As Cannabis continues to march across the world, transforming policy and becoming more of a mainstream product, hash has become the counterculture hero – picking up the slack by representing classic elements of stoner society.
The crowd buying these items might account for a small fraction of a dispensary’s customer base, but this group is a veritable terp army that’s grown to represent the loudest voice when it comes to cost and demand, with a two-gram jar of rosin recently going on the private market for $1,000.
Hash is where some of the strongest remnants of stoner culture exist – where the old symbols still hold sway. Dabbing takes equipment, knowledge and practice to enjoy properly. At a time when puffing a joint or eating an edible has never been easier, you have to put in some effort to smoke hash.
People in this world have a prerequisite that you show a certain level of knowledge about glassblowers, genetics or hashmakers to sit at the session. E-rigs have undoubtedly made it more mainstream, but the question is: How and why has hash risen in the last 10 years from tradition to trend?
Though a shift to highlighting solventless products like cold cure rosin has begun to slide through the beverage, edible and vape menus in recreational states, hash – in several of its most superb forms – has yet to find firm footing for the retail store.
Why is it that some of the plant’s most prized products only exist in either the gray area, the internet, or the freezer? That’s what we’d like to ask you, dear reader. To get you started thinking, consider two types of sought-after hash that have a difficult time getting to and sitting on the shelves at your local store: full melt and piattella.
Full Melt
Six star or full melt hash represents the top of the game for any serious fan. It’s not the average consumer’s go-to. In fact, most of the hash you see in stores is the three and four star variety.
Full melt is expensive, requires careful handling, burns at lower temperatures and needs to be stored in a freezer to keep the trichome heads from solidifying – also called “greasing up.” Producers have had trouble introducing this to the retail crowd since it isn’t as shelf stable as certain rosins.
Along with that, there’s a process to smoking it – and while flattening some and watching it melt away in a banger is a top-shelf experience – it’s one that carries a non-introductory price tag. Even vendors will tell you people who shop for full melt rarely buy the same jar twice. Still, many regular hash smokers consider it a rare treat and will prize it over a fresh press or cold cure.
Piattella
Coming out of Europe, piattella has been all the hype after 2023’s Spannabis event. Named after the Italian word for, amongst other things, a tiny brick – it’s bubble hash that’s been cured and shaped into greasy rectangles that glisten with terpenes.
Innovated and perfected in Spain by people like Uncle’s Farm and La Sagrada Farm, many have called it the best hash experience they’ve had in years. Only a handful of clubs in Barcelona offer the product and even fewer are releasing piattella in the U.S. market.
Archive in Oregon experimented, but described the challenge of presenting it to consumers after it’s been sliced and portioned down from the mouth-watering patty they saw online. Sunburn Cannabis in Florida, the first to drop some on the American market, had their two-gram jars see a positive initial reception – but there’s no telling if it will catch on after the clout of posting some online dies away.
Quick HIt
Looking at these two prized varieties, it’s hard to say if there’ll be a day when you see a filled-out full melt or even a piattella section at your local stores. We hope reading this inspires you to take a look at the hash in your favorite shops and see what’s causing such a stir with stoners.
