Full melt hash is resin that melts away completely when heated, with little or no ash or residue left. It happens when a grade is almost nothing but ripe resin heads. In bubble hash it usually comes from the 90 and 73 micron bags, and on the star scale it rates 5 or 6 stars.
What is full melt hash?
Full melt hash is a grade, not a method: any hash that melts completely under heat is full melt, whether it was washed out with ice water or sifted dry. Leaf’s concentrates glossary calls it the highest grade of ice water hash, usually rated five or six stars, hash that fully melts and leaves very little to no residue. Full melt bubble is the kind most people mean; full melt dry sift is rarer still.
What makes hash full melt
Hash is full melt when a grade is almost entirely clean, ripe resin heads, and four things get it there:
- The plant. Some strains put out big, oily heads that wash clean; most don’t. Bubbleman’s test has always been the bags: run the plant through them and see what melts. More in strains that wash.
- Cold and a light hand. Ice water at or near zero and a gentle first wash. Pushing harder pulls more plant matter into the good bags.
- The right bags. In bubble hash, full melt usually shows up in the 90 and 73 micron bags; the micron size guide goes bag by bag.
- Drying it right. Full melt that isn’t dried properly can butter up and lose its melt (see how to dry bubble hash).
How to spot full melt hash
To spot full melt hash, look at it, touch it and above all heat it.
- Look. Often blond to light brown, sandy and a little greasy, but color proves nothing: full melt comes in pink and purple too.
- Touch. The heads feel greasy and start to stick together between your fingers.
- Heat. The real test. A pinch on a hot tool bubbles and turns to clear liquid with no black residue. How hash makers score it is in the hash star rating.
Why full melt is rare
Full melt is rare because it takes great genetics, a careful process and patience, and much of the market has moved on to pressing rosin instead. Bubbleman puts it bluntly: having six star full melt puts you in a small group of people, rosin and butane extracts have made it easy to stop chasing full melt bubble, and most companies don’t grow resin good enough to sell as full melt, so they press it.
Full melt in the early days
Full melt in the early days was already there with the first Bubble Bags: in the late 1990s Bubbleman was making bubble that melted like water, and he made a lot of it with an 18 dollar cake mixer from Walmart. The tools have improved enormously since; the plant and the cold have always done most of the work.
From the archive: Bubbleman on full melt
From the archive, Bubbleman on full melt in his own words, from three live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
Season 12, Episode 14, Skully Vibes draws live
Having six-star full melt… is rare. Like you’re in a small group of people if you have that… In the early days and the late 90s, when I started doing this, and I had full melt bubble that melted like water, I was able to turn, I don’t even know how many people.
On full melt in the late 90sI used to make full melt with a cake mixer. A cake mixer. Like 18 bucks at Walmart… crushing the six star like nobody’s business.
On the cake mixer
I want bubble hash that when you press it, you get a 97% return… No one can tell the difference between the bubble hash and the rosin from the same batch.
On pressing full melt
Season 12, Episode 19, Live from The Reserve, Denver
Six star is so so rare… I feel like rosin and BHO have made it easy to not continue to search for full melt bubble… people would hit me up and say, hey, how do I get my hash to melt like yours? And then I’d be like, oh my god, dude, it’s not actually that easy.
On why full melt is rare
How to use full melt
Use full melt where its cleanness shows: dab it at a low temperature, vape it, or press it. Pressed, full melt gives back nearly all of its weight as rosin; Bubbleman’s standard is bubble that presses at a 97 percent return, so the hash and the rosin from the same batch taste the same (see hash rosin). Full melt rarely ages well, unlike pressed traditional hash, so keep it cold and enjoy it fresh.
Full melt questions
Full melt questions, answered short:
What does full melt mean?
Full melt means hash that melts completely when heated and leaves little or no residue. It is a grade, made of the cleanest resin heads.
Is full melt the same as 6 star hash?
Full melt covers 5 and 6 star hash; 6 star is the very top of it, hash that turns to liquid and leaves nothing behind.
Can you make full melt dry sift?
Yes, you can make full melt dry sift, but it is rarer than full melt bubble, because sifting doesn’t wash out dirt the way ice water does.
What micron is full melt bubble hash?
Full melt bubble hash is usually found in the 90 and 73 micron bags, though with some plants it shows up in the 120, the 45 or the 25.
How should you store full melt hash?
Store full melt hash cold and sealed, and enjoy it fresh: unlike pressed traditional hash, the finest full melt rarely ages well.
Sources for this full melt guide
Sources for this full melt guide:
- Dab vocab: the concentrates glossary, on full melt and the star scale, Leaf magazines
- Bubble Bags FAQ: how to make full melt bubble, and which bags it lands in, bubblebag.com
- Hash Church Season 12, Episode 33: why most companies press their hash into rosin, Buzzsprout
- Full melt dry sift rip, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 14, 17 and 19: Bubbleman on full melt, linked above