Most cannabis connoisseurs have seen and likely even discussed, in great length, the crystal-like formations that often cover marijuana buds, but not everyone knows what they are called.
This sticky residue that makes flower look so majestic is Kief. It is essentially the resin glands at work to protect the buds from pot-hungry herbivores. But kief is also a product in and of itself. These glands contain large concentrations of terpenes and cannabinoids. Because of this, Keif is one of the most potent components of the cannabis plant.
But is it possible to get CBD kief?
One of the primary reasons that mother nature puts these resins to work is to deter herbivores. The trichomes on the plant protect it by sending the creature on a hardcore psychoactive trip. The animal essentially gets stoned and confused after consuming the crystals, which is supposed to prevent it from moving on to consume the rest of the flower. Of course, this isn’t always a fail-safe shield. But that’s how the system is designed to operate.
Kief is extracted by sifting the crystals through a screen. And since the majority of the plants are THC dominant, it makes sense that kief from these buds is going to be higher in THC than any other compound. But hemp is now a vital part of the medical marijuana market. These plants come with higher levels of CBD and only the smallest traces of the psychoactive.
Yet, extracting CBD-rich kief is not something the average person can do successfully in their home.
“Sifting through the buds of those hemp plants would obviously produce some amazing CBD-rich kief, but you’d also be collecting THC and any other cannabinoids present on the plant,” according to Westword’s Ask a Stoner column. The piece goes on to explain how the extraction process is far more difficult than with cannabis plants.
“The only way to ensure that a concentrate has little to no THC is to separate the cannabinoid from the concentrate during molecular distillation, making it more like wax than kief. Otherwise, manual separation, which is virtually impossible at home, would be needed to remove the THC from the kief. If you want a pure CBD concentrate, try CBD isolate, which comes in crystalline form and can be 99 percent CBD,” the column reads.
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CBD isolate is the purest form of cannabidiol. It comes in the form of a white powder, which some law enforcement officers in legal states have mistaken for cocaine. But it is the strongest form of CBD that a person can get his or her hands on.
Experts say this is the go-to product for patients looking to get the most out of their CBD experience.
