The main types of hash are the traditional hashes, made in hash producing countries by sieving dried plants or hand rubbing live ones and pressing the resin (Moroccan, Lebanese, Afghan, Indian and Nepalese charas, temple balls), and the modern solventless hashes: dry sift, bubble hash and full melt. Traditional hash is also named by color, from blonde to red to black.
What are the types of hash?
The types of hash are told apart by how the resin comes off the plant. In most of the old hash countries, the plants are dried and the resin is sieved off and pressed; in the Himalayas, it is rubbed off living plants by hand. Modern hash makers do the same job with fine screens or with ice water and filter bags. Every one of these kinds of hash is hash: the plant’s resin heads, gathered and pressed together.
Different types of hash at a glance
Here are the different types of hash at a glance, from the old hash countries to the modern lab:
| Type | From | How it’s made |
|---|---|---|
| Moroccan | The Rif mountains, Morocco | Dried plants threshed and sieved, the powder pressed |
| Lebanese | The Bekaa Valley, Lebanon | Sieved and pressed into blonde or red slabs |
| Afghan | Afghanistan | Sieved resin warmed and kneaded into black hash |
| Charas | The Himalayas of India and Nepal | Rubbed by hand off living plants |
| Temple balls | Nepal, now made everywhere | Resin rolled into balls and aged |
| Dry sift | Anywhere | Resin sifted through fine screens |
| Bubble hash | Anywhere | Resin washed off in ice water |
Hash colors: blonde, red and black
Hash colors are part of the old names. Lebanese hash comes as blonde, a yellowish slab, or as red; Afghan hash is black, warmed over a fire and kneaded; Indian charas runs dark green to nearly black. Bubbleman has put all three side by side, in a flight of blonde and red Lebanese style hash with a black Afghan style.
How strong is traditional hash?
Traditional hash is far milder than modern hash, and most of its smokers like it that way. Old Moroccan soap bar averaged about 8 percent THC; Moroccan hash seized in France averaged 16 percent in 2012 and 23 percent by 2016, as new varieties spread, according to research by the geographer Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy. Bubbleman makes his own traditional style hash at around 30 percent and finds its smokers happy there.
From the archive: Bubbleman on traditional hash
From the archive, Bubbleman on traditional hash in his own words, from two live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
We don’t like to say that we’re doing Moroccan hash or Afghan hash or Lebanese hash. We are doing a Lebanese style of hash or an Afghan-style hash. This is very, very much an Afghan style hash… It’s almost like a deep chocolate with an ever so slight background smell of coffee.
On styles, not origins
Season 12, Episode 13, The Kootenay Episode
People who smoke traditional hash and have for decades aren’t interested in smoking a 60 plus percent THC. Most of them are quite happy with 30 to 35, considering that’s even high compared to what the hash was that was coming in from Morocco and Lebanon and Afghanistan back in the 70s and 80s and early 90s.
On how strong it should be
Modern hash
Modern hash is solventless hash made with tools the old hash countries didn’t have: fine screens for dry sift, ice water and filter bags for bubble hash, and the full melt grades that melt away completely. How each one is made is in how to make hash.
Types of hash guides
Types of hash guides for three of the great traditional hash varieties:
- Temple ballsRolled, aged and revivedGuide
- CharasIndia’s hand rubbed hashGuide
- Moroccan hashHow it’s made and its gradesGuide
Types of hash questions
Types of hash questions, answered short:
What are the types of hash?
The types of hash are the traditional hashes, such as Moroccan, Lebanese, Afghan, charas and temple balls, and the modern ones, such as dry sift, bubble hash and full melt.
What does hash look like?
Hash looks like a soft or brittle block, ball or slab, from blonde through red and brown to nearly black, or, for modern dry sift and bubble hash, like fine sand.
What is the difference between traditional hash and bubble hash?
The difference between traditional hash and bubble hash is how the resin comes off: traditional hash is sieved off dried plants or rubbed off live ones, while bubble hash is washed off in ice water.
What is red Lebanese hash?
Red Lebanese hash is sieved hash from Lebanon’s Bekaa Valley pressed into reddish slabs; its sister is blonde Lebanese, which is yellow.
Which type of hash is the strongest?
The strongest type of hash is modern hash: full melt and fresh frozen sieved hash can test above 60 percent THC, while traditional hash smokers are mostly happy around 30 to 35. Among the traditional hashes, Bubbleman rates Jamaican gum the strongest.
Sources for this guide to the types of hash
Sources for this guide to the types of hash:
- Hashish revival in Morocco (Chouvy and Afsahi, 2014), International Journal of Drug Policy
- Agricultural innovations in Morocco’s cannabis industry (Chouvy and Macfarlane, 2018), International Journal of Drug Policy
- Types of hash: differences in hashish explained, Low Temp Industries
- Hash Church 2.0, Episode 1: hashish past, present and future, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episode 30: Bubbleman’s flight of blonde, red and black hash, Buzzsprout
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 13 and 17: Bubbleman on traditional hash, linked above