What is full melt hash, the star system, and why does it exclude solvents?

Hash enthusiasts and solvent extract heads collide from time to time. Two different categories of extracts are separated by physical processes and culture. Because of this, there are fine lines in the nomenclature to define different products. For example – a certain phrase only applies to one category, but what is Full Melt Hash and why doesn’t it apply to solvent extracts?

Photo courtesy Frency Cannoli.

What defines hashish made from solvent extracts?

Frenchy Cannoli is a household name in the hash community. Before moving to Trichome Paradise in the summer of 2021, Frenchy developed a table of the various concentrate categories. Traditionally, the difference between extracts and hash is based on the process; after all, water is a solvent. A concentrate is no longer hashish when its trichomes (THCa, THC or other cannabinoids) have been chemically dissolved or mechanically crushed. Structurally, a trichome is made up of a resin gland enclosed in a waxy head, and when the resin is removed from its shell it is more of a solute than a hash (suspension).

Water dissolves chlorophyll, sugar, and agricultural salts – the unwanted polar compounds – but does not dissolve THC. Instead, alcohol and alkanes dissolve the non-polar cannabinoids and resins. With hashish, cold water and stirring simply help remove trichomes from the less desirable polar plant substrate. From there, the two media can be separated, collected as solids by mechanical filtration and then gently pressed.

Frenchy Cannoli (pictured) was known to cure hashish in organic cellophane to allow terpenes to diversify and even polymerize into a dynamic profile. Photo by Warren Bobrow.

Half and full melt: A hash scale

It should be noted that there is an odd bit of misinformation floating around in the air, mainly due to color correction vendors (CRC). Contrary to some arguments, however, color is not the golden rule for solvent-free hash or the star system. The final purity is judged more precisely by the way hashish melts, but of course this is not undisputed. Regardless of this, there is a generally accepted definition of full and half melt hash.

When hash is evaporated on a sieve over high temperature quartz (or titanium) and 50 to 75% of the hash melts, it is considered semi-melt in many circles. Half melts can be great and usually cheaper, but they don’t bode well for dabs. But if more than 75% of the hash is vaporized, liquefied, or sublimed, it is considered fully melted hash. In addition, the hash quality has also been divided into a star system.

Six stars, 73u Deadhead OG vaporizes with only oil left, zero coal. Photo courtesy Bret Maverick.

Does the old star system still have ground?

Three- and four-star rated hash is usually half enamel; whereas a five star hash will be a complete melt. Six-star hash is more of an elusive symbol made up of highly pure, intact trichomes. After vaporizing a solvent-free cannabis concentrate, there will almost always be some carbon left behind. However, if less than 5 percent by weight of the material remains after evaporation, the hash can truly be revered as a true six-star rating.

Photo courtesy @Leftcoastc.

Do you agree that rosin is a solvent-free process for extracting cannabis, but that it cannot be categorized into a star system? And what about lime hash oil?

In any case, we have half and full melts and a star system to judge hash quality. That sounds organized, but it’s based on the trichome structure after separation and the amount of residual material (carbon) after it has evaporated. The quality becomes more complex when one takes into account the variety of compounds that many refer to as the full spectrum of cannabis.

Have you ever had the pleasure of dabbing six-star concentrates? Let us know what you think about the definition of full melt hash in th. withe Comments.