How to Make Live Rosin and Hash Rosin

To make hash rosin, dry the hash completely, pack it into a 15 to 37 micron rosin bag (25 to 50 for kief and dry sift), and press it at about 160 to 190 °F, raising the pressure slowly to about 350 to 750 psi at the bag over 60 to 90 seconds. Use bubble hash washed from fresh frozen plants and the result is live rosin.

Rosin with dry sift: Bubbleman’s first press, March 2015, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube (157K views)

Start with the right hash

Start with the right hash, because the press can’t add quality that isn’t there. For live rosin that means bubble hash washed from fresh frozen plants; for hash rosin, bubble hash or dry sift from dried ones. The grades most makers press are the middle bags, roughly the 73 to 120 micron hash, which Bubbleman says is where most rosin comes from; the bag by bag breakdown is in bubble hash micron sizes.

Dry the hash completely first

Dry the hash completely before pressing: wet hash spits and pops in the press and won’t give clean rosin. Freeze dried hash presses lightest in color; air dried hash works too, given a full week. How to get it there is in how to dry bubble hash.

How to make hash rosin, step by step

How to make hash rosin from dried bubble hash, step by step:

Bag the hash.
Funnel the dry hash into a 15 to 37 micron rosin bag, filling it about three quarters of the way and about half an inch thick. Doubling the bag helps prevent blowouts.
Set a low heat.
About 160 to 190 °F, or 140 to 180 °F for a cold press that keeps more terpenes.
Fold it in parchment and warm it.
Fold the bag into parchment, close the plates until they just touch and give it a few quick heat stamps to soften the hash.
Press slowly.
Raise the pressure gradually to about 350 to 750 psi at the bag. A press takes about 60 to 90 seconds, or until the rosin stops flowing.
Collect it.
Scrape the rosin together off the parchment with a clean tool.
Jar it and keep it cold.
Seal it in glass and keep it cold and dark, fresh or cured.

How to make live rosin

How to make live rosin is the same method with live hash: bubble hash washed from fresh frozen plants, freeze dried, then pressed on the cool side, around 140 to 180 °F, to keep the terpenes that make it live. Take your time with the pressure: rushing it is how bags blow out.

Kief rosin and dry sift rosin

Kief rosin and dry sift rosin press much like hash, only in a slightly coarser bag and at a little more heat. Expect about 30 to 40 percent of the weight back, less if the kief is dusty.

How to make rosin from kief

To make rosin from kief, clean it on a fine screen first, then press it in a 25 to 50 micron bag at about 180 to 200 °F. Cleaner kief gives cleaner rosin.

Hash rosin yield

Hash rosin yield is about 60 to 70 percent of the hash’s weight, more from clean full melt and less from lower grades. Bubbleman warns against taking yield claims at face value: people quote the return from their best grades as if it were the whole wash, and pressing takes another bite, about a quarter of the hash in his experience. He prefers to talk in dry numbers, like five kilos of dry material for one kilo of return.

From the archive: Bubbleman on rosin returns

From the archive, Bubbleman on rosin returns in his own words, recorded live on Season 12, Episode 33, Inside the Lab With Bubbleman: His Processing SOPs. Tap a time to hear that moment.

That one kilo of bubble is gonna be 190, 160, 120, 90, 73, 45, and 25. It’s gonna be all of these grades… people aren’t putting all those grades together and then pressing their rosin.On which grades get pressed
And then they’ll run it into rosin and lose 25% there… I just find the fresh frozen numbers to be so confusing that I prefer to translate them into dry numbers because it makes sense. It’s like five kilos dry, one kilo return.On honest yield numbers

Cure it or keep it fresh

Cure it or keep it fresh: that is the last choice. Fresh press rosin goes straight into a cold jar; cured rosin sits sealed in a jar for a few days until it turns to badder or jam. Both are covered in cold cure rosin.

Hash rosin making questions

Hash rosin making questions, answered short:

How do you make hash rosin?

You make hash rosin by pressing fully dried bubble hash or dry sift in a 15 to 37 micron bag at about 160 to 190 °F, raising the pressure slowly over 60 to 90 seconds. The key to making rosin from hash is that the hash is completely dry before it goes in the press.

How do you make live rosin?

You make live rosin by pressing bubble hash washed from fresh frozen plants and freeze dried, at a low temperature, around 140 to 180 °F, to keep its terpenes.

Can you make rosin from kief?

Yes, you can make rosin from kief: use a 25 to 50 micron bag at about 180 to 200 °F, and expect about 30 to 40 percent of the weight back.

What temperature do you press bubble hash at?

Press bubble hash at about 160 to 190 °F, or 140 to 180 °F for a cold press that keeps more terpenes.

How much rosin do you get from bubble hash?

How much rosin you get from bubble hash is usually about 60 to 70 percent of its weight, more from clean full melt and less from lower grades.

How do you avoid a blowout when pressing bubble hash?

To avoid a blowout when pressing bubble hash, double bag the hash, fill the bag only about three quarters full and raise the pressure slowly instead of all at once.

Sources for this hash rosin guide

Sources for this hash rosin guide:

How to press bubble hash rosin: a starter guide, The Press Club
What micron do I use?, The Press Club
Rosin press temperature guide, Low Temp Industries
Solventless hash rosin, Low Temp Industries
Rosin with dry sift, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
Hash Church Season 12, Episode 33: Bubbleman on rosin returns, linked above