Shop for a weed grinder, and you will see chamber grinders with kief-catching features and electric grinders without. This may leave you wondering: “What is kief, and should I save it or smoke it?” Never fear; keep reading for all the information you ever wanted about weed kief.
What is Kief Weed?
When the cannabis plant grows, the flower buds are covered with sticky, resinous glands called trichomes. These crystalline-looking droplets of milky goodness contain THC, CBD, and other beneficial compounds for which marijuana is known. When the cannabis plant is harvested and processed, the sticky trichomes dry out and become kief weed.
Also known as cannabis pollen, marijuana pollen, or dry sift, kief is golden-colored dust that many traditional chamber grinders save in the bottom chamber. Kief weed is typically consumed by mixing it in with weed before sparking up. Kief from weed can also be used to make hash, press rosin, and make moon rocks (buds drizzled with hash oil and rolled in kief).
To Save or To Smoke, That is the Question
Stoner opinions vary widely on weed kief and whether it should be saved for extra oomph, a dry day, or smoked with the rest of the flower as nature intended. I can see benefits to both sides of the argument.
Saving Kief From Weed
If you use a traditional three-chamber grinder, a little bit of kief gets deposited each time you break up flower into the catching chamber at the grinder’s base. While kief falling away from the smokable matter isn’t a big deal when you are looking to blaze, after a decent amount of time, the kief from weed that you have been grinding builds up. And toking on this powdered gold from a variety of strains will definitely give you a powerful buzz.
The drawback is that you need to use an old-fashioned grinder to save your kief. These grinders get gunked up and become difficult to use over time. After a handful of uses, you can expect your three-chamber grinder to stick and not work as well as it did when you first used it.
Smoking Intact Kief Weed
In my opinion, as a seasoned stoner, the days of the three-chamber grinder are numbered, and soon they will be as uncommon as a rotary phone. While chamber grinders still work and do what they are supposed to, the new way to grind with an electric grinder is much easier and faster. Using an electric grinder requires very little hand strength or dexterity, and the kief from the weed gets broken up and smoked with the rest of the flower.
While not ideal for those who like to keep kief as a bowl topping or dry day emergency stash, the ease of using an electric grinder outweighs the novelty of having kief on hand. Some have the same kinds of gnashing teeth as chamber grinders that will still get sticky and stop grinding. Wakit electric grinders and Rollbotz Robokone fillers utilize a proprietary ball and chain technology to ensure a good grind every time.
TLDR Cash Out: What is Kief and Should You Save or Smoke it?
Kief is potent cannabis pollen. Using a three-chamber grinder makes it easy to save your kief but difficult to grind your buds because it gets sticky. If you use an electric grinder, grinding is a breeze, and you get to smoke the kief with the rest of the flower for an extra kick. The choice is yours. I choose electric because I like my long nails and prefer to smoke cannabis as nature intended – intact with a punch.
