Kief is the fine, sandy powder that collects at the bottom of your grinder. It’s made of trichomes, the tiny resin glands that cover cannabis flower and give it that frosty, sparkly look. Those glands are where the plant keeps most of its cannabinoids and terpenes, so kief is a concentrated form of the good stuff.

If you’ve ever opened the bottom of a four-piece grinder and found a layer of golden-green dust, congratulations, you’ve already collected kief. Read on for where it comes from, how to collect more of it, and how people use it.

Where Kief Comes From

Look closely at a nug of good flower and you’ll see it’s covered in tiny crystals. Those are trichomes. Under magnification they look like little mushrooms: a stalk with a round head on top. The heads hold the resin, and the resin is where you’ll find THC, other cannabinoids, and the terpenes that give each strain its smell and flavor. If you want to go deeper on terpenes, our terpene guide breaks them down strain by strain.

Trichome heads are fragile. When dry flower gets handled, tumbled, or ground, some of them break off. Gather enough of those loose heads together and you have kief.

Kief vs Hash

Kief and hash come from the same place. Kief is the loose powder. Hash is what you get when kief is pressed and worked together, usually with some heat and pressure, into a solid block or ball. If you’re curious how hash oil differs from both, we cover it in what is hash oil.

How to Collect Kief

Use a Grinder With a Kief Catcher

The easiest way by far. A three- or four-piece grinder has a fine mesh screen under the grinding chamber. As you grind, trichomes fall through the screen into a bottom compartment. Over a few weeks of regular use, that compartment fills up on its own.

A few tips to collect more:

• Grind dry flower. Sticky, moist bud holds onto its trichomes.
• Give the grinder a few gentle taps on the table after grinding to shake more kief through the screen.
• Some people drop a clean coin into the middle chamber. It tumbles around while you grind and knocks more trichomes loose.
• Use the little scraper that comes with most grinders to gather the kief from the bottom chamber. Go easy on the screen so you don’t tear it.

If you’re still deciding whether a grinder is worth it, we wrote about why you should grind your weed.

Use a Silk Screen or Sifting Box

People who want to collect a lot of kief use a sifting box: a box with a fine screen stretched across it and a tray underneath. You rub dry flower or trim lightly across the screen, and the trichomes fall through. Finer screens let fewer plant bits through, so the kief comes out cleaner but in smaller amounts.

Buy It

Collecting kief at home takes time, and the quality depends on what you’re grinding. Some dispensary menus carry kief on its own or kief-infused pre-rolls. Ask at the counter or check today’s Federal menu and Broadway menu to see what’s available.

How to Use Kief

Top a Bowl

The most common way. Pack a bowl of flower as usual, then sprinkle a pinch of kief on top. People call it a “snowcapped” bowl. Light from the edge rather than straight down onto the kief, which can burn fast.

Add It to a Joint or Blunt

Sprinkle a thin line of kief along your ground flower before you roll. Some people roll the finished joint in a little extra kief on the outside, but that tends to burn unevenly and waste some. If you’re rolling a blunt, our guide on how to smoke a blunt covers the basics.

Press It Into Hash

Warm a small amount of kief, press it, and work it between parchment until it holds together. That’s the simplest form of hand-made hash.

Cook With It

Kief can be infused into butter or oil the same way flower can. Because it’s more concentrated, a little goes a long way, and it’s easy to make something much stronger than you meant to. If you’re baking at home, start with very small amounts, label everything clearly, and store it locked up in a labeled container, away from pets. Our post on choosing an edible for your experience level is a good gut check before you start.

Is Kief Stronger Than Flower?

Generally, yes. Kief is mostly trichome heads, which is where the plant’s cannabinoids are concentrated, so a pinch of kief carries more punch than the same amount of flower. How much more depends on how clean the kief is: the more plant material mixed in, the closer it gets to regular flower. Either way, use less than you think you need, wait a few minutes, and go from there.

Storing Kief

Store kief the same way you’d store flower: in an airtight container, away from heat and light. A small glass jar works well. Trichome heads break down over time, especially with heat and light, so fresh kief tastes better than kief that’s been sitting in a warm grinder for months.

A note on concentrates. Concentrates are much stronger than flower. Overconsumption of marijuana concentrate carries potential risks, including: psychotic symptoms and/or psychotic disorder (delusions, hallucinations, or difficulty distinguishing reality); mental health symptoms/problems; Cannabis Hyperemesis Syndrome (CHS) (uncontrolled and repetitive vomiting); and cannabis use disorder/dependence, including physical and psychological dependence. Start low, go slow, and ask a budtender if you have questions. For adults 21 and older.

Questions? Ask a Budtender

If you want to talk grinders, kief, or what flower collects the most trichomes, stop by either Lit store and ask at the counter. Our budtenders love this stuff.