What is Kief and What is it Good For?

Ever taken a close look at a mature cannabis flower in full blossom? Then you’ve undoubtedly noticed the white-hued crystals blanketing the entire plant.

That sugary coating is called kief. What exactly is kief? Technically speaking, it’s the dry pollen from the cannabis flower.

Kief comes from the cannabis flower’s resin glands. It also happens to be the cannabis flower’s most potent cannabinoid. And kief is responsible for that pungent cannabis aroma.

What’s Kief’s Function?

From a biological standpoint, kief actually has a couple of specific purposes.

First, it’s a defense mechanism. When an animal wandering through the woods starts eating a cannabis flower, kief’s intense psychoactive effects intoxicate the critter and dissuades it from eating the entire plant.

Secondly, kief’s pungent odor attracts pollinating insects. And this, of course, helps propagate the organism.

What is Kief Good For?

Now that we’ve covered what kief is let’s dive into what you can use it for. Considering that kief is the potent part of cannabis flower, it’s a good guess these concentrated crystals pack one helluva punch! And that hypothesis absolutely true.

Pure kief, which you get when you separate the crystals from the cannabis plant, is similar to concentrated cannabis extract. But if you’ve purchased concentrated extract or looked into the equipment necessary to produce extract yourself, you know both options are pretty pricey.

Alternatively, you can separate kief from cannabis plant matter yourself, using a couple of simple, inexpensive tools. This, of course, prompts the question…

How Do You Separate Kief?

If you’re looking to separate a small amount of kief, a three-chamber cannabis grinder is your best bet. As you grind cannabis flower, the kief separates from the plant matter and sifts through the screen, settling into the container at the bottom of the grinder.

If you want to separate a larger amount of kief, a silk screen kit is a great option. To collect the purest kief, stack three to five silk screens, each with increasingly smaller mesh, and shake the cannabis through the subsequently smaller screens. This ensures you collect the purest kief.

On a related note, color is a good rule of thumb to measure your kief’s purity. Ideally, you’re aiming for an off-white shade. The greener the resulting kief, the more plant matter you’ve collected, the less pure the kief.

How Do You Use The Kief You’ve Collected?

There are a variety of options, ranging from simple to incredibly complicated. Here are few basic suggestions…

Sprinkle kief on top of a packed bowl of cannabis – Known as “crowning a bowl,” this SIGNIFICANTLY intensifies the effects of smoking the average bowl.

Sprinkle kief into a joint – This is basically the same as sprinkle kief on a bowl, only you’re adding it to a joint. But given that a joint is larger than a bowl and you’re apt to sprinkle in more Kief, the effects are likely to be that much stronger.

Add kief to cannabutter – As the "medicated additive" in most cannabis-infused baked goods, cannabutter is the ingredient that gives your favorite tasty cannabis treats their invigorating effects. And incorporating kief into cannabutter makes the compound all the more potent.