Jimi DevineThe 7/10 Holiday Season has arrived and it’s time to celebrate some of the best offerings California hash enthusiasts are smoking at the moment.
This year we’ll focus on the companies as a whole more than any particular strain. We have faith these names will take you to the mountaintop but there is also some cool new weird stuff for the sake of holiday fun.
While many would argue California’s underground cannabis economy has better hash these days, it’s fair to say these producers hold up. The various tech used by the companies on this list to extract cannabis solventless or with hydrocarbons is world-class.
Is there some boofy hash in California since there are so many chads attempting to scale up before they crash their daddy/bitcoin money rocket into the sea? Sure. But you won’t find it with any of this gang! They are crushing it.
Fidel’s
Courtesy of Fidel’s
We had to have the star of our holiday feature in the mix for this list! If you haven’t read it yet, Fidel’s hand-rolled solventless prerolls helped take the world of exotic infused joints into the stratosphere in recent years since he was first introduced to the concept on a trip to Barcelona in 2018. But beyond the heat, the tale of Fidel is a very L.A. story with a few critical years in a Beirut grocery store mixed in.
Kalya Rosin
Courtesy of Kalya Extracts
What more can we say about the multiple-time world champs that we haven’t said in the past as we have covered their adventure in terpenes over the years. There are absolute heaters all over the place with Kalya, be it collabs with Alien Labs, Dancing Dog, Vesuvio, Sabertooth, or Sierra Nevada Cannabis Co, all galactic level heat. Most of the time, if you show up to a room of rosin boys with Kalya in your pocket you’ll have the best hash in the room. Another thing to note this year is Kalya started to release crazy cold cure rosin. It’s a bit more stable for dispensaries and consumers than the fresh-pressed. We love both.
Cali-X
Courtesy of Cali-X
From the streets of L.A. and London, a new hitter emerges on the rec rosin scene in Cali-X and you’re all the better for it. Essentially, Cali-X’s Sales Chief Skyler is also a savage in the washroom and on the press. I once thought a famous hash company taught him in exchange for doing sales for them in the past but they said he just showed up like that. The rosin is so juicy and glorious that you’d think Cali-X was founded with the plan to start squishing hash and not growing heat for the masses. And since Cali-X has a bunch of unique flavors grown in-house the rosin is unique too.
Royal Key Organics
Courtesy of Royal Key Organics
Arcata’s heroes of the heat took a year off to hunt for new exotic cannabis. They were on a search for flavors that will stun us like the M-Con 8 and Grape Royale of the past that L.A. fell in love with. But Royal Key’s quest for the best hash strains on the planet was in mind too as they sifted through their winners. We got a sneak peek of some of the work that’s come out of the last 12 months and we can assure you it’s as stunning as ever. But it’s also worth noting they have completely transitioned to solventless production. Is it tragic to see the hydrocarbon world champs move on? Sure. Are we excited to see their next wave of dabs and flowers hit L.A.? Absolutely.
Feeling Frosty
Courtesy of Feeling Frosty
Be it fancy dinners in San Francisco, a lot of Puffcos owned by the people that work for Puffco, or an exotic hash shelf at a dispensary near you, you’re sure to find some Feeling Frosty hash inside. Now a global leader on the elite concentrate scene, the NorCal based farm is growing their own heat to process and doing collaborations with some of the biggest brands in California. The list includes Lemonnade, Panacea and Powerzzzup. The team has such a good eye for flowers that they’ve been helping judge the Emerald Cup for years.
Hash and Flowers
Courtesy of Hash and Flowers
No company on this list has climbed further up the concentrate power rankings over the last year than the team at Hash and Flowers. The sails already had a lot of wind in them before the big Transbay Challenge 2 win in August. At that point, they needed to switch to rocket fuel. And it’s not just all Honey Bananas, while there is a bunch, they have done wildly fantastic runs of plenty of other flavors recently like the Wilson F3 and Watermelon Zkittelz. Both were absolutely killer.
Friendly Farms
Courtesy of Friendly Farms
Friendy Farms has been one of the most award-winning cartridge companies of the last few years. A couple of Emerald Cups back, six out of their seven entries placed. In addition to their popular carts they also offer both cured and live resins. Keep an eye out for collaborations with Ball Family Farms and Casa Flor.
Vital x Powerzzzup
Brian Malin washing Fly hash. Photo courtesy of Vital Grown.
What do get when you add an organic cannabis leader, one of the cloutiest cannabis companies on the planet, and a strain that dumps hash? Why it must be the Powerzzzup x Vital collab on Fly. According to Brian Malin, a longtime cannabis nutrient entrepreneur and one of the people that wrote the codes for organic cannabis cultivation in California, the strain drops a whopping amount of hash. And even better, it’s not a Papya or GMO cross like so many of the commercial hash strains of the moment are. We asked Fly’s breeder Jason Mejia of Powerzzzup when the first time he knew he had a serious hash strain on his hands. He told us it was when Cookies breeder Jai “Jigga” Chang made water hash from Snowman back in the day and it gushed. They also have Feeling Frosty test their new gear.
Humboldt Terp Council
Apples and Bananas – Courtesy of Humboldt Terp Council
It’s a fair claim that some of the nicest hydrocarbon concentrates of the last year came from the legendary Humboldt Terp Council. Their Solventless efforts are also continuing to pick up steam. But in particular, the Wedding Cake live resin we sampled early this year may have been the greatest expression of dessert terps ever. You can see the quality of the material they have access to deep in Humboldt visible in every jar.
Biscotti
Courtesy of Biscotti
With an ethos of Italian refinement, the team at Biscotti has been producing quality hash for years. One might even argue the product quality continued to improve over the years as the founder got access to better and better material. Biscotti’s hash, rosin, and prerolls are always a great value with way more bang for the buck than the price tag. Keep an eye out for collaborations with companies like Golden State Banana.
710 Labs
Biesel – Courtesy of 710 Labs
One of the biggest names in hash in America, the hype levels in Colorado are even higher, but 710 Labs is plenty respected by California hash consumers. Their lineup of cold water and rosin is not only elite in terms of quality but one of the wider ones you’ll find as they pull from a vast array of house genetics curated to create exceptional renditions of a variety of strains. They’ve also pulled off the direct-to-consumer model better than most at the moment if you have trouble getting out to dispensaries to get your hands on the heat.
Heritage Hash Co
Courtesy of Heritage Hash Co.
Heritage Hash Co is known for turning the Emerald Triangle’s local wares into elite hash. But their recent effort with Huckleberry Hill Farms’ Whitethorn Rose almost swept the commercial solventless categories at the Emerald Cup. Heritage took first place in the water hash category and second in rosin. It was a very spirited debate on the final solventless call. While you’ll hear a lot of deserved hype around the Whitethorn Rose be sure to check out the full spread of Heritage flavors. They have great access to the awesome material you need to make the best hash in the world.
Jungle Boys
Courtesy of The Jungle Boys
The flower tends to come to mind first when you mention the Jungle Boys but their hash efforts over the years have always been impressive. Their @JungleBoysFulMelts page regularly showcases their extraction work in L.A. and now Florida. It’s also fair to call the Jungle Boys’ hash operation amongst the oldest on the list. While not everything in their vast catalog is commercially viable enough to turn into hash, a bunch of it is!
Sluggers
Sluggers will launch July 19, just in time for the MLB All Star Game at Dodger Stadium. Expect some awesome infused prerolls and some chunky regular prerolls worthy of bat references.
Coldfire Extracts
Photo: Jimi Devine
Another brand that had a huge year was Coldfire Extracts. They catapulted themselves up the vape cartridge power rankings over the last year with a ton of yeat offerings. The flavor-loaded cartridges certainly stood out in a sea of less impressive offerings. Not only are they pumping out the heat but Coldfire is also family-owned and operated in Los Angeles.
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