This conversation unfolded as a roundtable—an open, wide-ranging exchange among some of the sharpest minds in modern hash. At the table: Nick Ferrari, part owner of Master Makers; Jeff Graham, CEO of Sitka Hash House; Barron Lutz, Founder and CEO of Nasha; and Zack Vidal, hash maker at FreshPress. Together, they represent different perspectives, methods, and markets—but all share a deep respect for the resin.

“Hash is kinda everywhere right now,” says Adriana Hemans, Marketing Director for The Artist Tree. “People are dabbing it, eating it, rolling it into joints—it’s come a long way from the intense setups and old-school dab rigs some of us remember.”

Hash has evolved. It’s no longer a single product category but an entire spectrum—ranging from traditional concentrates to solventless extracts, edibles like gummies and chocolates, infused pre-rolls, and vape cartridges derived from rosin. Like many dispensaries, The Artist Tree is making a concerted push to expand its hash-focused offerings. “Our Daily Deals are a huge hit,” Hemans says. “Customers can score top-shelf products at 50% off, which gives them room to explore new brands without stretching their budget.”

Hash has long carried an air of mystery, though the fundamentals are straightforward. The cannabis plant contains cannabinoids, including THC—the primary psychoactive compound responsible for its euphoric effects. Hash is a concentrated form of cannabis made by collecting and compressing the resin-rich trichomes (tiny, crystal-like hairs) from the plant, regardless of cultivar. It can range in color from brown and green to deep black, and appears in various forms—bricks, squares, pellets, hand-rolled balls, and even gooey blobs. Because it contains a higher concentration of cannabinoids than traditional flower, hash typically delivers more potent, more immersive effects.

Historically, hashish has been used for centuries across regions of Central and South Asia, the Middle East, and North Africa, with documented applications in medicinal, spiritual, and recreational contexts. Today, that lineage continues—reinterpreted through modern techniques, consumer tastes, and an expanding legal marketplace.

THE ART OF HASHMAKING

Barron Lutz: Hashmaking is an art form because it combines agriculture, chemistry, and craftsmanship all in one. The foundation is genetics and cultivation. If the plant doesn’t produce great resin, no technique can fake it. That’s why real collaboration with farmers matters. From there, the process is all about control and intuition: timing, temperature, handling, separation, drying, and pressing. Tiny variables change the outcome in big ways. Smoking it is special because it completes the loop—you’re not just getting an effect; you’re experiencing the full expression of that plant in a concentrated form.

Jeff Graham: Every step is intentional—from plant selection to sifting and curing. Hash isn’t one-and-done; it demands attention. Hashish making requires patience, care, and intuition. When smoking Sitka hashish, you can feel all that work.

Nick Ferrari: The first thing you need to make great hash is good starting material. Fire in equals fire out. It’s our job to preserve the integrity and quality of the original living plant. We’re very fortunate to work with awesome farms like Mattole Valley, Huckleberry Hill, Whitethorn Valley, Lifted Organics, Alluvium Organics, Wild Leaf Farms, Motley Terps, and Canyon Creek.

Second, you need a good team. Big shout-out to our CEO and founder Mike; our hashmakers, Cole and Drew; our distribution and production manager, Raul; our washing team, Jerry and Ramon; and our packaging team, Roxanna and Celeste. These guys and girls are in the lab seven days a week, and they crush it. Good people make good companies.

Zack Vidal: Making hash can be a back-breaking ten-hour operation, or it can be done with the push of a button. The art is in the knowledge of the skill and executing the best decisions for that plant’s resin. Due to the highly volatile (defined by rapid evaporation) nature of terpenes, the scarcity of hash-specific cultivars, and the lack of standardization, hashmaking stands out as a trade that relies on experience and intuition. Adding a mystique of “knowing” through experimentation. The alluring operation places some hashmaking in the realm of alchemy.

YOUR FIRST TIME

Barron Lutz: I was on a beautiful beach in Goa. I still remember the strain—Bombay Black—traditional hash with an almost shoe-polish-like sheen to it. The experience itself is seared into my memory.

Jeff Graham: I got totally baked at a friend’s house in Remsenberg, Long Island. Two prep school kids, black light posters on the wall, a chillum pipe, Black Sabbath on the turntable— the whole works. It was positively vibrational!

Nick Ferrari: I was processing shatter for my local dispensary in the San Fernando Valley called Daddy’s Pipes back in 2010. They had a limited run of ice water hash made from their famous Daddy’s OG. That was the first time I tried quality solventless hash. At the time, nobody really knew about the product. I paid $160 per gram.

Zack Vidal: In 2008, I was visiting my family in Cannes, France, and got my hands on some prime hashish. I made a makeshift apple pipe fitted with a tinfoil bowl and lit it up—a spicy bouquet of cloves and skunky musk. The effect was deeply physical: sluggish yet stimulating, euphoric, hazy, and dreamy. Time seemed stretched, every moment fluid. The hash was conjuring a spell that would last a lifetime.

WHY HASH, WHY NOW

Barron Lutz: Better hardware, better education, and access to higher-quality inputs. From an international perspective, it’s more that the culture in the U.S. is catching up. Hash has always been “hot” across much of Europe, Africa, and Asia. Consumers here are also becoming more educated about hash and how to consume it.

Jeff Graham: Hash reverberates with authenticity; it was one of the earliest forms in which cannabis was consumed in human history. With hashish, there’s ritual—a throwback to the ’60s era of love, peaceful protest, heady music, human harmony, and connection.

Nick Ferrari: Timing is everything. First, a lot of farms are shifting from harvesting flower for dry buds to fresh-freezing them. This allows for greater hash production, bringing prices down for the end customer and making it accessible to more people. Second, end users are becoming more educated about rosin and how to consume it.

Zack Vidal: With an abundance of flower in the marketplace, the opportunity to experiment has attracted a more adventurous smoker— someone looking for something new, exciting, and more potent. Technique and technology have also provided efficient and convenient ways to indulge. And in the age of social media, the clout of being a connoisseur has accelerated, where expertise in such a prized vice can make you “heady.”

YOUR HASH PRODUCTS

Barron Lutz: Nasha is best known for its traditional pressed and unpressed hash, including classic styles like temple balls, along with ice-water sep- aration that preserves the full character of the plant.

Unpressed hash is loose, freshly sieved resin—left as-is, sandy and granular. Pressed hash takes that same resin and applies heat and pressure, transforming it into a cohesive mass, from soft and pliable to dense, glossy bricks or hand-rolled balls. The process shifts the texture and subtly deepens the expression.

It’s all about delivering an experience that’s flavorful, consistent, and always solventless—meaning the resin is separated using mechanical methods, not chemical solvents. No butane, no propane, no lab processing—just screens, ice water, pressure, controlled temperature, and sometimes even bare hands. The result is hash that reflects the plant as purely and transparently as possible.

Jeff Graham: At Sitka, everything starts with dry-sift hash—the purest form of solventless. Differentiated from other concentrates, Sitka hash is traditional-style hashish made from the best mature trichomes—those sparkly little resin glands on the buds. We hand-work it, cure it, and finish it with a special technique that locks in a burst of terpene-rich flavor. Sitka’s Classic Line includes one-gram hash, hash-infused joints (20% hash), and the Sikar, a cigarillo-style hash roll.

Nick Ferrari: At Master Makers, we cater exclusively to solventless and produce to the highest standards. We offer three lines of dabbable rosin, starting with our entry level. Our Full Spectrum line serves as an introduction to Master Makers and rosin in general. Next is our Signature Line, composed of tier-one hash. Finally, we have our Reserve Line—some of the best rosin on the market. We also offer Signature and Reserve versions of our half-gram all-in-one vape pens and are in the process of releasing live rosin gummies and hash-infused pre-rolls.

Zack Vidal: Fresh Press is a premium indoor, small-batch, single-source, solventless live rosin hash. Our live rosin is made using only ice, water, heat, and pressure, all processed by hand in small batches to preserve high-quality trichomes. As we pop seeds and breed our own genetics, we’re constantly pheno-hunting for unique terpenes and hash-specific strains that will contribute to the legacy of this magical plant. We produce both cold-cure rosin and all-in-one rosin vapes.

THE PERFECT HIGH

Barron Lutz: Euphoric and elevated—but not sloppy. It’s the kind of effect that feels bright, present, and expansive, with a comfortable body warmth underneath. For us, great hash doesn’t just hit hard. It feels balanced and satisfying, where the flavor and the feeling arrive together, and the experience stays enjoyable from start to finish.

Jeff Graham: It’s not just about getting high; it’s about feeling connected to something bigger. You’re not just high—you’re in tune and elevated.

Nick Ferrari: Euphoric, relaxed, and sedative.

Zack Vidal: I prefer a more stimulating high—exhilarating, euphoric, inspired, and a little goofy. Flavor matters, too. The way the aroma translates to taste is a huge factor in my overall experience.

FAVORITE WAY TO PARTAKE

Barron Lutz: I like hash in a joint. I also enjoy using a classic chillum—a straight pipe with no bowl, no carb, and no moving parts. One end is packed with cannabis; the other goes directly to your lips. It’s tradition and nostalgia. It’s social, it’s familiar, and it’s one of the most satisfying ways to enjoy hash slowly.

When I want the cleanest, quickest expression, I’ll reach for a simple glass hash pipe (the multi-hole style). It’s efficient, it’s direct, and you really get the flavor without a lot of extra steps.

Jeff Graham: Our Sitka Dome is hands down my favorite way to smoke hash. It’s slow, intentional, and really lets the hash speak. You’re not torching it; you’re gently letting it smolder. What you get is this rich, smooth, vapor-like smoke that carries every layer of flavor we’ve spent years crafting. It’s visual, tactile, and turns smoking into a ritual.

Nick Ferrari: I’ve been using the Dr. Dabber Switch 2—it’s definitely getting the job done. You can’t go wrong with a classic rig and slurper setup.

Zack Vidal: I like using a dab rig, preferably with a terp slurper-style banger. It offers superior heat retention and increased circulation, allowing you to get more out of each hit while reducing excess heat and savoring the concentrate. The slurper creates a vortex that pulls the rosin up through the quartz, while spinning glass pearls help evenly distribute the melted oil of hash. I can inhale more vapor in one breath, efficiently getting as much flavor as possible.

FRENCHY CANNOLI: HASH GURU

Barron Lutz: Frenchy was a friend and mentor. He was a huge advocate for traditional hash. We worked together multiple times; his knowledge was foundational to the growth of Nasha. He was the first to really show us that resin starts with the grower, the environment, and the cultivar.

Jeff Graham: Frenchy was a force—a hash wizard. He never stopped learning, never stopped teaching. We spoke several times to discuss the process and the heritage of hash. His passion lit a fire under a lot of us. He reminded us that hash is more than something to smoke—it’s something to glorify and respect.

Nick Ferrari: In 2012, I was at a High Times Cannabis Cup and got separated from my friends. Walking alone, a guy yelled at me from a booth and asked if I liked hash. He gave me a 15-minute lesson on the process of making it. He was clearly passionate about what he was doing. Years later, I realized that guy was Frenchy Cannoli. He wanted to educate people about hash, and I’m so grateful to have received a lesson from him.

Zack Vidal: Frenchy has always been a huge inspiration to me. He’s the godfather of modern hashmaking, and his contribution to cannabis history is legendary. What made him different was his use of language—his ability to describe and conjure the beauty of hash in words, romanticizing the plant, evoking its mystic qualities while grounding it in its simple but delicate practice. Frenchy paved the way for someone like me. I try to continue his legacy by inspiring and educating people about the craft of hash.

The next time you’re in Ukiah, make time to visit Heritage Mendocino’s hashery. The world’s first public hashery operates much like a brewery or coffee-roasting facility. Customers can view solventless hash being produced inside a state-of-the-art manufacturing space.

Once there, you’ll witness the Heritage team—including Laura Bell, aka Cherry Blossom Belle, the former apprentice of the legendary Frenchy Cannoli—creating hashish alchemy. They work the agitation machine, spinning cannabis with ice and water before letting it rest for 10 to 30 minutes so the material can fully hydrate without becoming brittle.

A single batch takes roughly three hours of mixing, followed by another two to three hours of processing to produce potent bubble hash—the result of a cold-water extraction method using ice water and filter bags or screens to separate resin from plant material. It’s fun to watch. Cannabis flower is combined with ice water inside “bubble bags,” fine-mesh sieves that separate plant matter from resin-rich trichome glands. The trichome heads freeze in the ice water; when agitated, they break off the plant and pass through the screens. Packaging and labeling require an- other two hours, bringing the total to about eight hours of work, with a team of four operating at once.

“There’s something magical about making hash,” Belle said. “Seeing the resin heads pop and transform never gets old. It’s a craft that connects me to the roots of hashmaking.”