The hash star rating grades hash by how it melts. 6 star hash melts completely and leaves no residue, and 5 star nearly does; together they are full melt. 3 and 4 star, often called half melt, melt partly and leave some residue, and 1 and 2 star barely melt and are cooking grade. Test it by heating a pinch and seeing what’s left.
The hash star rating, star by star
The hash star rating, star by star, as most hash makers use it:
| Stars | Under heat | Called | Best use |
|---|---|---|---|
| 6 | Turns to liquid, leaves nothing | Full melt | Dab |
| 5 | Melts almost completely, a trace of residue | Full melt | Dab |
| 4 | Melts and bubbles, leaves some residue | Half melt | Press or smoke |
| 3 | Melts partly, leaves residue | Half melt | Press or smoke |
| 2 | Barely melts, chars | Cooking grade | Cook |
| 1 | Doesn’t melt, burns | Cooking grade | Cook |
The scale isn’t written down anywhere official, so two hash makers can rate the same jar a star apart. It measures one thing, melt, and melt follows how clean the resin is. How to smoke each grade is in how to smoke bubble hash.
What 6 star bubble hash looks like
6 star bubble hash looks like any other good bubble hash until you heat it. Then it bubbles, goes clear and runs like oil, and leaves nothing on the surface. Bubbleman’s way of telling it apart: a lot of what people call melt is really half melt, or a sizzle, not the six star that turns to water and drips down. His rule of thumb is short: if it don’t bubble, it ain’t worth the trouble. Color is no guide; six star hash comes blond, tan, pink and even purple. More on how it’s made in full melt hash.
How to do a hash melt test
How to do a hash melt test, the way hash makers check a grade:
- Take a small pinch.
A crumb about the size of a grain of rice is plenty.
- Heat it gently.
Set it on a dab tool, a glass slide or a nail at a low temperature, or warm the tool from underneath. Don’t torch the hash itself: you are testing how it melts, not how it burns.
- Watch what it does.
Full melt bubbles, goes clear and spreads like oil. Half melt bubbles but leaves a crust. Low grades char black.
- Look at what’s left.
No residue is 6 star; a trace is 5; a crust is 3 or 4; ash is 1 or 2.
- Compare grades side by side.
Test each bag of a wash the same way, at the same heat, and the stars sort themselves out.
Who came up with the star rating
The star rating came from two early bubble makers, Space and Corpy, by Bubbleman’s account. Bubbleman, who sold the first Bubble Bags in 1999, has credited them on Hash Church more than once: the Bizarre Brothers, as he calls them, true bubble ambassadors back in the day and probably the first people he saw running hundred gallon mixers and pulling out crazy quality. In his words, we should always shout them out for their part.
Bubbleman’s hash grades: beyond the melt
Bubbleman’s hash grades go beyond the melt, because the old scale only measures one thing, and he has said a rating built on melt confused a lot of buyers. In Colorado he has talked about grading hash by style and quality instead. A one star could be dry sift pressed without heat, a crumbly hash; a two star a gummy brick; a three star a temple ball; and four stars are where bubble hash begins, the half melt that bubbles and moves, with full melt at the top.
Stars are also a promise to the buyer. Bubbleman’s own bubble for the Ontario market is, in his words, really six star, but his partner wanted to call it five to be safe. And the bag a grade comes from is a clue: full melt usually lands in the 90 and 73 micron bags, as the micron size guide shows.
From the archive: Bubbleman on the stars
From the archive, Bubbleman on the stars in his own words, from four live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
Season 12, Episode 14, Skully Vibes draws live
Shout out to Space and Corpy… that six star, that was… Space and Corpy, the Bizarre Brothers, in fact, who came up with the star rating. We should always shout them out for their part. True bubble ambassadors back in the day.
On who came up with the stars
Season 12, Episode 19, Live from The Reserve, Denver
Sometimes it’s not true melt. Might be a half melt or a sizzle… but maybe not a six-star turn to water and drip down. If it don’t bubble, it ain’t worth the trouble.
On true melt
Season 12, Episode 21, The art of the perfect pre-roll
Taking the star rating, which was created by my friends Corpy and Space, which was really about the melt factor, which confused a lot of consumers, and we’re kind of bringing it back into the grade and quality of the hash.
On grading by qualityA three-star might be a temple ball… Now you’re getting into kind of bubbles… half melt bubble is what I call a four-star. It’s bubbling, it’s moving.
On his own grades
Season 12, Episode 33, Inside the Lab With Bubbleman: His Processing SOPs
Most of the rosin that you see is not by any means six-star bubble hash. It’s four star, five star at maximum, but it can turn into a very beautiful product.
On what rosin is pressed from
How to tell if hash is good
To tell if hash is good, check how it smells, how it feels and, most of all, how it melts. Good hash smells loud and fresh, not musty or flat. It feels greasy rather than dry and dusty. And under heat it bubbles clean. Most rosin on the shelf, Bubbleman points out, is pressed from 4 and 5 star hash, and it can still be beautiful.
What does good hash look like?
Good hash looks like a pile of round heads under a loupe, not green specks and hairs. Don’t go by color, which says little about the grade: the heads and the melt tell you more.
Hash star rating questions
Hash star rating questions, answered short:
What is 6 star hash?
6 star hash is the top grade of the hash star rating: hash that melts completely into liquid and leaves nothing behind, the cleanest full melt.
Who created the hash star rating?
Bubbleman credits the hash star rating to Space and Corpy, two early bubble hash makers he calls true bubble ambassadors, and has said so on Hash Church more than once.
What is half melt hash?
Half melt hash is hash that melts and bubbles but leaves some residue, usually rated 3 or 4 stars. It is great pressed into rosin or smoked in a bowl or joint.
Is 6 star hash the same as full melt?
6 star hash is the very top of full melt; 5 star hash counts as full melt too.
How can you tell if hash is good?
You can tell if hash is good by how it smells, feels and melts: loud and fresh, greasy rather than dusty, and bubbling clean under heat with little residue.
What is the hash bubble test?
The hash bubble test is a melt test: heat a small pinch gently and watch. Good hash bubbles and turns to liquid; poor hash chars and leaves residue.
Sources for this star rating guide
Sources for this star rating guide:
- Dab vocab: the concentrates glossary, on the star scale and full melt, Leaf magazines
- Hash Church Season 12, Episode 30: Bubbleman’s five star that is really six star, Buzzsprout
- The 6-star hash secret: why it’s so rare, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- A true 73 micron bubble hash rip, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 14, 19, 21 and 33: Bubbleman on the stars, linked above