Though cannabis concentrates surged in popularity in the 1990s, their roots date back centuries, when ancient cultivators first collected kief and learned how to make hashish. A little-known but highly flavorful cannabis product, kief is the precursor to hash and can be a potent addition to homemade edibles, joints, or bowls.
An easy concentrate to collect, kief remains a favorite potency booster among many cannabis fans, so if you’ve never tried it, you’re in for a treat! But, before you dive in, you should know a few tips and tricks first—read on and get all your questions answered about cannabis kief, how to decarb it, its nuances and effects, and much more.
What Is Kief? The First Cannabis Concentrate
Kief is the grainy powder that collects at the bottom of your grinder and is simply another name for dried cannabis trichomes. The resinous, mushroom-shaped glands that give cannabis flower its characteristic silver dusting and sticky texture, trichomes hold most of the cannabis plant’s beneficial compounds, including its cannabinoids and terpenes, which are responsible for the unique effects and flavors of any given strain.
How To Use Fresh Kief
For fresh kief in a pinch, you can always count on our selection of premium pre-packaged kief, but if you want to try the DIY approach, one of the easiest ways to collect cannabis kief is to invest in a grinder with a kief catcher. After a few uses, you should have enough kief to sprinkle into your next joint or top a bowl of cannabis flower for a surprising burst of flavor and potency.
Kief vs Hash: What’s the Difference?
Though hash is made from kief, they’re not considered the same thing. When kief is further refined and then pressed with the application of heat and pressure, it becomes another form of cannabis concentrate known as hashish or hash. The texture of the two products sets them apart—kief remains a loose, yellowish powder, while hash tends to be a bit more sticky and can even be formed into bricks or blocks.

Many modern hash makers still use the same methods as those from centuries ago since the traditional process of making hash is so simple. In the mountainous Hindu Kush region between India and Nepal, cannabis growers still produce a type of hash known as “charas” by rubbing cannabis buds between their hands. The heat and pressure from their palms pack the kief into a paste that is then scraped off and rolled into balls.
What Is Decarboxylation?
If you were to consume raw cannabis flower, you wouldn’t feel any psychoactive effects since raw cannabis doesn’t contain the active form of the cannabinoids THC and CBD. Instead, the trichomes from cannabis flower contain precursor cannabinoids—THCA and CBDA—which don’t impart subjective effects on our bodies. The process of decarboxylation converts these precursor cannabinoids into active THC and CBD through the use of heat.
When you vape or smoke kief, it gets automatically decarbed from your lighter or the heating element within the vaporizer.
Why Decarb Kief?
Is first decarbing kief necessary when making edibles? Not necessarily. Homemade edibles can be cooked or baked without having to decarb the kief or flower beforehand, but the results may be less potent. By decarboxylating your kief or cannabis buds first, you ensure that as many cannabinoids as possible are activated and that nothing goes to waste.
How to Use Decarbed Kief
After it’s decarbed, kief can be used in many different ways.
- Edibles: One of the easiest methods of consuming kief is to simply sprinkle it on top of a finished dish, like a salad, pasta, or piece of toast. It can also be an excellent addition to smoothies or hot beverages like coffee or tea, and there’s even a drink called Bhang that originated in India and is commonly made with cannabis and kief.
- Capsules: You can fill capsules with decarbed kief, which can be a discreet and handy way to microdose THC or CBD.
- Topicals: Adding decarbed kief to topicals and other cosmetics products can deliver beneficial cannabinoids to the skin and hair. Simply mix your decarbed kief into your favorite shampoo, skin lotion, or massage oil.
How to Decarb Kief: Step-by-Step Guide
There are a few different ways to decarb your kief, but the most common and easiest way is with an oven and a few more materials. Here’s how to quickly decarb your kief at home:
Materials
- Conventional or toaster oven
- Kitchen thermometer
- Parchment paper
- Oven-safe pan or container
- Digital food scale
- Kief
- Aluminum foil
Steps
- Preheat your oven to 240°F. For maximum accuracy, use a purpose-made kitchen thermometer placed inside your oven.
- Place a layer of parchment paper on top of an oven-safe pan or container.
- To keep track of potency, use a digital food scale to weigh out your kief.
- Spread the kief on top of the parchment paper in an even layer to avoid mounds or clumps.
- Carefully wrap the top of the container with aluminum foil, then place it in the preheated oven.
- For THC-dominant flower, bake for 30 – 35 minutes. For high-CBD flower, bake for 45 – 55 minutes. Why? CBDA is slower to convert to CBD than THCA to THC.
- Remove the dish from the oven. Keeping the foil on the top, allow it to cool completely.
- Open the foil and take a look—the kief should have darkened slightly and may have melted a bit into a resinous pool.
- Enjoy immediately or store it in an airtight container and place it in a cool, dark place to keep it fresh for weeks.
If you’re more of the hands-off type, you can always invest in a decarboxylation machine, which takes the guesswork out of the process and can ensure that your plant material is decarbed at exactly the right temperature and for exactly the right amount of time.
Shop Quality Kief at Takoma Wellness
A unique product with a history that reaches back centuries, kief is a true mainstay in the cannabis world. The OG concentrate, it’s strong, tasty, and versatile, making it a go-to potency booster.
Want to try some quality kief but don’t want to wait for your grinder to fill up? We’re here for you. Head to our DC dispensary to chat with our knowledgeable team about all things cannabis and find the kief product that’s right for you. At Takoma Wellness, you can stock up on quality kief, artisan-grade flower, high-quality edibles, vapes, concentrates, and so much more. Say hello in person or browse our online menu and place an order for convenient same-day delivery or pickup.
Kief is a potent and powdery cannabis product made from the dried trichomes of flower. Because the trichomes produce the bulk of the plant’s cannabinoids, kief is notably more potent than flower!
Traditionally, kief is pressed into the dense bricks known as hash. But on its own, kief can be sprinkled into joints or onto bowls for a kick of intense flavor and added potency.
If you’re smoking kief, it’s not necessary to decarb it. But if it’s being made into an edible, decarbing it will activate all the cannabinoids and result in the strongest (and least wasteful) product.
Kief is quite a bit stronger than flower. While the strongest flower tops out around 30% THC, weed kief typically consists of 50% – 70% THC.