Charas - making hash with your hands! And what I have learned about Amsterdam Coffee Shops
Apparently, people have been making hash or "charas" this way for thousands of years in India according to a very interesting episode of Strain Hunters I was just watching.
image from herb.co
Charas is made by rubbing the plant with your bare hands until it picks up so much resin that you can then scrape off your hand a very nice product also known as "live resin". This technique is common in both India and Jamaica and you can see the cultures around this method and the cannabis plant in the episodes for each of those countries.
I have just been watching this great docuseries called Strain Hunters on the Green House Seeds Youtube Channel You really need fields of marijuana to be doing this so that is exactly what they did in India. They went to a place in the mountains where there are millions of naturally growing cannabis plants!
This is the episode when they went to India - my favorite so far, this is the one where you will learn the most about charas
Going to Amsterdam for SteemFest
In my excitement for going to Amsterdam this weekend, I have been researching different cannabis shops. One that I will definitely visit is Green House. These are the guys who make the Strain Hunters series as they travel the world to collect native "land races" of cannabis to add to the genetics in their seed bank in Amsterdam.
image from trip advisor
It looks like this location is actually a location very close to the VoksHotel! I will definitely be checking out this location.
It's only a 17 minute walk according to google maps!
Other shops and stops
I will also be going back to the Bulldog to see if they still have 5 packs of White Widow reefers, because that was my favorite purchase last time I was in Amsterdam. But there are several shops near the city center that I will be visiting. Vondel Park is another place I definitely want to go back to as well. The weather will be a bit colder for this trip though so we will see about that!
*image of Vondelpark from traveldigg.com
This time I have done more research so if I can, I will also make my way by bus to the The Stud Coffeeshop, which is one of the ones that kept popping up in my research that I hadn't been to or even heard of. This one is a bit out of the way but their prices look great! I want to go just to see a different part of the city and maybe stock up a bit for my stay!
Oh yeah, I'd also like to go the Ann Frank House and to the Van Gogh Museum, but from what I looked at online, I'm not sure if we will be able to get in to the Ann Frank House. We may focus on going to Van Gogh museum on Monday after we get some goodies from a few coffee shops!
Of course I will take pictures and make posts to record the trip for those of you that can't make it. I'm about to start packing now. For the ones lucky enough to get to make the trip, I will see you in Amsterdam!
Outstanding! I can't wait to read about your adventures and "pot crawl". I'm not knocking pub-crawls but pot-crawls are a new thing...lol
One of the highlights of my cannabis-coaching experiences so far:
Strain Hunters all the way! My favourite!! Best seed bank. I hope you find something "new to you" that's exquisite.
Thanks Rebecca! Whoa! That's awesome! I was hoping I might meet him or Arjan! I had several things that were slightly different than what I had before on this trip. A very successful trip!
Hand rubbing is still used in India, and the smoke is much better and smoother!
Norbu! Thanks for the info! Yet another reason for me to visit India!
You are welcome dude! But how do you get your photo on your avatar as you have done?
Edit: Got it now (Thanks @ausbitbank!) and I have a new avatar pic!
It's the traditional way of doing things but it takes a lot of time to make hash by hand rubbing.
When i have some leaves with thc on i usually make bubble hash with this type of bags: https://amzn.to/2t2z6MO
It works great because it's a cheap and fast way. You only need a bucket, ice and those bags.
I call it Finger Hash, because it builds up on your fingers during trimming. I just trimmed almost fifteen pounds of bud and ended up with almost two ounces of finger hash without even trying. I made some peanut butter cookies with more than a gram each cookie! They are the shit! But I don't think I would want to consume hash that built up on someones hands, think of how much body oils and skin would be in the final product, gross...
doesn't seem gross to me but I am a nature freak and some things that tend to freak others out seem perfectly fine to me. Also I am jealous. Also scissor hash is a good thing