The Roots of Cannabis: Hashhish

Arabian poets have written epic sagas around it. A fabled political insurgency used it for its initiations. A social club around its use involved some of the most notable members of 19th century French literary society. And its techniques are continually being refined in laboratories and guest houses and countries to this day. Welcome to the world of hashish, the OG concentrate, which has inspired its users since before the beginning of recorded history, and will likely do so for generations to come, no matter what innovations may come in the concentration space.

Unlike newer concentrations like wax or shatter, hashish, or hash, is relatively easy to make, provided you have the proper tools and enough buds to go around. It is made by extracting the dried trichomes from the cured and trimmed buds of the cannabis plant through a variety of methods, and then compressing it into a solid block or paste. Traditional hashish can take various forms, from chocolate brown slabs to pitch black balls referred to as “charas,” with a pliable texture that can be used for dabbing, smoking or cooking.

A Brief Scan of Hash's History

While traditions of hashish making have long existed in modern-day India and Nepal (the birthplaces of the charas tradition), hashish has often existed in the popular Western mind with the Arab world. The very word itself is Arabic, translated roughly into “grass” or “the herb.” The earliest mention of it, however, suggests that hash may have been introduced into the Muslim world by Mongol or Moghul raiders. A pamphlet, written in 12th century Egypt, has one of the first mentions of the term “hashishim,” or hashish-eaters, which is how hashish was consumed at the time. Only when the practice of tobacco-smoking began to proliferate did this begin to change. Some of these edible creations, such as the Egyptian treat ma’joun, are still enjoyed today.

Mentions of hashish can be found throughout the Islamic literature of the day, such as the epic poem Hashish and Wine by the Azerbaijani poet Fuzuli and The Arabian Knights. However, the Western world would not awaken to its charms until the 18th century, when Napoleon stationed troops in Egypt. They soon embraced it, and even though Napoleon forbade his soldiers from using it, it was to no avail. French artists began to experiment with it, and the psychologist Jacques-Joseph Moreau theorized that its psychomimetic effects could give clinicians valuable insight into mental illness. His work gave rise to the Club de Haschischins, a creative salon which included Victor Hugo, Charles Baudelaire, Alexandre Dumas and several other creative luminaries of the day. In America, Fitz Hugh Ludlow gained some literary notoriety in his day with his book The Hasheesh Eater, which detailed his own history with the drug. But the 20th century, of course, brought worldwide prohibition, and an underground reputation which gave rise to lurid depictions of the hash trade like the 1978 film Midnight Express.

Hashish Today

Today, hashish continues to be consumed worldwide. The majority of it is consumed and created in North Africa, Southwest Asia and Western Europe, where it is often consumed alongside tobacco in spliffs, according to the UNODC 2020 World Drug Report. The majority of imported hashish comes to Western and Central Europe from Morocco, which has a longstanding hash tradition, through Spain, while Afghanistan supplies West Asia.

The process of making hashish varies depending on the region and the methods used by individual producers, but there are some common techniques that have been used for generations. In general, the process involves separating the resin glands, or trichomes, from the rest of the plant material using a variety of techniques, such as dry sifting or washing.

One of the most common methods for making hashish is dry sifting. This involves rubbing dried cannabis flowers over a fine mesh screen or sieve, which collects the trichomes that fall off during the process. The collected trichomes are then pressed into a block or paste using a hand press or other compressing device. The quality of the resulting hashish depends on the quality of the starting material, as well as the skill and experience of the person making it.

Another popular method for making hashish is water extraction, or what is commonly referred to as “bubble hash.” This involves combining the cannabis plant material in a “bubble bag” with either cold water or some form of ice, either dry or regular, then agitating it to separate the trichomes from the plant matter. The resulting mixture is then filtered through a series of screens or sieves to remove any remaining plant material, and the trichomes are collected and dried. The result, if done poorly, will take on a greenish tint, unlike dry sift, because of contamination of the plant material. Sensing just how to avoid this contamination is as much an art as it is a science, and what distinguishes a master haschishim from a mere hobbyist.