What is Kief Weed?

A term that you may have come across in relation to hemp and cannabis is kief. Now, most stoners and cannabis connoisseurs know exactly what kief is.

After all, it's tasty, it's potent, and there are about a dozen different things that you can do with it. When it comes down to it, kief is one of the most sought-after components of any hemp or cannabis bud.

Realistically, kief is where the cannabinoids are, where the terpenes are contained, and it's where that great stickiness comes from too. That said, even though it's one of the most vital components of cannabis and hemp, many people don't know what it is.

Well, this is an issue that we are about to solve. We're about to discuss what kief is, what you can do with it, where it comes from, the pros and cons of it, and so much more. By the end of this article, you should be an expert on kief and everything about it.

Kief Takeaways

• Kief is the trichomes or crystals that grow on the outside of cannabis plants, on the buds.
• These crystals or the kief are where most of the cannabinoids and terpenes are contained. It's where you'll find the THC and the flavor.
• Due to its potency and quality, kief is fairly expensive.
• This is something you can use to mix with your joints, put in your bowls, dab, or vape, and even used to make oils and butters for edibles and gummies.

What is Kief?

Some people may refer to kief as crystals, although realistically, they are the trichomes of cannabis and hemp buds. The trichomes are also known as the resin glands of cannabis and hemp plants. These resin glands are what produce all of those awesome cannabinoids that we consume these buds for.

All of that tasty THC, CBD, and everything in between originates in those trichomes or in that kief. Furthermore, the vast majority of the terpenes found in the cannabis and hemp plants are also found in the kief or crystals.

This means that most of the aroma and flavor that you taste when you smoke or vaporize a specific strain comes from that kief.

Simply put, kief is more or less pure cannabinoids and terpenes, which is why it often contains anywhere between 50% and 80% THC.

It's potent, it's smelly, it's tasty, and there is so much that you can do with it. The majority of kief or trichomes grow on the exterior of cannabis buds, which is why they often have such a white and crystally appearance, along with this sticky texture.

What Can You Do with Kief?

The cool thing about kief is that there is so much you can do with it. We will touch on this further below, but kief can be added to all of your favorite smokables, including your joints, bowls, blunts, and everything in between.

Kief can also be used to make edibles, gummies, tinctures, oils, and even hashish. Many people also use kief to make what are known as moon rocks, which we will also touch on further below. If you want to find out exactly what you can do with kief, and how it's done, keep reading.

What is Kief Weed?

Kief and kief weed are two terms that are often used interchangeably. When you buy kief, what you are essentially buying are those cannabinoid-laden crystals or trichomes that grow on the outside of cannabis buds.

This is what people mean when they say kief weed. That said, in some places, you might find that kief weed is pre-ground cannabis or hemp flower that is then mixed with additional kief.

How Does Kief Weed Make You Feel?

One of the reasons why people like kief so much is because it is so potent, up to 80%. Let's just compare this to regular cannabis flower that usually has anywhere between 10% and 30% THC, with most strains topping out somewhere around 25%.

Therefore, kief is on average anywhere between three to five times as strong as regular weed. As you can imagine, this means that you will definitely feel the high from it. If we compare kief with weed, you're going to feel it a whole lot more. Now, exactly how it makes you feel depends on the strain it comes from.

As you probably know, Indica-dominant strains of cannabis produce more of a body high characterized by tingly limbs, heaviness, sedation, general relaxation, and pain relief, as well as a bit of a cerebral head high characterized by euphoria and mental relaxation.

Sativa strains on the other hand are more known for producing a cerebral or head high. They make you feel like you are floating in the clouds. They can also make you feel a bit creative, energetic, talkative, euphoric, giggly, and happy in general. They do also produce a bit of a body high, but not nearly as much as Indica strains.

The same goes for kief too, and exactly how it makes you feel depends on whether it comes from an Indica or a Sativa plant, or a hybrid. However, in general, you can expect to feel all of the same effects as from Delta-9 THC, but just much stronger. It's not necessarily that kief makes you feel different than regular THC, but you will feel a whole lot more.

Does Kief Weed Get You High?

Yes, absolutely, kief does get you high. As mentioned above, it can be extremely potent. Of course, this does depend on the type of kief. Kief full of THC will get you high.

However, if we are talking about hemp strains that are heavy in CBD as opposed to THC, then these will not get you high. However, CBD does have a wide variety of potential medical and therapeutic benefits, so CBD kief can still be beneficial.

Pros & Cons of Kief Weed

Now that you know what exactly kief weed is, let's take a closer look at what its advantages and disadvantages are.

Pros

• Kief weed is very potent, which means that a little bit goes a very long way. With up to 80% THC, even the smallest of hits should get you sky-high.
• Because this type of weed, or realistically the crystals, are so potent, it also serves to reason that you can also reap the maximum possible medical and therapeutic benefits from them.
• Kief is something that you can easily add to your favorite joints, bowls, bongs, and more. It's something that you can mix with other types or forms of cannabis, or consume on its own. It's extremely versatile.
• What's also pretty neat is that this is something that you can also purchase separately. You don't have to purchase cannabis and then separate the kief from the buds by yourself. It's something that you can find for purchase in the right dispensary.
• If you like really flavorful hits, then kief is ideal as well. Kief is where most of the terpenes are contained, so you'll definitely get a flavorful hit.

Cons

• Collecting kief on your own can take a lot of time. There are minuscule amounts of kief on the outside of cannabis or hemp buds. It takes a whole lot of raw cannabis flower to produce just a little bit of kief.
• Because kief is so potent, it's also very expensive. It's actually one of the more expensive types of cannabis or hemp products out there.
• Kief is often fairly sticky, so it can be hard to work with. It gets all over the place, and it sticks to your fingers too.

What to do with Kief

As mentioned above, one of the cool things about kief is that there is so much you can do with it. Let's take a quick look at all of the different things that you can do with these trichomes, crystals, resin glands, or whatever else you want to refer to them as.

Infuse a Joint with Kief

Realistically, when you smoke a joint rolled out of fresh cannabis flower, you are already smoking kief. You're just smoking the small amount of kief that was present on the cannabis that you purchased.

However, you can also collect your kief over a prolonged period, or just buy some, and then mix it in with your favorite strains.

It's automatically going to greatly increase both the potency and flavor of any joint that you smoke. Kief in mind that you don't just have to infuse a joint.

You can also add kief to your favorite blunt wraps, your pipe bowls, your bongs, and everything in between. Simply put, it's something that you can smoke.

Make Hash Out of Kief

One of the most popular things to do with kief is to make hash. In fact, this might just be the number one most popular and most common thing made out of kief. When you have kief, you can heat it to high temperatures and press it using great amounts of pressure.

This is done over and over again, until all of the oils contained in the kief are released from the plant matter, from the trichomes. As it is heated and pressed, it condenses into a solid yet malleable and oily mass which we know as hash.

It's not unlike the process of turning coal into diamonds using heat and pressure, albeit the end result isn't quite as valuable or shiny. The neat thing here is that kief is already potent enough on its own, but when it is compressed into hashish, it becomes even stronger.

Make Kief Butter for Baking Edibles and Gummies

Another super popular thing that many people do with kief is to make butter or oil. You can decarboxylate the kief to activate the THC, and then steep it in butter or oil for many hours, which essentially infuses the oil or butter with all of that tasty THC.

You can then use that THC oil or butter to bake THC edibles and gummies. You can make gummies, lollipops, cookies, brownies, and really anything in between. We personally think that this is one of the best things you could do with kief.

The reason for this is that when you eat edibles, THC ends up hitting you much harder and lasting longer. With edibles, when compared to smoking or vaping, you get a much bigger bang for your buck. Seeing as kief is already quite potent, it's just a good way to get the most out of it, not to mention that it's pretty expensive too.

Make Moon Rocks Out of Kief

Yet another fan favorite is moon rock. For those of you who don't know what moon rocks are, this is when a high-quality cannabis bud is taken, dipped in cannabis extract, usually some kind of hash oil, and then rolled in kief. It produces what is essentially one of the strongest cannabis buds in the world.

Moon rocks can then be put into joints, pipes, bongs, and more. This tends to be one of the rarer things that people do with kief, just because you need cannabis buds, cannabis oil, and the kief. Moon rocks are more of a specialty or novelty, as opposed to something that you would smoke regularly. It's something for special occasions.

Put Kief in Your Coffee or Hot Chocolate

Some people may also choose to put their kief in some hot chocolate or coffee. Yes, you can always add it to your favorite beverages.

However, keep in mind that you first need to decarboxylate it. Kief on its own does not have activated THC, and simply dropping it into a cup of coffee or hot chocolate, and then drinking it right away, is likely not enough heat to decarboxylate it and activate the THC. That said, it should work just fine if you decarboxylate it first. Here’s a great kief coffee recipe!

Sprinkle Kief on a Bowl

if you want to kief things fast and simple, just sprinkle the kief on top of your bong bowl. It smokes perfectly fine.

Dab or Vape Kief

What has also become quite popular is dabbing or vaporizing kief, especially by using dab rigs. Kief is potent enough so that most of it does vaporize when exposed to extreme heat, such as on a dab nail.

It's not the first thing we would do with kief, because it does leave behind quite a bit of residue that needs cleaning up afterward. However, if you are a fan of vaporizing or dabbing, mainly because of the health benefits when compared to smoking, then it is certainly an option worth checking out.

Hash vs Kief

Yes, hash is made out of kief, but there are some differences between them. First and foremost, let's take a look at the appearance. Kief looks like very fine cannabis powder. It looks like green crystals. It almost looks like a greener and stickier version of powdered sugar.

Sometimes it can be a bit sticky and cling together, and sometimes it's very dry. However, when pressing it and heating it, which is the process required to turn it into hash, it becomes much denser and stickier and turns into one solid piece.

It kind of looks like a black piece of play dough. This is because all of the oils get released out of the trichomes through the pressing and heating process.

Next, we have the texture. Kief goes from being loose and powdery to being a solid, thick, dense, and somewhat malleable block. It's really sticky to the touch, and it gets everywhere.

Then, in terms of the smell, this changes as well. Now, it's really hard to describe the smell of these two, especially if you've never smelled them before. However, kief smells much more like raw plant matter, whereas hash smells like something that's been processed. Hash generally smells a bit sweeter and oilier.

If we are talking about potency, although it does differ, hash is generally more potent than the kief that it is made out of. For example, if the kief used to make hash contains around 70% THC, then chances are pretty big that the hash made out of it might contain up to 80% THC or even more. The refining process generally makes it stronger. Not only is it stronger and gets you higher, but it's also a bit harsher on the throat.

There is also the fact that hash is a bit harder to work with than kief. Because hash is so sticky, it's hard to roll it into joints. It's not impossible, but it is somewhat difficult.

Does CBD Kief Get You High?

Kief that comes from CBD or hemp strains will likely not get you high. CBD kief generally does not contain THC, with THC being the psychoactive substance that makes you high.

That said, kief with very high levels of CBD does have a variety of potential benefits. For instance, if a hemp bud with 15% CBD has potential benefits, then you can just imagine what 80% CBD could be able to do for you.

Where to Buy Cannabis Flower for Kief Online

Of course, the best place to buy kief is right here at Botany Farms! If you are interested in some tasty and high-quality buds, check out our Botany Farms Delta-8 Blueberry Kush, this tasty Godfather OG, or our very own Botany Farms Delta-8 Strawberry Banana Kush (probably the tastiest of all!)

What is Kief: Frequently Asked Questions

Before we call it a day, let's quickly answer some of your most pressing questions about kief.

How Much Kief Should I Take?

This depends on your tolerance level, but a good rule of thumb is to always start slow. Even if you are a seasoned cannabis consumer, kief takes things to a whole new level due to its high potency. Therefore, 0.1 or even 0.05 grams is generally more than enough to make you feel it.

How Long Does Kief Stay in Your System?

Kief doesn't stay in your system any longer than regular cannabis. Depending on the method used to check for THC levels, it could be present in the body, particularly in hair follicles, for up to three months.

Can You Dab Kief?

Although dabbing kief can be a bit messy because it creates a lot of residues, it is technically possible.

Does Kief Go Bad?

Yes, kief can eventually go bad, and this is because THC degrades over time. Expect your kief to lose a good deal of its potency after about a year.

How to Get Kief out of a Grinder?

The best way to get kief out of a grinder is to use that little scraper tool that most grinders come with. You can also try banging together both halves of the grinder over some kind of container. Even a small dry brush usually works pretty well too.