The Great Dumpers: Best Weed Strains For Making Water Hash

The art of hashish production has existed for centuries. It has taken many forms, one of the oldest being charas. This form of hash has been around for thousands of years and has played a role in the culture and ritual practices of the Hindu religion. It was prevalent in Nepal and the rest of the Indian subcontinent, though many Europeans and Americans also enjoyed this specialty hand-rubbed hash during the years of the Hippie Trail.

Dry sifting is another well-known and traditional form of hash making, widespread in Afghanistan, Pakistan, and North Africa. Unlike the hand-rubbed charas, dry-sift hash is made by sifting the flowers through a screen, separating the trichomes from the plant matter. This process proved easier and allowed for a greater hash yield, so there were no shortages during its popularity around the mid-50s to late 70s.

An important note: Charas and dry-sift hash also produce different results. Charas uses live plants, which make freshly cut and trimmed flowers, while dry-sift uses dried and harvested flowers of cannabis plants.

In addition to the traditional techniques, we have two relatively new ways of making hash, which have given rise to various modern strains.

Solvent-extracted hash, such as shatter, wax, crumble, and live resin, is made using chemical solvents. These solvents separate the trichomes from the plant matter, and the chemicals must be purged before consumption.

Like the traditional methods mentioned above, not all hash-making requires strong chemicals. Water hash, or Iceolator, only uses ice water, agitation, and mesh bags to separate the trichomes from the plant matter. It's also called bubble hash. Nikka T was the first to name the result of this process solventless hash. Conversely, the methods that use chemicals like butane, CO2, and hexane are called solvent extractions.

Solvent vs. Solventless

BHO crumble, or wax involves using solvents like butane (the stuff in your lighter) to separate the THC from the flowers. The resulting solution is put through a vacuum oven that uses heat pressure to purge and separate the solvent from the organic compounds. However, this process is imperfect, so users will consume trace amounts of petrochemicals. Without the proper equipment, there’s the inherent danger of your homemade solvent extracts having leftover impurities. These can pose a severe health risk when consumed.

It’s far safer to use solventless extractions when making hash. Take rosin as an example. It’s a type of concentrate that’s extracted by applying heat and pressure to your cannabis flowers, which can be easily achieved with a hair iron and some parchment paper. You can also make rosin from water hash, yielding more than pressing the flowers.

Water hash is an easy, more popular solventless method for creating since it retains the structure of the trichomes, preserving the quality of its chemicals, resin, and oils.

What Makes a Good Strain For Bubble Hash?

Some cannabis cultivars are more suitable for making water hash than others. Here are some of the characteristics of the best strains for making water hash.

Trichome size

A smaller size is paramount, as larger trichomes with prominent glandular heads tend to break off more easily during washing. Generally, you’d want plenty of capitate-stalked trichomes on your flowers. This supersized trichome type is known for its large heads and small stalks that taper to a point where the stalk and head meet.

You can easily spot capitate-stalked trichomes with a microscope or a jeweler’s loupe. 

Flower structure

The structure of the flower also plays a significant role in determining a strain’s suitability for solventless extraction. Cultivars that grow fluffy buds produce more solventless hash than dense buds since extracting the trichomes from loosely packed, fluffy buds is much easier.

Some may think sativas are a no-brainer, as they grow buds that aren’t as dense as indicas. In reality, the type of cannabis doesn’t factor into whether or not a strain is suitable for washing, especially considering the hybridity of modern strains.

Flavor and aroma

Finally, flavor and aroma are essential considerations. Since solventless extractions retain many of cannabis's phytochemicals, the resulting water hash retains the strain's taste and smell. 

The process of making water hash

To make water hash, you need fresh, frozen cannabis buds. This means chilling your freshly harvested (preferably wet-trimmed) flowers in a freezer. Once frozen, place the flowers into a container with ice water and gently stir to break off the trichomes. Finally, the fresh, frozen material is filtered through bubble bags to separate the plant matter from the trichomes. Then, the water hash is dried to remove moisture. The drying process can be done by “air-drying” in industrial freezers such as a freeze dryer. 

Like dry sift, multiple bubble bags can separate the different-sized trichomes and refine the quality of your water hash. These bags are measured in microns, and the best-quality hash is collected at around 90 microns.

A test wash is vital before prepping your flowers to make water hash. Put a tiny amount (at least 10 grams) of your harvested flowers in a jar with ice water and shake it for a few minutes. Afterward, you should see the trichome heads sink to the bottom of the jar. Remove the plant matter and pour the contents of the jar into a bubble bag to catch the trichomes, then weigh them to determine the percentage of hash that you can extract. A plant producing 4% of the yield in water hash is considered a good dumper.

GMO Cookies

GMO Cookies Feminized Seeds

GMO Cookies, despite its unappealing name, is a potent indica-dominant hybrid with sativa-like growth but induces a strong indica couchlock. High THC levels make it suitable for experienced growers and users.

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One indica-dominant strain that’s good for making water hash is GMO Cookies, also called Garlic Cookies. Its flowers are known for their thick coat of white trichomes. This indica-hybrid is very potent because of its high THC concentration of up to 22%, which will leave you feeling relaxed and euphoric.

In addition to its potent effects, GMO Cookies has a robust and unique flavor profile thanks to its parents, Girl Scout Cookies and Chemdawg. GMO Cookies inherited the strong smell of diesel from Chemdawg and the earthy taste from Girl Scout Cookies while adding a garlicky twist to the mix. If you’re a fan of strong and unusual flavor profiles in your water hash, you might love GMO Cookies. It is available in both photoperiod as autoflower versions.

GMO Cookies cultivar profile

Gorilla Glue

GG4 Feminized Seeds

ILGM's GG4 strain is a great grow for everyone, beginner and expert alike. They provide a great and easy grow that produces bud you love without a ton of extra effort.

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There's no leaving out Gorilla Glue when discussing cannabis strains that are known for producing many trichomes. This indica-hybrid is a heavy-resin-producing strain and a high-yielding cultivar. It was named Gorilla Glue when the co-creator Don Peabody (a.k.a Joesy Whales) answered a call while trimming the strain and ended up getting his phone stuck to his hand. Due to its popularity it also has an autoflower version.

The effects of this strain will have you glued to your couch. Its robust and sedating high will leave you feeling deeply relaxed. It can even help with sleep, making it the ideal indica-hybrid for relaxing after a hard day.

When making water hash out of Gorilla Glue, the resulting concentrates will carry its earthy, sour flavor profile with hints of pine.

GG4 cultivar profile

Chemdawg

Chemdawg Feminized Seeds

Chemdawg (AKA Chemdog) is a Cannabis strain that's surrounded by mystery and myths. Its parents may be unknown, but its effects are quite the opposite.

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Chemdawg is a hybrid strain that grows loose and fluffy flowers, making it especially good for water hash. Typically, a flower structure that’s loose and fluffy is a sad sight for growers. However, it’s the perfect flower for water hash since the trichomes are exposed and break off easily.

Chemdawg’s ideal characteristics are thought to be ingrained in its genetics. Many growers theorize that Gregory Krzanowski's original seeds were made by crossing Nepali with Thai heirlooms. If that’s true, then it’s no wonder that Chemdawg makes an excellent hash. Nepali heirlooms were used for centuries to make Temple Balls, the specialty hand-rubbed charas that Nepal was famous for during the years of the Hippie Trail.

Chemdawg cultivar profile

Cherry Pie

Cherry Pie Feminized Seeds

Cherry Pie seeds grow a sweet-smelling indica dominant treat that delights the senses while relaxing the soul. One puff, and your mouth is watering from the aroma of freshly baked cherry pie.

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Another strain with outstanding trichome production is Cherry Pie. This indica-dominant hybrid is known for having flowers that grow a dense layer of white trichomes, making it an ideal strain for water hash.

Cherry Pie combines the relaxing body high of Granddaddy Purps with the euphoric buzz of Durban Poison. This strain’s flavor profile contains the sweet smell and taste of cherries. So, Cherry Pie is the strain to pick if you want berry-tasting hash that will uplift and relax you.

Cherry Pie cultivar profile

Purple Punch

Purple Punch Feminized Seeds

The Purple Punch weed strain hails from the tropical island of Hawai'i. This hybrid is 80/20 indica dominant and first bred by Supernova Gardens in Kauai, Hawai'i.

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If you don’t like the taste of cherries but still want a fruity flavor, then you’ll love Purple Punch. This indica-dominant strain blends the sweet flavors of blueberries and grapes with notes of vanilla, making each toke feel like you’re tasting a delectable dessert.

While Purple Punch's flavor and fragrance create undeniably delicious water hash, its best feature for growers is the abundant trichomes that coat its flowers. True to its name, Purple Punch, also in autoflower, grows purple-colored sugar leaves and flowers. Because of the thick layer of trichomes covering them, the flowers look white and frosty.

Purple Punch cultivar profile

NYC Diesel

NYC Diesel feminized seeds

NYC Diesel seeds grow a hybrid that is known to uplift users while inspiring the creative mind. Best of all, there's no couch lock or heavy body high.

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NYC Diesel is a sativa-hybrid strain ideal for making water hash because its highly resinous flowers contain an abundance of trichomes. This high trichome count creates a potent, energizing, and uplifting head high.

Besides the potent cerebral high it provides, NYC Diesel has a spicy taste and smell that combines the flavor of sweet citrus with diesel notes. If you’re a connoisseur who enjoys the unique mix of citrus and gas in your hash, NYC Diesel, autoflower or photoperiod, might be your perfect strain. 

NYC Diesel cultivar profile

White Widow

White Widow Feminized Seeds

Are you looking for a relaxing smoke to unlock your conversational and creative side? You are going to love our White Widow seeds!

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If you’re looking to make bubble hash out of a highly resinous strain, try White Widow. This popular indica-hybrid produces flowers caked in white trichomes, giving the strain its ghostly name.

Scott Blakey (Shantibaba), who co-founded Greenhouse Seeds with Arjan Roskam, worked with De Sjamaan (Ingemar) and Neville Schoenmakers to make White Widow. These famous breeders stabilized White Widow’s genetics until they were left with a cultivar that produced resinous flowers and consistent yields. Unsurprisingly, the strain became a staple in Holland’s coffeeshops and even won the 1995 High Times Cannabis Cup. Due to the popularity of this strain, White Widow was one of the first to be available in an autoflower variant.

The story behind White Widow’s genetics follows world traveler Scott Blakey. He received the heirlooms that made White Widow during the 1980s when he was touring around Asia.

One of his stops was Kerala, India, where he met a farmer who gave him seeds that would become one of the parents of White Widow, which we know as the South Indian indica heirloom. He would cross that heirloom with a Brazilian sativa, creating the original White Widow.

White Widow cultivar profile

OG Kush

OG Kush Feminized Seeds

OG Kush produces a mood-elevating, heavy euphoria making it great for people looking to wash away stress. Its blend of 75% indica and 25% sativa brings a balance between physical and mental experience.

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OG Kush's heavy resin production is on par with White Widow’s. This indica-dominant strain is known to produce flowers with a thick layer of trichomes. Its effects leave you feeling profoundly relaxed and euphoric. OG Kush’s flavor profile also blends earthy and piney notes with a hint of sweet citrus.

The similarities between OG Kush and White Widow don’t stop at their high trichome count. Not only were these strains made around the same time, but they also changed the cannabis scene in their respective parts of the world.

OG Kush changed the US cannabis scene, inspiring the creation of many popular hybrids, such as Girl Scout Cookies, Bruce Banner, and Fire OG. White Widow also introduced new hybrids such as Moby Dick, Crystal, and White Rhino.

OG Kush cultivar profile

Miracle Alien Cookies

Capulator, the breeder behind Miracle Alien Cookies (a.k.a MAC 1), is known for his strains’ remarkable genetics. These genetics create potent buds with a high trichome count. This careful cultivation makes MAC 1 an excellent strain for great hash yields. You can expect to feel uplifted and energized while enjoying the hash’s sweet orange flavors.

Capulator left seeds in his pants pocket after crossing Starfighter and a Columbian heirloom. His pants wound up in the washing machine, where his wife found the seeds and tried to salvage them by putting them into paper towels. All the seeds germinated and were planted in soil, only to die shortly afterward, except for the fifteenth seedling.

Capulator named the seedling Miracle 15. This was a male plant, so he bred it with Alien Cookies, which created Miracle Alien Cookies. He didn’t stop there! Capulator would then improve MAC 1 by backcrossing it with Miracle 15 to create MAC V2. He would also cross Alien Cheese with MAC 1 to create MAC and Cheese.

Mimosa

Mimosa Feminized Seeds

Combining a citrus strain with the therapeutic Purple Punch, Mimosa delivers relaxing yet uplifting effects that any Cannabis consumer will love.

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Mimosa is a sativa-dominant strain enjoyed by many enthusiasts for its uplifting and energizing effects and sweet orange taste. The buzz and flavor it gives make it suitable for water hash, but its most significant selling point is its high trichome count.

Like most cultivars on this list, Mimosa is a heavy resin-producing strain. If you want to make water hash with an energizing effect and a robust citrusy flavor, Mimosa is one of the best cannabis strains to try.

Mimosa cultivar profile

These are just some strains that are ideal for making at-home cannabis concentrates, but don’t let this list stop you from exploring other ILGM’ cultivars! Many cannabis strains are great for making water hash. When hash production is the goal, just remember to look for tiny trichomes, fluffy buds, and delicious flavors.