Trichome Extraction Methods: BHO, Alcohol, Ice Water or Kief?

Resin harvesting means separating the trichome resin from the rest of the plant to make cannabis concentrates. You can do it with butane (BHO, a job for licensed pros), high-proof alcohol, ice water or a simple three-chamber grinder, and each method trades off speed, safety and purity differently.

Concentrates like oil, shatter and wax are made by using pressurized butane as a solvent to strip the trichome resin off the plant. Butane hash oil, or BHO, is the most controversial type of cannabis concentrate because it simply isn't safe for hobbyists to make at home.

Even so, professionally made BHO is the most common cannabis concentrate in legal weed markets. It's the most common because it's the simplest, least labor-intensive method out there, but it comes with real risks.

First and foremost, there's a serious chance the butane explodes: a tiny spark is all it takes to set it off. The other risk is toxic butane residue that can stay in the solution and end up in the lungs of whoever smokes it.

High-proof alcohol can replace butane as a homemade solvent to pull trichome resin off your plants safely and cheaply.

The simplest alcohol extraction can take 30 to 60 days to produce a usable tincture. You can speed things up by chilling or heating the alcohol (heating has its own dangers, since alcohol is flammable). That can cut production time down to two days, or even a few hours.

Ice water extraction is a great way to make cannabis concentrates. It's safer, easier on the environment, uses nothing but ice and water, and involves zero chemicals. This all-natural method produces a high-THC bubble hash that's clean and smooth, with no chemical residue.

But concentrates aren't the only way to get the full benefit of your plant's trichomes.

With a three-chamber grinder you can collect and enjoy the raw, dry, super-fine powdered trichomes known as "kief," which naturally sift away from the rest of the bud into the bottom chamber every time you grind.

You can use kief in all kinds of creative ways, from sprinkling it on food to stirring it into drinks or topping off joints and bong bowls, and it packs all the good stuff from the cannabinoids into very little space.

For a medical patient, dabbing trichome-based concentrates with a dab rig can deliver stronger, faster-acting relief than, say, smoking a joint, according to many patients. Dabbing is also the best way to taste the trichomes' terpenes and get the most out of them.

To sum up: trichomes are the sticky resin cannabis plants produce to protect themselves from insects, animals and the sun while they grow.

Ideally, when you consume cannabis you want to take in as many trichomes as possible, since that's where all the plant's medicinal and recreational compounds (like THC, CBD and terpenes) are made, inside the trichome gland heads.

You can separate trichomes from weed with butane (but only if you're a licensed, professional BHO producer), with ice water extraction or with a regular three-chamber grinder, once the trichome gland heads start turning cloudy.

And you can enjoy those trichomes by vaping them, dabbing them, taking them as a tincture or just smoking them.