Hashish Making Press

Hashish Making Press

Greetings oh Elder of the most high, My quest is to make my own hash. I'm very interested both traditional and hi-tec pollen extractors.
I have been experimenting with silk screens with some success and disasters. Time of harvest and cure seem important aspects, shaking or rubbing pressure on the screen seems to vary the quality. I've heard of cold water extraction.

There is a machine on the European market but haven't as yet located it. Afghani Black is a good standard. They've been doing it for thousands of years, How?

May the long time sun shine upon your website
ONE LOVE
herb Al

P.S. Don't panic my herb is strictly organic.

Sounds like you have very high standards. I'm impressed! The Old Hippy is very fond of high quality hashish from Afghanistan (as well as Nepal, Pakistan, India, and of course Morocco). I just finished reading a great book (not available in the US at present) called Mr. Nice. It's the autobiography of Howard Marks who smuggled hashish into England and Canada by the ton. He witnessed the tribesmen making hashish on the Pakistan/Afghani border (known as border hash). The technique he saw them using required them to pound the cannabis using a huge stone suspended from a see-saw like contraption. It was smashing the THC from the plant in a big wok shaped bowl. Underneath a fire was heating up the mixture, turning it black. So their technique forces the breakup of the resin glands and the heat activates the THC.

You should be aware that sometimes black hash contains opium. But usually it is black due to the heat processing or because they gather the resins by hand (thus heating it) forming black charas (finger hash). In Amsterdam I have had the pleasure of comparing the various types of hash and savoring the finest. Now my preference is for the least processed. My favorite is the top quality from the Rif Mountains. The resin is coaxed from the plant by pounding it with sticks. It falls into a sack and is then gently pressed. It doesn't get touched by hand and is not heated. It has the purest sweetest flavor (when it's top quality).

The Dutch also make fine hashish (called Nederhash) from their super strong Dutch bio and hydro weed. The color of this varies from very light almost white to light brown to green (not usually good as it has too much plant material). This hash is made in small quantities and taste and quality varies but it can be excellent. The Dutch use a machine that's like a small tumbler (pollinator - see below) that spins allowing the cannabis to fall thus knocking loose the THC. It accumulates and then they press it. The big advantage is that the hash is usually very, very fresh. Imported hashish can sit for years in storage before it gets consumed.

-The Old Hippy

UPDATE: First let me warn people about the Black Hashish flooding the market in 2002. It seems there's such a surplus of opium thanks to the Taliban and the Northern Alliance releasing their three year supply to help pay for the war in Afghanistan, that it's finding it's way into hashish in unprecedented proportions (perhaps more than 50%). There are some ways to identify it, but its always very soft and pliable, and sometimes sticky. Unless you want to find yourself addicted to opium I suggest you stay away from it. Stick with the lighter Moroccan or locally produced hashishes from your area.

Secondly, the best machine on the market for doing quantities of hashish is the Pollinator made in Holland. This yields the purest hashish using special bags with built in screens and a hand mixer. The main problem with this method is that the result must be dried thoroughly otherwise it will get moldy. I recommend any isolator hash be consumed immediately!

And lastly the Old Hippy doesn't advocate breaking any laws. The making and possession of Hashish is some areas can result in far worse penalties than that of unprocessed marijuana. Please keep this in mind