
is a fairly new form of enjoying rosin but is increasingly becoming a popular choice. Although it is mainly used with shatter and butane hash oil as opposed to rosin, you can still dab your hash product to produce a potent high.To dab rosin, you will need to use a special tool known as an ‘oil rig’ (not to be mistaken with the big machines in Texas). Some smokers will even use a vape pen to dab, however, nothing comes close to the quality of using an oil rig.
The main reason why many people dab is the lack of smoke production. It also rarely produces a smell, which, as we all know, can make enjoying hash (and it’s high levels of potentially paranoia-inducing THC) a lot easier.
Vaping
A modern but popular way to enjoy hash is through
. If you are familiar with vaping, then it can be an awesome way to get the most out of your hash, however, it may .Most typical vape pens simply aren’t well-suited to the consistency of rosin, so it’s important to find the right vaping tool for it. Most weed and CBD stores should sell vape devices designed specifically to vape hash, so you shouldn’t need to look too far.
Once you have got your hands on a vaping pen, then vaping rosin can be an incredibly accessible and easy way to enjoy hash!
Smoking in a Pipe, Bong, or Joint
The most tried and tested method to appreciate a range of cannabis and hash products is by smoking it through a joint, a bong, or even
. Almost anyone who has ever smoked cannabis will have tried one of these methods at some point, and there’s a reason for this.Smoking rosin is incredibly accessible rarely requires any specialist gadgets. Some dispensaries will even sell pre-rolled rosin so you don’t need to worry about trying to roll joints.
Adding to Edibles
If you enjoy weed but you just aren’t a fan of smoking, then
can be an excellent way to enjoy both cannabis and hash. Edibles come in a range of forms from to , so finding something you naturally enjoy is pretty easy.Most edibles will use cannabis-infused oil in their recipe, which can be made with rosin using a fairly simple infusing process. Once you’ve learned a few recipes and perfected
, then edibles can be an incredible way to experience this concentrate.
FAQs
Is Hash Rosin Good?
This will depend on the particular rosin that you have purchased or made yourself. However, your general rosin can provide a stronger high than other cannabis forms and is known for its powerful but clean flavor profile.
On top of this, due to the extraction process relying on heat and pressure as opposed to solvents, it also tends to contain fewer chemical and plant contaminants.
What is Hash Rosin Made of?
Most types of hash rosin come from using heat and pressure to extract trichomes from your hash. Typically, the hash is placed on parchment paper and pressed by a hot iron for up to 30 seconds. This helps wean out the trichomes and create a final rosin product.
Unlike flower rosin, hash rosin is fairly cheap to make and is a great way to remove the contaminant from the source material.
What’s the Difference Between Hash Rosin and BHO?
The main difference between hash rosin and butane hash oil is the extraction processes used. Most types of rosin are made using ice-baths and pressure, whereas BHO is made by extracting trichomes through the use of solvents; our “How to Make Hash” article linked above discusses the BHO method further in-depth, for those curious.
Final Thoughts
With so many different forms of cannabis and hash out there, it can be hard to know which is the best option for you. We hope we’ve helped give you a well-rounded introduction to hash rosin, and why it’s quickly become a popular choice for many a weed enthusiast.
Consider checking your trusted dispensary or even consider making your own rosin at home. Whatever you decide make that move with pride – Happy smoking!