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"Maroc" hashish

C

chrispomer

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Joined
Dec 16, 2004
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Hi,

Due in large part to the U.S./Canadian presence in Afghanistan (or so I assume), quite a bit of Afghani hash has been available in quantity for the first time since.... well, since the '70s I suppose. Way before my time in any case.

These cellophane-wrapped slabs of dark Afghani hash, though not as potent as BHO or even bubble, have a taste and aroma superior to both, IMHO.

That being said, I'm reasonably certain that the tangy/spicy taste and aroma is the result of an adulterant, I'm guessing a blend of local spices, thrown in for that unique flavor.

I believe so because the smell and taste is in no way reminiscent of cannabis, and depending on the batch, the "spicy" taste and aroma fluctuate considerably.

Though I'd prefer it sans the Mazar-e-sharif version of All-Spice, it doesn't particularly bother me since it isn't a "bulking" agent, more of a local recipe I assume. Overall the quality is superb.

Through the same channels, Moroccan hash is now available. It's less expensive than the Afghani, but clearly produced with an emphasis on quantity over quality. Under magnification, small bits of plant matter are visible.

Even so, it packs a respectable and cerebral sativa punch: after 2 modest bong hits, I generally forget to take a 3rd! ;)

What concerns me is the very strong taste and aroma of chocolate and mint/menthol. This isn't a tablespoon of spices added before pressing -- this is a lot of added choco/mint flavor. Almost too much.

My only equipment being a 12x microscope, it's obviously impossible to ascertain what the actual adulterants are, but it seems reasonable that copious amounts of essential oils were added.

Smoking anything isn't good, but smoking essential oil is especially bad, right?

There's also the association between Morocco and the low-quality "soapbar" hash available in the UK and other parts of Europe. I'm starting to wonder if this is just repackaged soapbar...

The texture is softer, more buttery and cake-like than the Afghani, and it's packaged with gold-foil wrapped "Maroc" coins (which correspond, roughly, to weight). In addition, the cellophane is haphazardly marked with various Islamic stamps and stencils; all of which are meaningless to me.

Is anyone familiar with this hash? I'm torn. The sativa high is great and so is the exotic packaging, but (what I assume) is flavoring from essential oils, bothers me from a health standpoint. Not to mention what else might have been added if they're that cavalier about adding flavor.

My experience with hash is simply non-existent. Maybe I'm overreacting... or maybe not. :\

Any thoughts welcome. Thanks for looking.

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Lovely pix!!!%)%)%)

Thats a cool book by the way. I think one of the color pix inside had a huge slab with a gold stamp on it just like the slab of hash.
 
...... I need to find someone who gets this.


EDIT: Nevermind, that looks pretty dirty. I'm not sure I'd consume it, I value my health more than a buzz.
 
I would love to know the exact origins of the hash I consume. I would imagine most is from Morrocco.

Lol@repackaged soapbar. Soapbar is grim, it used to "do the job" but now it seems like the same soap still going around since then (aka shit, old and disgusting to smoke). Dunno about the rest of the UK and Ireland, but all these different pollen type bars are brilliant quality. And apart the contaminated gear (so soul destroying seeing well formed nice buds with this shit on them) theres alot of what is deffo imported bud.
 
All the hash I've ever smoked came from California. Why wouldn't you just get American hash?
 
The 70's was loaded with hash from the east. Came to canada and down through New England. I used to get 2 oz bars for $140. It was nice spicy red hash. There was tons of "blonde" hash around. It was easier to get than reg. weed! Not that that was hard. Oh,the good 'ol days
 
Trust me, if it was soap bar you'd know. After smoking a bowl, not feeling a single fucking thing (except your lungs die a little) you'll know.

Soap bar is absolute dog meat, so is pollen, so is squidgey, and all those variations of it. You don't see no normal weed contaminated with fucking henna & plastic... =/

(sorry to derail)
 
i really wish i knew more about hash, can anyone point me in the direction for some good info?
 
Man I smoke a lot of hash, and the chocolatey flavor is nothing to be worried about. The flavor is one of the joys of smoking high quality middle eastern/african hash.

The main way I test the quality is the consistency and flammability. IF when you're breaking it up it is rock hard and crumbles to powder than it's cut to shit. If you can mold into nice little hash "snakes" when you roll it off the chunk, the quality is most likely OK.

The other test is to put the lighter to it. See how long it takes to smoke/flame up. Pure shit will flame up almost instantly, and any good hash will smoke/catch within a few seconds of a flame being put to it. If you've got the lighter on the hash for 10-15 seconds before it smokes, than you've got some adulterated shit.

Enjoy dude

P.S. how thick is that brick? From the looks of it it looks like at least 100 g...nice!
 
i really wish i knew more about hash, can anyone point me in the direction for some good info?
Click to expand...

Some info about different hash of yesteryear from cannabis culture:

HASHISH
Moroccan

Moroccan hash is the North African staple. It appears anywhere from deep brown to golden yellow and has a spicy leather flavor to it. Almost all Moroccan hash is screened and pressed. Though lower in potency than most black hash, this commercial offering costs less and tends to be more readily available through the years.

Moroccan plants are shorter and designed to grow tightly together, producing a single hemp-like stalk and a fat and dense single cola at the top. It is an apparent Sativa/Indica cross.

Lebanese Red and Blonde

Lebanese is another Sativa/Indica cross of short stature and density. A bit shorter and bushier than the Moroccan, it had a dark reddish hue.

The legendary Red Lebanese hash holds its own place. Red Leb had the distinct pine/juniper flavor and aroma, with a tangy spice leather to the exhaled smoke. It was sharp on the sinuses and nasal passages.

Most Red Leb hash was screened and pressed, except for the legendary Red Lebanese Honey Oil. The famed oil, only available to me from 1973-77, was in a class all of its own. The oil had a sharp juniper/cedar smell to it. It was the most powerful, lung expansive cannabis product that I had ever encountered. We would buy these glass oil pipes simply to find them useless, as no one could hold even the smallest toke of this stuff.

The oil had to be smeared onto a rolling paper or the side of a cigarette, or it had to be chased into a pile of herb with a flame from below. It was truly some of the finest. The home-grown isomerized oils of the 80's were pale in comparison to the great Red Leb.

Lebanese Blonde, the "working person's hash," was a lower grade of hash than the Red, and quantities were less expensive as well. It was less dense, making grams appear larger and giving the illusion of economy. Good Blonde had character, a spicy/woody flavor and aroma, plus a clean, woody taste. The high was a bit more than the Red, furthering the appeal to working people.

Nepalese temple balls

The Buddhists have a saying: "May all beings be happy." They also have a hash to back it up with: black finger rubbings from high in the Himalayas. This was some of my all-time favorite.

Nepalese is among the most cerebral of hashish. A strong yet pleasant head journey packed in every puff. This is some of the happiest hash I have experienced. The taste is spicy/fruity/earthen and among the most enjoyable of hash flavors. Most Nepalese hash is from rubbings, although I have heard from travelers to the area that screened and pressed varieties are available.

Simply put: Nepalese Temple Ball is some of the happiest, fruitiest and most pleasantly flavorful, highest quality hash that I have ever experienced.

Afghanistan & Hindu Kush

Rolling off the great crest of the Himalayas to the west and to the north are an apex of mountainous zones that define the northern borders of Afghanistan and Pakistan. Squished among these is the little region of Kashmir and the Hindu Kush mountains. This area may well be the oldest hashish producing area in the world, perhaps the birthplace of hash!

The plants of the area, the Indica variety, have been manipulated and bred by humans since antiquity. Short, dense and stout, with wide, dark leaves, these plants make the best of their high mountain, short-seasoned environment. They were bred to produce large amounts of easily detachable glandular resin heads, ideal for hashish production. These areas incorporate both rubbed, screened and pressed methods of hashish production.

Afghan hash, and the Indica strain for that matter, possess a much more sedative, dreamy, narcotic effect compared to the Sativa. This is true of the Afghan and Hindu Kush plants grown in the Pacific Northwest since 1978.

I believe more Indicas should be made into hashish, which is where the finer qualities of the Indica appear.

A quantity of Afghan seed was smuggled to the Emerald Triangle in 1978. Commercial production of the strain began shortly after that. There may have been earlier trials with Afghan seed in the region prior to 1978, but none ever made it to commercial production quantities or to public market.


If you can find the book the OP posted that is a good resource as well. I think its called the "book of hashish" or "Hashish" or something like that. (edit: The Book is called Hashish!)
 
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I thought spicy tasting hash was common. Anyways from your description it sounds like very high quality stuff and if its from Afghanistan its probably not cut, with except plant matter other than pure kief. Soapbar is shit they get in the UK, not bomb ass hash that would have you skeed up after two modest hits lol.

Yeah but making your own hash is easy, if you grow kief all your shake and leftovers and make it into hash.
 
More about hash for T_F:

Contributed by SCW:

This article is intended to be a resource for those new to hash making, and is a general survey of the techniques that can be used.

What is hash?

The drug produced by the cannabis plant is principally contained in multi-cellular structures on the surfaces of the leaves and flower parts called stalked capitate trichomes, or multicellular glandular hairs. These structures are shaped like water towers or mushrooms, a ball on top off a stalk. Light glistening off the surface of these translucent structures is what causes the "frosted" appearance of plant parts populated with such glands. The ball structure, or gland head, consists of a number of radially arranged cells which secrete cannabinoid containing oils. The oils collect beneath a waxy cuticle, which occasionally bursts, releasing the oil to form a sticky resin as it dries. This resin may make up the cuticle or the cuticle may be some other substance, the truth is apparently not known. The gland head structure contains the highest concentration of the drug THC, followed by the stalks. The tissues of the plant supposedly contain a small amount of cannabinoids, but it is minimal in my experience, or at least there is little THC content.

The stalked capitate glands are not the only surface structure on cannabis plants. Multicellular sessile or bulbous glands hug the surfaces of some leaves, and are said to contain cannabinoids. In my experience they contribute little to the drug content of the plant. Some authors apparently believe these structures to be juvenile or stunted stalked trichomes. Cystolith hairs are blunt, pointed objects which contain calcium carbonate crystals. They look like faceted traffic cones, and do not have a ball on top. Finally, the plant also produces unicellular hairs, which indeed do look like small hairs. Cystolith glands and unicellular hairs do not produce drug chemicals.

Cannabinoids are chemicals apparently unique to cannabis, consisting of THC, CBN and CBD, and a set of relatives with similar effects, THCV, CBV and CBDV. Many plants contain both sets of chemicals, and in common practice only the first set of abbreviations are used. THC is responsible for the "high" the plant produces, and there are several different versions of THC from different plants. CBN is said to increase the THC effect slightly, and CBD actually blocks the THC effect. CBD can be converted into THC by treating extracted oil with sulfuric acid, a step in the oil trade called "isomerization".

Hash is made by knocking the trichomes off the surface of the plant, by mechanical action typically, and by pressing the glands together into a ball or cake. Depending on the method used, the hash may consist of gland heads and stalks and various contaminants, such as the elements mentioned above, and small bits and pieces of plant tissue. Hash made purely from gland heads is very strong and compresses to a hard plastic-like lump with hand pressure. Hash with a lot of contaminants may require heat and pressure to compact.

The effect of smoking hash can differ from the parent plant, as the heads of the stalked glands may contain more THC in comparison to the side chemicals than the stalks and the tissues of the plant. Hash made only from the heads of the stalked glands is very potent, and can create an uplifting high similar to a vaporizer hit, though deeper and more persistent. As more stalks are added to the hash, the character of the high changes in various ways, though typically good hash has a strong initial rush and a mild, soft letdown. I have found that the varietal character of the parent plants is diminished in hash. The cystolith and hair trichomes add nothing to the high, but may add to the flavor. Essential oils are distributed throughout the plant, making up about 10% of the stalked glands by weight. The essential oil content of the contaminants is apparently not known.

From:

http://www.stonerforums.com/lounge/growfaq/786.html
 
I do remember gettng hash with allegedly the Talban sigil on it. Probably just condensed pipe resn, but good story, no??
 
Thanks for all the replies; very helpful and much appreciated.

Since "chocolaty" tasting hash appears to be common, the concerns I had about the health risk of the added flavor (again, I assume it was added, never smoked weed that tasted like it was grown by Godiva) have been alleviated.

The 70's was loaded with hash from the east. Came to canada and down through New England. I used to get 2 oz bars for $140. It was nice spicy red hash. There was tons of "blonde" hash around. It was easier to get than reg. weed! Not that that was hard. Oh,the good 'ol days
Click to expand...

That's more or less what I've heard as well. However, the "good 'ol days", I think, may be returning. Ask around. My understanding is that hash smuggling by U.S. troops rotating back to the States from Afghanistan has reached near-pandemic proportions. The U.S. military, I suspect, is reluctant to prosecute returning soldiers because they fear it would make an already unpopular conflict even more unpopular.

Paradoxically, the UK and Canada -- despite their far more liberal attitudes toward cannabis -- are busting their own returning troops left and right for padding their footlockers or whatnot with 10 units of Afghani hash. Wonder why?

I thought spicy tasting hash was common. Anyways from your description it sounds like very high quality stuff and if its from Afghanistan its probably not cut, with except plant matter other than pure kief. Soapbar is shit they get in the UK, not bomb ass hash that would have you skeed up after two modest hits lol.
Click to expand...

All the Afghani hash I've encountered has had a spicy flavor. The Maroc tastes like an Andes mint. Potency wise, I think it's a step below the Afghani, but it's clearly sativa-dominant (whereas Afghani is clearly indica). But yes, it certainly is good stuff. One gram will blow the doors off 4 experienced smokers.

The main way I test the quality is the consistency and flammability. IF when you're breaking it up it is rock hard and crumbles to powder than it's cut to shit. If you can mold into nice little hash "snakes" when you roll it off the chunk, the quality is most likely OK.

The other test is to put the lighter to it. See how long it takes to smoke/flame up. Pure shit will flame up almost instantly, and any good hash will smoke/catch within a few seconds of a flame being put to it. If you've got the lighter on the hash for 10-15 seconds before it smokes, than you've got some adulterated shit.

Enjoy dude

P.S. how thick is that brick? From the looks of it it looks like at least 100 g...nice!
Click to expand...

I've performed the same basic tests... It's malleable, holds a flame well, and the texture/consistency is right. It leaves behind a delicate, white ash, and even bubbles a bit.

This particular slab is actually the "odd man out" of the shipment. It weighs (minus the coin and cellophane) 74.8 grams. It must have been pressed at 5 p.m. on a Friday... ;)

Generally, the included coin corresponds to the actual weight; +/- 5%, e.g.:

"5" Maroc coin = 50 grams.
"10" Maroc coin = 100 grams.
"20" Maroc coin = 200 grams
"50" Maroc coin = 500 grams

Afghani slabs may include a simple stamped piece of foil, or a variety of coinage: Soviet-occupation coins from the '80s, modern coins, and even a few ancient ones. The most interesting I've run across is bronze, covered with green verdigris, and is pictured below the Maroc coins: I'm not a coin collector but research indicates that it's an "obol" possibly Thracian (modern-day Turkey), and more than 2000 years old. It's probably worth more than the hash it came with!

Thanks again for all your help!

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WOw man...awesome stuff! (I mean the coins and the hash) From your descriptions it sounds like you've got some primo shit!

I remember reading in "The Great Books of Hashish" (GL finding it- i've been on the lookout for these books for years and have never seen em for less than a few hundred $) that the pressing actually changes the composition of the kief, releasing aromatic compounds such as the spices and chocolate flavors you've mentioned previously.

Though I don't know how scientific that description is, I can confirm that those flavors are not added, but actually are from the hash itself (smoked kief, and resultant hash after pressing....day and night in terms of smell, flavor and overall impression on the palate)

Enjoy dude, I know a lot of people who're envious right now!
 
I had Moroccan hash when visiting southern Spain in the late 90s.

It was excellent, more of a Sativa as I recall and Cannabis is decriminalized in Spain.

Thanks for posting the lovely pics!
 
@tyler fitz: "hashish" by robert connell clark is the authoritative text on hash. it's also what chris's hash is sat on in the photos.
 
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