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How to Make Bubble Hash with Ice

By Last updated on January 13, 2022No Comments

Ideally, for veterans of cannabis, potent strains and concentrates are highly sought after (bad joke). Concentrates especially tend to ‘pack’ more into each hit, last longer, and give you a stronger high than most other smoking methods. Such a substance sounds like it would be hard to make at home; Turns out, the process is surprisingly easy.

Bubble Hash is one of the popular concentrates among veteran consumers for its very distinct high, a consistency that makes it extremely versatile and a recipe that you can easily replicate with the help of special filtering bags. There are different recipes and techniques on how to make bubble hash, but the easiest technique is to make it using ice.

What is Bubble Hash?

Bubble hash is a cannabis concentrate of trichomes, a.k.a. Resin glands, uniquely extracted by cold or ice. It is considered extremely potent because the terpenes and trichomes are pretty much all that remains in bubble hash, giving it a considerably high amount of THC.

Is it better than Hash Oil?

Bubble Hash parallels regular hash oil in terms of potency, and its sand-like consistency makes it easier to load into bongs, pipes, blunts, etc., so some could argue that this makes bubble hash better. But again, they are equally as potent depending on the THC count. so it is more of a convenience thing rather than bubble hash being an objectively better concentrate.

But you should always ask yourself: “How much is too much for me in terms of THC?” “Do I like the high? Do I like the feeling?” In most cases, it is a matter of personal preference,  both bubble hash, and hash oil have their advantages and some minor flaws, so only your own experience can answer which is better.

How to Make Bubble Hash

If your channel back to the days where your school science class had you make ice cream by shaking the ingredients in a bag, you are on your way to making bubble hash. What it all comes down to is using cold water and ice to filter all that good stuff out of your flower trimmings.

Now, this may sound weird and totally off from most other extraction methods, and it is, but what you will get is bubble hash that is potent and versatile with a satisfyingly sandy consistency.

How to Make Bubble Hash

Ingredients

The ingredients for bubble hash are very simple which is why it is so easy to make at home: weed, ice, water and a spoon. Do you already have these in the house? Probably. Are you going to need a bunch for this mixture? Kind of: You need close to a 10-pound bag of ice and around a half gallon of water but only 3-4 ounces of flower to make your bubble hash.

Once your key ingredients are secured, the last thing(s) you need are the special filter bags mentioned earlier and a 2-5 gallon stock pot or bucket big enough to house all of your screening bags layer by layer, if you want to filter out every possible trichome, like tincture.

Step 1: Flower and Ice

Take your 3-4 ounces of dried flower or shake and begin to add into the filter bags in stages. Mix the flower with about half your ice and just enough cold water to cover it evenly.

Keep in mind: this will not water down the cannabis at all, it will actually freeze the trichomes so that they literally split from the flower and fall off. This is exactly what you need to start making your bubble hash.

Step 2: Stir Like Crazy

If you are fortunate enough to have a stand mixer on deck, this will save you a lot of time and effort, but no worries: You can still make your bubble hash without a stand mixer and get a workout in the process.

As you may have guessed, this involves a vigorous stir to your mixture that you would do for about 15-20 minutes…Yeah, you might want to turn the TV on first. Or have a podcast or a favorite album ready to pass the time.

Where the ‘workout’ comes in is that this is not a slow stir like you would casually do with your tea: You are trying to evenly mix and freeze off the trichomes of herb with a literal bucket of ice water, so it is going to take some strong stirring.

Step 3: Filter the Water

45 minutes later, you should be greeted by some frozen trichomes and bud-colored water and ice. It is strongly recommended that you layer your bubble bags so that your size 25 micron bag is at the very bottom of the bucket and every other bag is filtering along the way.

This is where the layers of bubble bags start coming apart and the real extraction process begins. Now that all the key components are frozen, they will pass through the mesh of the bags without a bunch of excess water. The final layer will be a little wet at first, but you just have to scrape everything out of the last bag and either pat the hash  or let it dry for 15 minutes.

Step 4: Repeat and Dry

Like most things in life that are not chicken, you need to make sure your new hash is dry. You know that moisture is the enemy to your rolling papers, bowls and especially your flower that is still dry, so make sure your new hash is the same way.

Repeating this step at least once is necessary for eliminating any possible contaminants along the way and extracting every possible trichome: At least one more run of mixing your ‘flower ice’ with fresh cold water and filtering the mix will give you the best quality bubble hash without anything getting watered down.

Lastly, get to the 25 micron sheet at the end to scrape off all that good stuff from the bag and onto an awaiting paper towel or cardboard: Anything to get all the excess moisture off the bubble hash. Usually another 15 minutes will do the trick or until you have the pebbly consistency of wet sand, and your homemade hash is ready to go!

Why Should I Make It at Home?

Maybe you are not the best at making concentrates yourself and you leave it to the professionals by going to the dispensary. Completely understandable, but there is no need to worry: The process of making bubble hash is not only safe enough for you to do, but it is safe for those around you since there is no heat and no risk of things catching fire.

Also, with your own at-home recipe of sorts, your hash or other concentrate is fully customizable since you now know how to make bubble hash and you are free to use any strain or hybrid you have, making something completely unique to your preference.

The Sanctuary Editorial Team

Our writers use a combination of research and personal experiences to eloquently tackle these topics. The research process utilizes multiple levels of information. We reference informal channels for details relating to casual topics such as describing slang or how to create a bong out of fruit. We also examine scientific publishings for up-to-date research. The accuracy of our articles is crucially important to us and they are written with the idea of inclusiveness for readers of all walks of life.