What is Kief?
Have you ever opened the bottom of your grinder and been surprised at what you see? This grainy, shimmering, green dust is known as kief, which is a saturation of all the unique qualities of weed.
Kief is a product of cannabis leaves and buds. The resin glands and trichomes are small, clear, and crystallized, decorated around the bud, and packed with potent flavor. Over time, it’s collected and used to create various cannabis products.
Photo: Pexels
Where Does Kief Come From?
If you have ever ground up your bud to smoke or vape, then you have collected kief. When viewing a cannabis plant, kief is the trichomes or resin glands that glisten around the flower. When cannabis is broken down using a grinder, the trichomes and resin glands that dust off the bud are collected at the bottom.
The resinous trichomes are responsible for all the delicious and potent qualities of cannabis. As a potent form of cannabis, the powder is often collected and used to sprinkle into a joint or heated and pressurized to consume.
Kief Weed Advantages
Considering its derivation from concentrated trichomes, kief is highly potent in THC. Since trichomes hold all of the potent cannabinoids like THC, the build-up over time provides a strong and pure experience.
How to Make Kief
Stoners use a cannabis grinder to collect kief. Many aluminum or steel grinders have a kief screen, also known as kief catcher at the bottom layer of their grinder. The bottom chamber of the grinder collects the fine powder created with each use.
As you grind flower, trichomes fall through the kief catcher and collect at the bottom layer. After a period of time, weed grinders collect a decent amount.
To collect this in large amounts, silk screening materials and kief boxes are available for purchase. These materials help produce and collect it in larger amounts, such as for manufacturing purposes.
How to Get Kief out of Grinder
While you could simply use a kief scraper tool, stoners are finding ingenious ways to maximize this potent powder. One of the newest involves using a sterilized coin like a dime or quarter, depending on the size of your grinder, and placing it in the freezer before vigorously shaking. Essentially, the cold makes trichomes slightly more brittle and easier to remove. Simply follow these steps:
- Empty – Empty any built-up powder from the kief catcher
- Coin – Fit sterilized coin loosely in middle chamber (you can sterilize by washing with soap and dipping in isopropyl alcohol)
- Freeze – Assemble grinder and place it in the freezer for 10 minutes
- Shake – Remove from the freezer and give it a couple of strong shakes which will dislodge tough to remove powder.
- Kief Scraper – Hopefully you have a mountain of kief in your midst. Empty and use a scraper tool to collect any remaining powder.
How to Use Kief
Whether it’s a last-minute add-on to your joint or infused in your new cannabis cooking recipe, the options are endless.
Add it to your Packed Bowl
Due to its high potency, the most common way to enjoy it is by sprinkling it into your packed bowl of weed. In this instance, consider kief the salt or pepper you add to your delicious dinner just before you indulge. According to cannabis terminology, making a kief bowl is known as “crowning a bowl.”
Sprinkle in a Joint or Blunt
Alternatively, you can sprinkle a bit of it into your cannabis before rolling a joint. Just a pinch or so will do, as the dust will enhance the overall potency of your kief joint.
If you’re an advanced smoker looking for a next-level experience, try a twaxed joint. Dampen the outside of your joint with your preferred wax concentrate, roll the damp wax in your kief, smoke, and blast off!
Create Hash or Press Rosin
The first step of creating hash or pressing rosin is actually collecting the fine powder. Hash is heated and pressurized kief concentrate that has been heated and pressurized into a malleable green ball. When heat and pressure are applied, the resin glands rupture. This changes the overall taste and flavor.
The process is also similar to pressing rosin. Safely use a heating apparatus (such as a hair straightener or clothing iron), to heat and press the kief until it is flat and tinted brown.
Make Moonrocks
Similar to a “twaxed” joint, moonrocks is another whole level of cannabis consumption. Moonrocks is another DIY concentrate that involves dipping a dense bud of flower into heated cannabis oil, then coating in kief. Once the moonrock has hardened, you can crack it up to enjoy a wonderfully potent cannabis concoction.
Infuse into Cannabutter or Edibles
Infusing the powder into cannabutter or cannabis oil for cooking is a great alternative to smoking kief. Most cannabis edibles either have infused oil or butter incorporated. No matter if it’s sweet or savory, kief butter can simply enhance the potency and flavor of your cannabis dish.
Brew Kief Coffee or Tea
Although this is one of the trickier methods to get right, you can make infused cream, then add it to your coffee or tea.
Review
Kief is a dusted cannabis concentrate that enhances a smoker’s experience. The process of collecting and using it is fairly simple for any stoner. Most users are collecting kief with each twist of the grinder. You can use this cannabis dust to add to a packed bowl, infuse foods or dip along the outside of a joint.
