Moroccan hash is made in the Rif mountains by drying cannabis, often on rooftops, then threshing and sieving the dried plants so the resin heads fall through fine screens as a powder, which is pressed into blocks. Sieving gives three or four qualities of powder; the best local grade is called zero zero. Old Moroccan soap bar averaged about 8 percent THC, but since new varieties arrived in the 2000s, Moroccan hash seized in France averaged 23 percent by 2016.
What is Moroccan hash?
Moroccan hash is the hashish of the Rif, the mountains along Morocco’s Mediterranean coast. Its traditional plant is kif, a local landrace adapted to the dry Rif, and kif is also the old Moroccan smoke of chopped cannabis and tobacco in a sebsi pipe. In 2003 Morocco was widely counted the world’s biggest hashish producer, and Pierre-Arnaud Chouvy and Kenza Afsahi found it supplying large shares of the European market, above all France and Spain.
How to make Moroccan hash
To make Moroccan hash, Rif farmers dry sift their plants by hand, on a huge scale:
- Dry the plants.
Harvested plants are dried, most often on rooftops, which is quick but exposes them to dust and sun; the best makers dry them indoors in clean, ventilated rooms.
- Thresh and sieve.
The dried plants are beaten over fine screens so the resin heads fall through as a powder; threshing harder gives more powder, with more plant in it.
- Sort the grades.
Sieving sorts the powder into three or four qualities, with zero zero the best.
- Press it.
The powder is warmed and pressed into blocks and slabs.
Types of Moroccan hash
Types of Moroccan hash are sorted by grade and by form. Sieving gives three or four qualities of powder, and the best is called zero zero; the lower grades carry more plant. The old soap bar, the savonnette, averaged about 8 percent THC; today there is also fresh frozen sieved hash, and some Rif makers now use ice water systems and rosin presses.
Moroccan pollen hash and brick hash
Moroccan pollen hash is the soft form, and Moroccan brick or slab hash is the brittle one; Low Temp names these two as the notable kinds. Both are made the Moroccan way, from sieved powder that is heated and pressed.
How strong is Moroccan hash?
Moroccan hash has grown much stronger. In Chouvy’s figures, Moroccan hash seized in France averaged about 10 percent THC in 2009, 16 percent in 2012 and 23 percent by mid-2016, with single samples above 80 percent; a fresh frozen sieved hash from the Rif was rated at 68 percent in 2016. Bubbleman has seen Moroccan full melt dry sift at around 70 percent.
Why Moroccan hash changed
Moroccan hash changed because the plants changed. Since the early 2000s, Rif farmers have been replacing kif with hybrid varieties, first khardala and gaouriya, then seed bank strains such as Critical and Amnesia, which give three to five times as much resin. Official figures show the growing area falling from about 134,000 hectares in 2003 to 47,500 in 2011, but Chouvy and Afsahi argue the new plants made up much of the difference. The new varieties need irrigation in a region where rainfall has been falling since the 1980s, and Chouvy and Jennifer Macfarlane warn that large scale irrigation threatens the region’s water; Bubbleman names water as Morocco’s biggest problem.
From the archive: Bubbleman on Moroccan hash
From the archive, Bubbleman on Moroccan hash in his own words, from two live Sunday shows. Tap a time to hear that moment.
Season 12, Episode 13, The Kootenay Episode
I’ve seen like 70% THC come out of Morocco, it got wrapped so tight into footballs and then was like smuggled out of the country that they exploded during the smuggling process… it was full melt dry sift, it was like full melt six star. So it’s possible. I think Morocco’s biggest problem is… the water issue.
On what Morocco can doThe way they make hash is they want to cure the flower, so yeah, it just sits out on hot fields or on top of barns… The Rif is huge, it’s a gigantic, enormous area.
On how the Rif makes hashMorocco for the longest time was known to have some of the lowest quality hash… Soap bar that came from Morocco that went to the UK in the late 90s, early 2000s.
On soap bar
For me, Jamaican gum is by far the strongest. There’s nothing stronger than the Jamaican hash when it comes to traditional hashes. I love Nepali hand rub, and I also love Lebanese. I was never a huge fan of Moroccan… I feel terrible saying it, but I just didn’t have the bringing up with it.
On his own taste
Moroccan hash vs other hash
Moroccan hash vs other hash comes down to method. Like Lebanese and Afghan hash, it is sieved from dried plants, unlike the hand rubbed charas of the Himalayas. Sieving is the same idea as dry sift, done with bigger screens, more plants and less cleaning.
Moroccan hash questions
Moroccan hash questions, answered short:
How is Moroccan hash made?
Moroccan hash is made by drying cannabis, threshing and sieving the dried plants over fine screens so the resin falls through as powder, and pressing the powder into blocks.
What are the types of Moroccan hash?
The types of Moroccan hash are its sieving grades, led by zero zero, and its forms: brittle brick or slab hash, soft pollen hash, the old soap bar and newer fresh frozen sieved hash.
What is zero zero hash?
Zero zero hash is the best grade of Moroccan sieved powder, the cleanest of the three or four qualities each batch is sorted into.
How strong is Moroccan hash?
Moroccan hash seized in France averaged about 23 percent THC by 2016, up from about 10 percent in 2009; the old soap bar was about 8 percent.
Where is Moroccan hash made?
Moroccan hash is made in the Rif mountains of northern Morocco, around towns such as Ketama.
What is kif?
Kif is the traditional cannabis of Morocco’s Rif, a local landrace, and also the name of chopped cannabis mixed with tobacco and smoked in a sebsi pipe.
Sources for this guide to Moroccan hash
Sources for this guide to Moroccan 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
- Traditional hash making: the sun drying secret, Bubbleman’s World on YouTube
- Hash Church Season 12, Episodes 13 and 30: Bubbleman on Moroccan hash, linked above