Dry sift

A concentrate made from the trichome glands of dried cannabis. Dry sift is the least expensive type of concentrate to produce, but one of the most difficult to make. It is obtained by sifting the cannabis through dry screens, the mesh size of which varies depending on the size of the trichomes. Dry sift can be used on its own, mixed with tobacco, or mixed with cannabis buds for added potency.

What is dry sifting?

Dry sift is a concentrate composed of trichome glands, characterized by its soft, sandy texture and appearance. It is not considered an extract because the trichome glands that make up dry sift are mechanically removed from the plant material without the use of solvents. Dry sift can be made at home by sifting and sieving plant material through a screen. Commercial dry sift manufacturers use vibrating screens to process industrial quantities of cannabis.

Trichome glands are the small structures on the surface of plants that produce terpenes and cannabinoids. The trichomes on dried plants can be compared to ripe apples on a tree. The easiest way to remove these apples would be to shake the entire tree and help the fruit fall. By shaking the tree, you apply mechanical energy that allows the apples to detach from the tree and fall to the ground. If you shake the tree hard enough to knock most of the apples down, it’s likely that some branches will fall as well. If you were to collect all the material falling from the tree using a sieve with holes the size of apples, you would capture all the «contaminants» that fell from the tree and ensure that only the ripe apples are filtered out.

Dry sifting is done in the same way. The plant material is shaken over a sieve with mesh size matching that of the trichome glands, allowing the trichomes to fall through the sieve while retaining the plant material that would otherwise reduce the purity of the yield. Trichome glands have a diameter of 20 to 120 microns, which corresponds to the most commonly used sieves.

The larger mesh sizes capture all hair-like trichomes (90–120 microns), while the smaller mesh sizes (20–40 microns) separate the glands from the stems.

The purity of the dry sift depends largely on the size of the screens, the technique used throughout the process, and the moisture content of the plant material. The dry sift can be further refined by «carding» it—that is, gently rubbing it with a card over smaller screens—or even by pressing the low-melting-point sift to make rosin.

How to store dry sift

Depending on their consistency, concentrates are usually stored in a glass or silicone jar or wrapped in parchment paper. Jars are ideal for short-term storage of kief, especially if stored in the refrigerator. For long-term storage, kief should be vacuum-sealed and kept in a glass container in the freezer.

Hashish producers have two main options for making dry sift at home: either using a set of screens or a drum. The screens can be purchased individually or as part of a sifting box, which holds, stacks, and separates the screens for complete functionality within a clean, enclosed box. A drum is a cylinder or mesh drum that holds plant material and sifts it as it rotates, usually accompanied by a container or flat collection surface where the dry sift is collected.

What is full melt dry sift?

The quality of solvent-free concentrates, including dry sift, is generally measured by their melting point. Hashish manufacturers use a star rating system to assess the quality of the hashish. Although there is no universal system, the six-star rating system is one of the most popular among hashish producers. It is also useful for sorting your dry sieve into different grades of quality or purity. A one- or two-star blend is considered culinary-grade hashish, mainly due to the relatively high amount of plant material. A three- to four-star blend, or «half-melt,» is a lower-grade hashish that only melts halfway. A five- or six-star «full melt» is considered the purest form of dry sift that can be consumed on its own.

The six-star rating system is subjective, but it helps distinguish pure, high-quality dry sift. The higher the rating, the purer your kief will be. The lower the rating, the more plant matter it will contain.