The best strains for hash are washers: plants with plenty of big resin heads that snap off cleanly and melt. Bubbleman’s own list includes Shishkaberry, the strain that made him believe in water hash, Skunk No. 1, Subcool’s lines and Lemon Head, which his brand washed to six star full melt. The only sure test is to wash a little of each plant.
What makes a strain good for hash?
A strain is good for hash when its resin heads come off whole and clean. That takes a plant covered in the big stalked trichomes, whose heads run about 40 to 110 microns across, holding resin that melts when it is pressed or heated, and heads that snap off their stalks easily in the cold. A 2023 microscope study found trichome numbers and ripeness vary from one genotype to the next, which is why two plants grown side by side can wash completely differently.
High trichome strains
High trichome strains give you more resin heads to work with, but trichome count alone doesn’t make a washer. A plant can be covered in trichomes and still wash poorly if its heads are small or cling to their stalks. The best hash strains have both: plenty of heads, and heads that come off whole and clean.
Strains Bubbleman has washed
Strains Bubbleman has washed, or seen washed, on Hash Church and on his channel:
| Strain | Where | What it showed |
|---|---|---|
| Shishkaberry | Season 12, Episode 13 | Full melt from just two bags; the strain that sold him on water hash |
| Nicole | Season 12, Episode 13 | A Shishkaberry dominant cultivar that won static sift contests |
| Skunk No. 1 | Season 12, Episode 20 | Skunkman Sam’s field grown hash, the greatest any of them had smoked, Bubbleman says |
| Subcool’s lines | Season 12, Episode 15 | In the right hands, full melt genetics, every one |
| Lemon Head | Season 12, Episode 23 | Six star full melt bubble from his brand in Colorado |
| Star Man, Pink Parm Mango, Barb Burst BX | Season 12, Episode 25 | Masonic Seeds’ washers, picked for the Bubbleman brand |
| Watermelon | His channel, 2014 | 90 micron bubble, cured two months |
| Astroboy | His channel, 2014 | 73 micron bubble from fresh frozen |
| Congolese | His channel, 2014 | 120, 90 and 73 micron bubble |
| Medi Kush | His channel, 2014 | A full melt dab |
From the archive: Bubbleman on strains that wash
From the archive, Bubbleman on strains that wash in his own words, from three live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
Season 12, Episode 13, The Kootenay Episode
Steve was like, hey, you know, run some of this through there. And he gave me some shishkaberry, and from two bags, it basically came out as a full melt product, which was very surprising at the time, and it really was kind of the only reason I really gave water hash a chance.
On Shishkaberry
Season 12, Episode 20, Live from The Reserve, Denver
Skunkman Sam could take his skunk number one and plant five acres of it and get the greatest hash off that that any of us have ever smoked. It melted my brain the first time I asked him… what conditions do you think the best weed in the world grows? And he’s like, oh, I could do it in a field.
On Skunk No. 1 in a field
Season 12, Episode 15, The Edibles Episode, with Marigold Sweets and Space Gems
They always produced what I would call, like, if given to the right grower, a full melt genetic… I was gonna start a seed company called Full Melt Genetics, and it was gonna carry basically all of Subcool’s seeds because they were such quality seeds.
On Subcool’s seeds
How to find washer strains
To find washer strains, test them. Wash a small sample of each plant before you commit a harvest, look at the heads under a microscope, and keep the plants that give the most clean, melting resin. Those keepers are your best strains for hash making. Ask breeders the same thing Bubbleman asked Masonic Seeds: what are the washers? And grow them well; as Skunkman Sam showed him, a great washer grown in a field can still make the best hash in the world.
Best strains for rosin
The best strains for rosin are mostly the strains that wash well, because the best rosin is pressed from bubble hash, and rosin returns depend far more on the material than on the press. A strain that washes to full melt usually makes great hash rosin too.
Genetics guides
Genetics guides, for the plants behind the old hashes:
Strains for hash questions
Strains for hash questions, answered short:
What are the best strains for hash?
The best strains for hash are washers, plants with plenty of big resin heads that come off clean; Bubbleman’s own list includes Shishkaberry, Skunk No. 1, Subcool’s lines and Lemon Head.
What makes a strain wash well?
A strain washes well when it carries lots of big stalked trichome heads that snap off cleanly in the cold and melt when pressed or heated.
What are the best strains for bubble hash?
The best strains for bubble hash are the same washers, and the only sure way to find one is to wash a small sample of each plant.
What are the best strains for rosin?
The best strains for rosin are mostly the strains that wash, because the best rosin is pressed from bubble hash.
Can any strain make hash?
Any strain can make some hash, but only a few wash to full melt; most plants’ heads are too small, too few or too stubborn.
Sources for this guide to strains that wash
Sources for this guide to strains that wash:
- Glandular trichome development, morphology, and maturation are influenced by plant age and genotype (Punja, Sutton and Kim, 2023), Journal of Cannabis Research
- Watermelon bubblehash 90µ, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Astroboy 73u fresh frozen, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Puff Wednesday with Congolese bubblehash, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Medi Kush fullmelt dab, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episode 23: six star Lemon Head full melt, Buzzsprout
- Hash Church Season 12, Episode 25: Masonic Seeds’ washers, Buzzsprout
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 13, 15 and 20: Bubbleman on strains that wash, linked above