Every once in a while, someone has an idea - a good idea that they follow through on. Every now and then one of these good ideas actually produces something novel and unique that can benefit everyone. Marcus Richardson, AKA Bubbleman, had one of these ideas. Although it seems simple now we know, the ingenuity and vision to invent an easy-to-use, solventless cannabis extraction process in a small space using only bubble bags, some ice, and a bucket of water, is incredible! Bubble hash, like traditional hashish, is loved the world over as it is often regarded as a clean extract with high purity and high potency. Made using a series of mesh fabrics/filter bags of decreasing size, the trichomes of the plant are essentially wet sieved into different levels of purity. Different grades of products can be derived from the bubble hash process, especially via the user-friendly bubble bags, but it always tends to retain high potency, terpene-rich flavors, and a smooth experience for the user.
What is Bubble Hash – Advantages
Bubble hash is a form of hash production that uses ice water extraction to produce solventless extracts. Also called ice water hash, like traditional hash-making processes, this form of cannabis extract preserves the terpene profile of the cannabis plant from which it was made. These high-value secondary metabolites, including cannabinoids and terpenes, are found in the resin glands of the plant otherwise known as globular trichomes. Cannabis concentrates can be made in several ways, dry sift, live rosin, had rubbing etc, but bubble hash is made by simply detaching and collecting these trichomes in cold water. This means the methodology doesn’t use any chemicals, or solvents such as butane, to separate the cannabinoid-rich trichomes from the rest of the plant. Bubble hash is therefore very high in purity and potency, but also in flavor, as the process is done at a low temperature to ensure the conservation of aromatic compounds. This makes for a very high-quality product, even if made by inexperienced bubblers.
Bubble hash is also consumed in a number of ways, from ingestion in edible form and traditional smoking, to vaping and dabbing, and some medical patients even use hash in the form of a suppository. If stored correctly bubble hash can also be kept for long periods, and a little tends to go a long way. Those who inhale bubble hash, whether through pipe, joint, vaporizer or dab, enjoy a smooth clean smoke, without any harshness. For this reason, many people prefer bubble hash to cannabis flower, and find it less of an irritation on the throat for example. All plant material unfortunately contains compounds that people shouldn’t smoke, like carbon monoxide, but bubble hash contains no other plant material, making it all of what you want. It is also easy to carry, less pungent, and therefore arguably ‘less hassle’ than cannabis flower.
How Do Bubble Bags Work?
Bubble bags or micron bags, use a series of mesh material usually named after the size of the gaps in the material measured in microns, i.e. 1 micron is 0.001 millimetres. Each bag in a set of bubble bags has a screen at the bottom with a specific micron size, the sides are usually water proof canvas. These micron sizes range from larger to smaller, allowing for the separation of trichomes based on their size. In the hash-making process, the bubble bags are typically layered one inside another in descending order of micron size. The largest micron screen at the top, and the smallest at the bottom. As the mixture of icy water and cannabis plant material is poured into this stack of bags, the plant material and trichomes are filtered through these screens. By cooling the plant material with icy water, trichomes become brittle and easily separated from the plant. The largest screen captures the bulk of the plant material, including leaves and stems, which are too large to pass through. As the mixture moves down to bags with smaller and smaller screens, finer particles are captured. The smallest screens, usually at the bottom of the stack, catch the smallest trichomes, often resulting in the highest-quality final product. However, whole intact trichomes, are found at larger micron sizes, and just the trichome heads are lower sizes.
It’s even possible to collect mostly the trichome stalks in finer size again. So going smaller and smaller in bubble bag size, doesn’t necessarily mean higher and higher quality, this is only to a certain extent, depending on the trichome size on the plants also. Usually, hash makers will produce 3 grades of hash from one high-quality cannabis extraction.
Starting With The Plants - Making Bubble Hash
Some cannabis plants are better for bubble hash making than others. Usually referred to as ‘the wash’, how well the trichomes separate from the plant material is what determines how suitable the variety is for hash production. But it works no matter if the plant is high THC, low CBD, or CBG rich, the following methodology will yield bubble hash. How well the plant is grown will determine the amount of bubble hash too, because healthier plants will yield more trichomes. However, some plants retain their trichomes better than others and this can affect the yield of the bubble hash. This is true if using a dry sieve method too, also called kief, another extraction method producing yet another cannabis product.
Although there are various ways to approach the preparation of the plant material, from freshly cut to fully dried, the process itself is the same. From the close trimmings to cannabis buds and nugs, any plant matter containing trichomes can be used. Avoiding long stocks is recommended to prevent damage to the bubble bags, cut them to less than 1 inch to be safe.
What You Need To Make Bubble Hash
Of course, the main ingredients are the cannabis plant material and the bubble bags (usually ranging from 25 to 220 microns). Two buckets, each should should match the size of the bubble bags. Lots of Ice. Something to stir (suitable for going into the cold sludgy oily mix of plant material and ice water). At least filtered, cold water, but the purer the water is, the better. A collection cloth, spoon to scrap the wet hash, and baking/parchment paper to dry the newly extracted bubble hash.
How To Make Bubble Hash
The procedure itself can be tweaked and each bubbler, usually has their own little tricks and methods to get the most out of the process. Here we describe making 3 grades, which requires 4 different micron bags, and provide a walk-through of the hash making process:
Step One: Loading the Bags
Put the smallest micron size in the bucket and fold over the edges around the outside of the bucket. Stack the bubble bags inside each other in descending order of size (smallest first, then inside that put the second smallest, etc). You can add the mixture directly here but you risk damaging the bags if stock is present, so the alternative is to fill the second bucket with first half the ice, then the plant material, and then the rest of the ice. If you have your plant material already cold or frozen go straight ahead and add the water, filling the bucket 2/3’s. If you haven’t precooled the plant material, allow it to sit on the ice for 10-20 mins before adding the water. Having just slightly more ice than plant material is best, but it can also be done using a even mix of ice to plant material.
Step Two: Mixing and Waiting
Stirring and agitating the mix helps to knock the trichomes off the plant material. Mixing for one minute and leaving for one minute is a good way to prevent completely mulching the plant material. However, this is an area where people tend to have their own way of doing it, with some people using mechanical stirrers and others using the old wooden spoon and some elbow grease. Note of caution: This part of the process should last around 20-30 minutes, so it can be tiring on the arms if you are doing it manually and are not used to it.
Step Three: Filtering
Once the mixture is ready, it can be poured into the bubble bags and the separation begins. Dump the full mixture into the bubble bags, allow the water to drain through, and then remove the top bag which will contain all the plant material, and keep it for repeating. If you gently lift out the next bag, you will see a layer of beige sludge on the mesh, this is the hash collection, grade 1. Use a spoon to scape it up and place it on the collection cloth with some paper towel under to help remove the excess water. Repeat this with the next bag, to get grade 2 hash, and then again to get grade 3 from the final bag. After a few minutes on the collection cloth and paper towel, move the collected hash to the baking/parchment paper to dry.
The above step can be repeated using the same material, twice or even three times, by simply putting the plant material back through the process, adding more water. Each run will usually result in less yield than the previous run, but overall the collection quantity will be greater.
Step Four: The Dry
An often overlooked step, drying the hash should be done with extreme care. A larger surface area (i.e. spreading the collected wet hash out), will help with drying faster. Keeping the hash cool, out of sunlight, and preferably in a controlled environment will help maintain quality throughout the dry. Air drying is recommended and drying can take 3-6 days depending on the volume of hash and conditions for drying. Store it in a cold room, fridge or even freezer for the longer term, but generally, it is good for a while at room temperature. Keeping the grades separate will give you three different products, and a preference of many is to then press the hash into a more solid and workable format, although this is optional. It can give the hash a little more shelf-life as the inside is protected better by the outside layer.
Conclusion
To avoid the residues that are associated with ethanol and butane extraction methods, ice water filtration is a really useful way to keep contaminants to a minimum whilst preserving the high-quality product. Whether the plant is rich in THC or CBD, high-quality hash-making can be achieved with nothing more than bubble bags and some icy water. Hash production has a rich history, but the user-friendly bubble bags by Marcus ‘Bubbleman’ Richardson have made it a super easy process anyone can do. There are machines and other methods to produce bubble hash, but the bubble bag system is one anyone can do.
