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What is Kief and How Will it Help You?

what is kief

What is kief? You may have heard the term mentioned, or heard about people collecting kief and wondered what they were talking about. Kief is a term to describe the trichomes or “hair” on the flower that contains a high concentrate of psychoactive compounds. The bulbous crystal that forms at the tip of a gland is actually a protective mechanism for marijuana plants. They appear so that when hungry herbivores make their way over to munch on the plant, they will instead munch down on some kief. What is the result? A very confused and stoned herbivore being too disoriented to continue eating the plant.

How Trichomes Benefit Plant Life

trichomes are collected in kief catchers of weed grinders
Trichomes contain a high concentration of psychoactive compounds.

Lots of plants and algae have external trichomes for specific survival reasons. There are the carnivorous plants that use trichomes as a way to trap their prey. Then there’s cannabis which uses them to deter predators. But it also has another use that helps to ensure the health and survival of the cannabis plant. Its strong smell actually attracts both pollinating insects and predators. Ultimately this helps the plant to continue to grow in a healthy way as well as keeping the herbivore population under control.

How Kief Benefits the Thrifty Smoker

So what is kief good for when it comes to the average marijuana user? Well, those little hairs not only produce an intense psychoactive experience for their predators. They also produce an exceptional high for the human consumer. For those people who’d like the experience of concentrates but can’t afford all the expensive equipment involved in enjoying them, collecting kief may offer the perfect solution. You can actually collect these hairs to make your own kind of concentrated psychoactive product that you can consume.

Kief in Hash Production

What is kief used for other than plant protection and direct human consumption? An interesting thing to note here is that kief is actually what is used to make hash. The first step involves collecting the kief, of course. Then it needs to be heated and pressurized at which point it forms a soft green ball. When the kief has been heated and pressurized in this way, the resin glands rupture and it changes the basic composition of the hair. The color darkens the more it is pressurized and it smells and tastes quite different. Another effect of this change is that it produces a different effect when consumed.

What is Kief Collection’s Benefits?

what is kief catcher used for with your herb grinder
Kief catchers allow you to harvest kief for use in hash or on its own.

You don’t need to make hash to enjoy the effects of kief. You can collect your own batch very easily at home with very little. You can use a basic 3 chamber herb grinder to turn your flower into a kief concentrate. Once you have the grinder, you will also need a screen to collect the kief. You can actually also purchase something called a kief catcher which has both the grinder and screen already in place. You can then finely grind the flower over the screen and allow the kief to fall through the screen and collect on the other side. Using a 3 chamber herb grinder is better than a 2 chamber device for really making sure you collect this precious residue.

Once you have your collection of kief, you can smoke it anyway you like, but keep in mind it burns up quickly. You may want to add it to some tobacco or flower so that you can enjoy it best. However you choose to consume it, it’s a great way to get a concentrated high without the expense.

About Veronica Horne

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