How Do You Smoke Hash? 6 Ways That Keep It Lit

Why won't hash stay lit?

Hash is the resin heads of the cannabis plant, sifted off and pressed together with almost none of the leaf. Our what is hash guide covers how it's made. The leaf is what carries a flame, so without it a lump of hash heats up, bubbles and glows at the edge, then goes out while the middle barely warms.

That's why nearly every way of smoking it pairs hash with something that does burn, usually ground flower, or swaps the flame for a hot surface. The other half of the trick is keeping the pieces small, so the heat reaches all of it at once instead of scorching one corner.

Texture decides how you break it up. Soft hash bends and rolls between your fingers. Dry pressed hash snaps, and crumbles once it's warm.

6 ways to smoke hash

If you're new to hash, start with the first two. They need nothing more than rolling papers, ground flower and a small piece of hash. Hash can be eaten too once it has been heated, but this guide sticks to smoking it.

1. Crumble it into a joint

The most common way, and the easiest. Grind your flower and lay it in the paper, then crumble the hash over it in a thin, even line that stops short of the filter. A clump in one spot burns hotter than the rest and makes the joint run down one side. Roll it and light it like any other joint; our joint, blunt and spliff guide walks through the roll.

A grinder gets the flower fine enough to hold the crumbs in place, and a rolling tray catches the bits that fall. Firm pressed hash like Phoenix breaks into even crumbs for this.

You don't need tobacco. In a global survey of more than 30,000 people who use cannabis, 77 to 91% in every European country surveyed mostly smoked it with tobacco, but in Canada about 80% mostly smoked it without. Ground flower does the same job of keeping the hash burning.

2. Roll a hash snake

A snake keeps the hash in one long, thin line, so it burns slowly inside the flower instead of melting in a lump. Warm a soft piece in your hands, then roll it between your palms into a rope thinner than a matchstick. Lay it on top of the flower, roll the joint around it and light it as usual. For a first joint, roll the rope from a rice-grain crumb, so it's only a few centimetres long; once you know how it hits, you can run it the full length of the paper.

Soft hash makes the best snakes. Our Tree of Life Temple Ball is hand-rolled and malleable: pinch off a piece, warm it between your fingers until it softens, then roll it thin. Harder hash works too once it's warm enough to bend without cracking.

3. Make a hash hole

A hash hole is a joint with a rope of rosin buried down its centre and flower packed all the way round it. Our live hash rosin carries about three times the THC of our flower by label, so a hash hole hits much harder than a plain joint, and it's not one for your first time.

To make one, roll a small amount of rosin into a rope and chill it for a few minutes so it stops sticking to your fingers. Half-fill a cone (a pre-shaped rolling paper) with ground flower, lay the rope down the middle, then cover it with more flower so it's buried on every side, and roll or pack it shut. Keep the rope away from the filter end so melting rosin doesn't block it.

Light it slowly. Toast the tip evenly all the way round before your first pull, then take gentle puffs with short breaks between them. Pull hard and the centre melts faster than the flower around it, and the joint burns down one side. It's one to pass around.

4. Top a bowl

In a pipe or a bong, pack a layer of ground flower first, then sprinkle hash crumbs on top. The flower underneath stops melting hash from dripping through the screen and gumming up the stem. Light the edge so the flame catches flower and hash together, and the crumbs melt down into the bowl as it burns. Light, sandy full melt like our Watermelon Bubblegum spreads easily over a bowl.

Hot knives are the old-school version: two knife tips heated on a stove, a crumb pressed between them and the smoke breathed in through a cut-off plastic bottle. A bowl does the same job with far less fuss.

5. Vaporize it

A dry herb vaporizer heats hash without a flame. Put a thin layer of flower in the chamber first and the hash crumbs on top, or use a concentrate pad if your vaporizer has one, so the melted resin doesn't coat the chamber. A Swiss lab study of vaporizers describes them working at around 200°C, hot enough to turn THC into vapour without setting the material alight.

6. Dab full melt and rosin

Only the cleanest hash belongs on a dab rig. The top grades of full melt are ice water hash pure enough to melt almost completely on a hot surface, which is where the name comes from. Live hash rosin is that same kind of hash, pressed with heat and pressure into a soft, sticky concentrate.

Regular pressed hash doesn't belong on a banger, the hot bowl of a dab rig. It chars, tastes burnt and leaves a black ring behind. To check a hash before you dab it, heat one crumb and watch: full melt bubbles and melts away to almost nothing, while hash that isn't clean enough blackens and leaves residue. Our guide to dabs covers rigs, temperatures and dab sizes.

How much hash should you smoke?

Use less than you would with flower. Most of the hashish we sell is labelled 40% THC and a few pieces 45 to 50%, while most of our flower is labelled 27 to 30%. Live rosin is labelled 80 to 90%.

For a first joint or bowl, a rice-grain crumb is plenty, broken up rather than dropped in one spot. Take a couple of puffs and wait. Smoked THC starts working within a few minutes and peaks after about 15 to 30 minutes, so wait that long before deciding on more. If it still feels too light, use a slightly bigger crumb next time.

Which hash works best for each way?

Every style we make is on our hashish page, and the rosin jars are on live hash rosin. If you're still choosing a style, our best hash in Canada guide compares them side by side.