Piatella is a cold cured hash: full melt bubble hash from fresh frozen plants, freeze dried, then sealed and cured cold for a long time with minimal air, often wrapped flat in cellophane, until it turns into a buttery, terpene-soaked block. The name comes from the Italian piatto, flat, for the way it is sealed flat to cure.
What is piatella?
Piatella is a style of hash, not a strain or a brand: full melt bubble hash that has been cured cold until it nucleates, or “butters out,” into a soft, stable block that slices like soft bread and sweats terpenes. Low Temp notes that the most faithful spelling of the Italian is piattella, with a double t; both spellings mean the same hash. It is cured hash, not rosin: nothing is pressed out of it.
Where piatella came from
Piatella came out of Barcelona’s cannabis clubs. Low Temp credits the first award winning piattella to Uncle’s Farm, a social club in the city, made from six star full melt from La Sagrada Farms and Slite 23. The name points to the Italian piatto, flat, after the way the hash is vacuum sealed flat while it cures.
How piatella is made
How piatella is made varies from maker to maker, but the broad strokes are shared:
- Start with full melt from fresh frozen.
Piatella starts with full melt bubble hash washed from fresh frozen plants. Not every strain will make true piatella.
- Freeze dry it.
Freeze drying keeps the hash light in color and the heads whole.
- Cure it cold.
Seal the hash, often the 90 and 120 micron grades, in a small glass jar in the refrigerator for a long, slow cure.
- Whip it.
Open the jar and lightly whip the hash so it’s even all the way through.
- Wrap it and let it sweat.
Wrap it flat in cellophane or seal it in a vacuum bag, and let it sit until the terpenes start to sweat through.
- Keep it cold.
Piatella stays cold from start to finish; that is what separates it from traditional hash.
Bubbleman on piatella
Bubbleman on piatella is practical. Full melt left in a package slowly changes texture and butters out on its own, and buyers who expected powder get upset. Butter it out on purpose, sell it as piatella, and people pay more and get the same thing every time. In his words, it doesn’t change how high you get from the hash; it changes the texture and the consistency. His own plan for it is a disc of piatella in cellophane, in a sliding card box with a window so you can see and feel the buttery hash.
From the archive: Bubbleman on piatella
From the archive, Bubbleman on piatella in his own words, from two live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
If you pre-nucleate and butter it out for them and sell it as Piatella they’ll pay more… and it’s consistent… I would say sell it as powder if you can get it to the customer, let them grease it in their pocket, and then let them take the grease and turn that into piatella if they want.
On selling piatellaIt’s not gonna change how high you get from the material. It’s really just changing the texture and the consistency of the hash. And so we’re gonna do a Piatella style, we’re gonna put a little disc of piatella between cellophane…
On what piatella changes
Season 12, Episode 19, Live from The Reserve, Denver
So there’s some of my brick hash. I couldn’t believe what a good job he was doing on brick hash, like unbelievable quality, like sweating like Piatella.
On hash that sweats
Piatella vs temple balls
Piatella vs temple balls: both are made from ice water hash, but piatella is kept cold from start to finish, while temple balls are worked with warmth into a ball and left to age at room temperature. One preserves the fresh resin; the other ages it into something new.
How to use piatella
The usual way to use piatella is to dab it, and it handles far more easily than loose bubble because it holds together on the tool. It also goes into joints, sliced thin along the flower.
Piatella hash price
Piatella hash price sits near the top of any menu, because it starts as full melt from fresh frozen plants and then spends a long time curing, and not every strain will make it at all.
Piatella questions
Piatella questions, answered short:
What is piatella?
Piatella is full melt bubble hash cold cured for a long time with minimal air until it turns into a buttery, sliceable block that sweats terpenes.
Is it piatella or piattella?
Piatella and piattella are the same hash; piattella, with a double t, is the more faithful spelling of the Italian.
How is piatella made?
Piatella is made by freeze drying full melt bubble hash from fresh frozen plants, curing it cold in a sealed jar, whipping it, and wrapping it flat until the terpenes sweat.
Is piatella stronger than bubble hash?
No, piatella isn’t stronger than bubble hash. As Bubbleman puts it, curing changes the texture and consistency, not how high it gets you.
Where does piatella come from?
Piatella comes from Barcelona’s cannabis clubs; Low Temp credits the first award winning piattella to Uncle’s Farm there.
Is piatella rosin?
No, piatella isn’t rosin. It is cured bubble hash; nothing is pressed out of it.
Sources for this piatella guide
Sources for this piatella guide:
- Piatella overview, Low Temp Industries
- What is nucleation in rosin?, The Press Club
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 19 and 30: Bubbleman on piatella, linked above