Hemp shake is the nickname given to what’s left at the bottom of the bag after you’re done with your hemp buds. Some people just throw the hemp shake away – completely unaware of its potential.
Let’s start by explaining what hemp shake is. Essentially, cannabis or hemp shake is the leftover buds, leaves, and stalks that remain at the bottom of the bag after you’re done – like leftover crumbs so to speak. And while shake is just a mix of the good stuff in the bag, many people don’t like it as it looks neglected and is a far cry from those delicious, puffy, trichome coated flowers. Shake comes from the CBD buds being handled a lot, but it shouldn’t be thrown away or discarded as there’s a bunch of things that can be done with it.
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There are those (usually the penny pinchers among us) who love shake. For that matter, coffeeshops in Amsterdam as well as some dispensaries in North America, actually save the shake from their jars and sell it in small bags when enough is collected. And that’s exactly what gave this writer the idea for a “dedicated shake jar” some months ago, and I’ve never looked back.
I used to throw the shake from my hemp away until I realized that was a bad idea. Shake bags are always cheaper than buying hemp flowers and often contain a range of different strains that have been collected. In Amsterdam, for example, some coffeeshops sell Indica and Sativa cannavbis shake bags at a reduced price. They collect the broken off flowers, leaves, and twigs from the cannabis containers and then bag them up instead of throwing them in the garbage.
Back to that shake jar I was telling you about. I have a small glass jar on my desk, and every time I come to the end of a batch of CBD flowers (which I vaporize) I toss the end of the bag goodies into this jar. After a few weeks, I find that I have in the order of 3-4 grams of shake at my disposal, and that comes in handy when I’ve run out of buds.
Shake is also used by dispensaries to make pre-rolled joints that can also be purchased. Shake is easier to roll with than large buds as it’s already ground up. It also burns particularly well as it’s usually drier than hemp flowers.
However, you need to be careful when buying pre-rolls made from cannabis shake as some dispensaries will put the worst quality stuff in those as it can’t be seen or detected easily. If there are too many twigs, leaves and stems in the shake and not enough bud, the experience will be a harsh one and also less effective.
Shake gets a bad rap when it comes to reputation. However, bear in mind that shake is simply smaller pieces of buds that have broken off and sit at the bottom of the bag. The issue is that due to being older, shake is usually somewhat dry and doesn’t smell very pungent. The other problem is that due to a larger surface area, shake oxidizes much quicker than buds and that leads to faster degradation.
Also, make sure not to get confused between “shake” and “trim.” Shake is the bottom of the bag buds and leaves; trim is the discarded plant matter that is manicured from the flowers after they have been harvested and dried. Trim is way less potent and less tasty than shake and should never be sold nor consumed as it’s of substandard quality.
The next time you come to the end of your bag of top-shelf hemp flowers, instead of throwing the contents there away, simply throw them into a dedicated shake container, which should be airtight, preferably made from glass and kept out of light. After a while, you’ll have a decent collection of a mix of different buds that could compliment each other nicely.
You can then smoke, vape or ingest that shake via edibles, as shake makes awesome cannabutter if done right. Always ensure that the CBD flowers you purchase come from reputable vendors and are tested by a third-party lab for potency and safety.
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