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AboutCharas is a hand rubbed hash made in the Himalayas, mostly in India’s Himachal Pradesh and in Nepal. Instead of drying and sieving the plants, makers rub the flowering tops of living plants between their palms and roll the resin that builds up into balls. A careful rubber makes only about 5 to 10 grams of good charas a day.
What is charas?
Charas is the Indian name for hashish, and in the Himalayas it means resin rubbed off living plants by hand. Almost everywhere else, hash is made from dried plants, threshed and sieved; in the Himalayas, the resin is rubbed straight off living plants by hand, and Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy and Kenza Afsahi note that hand rubbing is used only in India, Kashmir and Nepal. Good charas is dark green to almost black, soft and creamy.
How to make charas
Making charas takes nothing but hands, living plants and patience:
- Rub the living plant.
The rubber takes the flowering tops of a living plant between the palms and rubs them, gently, so the resin heads stick to the hands.
- Let the resin build.
Plant after plant, a layer of resin builds up on the palms and fingers.
- Roll it off.
The resin is rubbed off the hands and rolled into a ball.
- Go slowly.
A careful rubber makes half a tola, about 5 grams, of the best charas in a day, or 10 grams of good charas; a hasty one can make 50 grams, full of plant debris.
Where charas comes from
Charas comes mostly from the high valleys of Himachal Pradesh in northern India, the Manali area and the Parvati Valley, where cannabis grows in fields at 3,000 to 4,000 meters around villages such as Malana and Tosh. Chouvy reports about 2,100 hectares grown each year in the Parvati Valley alone, and that Nepalese workers are hired to harvest and rub it. It has been illegal in India since the Narcotic Drugs and Psychotropic Substances Act of 1985, and crackdowns have pushed fields hours’ walk further up the mountains.
From the archive: Bubbleman on Himalayan hash
From the archive, Bubbleman on Himalayan hash in his own words, from two live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
Season 12, Episode 22, The Cryo Episode, Part II, with The Original Resinator
You should go to the north, you should go to Parvati Valley and Malana and Himachal Pradesh. These are like thousand-plus year historic hashish production people… We’ve got a much newer version of these processes, but I always feel that paying homage to the roots… that’s why we did Legends of Hash.
On going to the source
Preservation is as cold as possible, and curing or aging is at room temperature. I will say that this hash that I’ve had sitting at room temperature for quite a while now just smells like the most quintessential, like Indian Nepali hash.
On the smell of Indian and Nepali hash
Malana Cream
Malana Cream is the charas of Malana, an isolated village in the Parvati Valley, and it has often been rated the best hash in the world. Chouvy adds a warning: as production has grown, it is no longer what it used to be, and most smokers, in India and abroad, never get to try the real thing.
Hand rubbed hash vs sieved hash
Hand rubbed hash vs sieved hash is quality against quantity. By Robert Clarke’s figures, cited by Chouvy and Afsahi, sieving dried plants can make about a kilo of hash in a few hours, while one person rubbing by hand gathers 10 to 25 grams in a full day. Careful rubbing is what makes the best charas so prized; rushed, heavy rubbing gives a poor charas full of plant debris.
Charas and temple balls
Charas and temple balls share a root. The Press Club traces the first temple balls to Nepal, where hand rubbed resin was rolled into spheres and aged; today’s temple balls start from bubble hash instead.
Charas questions
Charas questions, answered short:
What is charas?
Charas is hand rubbed hash from the Himalayas, made by rubbing the resin off living cannabis plants between the palms.
How is charas made?
Charas is made by rubbing the flowering tops of living plants between the hands until resin builds up on the palms, then rolling that resin off into balls.
Is charas hash?
Yes, charas is hash, the hand rubbed kind: most other hash is sieved from dried plants, while charas comes off living ones.
What is Indian hash called?
Indian hash is called charas, the Indian name for hashish; in the Himalayas it means resin rubbed by hand off living plants.
What is Kashmiri hash?
Kashmiri hash is hash from Kashmir, in the north of the Indian subcontinent, and Low Temp says it is made much the way charas is. Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy and Kenza Afsahi note that hand rubbing is used only in India, Kashmir and Nepal.
Where does charas come from?
Charas comes from the Himalayas, mostly the Parvati Valley and the Manali area of Himachal Pradesh in India, and from Nepal.
What is Malana Cream?
Malana Cream is the charas of Malana, a village in India’s Parvati Valley, often rated the best hash in the world, though few smokers ever get the real thing.
Sources for this guide to charas
Sources for this guide to charas:
- Himalayan highs (Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy, Cannabis Now, 2016), Geopium
- Hashish revival in Morocco (Chouvy and Afsahi, 2014), International Journal of Drug Policy
- Types of hash: differences in hashish explained, Low Temp Industries
- The history of the temple balls: past to present, The Press Club
- Shivaratri 2021: ganja friendly celebration of the Lord of Bhang, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 22 and 24: Bubbleman on Himalayan hash, linked above