The Magic of Dutch Moonshine - Pollinator.NL

SOMA soma
The Magic of
Dutch
Moonshine
Getting Wet and Messy with Marijuana
T
72 HEADS MARCH 2004
he newest craze in the Netherlands and the world of
marijuana connoisseurs for squeezing an infinite high
from a finite amount of ganja or trimmings is called
water hash. It’s a trend that is rapidly catching on with
clever marijuana growers in North America.

Origins of Home
Hash-Making
The whole hash-making craze began with Mila Jansen,
who taught most enthusiasts in Holland the art of
making hash. In 1993, Mila perfected and later marketed
the Pollinator, a clever little device for making pure
hash from marijuana leftovers (trimmings, leaf, and
even whole buds).
In 1998, a water hash process invented in Switzerland
was brought to Amsterdam and Mila was the first on
the block to have one. It didn’t take very long for Mila
and her friends to come up with a much better
process— one that’s now being taught by pot connoisseurs
everywhere marijuana growers and refrigeration
abound.
Mila’s bag screen system called the Ice-O-Lator has
been shipped all over the planet, from Switzerland to
Patagonia, as well as the US. One customer wrote back
that it was the best invention since apple pie. The first
Dutch coffeeshop to have it on their menu was
Amsterdam’s Dampkring, which started selling water
hash like hot cakes under the name Dutch moonshine.
This hash is definitely for experienced psychonauts.
Dub star Lee Scratch Perry came in to the Dampkring
with his wife one night and asked for the strongest
thing on the menu. After smoking some moonshine,
she was so high, all she was able to do was go back
to the hotel.
Anatomy of
a Trichome
Water hash differs from other hash in that it is mainly
made from the top ball of the resin gland, where the
highest concentration of THC is found. With screened
hash you get a combination of balls and stalks of the
trichomes (mushroom-shaped resin glands). The balls
smoke wonderfully, but the stalks are of a much lower
quality.
Interestingly, some strains of cannabis have straight trichomes,
while others have hooked trichomes. Straight
trichomes make the best hash: in the iciness of the
water, the straight trichomes become very brittle, and
the ball breaks off from the stalk and sinks to the bottom,
while the stalks float to the top. Cannabis varieties
that have hooked trichomes (like most skunk
variations) have a tendency to break off at the hooked
section, making part of the stalk sink to the bottom
with the ball. The hash that results from the hooked
trichomes does not what we call "bubble" because of
the added cellulose in the stalks. Hash made from
straight trichomes bubbles like crazy when the flame of
a lighter is held close.
First bag placed in bucket.
Second bag goes inside.
dutch moonshine

SOMA
Making Fine Bubble
Hash
My favorite pot strains for making water
hash are Citral, Shiva, Haze Heaven, White
Willow, Perfect Plant, and Sage. It is very
important to select only the fine trim if
you want the best end product. This
means no big fan leaves and no stems,
and don’t overfill the bags with leaf.
Make sure you have plenty of ice on
hand; the water and ice mixture has to
be kept just above freezing. Now you
need an inexpensive hand mixer, some
paper towels, and of course the Ice-O-
Lator bags from Mila. The bags come in
three different sizes, one that fits a
half-pound, one for a whole pound, and
one for a whole kilo; each correspond
to an increasingly large bucket size.
First, fit the appropriate size bags on
the bucket you’re using, starting with
the finest mesh bag, with the coarsest
bag on top, leaving a space of about
two inches in-between.
Next, start filling your bucket or small
garbage can with your fine trim that’s
been taken off the buds and the tiny
buds from the bottom of the plant. Add
ice and water until it gets cold enough,
with about two inches of space at the
top of the bucket. Let the pot, water
and ice mixture sit and soak for an
hour, then take your hand mixer, and
making sure that you keep it in the
middle (you don’t want to catch the
sides of the bag with the mixing
blades), blend the mixture for about fifteen
minutes. I find that it also helps
to use a wooden spoon with your free
hand to stir the leaf mixture back
towards the mixing blades.
After the first spin, let the bucket sit for
about ten minutes so the glands can
precipitate and the mixer can cool off.
Before starting the second fifteenminute
spin, add more ice if the mixture
is getting too warm. After another
ten-minute break, repeat the fifteenminute
spin one last time. Leave the
mixture sitting for about an hour to let
the trichome balls sink to the bottom
of the bucket.
74 HEADS MARCH 2004
‘‘My favorite pot strains for making water
hash are Citral, Shiva, Haze Heaven, White
Willow, Perfect Plant, and Sage.’’
Pre-game show, water and ice to come.

This hash is definitely for experienced
psychonauts. Dub star Lee Scratch
Perry came in to the Dampkring with
his wife one night and asked for the
strongest thing on the menu. After
smoking some moonshine, she was so
high, all she was able to do was go back
to the hotel.
Water, ice and weed cooling in a chilly bath.
dutch moonshine
X-TRA
GUANO
One step beyond: the
home press
This method works well for pressing about a
half-ounce of resin at a time. It requires some
sort of book press or workbench vice. Basically,
the hash powder is wrapped tightly in mediumthickness
poly plastic in a ball shape, and then
secured with string. This package is wrapped
again neatly in a damp cloth. It is placed in the
press or vice, between two bricks or metal
plates that have been thoroughly heated (they
can be heated in boiling water, this way they
will never get too hot).
The vice or press is tightened slowly, and the
heat begins to melt the trichomes inside the
package. Allowing the heat to work its magic,
the package is squeezed as flat as possible.
Then the slab is removed and cooled before it
is carefully unwrapped. It is then cut into four
pieces, which are stacked and wrapped in plastic
once again for a second pressing.
After two or three tries, if all goes well, the
hash should be a dark, semi-solid mass. It
should be thoroughly dried, then set aside for
a few weeks of curing.

SOMA
Blend into a nice frothy shake.
Take a kitchen strainer and start taking the wet leaf
off the top screen, squeezing the excess water from
the leaf by hand. When all the leaf is taken out, carefully
and slowly remove the top screen by lifting it
straight up, letting the water drain out while only
hash remains in the bag. Take care not to drop any
leaf into the bottom screen with the resin glands.
Now you can begin to see the fruits of your labor.
Drying Your Hash
Next, with extra clean hands, remove the
bottom bag and squeeze the water out
with your hands. In the sink, rinse the
resin glands in the bag under cold water.
At first, the water will be green-brown, but
after a few minutes it should become perfectly
clear. Your hash is cleansed.
Now comes the fun part. Squeeze the
water out of the hash with your hands
and wrap a few sheets of paper towels
around the screen with the hash still
Draining water from the inside bag.
inside. Place a wooden board on top of
the screen and then lightly step on the
board. Keep standing there until no more moisture
76 HEADS MARCH 2004
Strain out the ice and leftovers.

Paper towels absorb the moisture pressed out.
shows up on the paper towels. Then take the
still wet hash and gently fluff it through a
kitchen strainer onto a paper plate. Let the hash
dry for about three days before pressing it or
smoking it. Please, please, make sure the resin
is completely dry. Any remaining moisture will
cause mold that will ruin your hash.
To press your hash, a car or truck jack with a
metal frame works well, but that’s another story.
More and more growers and smokers are enjoying
the pleasures of unpressed water hash. Have
a good time making your own hash, and remember
it all comes out better when you grow it
organically!
Pollinator: www.pollinator.nl
Press through screen to dry properly.
X-TRA
GUANO
The water-hash method takes advantage of the fact that trichomes
(resin glands) are heavier than water, while leaf and stem matter
readily float. This reaction works best at a cold water temperature of
4˚C (39˚F), when trichomes are at their most brittle (that’s why it’s
also referred to as the ice method). Hash-making is usually done in
the winter months, but also because winter is a time when all the
harvesting and trimming has been done, so growers have more time
on their hands (especially in northern climes).
For an optimal extraction:
dutch moonshine
Raisin’ Resin
• If possible, keep weed material in the freezer, fridge or some other
cold place beforehand.
• Have a lot of ice on hand (crushed is best) – you don’t want to
make trips to the store mid-project (covered in weed trash).
• Use proper-fitting screens for your buckets (or proper-fitting buckets
for your screens depending on which piece of equipment you purchase
first).
• Cheap alternative for northerners: instead of ice, use clean snow if
you have easy access to it.
• Remove all stems before proceeding, as they can puncture bags.
• For big jobs, use a drill with a mixer attachment instead of a hand
blender.
• Don’t re-cycle the water more than three times, or your product will
get too funky.
• For efficiency, install a spout at the bottom of your bucket: instead
of having to pour out the remaining water, just drain it by opening
the spout.
• Don’t let wet hash sit in container overnight, or it will begin to ferment.
Spread it out to air dry.
• Keep your equipment clean especially your screens (your biggest
investment). Rinse thoroughly after each use.
• Squeeze water out of remaining weed trash before throwing it out.
Dispose of garbage immediately ideally in an industrial dumpster.
• Let hash cure for 6-8 weeks for optimum flavor (after it is completely
dry, seal in plastic or glass and let sit in a cool place). Fresh hash will
get much better with time.
• The color and texture of your final product can vary greatly according
to the raw materials, ranging from a light beige powder to dark
brown flakes.
• Look under a hand-oupe or microscope to evaluate your final product’s
purity.