How to make hash at home: traditional California recipe

This simple and traditional recipe has been passed down to younger generations by our elders who lived in the sixties. In California, it was popularised by none other than the great Ed Rosenthal, and it is well known and widely used there, especially in the north. Follow the recipe and you'll get a good fistful of really pure and sticky premium hash.

Preparation: 

1. Start by chopping the broad leaves and trimmings that you should have frozen in a block after the harvest into 2cm pieces, using a sharpened or serrated knife. This makes it easier to separate the trichomes from the rest of the material. 

2. Fill one third of a container with the chopped leaves.

3. Cover them with water. Use just enough to cover them, otherwise you will have to get rid of the excess.

4. Once the grass is covered, add ice (ten per cent of the container).

5. To stir the material, use an industrial drill with a long, thick mixer shaped like a bike pedal (a normal drill doesn't have enough power to stir a frozen mixture). This completely separates the trichomes. The time it takes depends on the amount of vegetable matter.

6. Remove the foam that comes from beating. Discard it.

7. Remove the water from the plant matter with a sieve. You have to stir the water vigorously as you remove the wet grass and empty it into the bin.

8. Leftovers can still be used to make pastries. 

9. Once you've drained the water, rinse the rest with clean water so that the trichomes that are left in the grass are added to the liquid.

10. Filter the trichomes using two filters. First, put a mesh bag inside another container.

11. Place another mesh bag with bigger holes over the container mounted on a frame. As you pass the water from the first container to the second, this filter retains all the larger material in the mixture, leaving only the finest crystals in the water that passes through to the other mesh bag.

12. Slowly lift the mixture of water and crystals in the finer mesh bag from the container, allowing the water to drain. Remove the rest of the water by squeezing the mixture through the mesh bag.

Let the hash obtained dry for a few days out in the open. Then, you can go ahead and smoke it, though its kick and freshness may provoke coughing spells with the first few drags. Bon appetit!