What On Earth Is Kief And What You Need To Know About It?

With cannabis declared legal in plenty of countries and the emergence of its health benefits, people have started to use it widely. Cannabis is found in different forms that are used in various methods. If you are one of those individuals who have been fond of cannabis for a while, you would definitely know about kief, sometimes referred to as keef.

Essentially, kief is the crystals obtained from the resinous trichomes. If you are wondering what trichomes are, they are clear structures that protrude out of the leaves. They are practically cannabis in crystal form or the resinous trichomes of cannabis. Plus, they are dry in nature, therefore, are often stored in an airtight container, preferably a glass one.

Being a concentrated version of cannabis, kief has a higher content of psychoactive cannabinoids like THC. People prefer adding kief into their marijuana because higher THC content directly translates to more intense effects. Though it may provide you with an intense high that you are looking for, it is necessary to use the right amount of kief so that it doesn't reach the level of intoxication. Conventionally kief is stored in hashish for better convenience, then again, there is always an option of vaporizing it.

What Is A Kief?

As mentioned earlier, these are the crystals of cannabis that can give an intense high you are seeking. If you have ever looked closely at the bud of the flower or tried running it through a grinder, you would know about kief.

Next time you look at the cannabis plants, pay special attention to the coating of fine white crystals on them. They are called the trichomes, and its potent bulbous form is the kief. Apart from the protective revolutionary use of cannabis as medicine, kief serves as an incredible substance for the purpose of recreation.

For those who do not know, "Kief" is a word of Arabic origin that translates into intoxication as well as pleasure, and that's exactly what a kief does. It is highly potent due to high THC and CBD content, making a great alternative to traditional marijuana. However, the intensity of the kief cannot match that of marijuana wax or shatters.

What Benefits Does Consumption Of Kief Entails?

Till now, you must have got an idea regarding the possible advantages of consuming kief. Cannabis connoisseurs ideally love using kief due to its potential benefits, unique consistency, and content of cannabinoids. The potency of kief plays an important role in determining its benefits. Typically it contains 50% of THC, but it can range from 12 to 25%.

THC, cannabigerol (CBG), cannabidiol (CBD), and other cannabinoids are something you would love for recreational purposes and you cannot get it from a better source than kief. It removes all the toxic and harsh smoking experience without changing its effectiveness. Kief is easy to extract and consume. You don't have to use any expensive equipment as other concentrations require. That means you can use and extract kief at your home as well.

Another notable benefit you can derive from kief is its lung friendliness. Either use it through a vaping pen or use it as an addition to other edibles or concentrates. It will avoid the risk of toxicity and save you from consuming combusted ash. Whether you want to use it as an addition to your joint or include it as edible, kief can be a great alternative to get the kick of cannabis in the purest form. There are plenty of ways in which you can use kief. In further parts of the article, you will get to know about the various uses of kief.

Unlike other cannabis concentrations, kief is much healthier for your system that gives you the required high experience. Being an extract of matured cannabis, kief is an incredible source of THC. Also, it serves perfectly for most medicinal purposes. Since kief is obtained from flowers directly, it is a pure form of marijuana. It is essential that kief is used in the required amounts because even the excessive use of the good stuff can result in an adverse effect. So, before you start using the substance, invest some time into thorough research.

The most important thing that you should be aware of about kief, and put it to optimal use is by learning how to extract it and use it.

How To Extract Kief?

There is no dearth of methods for extracting kief that is quite accessible and can be easily done at home as well. We have enlisted a few to help you extract kief.

Three Chamber Grinder

It is by far the most convenient way to extract kief that you can do at your home. Everything you are required to do is obtain a three-chamber grinder and use it to break down your weed. You can easily but one at the local supermarket. What makes it special is that it sports multiple layers of stainless steel screens that make sure that the product that reached the bottom level is kief.

Screen Method

Another extracting method that is considered viable for extracting kief is the screening method. This particular method is used to extract the kief in large quantities from cannabis. Don't worry, and this method can also be practiced at your home without much effort. For this, you need a silkscreen that is generally used in t-shirt printing. You can easily get them from an art store that is rated with LPI or lines per inch. To make the screen's ideal for extracting the kief, you need to look for a screen within a range between 80 and 270 LPI.

The ideal method to sift the substance is to push it through the fine sieves again and again, by applying little pressure through your credit cards. However, if you forget to place a collecting container at the bottom, all your efforts will be in vain. Fortunately, if you are looking for a mildly potent concentrate, kief is an ideal choice.

Some Popular Methods Of Consuming Kief?

Now that you have your kief ready, it only makes sense to consume it. For this, first rule of consuming kief is to activate its potency by exposing it to some heat. We have enlisted some common ways in which people generally take in kief -:

Smoke the kief

Smoking is perhaps the most convenient and common method of consuming kief. For the purpose, you should bring your smoking hardware, for instance, a pipe made up of glass into use. There are some things that you must consider before smoking kief. Since kief is a powder, it can be blown away by the slightest of air from your breath. Therefore, you should keep your breathing as soft as possible when preparing your joint.

Roll kief joints

Another proven method is to roll it up into joints.All you are required to bring to use here is your rolling skills and some dried, grounded flowers. And just to put it out there, if you trust in your rolling skills, you can roll an only kief joint too. The trick to the perfect kief joint lies in brushing some cannabis oil on the rolling paper before sprinkling kief on it. Once the kief sticks on the joint, you have got yourself a fuzzy tarantula joint.

Melt kief into butter

There's literally no end to experimenting with how you can consume the ever -so - versatile kief. Kief makes a great addition to the baking recipes as well. There are many marijuana edibles like brownies, muffins, cupcakes and an iced with Kief the icing, etc. All you have to do is melt some butter,add the kief to it and let the mixture sit for at least 5 hours. Make sure that you give it a nice stir after every 15 minutes. Then, the mixture is ready to be transferred to a bowl. Let it cool or refrigerate it. Once your butter is set, it will serve as the perfect base for making any form of marijuana recipe just like you prepare regular dessert delights.

Prepare hash

Who would not love some homemade hash ? Well, all you are required to do for that is to pressurize kief so that it turns into a solid block. You can do so by accumulating the powder in a regular parchment paper so that it can all be brought together. Now, apply pressure on the parchment with the help of a flat iron. With the heat of the flat iron, the oil glands of the kief particles will burst to give you a sticky substance that has been somewhat combusted. This is the hash.

Medical Usage of Kief

The THC and CBD content of marijuana cannot only get you high, but is proven to be medically beneficial. The THC level in kief helps in treating people having chronic pain. Kief has a therapeutic effect on pain, nausea, muscle rigidity or spasm, etc. Apart from that, it can also help individuals dealing with issues of insomnia. There is an ample number of legal dispensaries that sell medicinal kief that serves well to treat patients with the above - mentioned issues.

Even studies have proven that CBD oil is an unmatched help for pain management. People suffering from chronic joint or muscle pain can use CBD oils to tame down the pain effectively and get a therapeutic relief for a longer time. Cannabidiol helps in reducing the stigma of pain. As CBD does not contain as much THC content as kief, it doesn't offer an intense psychoactive effect to leave you high. So, CBD is safe for medicinal consumption.

Ensure That You Store Your Kief Right

It is one of the essential questions that you must find an answer to when you are falling in love with kief. It is important to properly store kief for optimally using it and keeping its freshness intact. Storing the kief after extracting and grounding it is a common practice that people follow to use it for later purposes.

It is essential to ensure that kief is not exposed to too much light or heat, else it will lose THC content. There are different devices available in the market, like a clamshell container with silicone to store the kief. You must keep your kief in a secure place to keep the THC level intact and preserve its potency. The excessive exposure to heat and light can extract the THC content from it and reduce its high effect. So, make sure you keep it in a safe place once you extract it from the plant and powder it.

Questions That Everyone Has About Kief

It is evident that kief is still a daunting term among the consumers, and there are plenty of questions that they struggle to find answers. Here are a few common questions with their answers that would give you a clear idea regarding kief-:

Can kief be an infusion for edibles?

It is one of the common questions that people have in their minds regarding kief. Yes, you can use kief as an infusion to your edibles. You can make any of the marijuana recipes with kief. As mentioned earlier, you can make kief butter that can be used as a base to make any of the marijuana recipes like cakes, brownies, cupcakes, muffins, etc.

You can experiment with any of your favorite recipes once you learn the right way to use kief as an infusion in your edibles. There are no hard and fast rules to use kief in your edibles. You just need to understand to prepare it for particular recipes.

How much THC does kief contain?

Kief is better known for its high concentration of cannabinoids. It provides a powerful high compared to any other marijuana form. Unlike other forms of cannabis, kief is formed from the trichomes of the plant, which has the highest content of cannabinoids. Generally, the flowers have 12-25% of THC, whereas kief has around 50%. You would be surprised to know that some purest form of kief can reach up to 80% of THC. So, it clearly depends on the form of kief you are using. But, yes, kief has a maximum amount of THC in it.

What is the difference between hash and kief?

People generally confuse kief with hash and vice versa, but it is important to understand that both are different and obtained from different parts of the plants. Hash is the short form of hashish, which is a product of a cannabis plant, whereas kief is the gland that has a high concentration of THC or cannabinoids from the bud of the cannabis plant. Marijuana is the bud of a cannabis plant, and kief is what you get after grinding and mixing this bud.

Hash or hashish is the product of a cannabis plant that has more psychoactive content than kief. The powder form of kief makes it easier to consume. You can press the kief to make hash and consume it. Hash comprises 70-80% THC, whereas, kief only has 50% of THC in it. So, you must never consider kief and hash similar as both have the distinctive identity that makes them different.

Can you snort kief?

Some people may think about snorting marijuana or any product related to it, but it is undoubtedly the worst thing you can do with it. There are plenty of things that you can do with kief, and snorting is definitely not one of them. Snorting kief would be the foolish move you can make. Kief has THC in its purest form, which is not psychoactive, so you will not get high from snorting it. Furthermore, snorting kief is pretty dirty that can even lead to sinus infection.

You must not try to absorb the kief through your mucus membrane; it will only create a medical issue and not get you anywhere. Not just kief, you must not snort any type of weed. Forget being high; you will not feel anything after snorting kief. Instead, you will end up disrupting your nasal functions and infecting your mucus membrane. So, its better not to think anything stupid like snorting your kief. There are many amazing things that you can do with your kief to put them to optimal use.

The Bottom Line

Cannabis has been made legal in many countries; hence people have started to bring it in their daily lives. There are plenty of ways in which you can use cannabis for different purposes. Have you ever wondered what to call the tiny crystals covering your cannabis flowers? Those cannabis crystals are kief or the glands that comprise cannabinoids that too in high concentration. People generally add it in their marijuana to increase the intensity of their high and give a banging punch to the cannabis

To better streamline the kief, you can refer to them as the built-in protection for your cannabis plant. It protects your cannabis plant from herbivores by generating a psychoactive experience. The resin has a strong and distinctive odor that will attract pollen insects in a way keeping the herbivores away from the plant.

Kief is one of the affordable and efficient ways to have an intense experience of cannabis. It doesn't blow a hole in your pocket. You can increase the concentration without having to buy any expensive wax. Sifting the kief is by far the best alternative you have got to bring in one of a kind experience.

Furthermore, the high concentration of THC and cannabinoids in the glands make kief a daunting alternative. There are plenty of myths surrounding the use of kief. But the reality is far better and safer. Kief is one of the efficient and protective ways to consume cannabis as it reduces the number of charred materials entering your body. So, basically, kief is a great alternative to use marijuana in a protective manner.

The above mentioned were some of the exclusive information that you need to know about kief in order to understand its significance while consuming cannabis. So, next time you are doubtful about using kief, you know where to look for some guidance.