What is Kief? And How to Use It

Ever wondered about what those small, sticky crystals are that cover your buds. It is pollen, otherwise called dry sift or kief, which you can order through marijuana delivery. Kief specifically refers to those potent resin glands full of cannabinoids and terpenes, which is what makes marijuana unique. Although cannabis without it is still rich in cannabinoids, those swollen resin glands promise the biggest kick. 

Understanding Kief

To know what kief is, you must understand what trichomes are. Kief refers specifically to the crystalized formations found on the tips of resin glands, but this is just one part of a trichome, more commonly called a “hair.” They are not unique to cannabis. Many plants and algae have trichomes, which have specific revolutionary jobs. Carnivorous plants trap prey in the stickiness of their trichomes. 

Other plants, such as marijuana, have them to deter pests and herbivores. According to Frontiers in Plant Science, trichomes protect plants or help to feed them. Marijuana trichomes make predators “high,” so they stop munching and learn to avoid eating them. Trichomes are pungent, producing a strong, distinct smell that attracts insects and their predators, further keeping herbivores away. 

Separating Kief from Your Buds

Kief is expensive, as most concentrates are. If you would rather not spend so much money or buy pricy extraction equipment, it might be wiser to sift your own. Because resin glands in cannabis produce a high concentration of cannabinoids and terpenes, removing the crystals from your buds is a good way to consume all the goodness of cannabis without consuming too much charred plant matter. 

It is easy to extract kief, but it will take some time. A three-chamber herb grinder will grind your buds finely, all while catching kief crystals that fall through the screen and into its own compartment. Two-chamber grinders cannot do this, frequently wasting more kief than not, since the crystals fall off the buds and then stick fast to the grinder itself, making it difficult to get it all off. 

If you want to extract large quantities, then silk screening equipment will work well. It will allow you to separate kief from your buds by simply sifting them on the screen. You can make your own sifters too, but remember that kief is much lighter than plant matter. If you want clean kief, then reinforce your screen with three or four layers of fine mesh stacked atop each other. 

To make the best kief possible, you can use consecutive screen sizes and stack them from biggest to smallest. When purchasing screens for the job, it is important to consider the number of threads or wires per inch, called lines per inch, or LPI. The bigger the screen, the smaller the number of LPI, so when you want to sift kief, the mesh works best when it is between 80 LPI and 270 LPI. 

If you order kief for marijuana delivery, then remember that the lighter the kief is in color, the purer it is. If you buy kief that is still green, even hinting at green, then that means it still contains plenty of plant matter mixed into it. Clean kief, when done properly, looks cleaner, with a tendency to be more off-white in color than green. 

Using Kief

Now that you understand just kief is, and how to gather it, you might be wondering what to do with it. Fortunately, you can use kief in various creative ways, but consider yourself warned: Kief is potent. Very potent. Much more potent than buds. Go easy on it; take it slowly. Too much kief too fast can feel unpleasant. Having said that, here are some ways to use kief to refine consistency and amplify potency: 

• Sprinkle It over Your Bowl

“Crowning a bowl,” or sprinkling kief over your pipe, bong, or other bowl, is the easiest and most common way to use it. A liberal dusting of kief on top can increase the potency of your bowl significantly. To get the most of a crowned bowl, consider cornering your hits. This means burning just a quadrant of the bowl for every hit. This way, you get multiple hits and notably less wastage. 

• Sprinkle Your Joint

Before rolling a joint, mix kief into your already ground weed. Then roll it up and smoke it. The sticky kief will make the ground cannabis even stickier, which will make the inside of your joint super potent. You can also roll a “twax” joint. Simply lick the outside of your joint or dribble your favorite wax along it, and then roll the top half of the joint in your kief. It will stick to the outside and make your joint stronger. 

• Make Easy Hash

Hash is refined marijuana. Making it involves extracting kief, since hash is heated kief pressed into a soft ball. The goal in making hash is to change the composition of kief by applying heat and pressure. This ruptures the resin glands, which also changes the general effect and taste of it. Hash is much darker than other forms of kief. This is what pressure does. The more you apply, the darker your hash will be. 

• Create Moonrocks

Moonrocks are especially delightful. They are premium-grade buds rolled in oil and then in kief. Incredibly potent, moonrocks are an easy concentrate you can make quickly at home. Heat some oil gently and coat your buds liberally with it. While still warm, use tongs to roll these oiled buds in kief. You can also sprinkle it over the buds. Once done, allow to harden for use later. 

• Press Rosin

Because rosin requires no solvents to extract cannabis concentrate, the primary reason for its rising popularity, the method of making it preserves cannabinoids. Using flowers is typical for this process, but by pressing kief, potency is much higher, and you can save the buds for smoking. If you have a vice and a hair straightener, you can press rosin at home. Professional companies use high-pressure presses. 

• Make Cannabutter

Before searching “marijuana edibles near me” in Google, know that you can make your own cannabutter with kief, boosting its potency by doing so. There are no extra steps to follow in the normal cannabutter-making process, but just remember that regardless of whether you use a crockpot or oven to decarboxylate your buds, always intermix your kief with your buds for optimal results. 

Order Kief via Marijuana Delivery

If the idea or time required to make your own kief is not possible in your situation, then you can always have a driver deliver high quality kief to your doorstep. Kief is expensive compared to other concentrates, which is why more people are making their own at home. However, if you use a marijuana delivery service, they likely have discounts, coupons, or other promotions to make it more affordable.