Six-Star Water Hash: Pacific NW Roots Kaya
Pacific NW Roots’ Kaya is an award-winning regenerative breeder, grower and hash maker known for his superior six-star water hash. Water hash is rated on a “star system” based on quality and meltability – one being the lowest quality and six being the highest. Six star is going to fully melt like water, leaving little-to-no residue in your banger, and is known for creating more even-keeled and euphoric effects. It’s truly the pinnacle of hash rosin and Kaya has been crushing in this category for over a decade. Kaya’s Koffee, Strawberry Yogurt, GMO and Hamma Hamma are some of his personal favorite six-star strains, and his Pink Lemonade and Ghost Train Haze have taken home awards at events on both coasts. I’m a big fan of a coffee and dab pairing, so I’ve gotta say a few globs of Kaya’s Koffee (Alien OG x Alien Kush f2) is my go-to out of his lineup for a mind-melting morning sesh.
Hash Rosin: Fugu Farms
Fugu Farms is a small group of passionate growers and washers with a single-source facility by the Puget Sound in Everett. It’s hard to find a hash head around Washington who doesn’t have some jars of Fugu in their stash. I love how Fugu has a lineup of unique genetics released in weekly drops, with super eye-catching strain-specific jar labels. While the brand is known for throwing down with in-house cuts like Dulce de Uva and Rainbow Belts #11, they’ve also done collaborations with other leaders in the Washington rosin market like Select Cannabis Company and Royal Tree Gardens. I reviewed their single-source Guava’Z 74 (Guavaz 74 X GuavaZ 74) in February’s “Connoisseur’s Corner” column – which I couldn’t get enough of with a creamy, tangy smoke and tropical flavor profile – and also really loved their recent Gary Payton (Y x Snowman) collab with Royal Tree.
Organic Concentrates: Bacon’s Grease
Bacon’s Grease (aptly named for its thick, grease-like consistency) is a line of single-source organic concentrates from the Bacon’s Buds garden – a family-run facility up in the hills of Washougal. All Bacon’s Buds genetics are pheno-hunted in-house and grown in aged organic living soil, then watered with natural, local spring water. Excess water is drained and recycled back into its original source for increased sustainability, and there are no chemical pesticides or nutrients used in the growing process. You can truly taste how clean these concentrates are and feel the passion that went into the process with each exhale. Some of my personal favorites from the Bacon’s Grease garden have been Pressure (Gary Payton x Rainbow Chip) and Strawberries & Cream (Cookies & Cream x Strawberry), and I hear a new blend of these two bangers may be coming out soon…
baconsbuds.com | @bacongrease502
BHO: AlpenGlow Extracts
I like to refer to AlpenGlow Extracts as “your favorite hash smoker’s favorite BHO brand” because I’ve overheard people at seshes say they only smoke rosin – unless it’s made by AlpenGlow. While there’s been a debate brewing in the industry about solventless versus solvent-extracted concentrates, there’s no debate that founder Nathan is the OG of BHO in the PNW. An avid snowboarder born and raised in the Skagit Valley, he takes the best ingredients from some of the best farms in Washington state, blending them together and making super oils that you can’t find in flower form. AlpenGlow does just three to four drops a year, releasing unique blended batches with cultivars paired together for flavor and effects that will never be dropped again. I’ve gotta say the best blend I’ve had so far was a recent AlpenGlow x Cookie Jar Cannabis collab – the aptly-named “Applesauce” – with a super-saucy consistency.
