What Does Kief Mean?

Have you ever noticed the small green dust particles that hang around after you take your weed nugs out of their storage? Maybe you’ve seen them sticking to the inside of your grinder. Did you know that those dust particles are called “kief,” and they are precious? Kief is a specific type of cannabis, and you should surely try to hold on to it when you can. Seasoned stoners might gasp (maybe even shed a tear) if they catch you wasting it.

Read on to find out what exactly kief is and why you should save it up.

Kief Definition

Kief or keef is the Arabic word for “pleasure,” and you’ll soon know why. Much like sifting for gold, kief is filtered from cannabis buds and is known as the purest form of THC. The purity means it has a high THC concentration and is known for producing one of the most potent marijuana highs.

Kief is fallen trichomes from a cannabis plant. These trichomes have indeed evolved to deter predators from eating the plant. Other plants and insects have trichomes as well, but those trichomes don’t have the same fun effects that cannabis plants have. Instead of munching on cannabis plants, they give predators the munchies, so to speak. Little did the plants know that these trichomes would inspire entire cultures.

What’s the Difference?

After checking out the THC content of most weed strains, you may notice that the highest potency is around 30% THC. Meanwhile, kief can contain 50% to 80% THC. So, yeah, we would say it’s more than a tad bit more potent than your average joint, which makes sense since kief is essentially just trichomes from cannabis plants.

Smokers can also see the difference, as kief will appear very dusty and fine. Weed will appear either in the form of a nugget or ground into chunkier tiny little pieces. Kief is easy to miss and even more challenging to gather but doubtlessly worth the wait and the effort.

How to Use Kief

You may have been collecting kief all this time and didn’t know it. A lot of grinders come in three compartments. That bottom compartment collects the kief that falls through the grinder. While it might be fun to sprinkle those leftovers onto the joint you just rolled, it’s also wise to save it up to roll an extremely potent joint or perhaps brew a delightfully weedy tea.

Kief is also used to make hash, which is an entirely concentrated brick of trichomes. Hash (hashish) is a highly potent form of cannabis that takes away the effort of collecting kief. You can also buy hash on its own.

You can cook your kief! It’s the perfect texture for mixing into some cannabutter or maybe even avocado oil. As if edibles weren’t strong enough, kief will make any ordinary brownie into a life-changing one.

While smoking kief, be careful to pack it tightly or layer it between regular weed to feel its effects properly. It has a bad habit of blowing away or being burned up by the flame.

Side Effects

Keep in mind that the kief you have collected comes from the same weed you would have smoked anyway. So while the effects of weed and kief may be similar, smoking a bowl of pot will not be the same as smoking a bowl of straight kief. Kief will increase the potency and intensity of the high.

Like bud, there are different strains of kief, and if you have been using your grinder to collect kief from different strains of weed, your experience will not be the same as someone else’s. Smokers may want to begin by just sprinkling a little kief on top of the bowl they are smoking to experience its effects. Think of it as adding sugar, spice, and everything nice to your bowl.

Sometimes using the kief might be the last resort when your weed stash is low, or maybe your buddies claim to have rolled a joint with just kief. No matter the reason, it’s always important to know what you’re smoking. If you’re trying to make it to space, kief is undoubtedly one way to experience weed like never before. If you’re looking to try more “kiefy” weed strains, check out White Widow.