If you’ve ever broken down your CBD-rich hemp flower in a three-part grinder, you’ve probably noticed the fine, earth-colored dust that collects at the bottom chamber, which is widely referred to as CBD kief.
You may be familiar enough with kief, and that it’s some of the most concentrated parts of hemp flower. But how do you use kief?
CBD-rich kief may seem like an unusual part of the hemp flower, but it is actually incredibly versatile and useful; so much so that even hemp flower companies know not to let this stuff go to waste, and instead will either sell it alone, or combined with other hemp flower products.
As more hemp flower products are becoming more available, kief may become a hot product in the next year, so it’s good to know the most quality products. Here is our take on some of the best CBD kief brands in 2020.
Best CBD Kief Brands
CBD Kief from Black Tie CBD
Black Tie CBD is a company that’s built a reputation for not only quality customer service, but of course quality hemp flower, as well, and they offer a staggering variety of hemp flower products including CBD shatters, CBG isolates, and Afghani hash.
Black Tie reports that their kief tends to be especially high in the terpene nerolidol, which can be either woodsy or floral, and in these strains, it’s more so the latter, as you often get notes of rose and apple.
Nerolidol may possess both antimicrobial effects, and according to this 2013 study that focused on the hippocampuses of mice who ingested nerolidol, it may also possess calming, sedative effects.
If you want to try a concentrate that’s both affordable and approachable, start with Black Tie CBD’s kief. And if you’ve tried Black Tie’s hemp flower before, we encourage you all the more to try it, as they currently offer their kief in six strains, including Apple Strudel, Orange Cookies, Mothership #2, BubbleGum, Bleu Cheese, and Candyland.
$15.99 for .035 oz
Total CBD: 28.66%
Beta-Myrcene: 1.07%
Alpha-Pinene: .20%
Beta-Caryophyllene: .15%.
CBD Kief from Fern Valley Farms
When it comes to hemp flower distributors, Fern Valley Farms gives you the epitome of value, and that value gets all the better with their kief, which is blonde, fluffy, and only $10/gram, but the more you add, the better a deal it is: 2 grams is $17, a half-ounce is $60, and an ounce is $110.
Fern Valley Farms extracts their kief by grinding up the hemp and shake with an industrial grinder, and in an ultra-fine screen roller, the hemp is rolled with dry ice, which freezes off the trichomes. The finest kief is then sifted through the screen, and is ready to be packaged.
While their process with hemp flower is sophisticated, the good old folks at Fern Valley Farms keep its application simple, and especially recommend that you either sprinkle this kief over a packed bowl or into a loaded joint.
If you want good quality at a great price, Fern Valley’s kief is your go-to guy.
$10.00 for 1 gram
$17.00 for 2 grams
$60 for ½ oz
$110 for 1 oz
Hemp Cigarettes from Mr. Hemp Flower
If you would rather have a kief product that offers more convenience than freedom to experiment with its uses, Mr. Hemp Flower offers CBD kief in the form of hemp cigarettes.
Note that these cigarettes contain no nicotine or tobacco (as a spliff would), but just pure hemp flower that was cultivated and harvested in sunny Oregon.
These hemp flower cigarettes are also great because they have a wide appeal: if you’re quitting smoking, these cigarettes feel similar enough to the real thing that it can help take off the edge; the high concentration of CBD in each of these cigarettes may help, as well.
However, these cigarettes may also appeal to those who simply want the smoothest smoking experience, and with their ultra-fine cigarette filters and smooth-burning paper, they bring just that.
$24.99 for 1 pack of 20
$64.99 for 3 packs
$205.99 for 10 packs
*terpenes and CBD not listed*
CBD Kief from CBD Hemp Direct
CBD Hemp Direct is another vendor that offers not only quality in their kief, but options, to boot!
Currently, CBD Hemp Direct is offering kief from some of their most popular strains: Juicy Fruit, Casino Cookies, and Honolulu Haze.
Juicy Fruit may be the lowest in CBD at 17%, but it’s a tasty strain that’s high in terpenes like alpha-bisabolol, which is known for its anti-inflammatory properties, as observed in this 2009 study. Casino Cookies, meanwhile, is more on the sativa side, and boasts a 24% CBD potency, plus it’s high in the terpene alpha-bisabolol, which is known for its anti-inflammatory effects. Honolulu Haze, meanwhile, offers the midway level of CBD at 21%, and is sweet and rustic and just a little smokey with a fresh, grassy aftertaste, revealing an entire spectrum of flavors.
CBD Hemp Direct typically lists 1.5 g of their kief for $25, but at the moment, each strain is on sale for $20, and on top of that, you can get all three as a sample for $54, and that’s still with 1.5 g each!
$24.99 for 1.5 g
Juicy Fruit: 17% CBD
Casino Cookies: 24% CBD
Honolulu Haze: 21% CBD
CBD Moon Rocks from Plain Jane CBD
Moon Rocks take kief to a whole new level of enjoyment. Moon rocks are simply top-quality hemp flower buds that have been coated in a sticky, THC-free concentrate before being rolled around in kief.
While Moon Rocks are by no means a product done only by Plain Jane, they definitely do it right; to the point that they contain a whopping 45% CBD!
$19.99 for 3.5 grams
Total CBD: 44.9%
Hemp Pollen from Starseed Botanicals
The kief from Starseed Botanicals may not be the cheapest on the list, but its texture, flavor and strain quality still make it a solid bang for your buck.
According to the site, Starseed Botanicals gets their kief from the classic strain Sour Space Candy, which is cross-bred with Early Resin Berry and Sour Tsunami to create this interstellar treat. With notes of both astringent fruit and sour diesel, this hemp flower strains offers an aroma that’s truly out of this world, and with the kief, it’s even more fragrant.
Fans of this brand of CBD kief tend to especially enjoy it by topping off or “crowning” their bowls, frequently remarking in reviews on how just a little pinch is enough to totally enhance your hemp flower experience. Also keep an eye out for their sold-out hash!
$35 per gram
Total CBD: 28.56%
*terpenes not listed.*
CBD Moon Rocks from Btown CBD
While Mr. Hemp Flower eliminates the guesswork for CBD fans with their kief cigarettes, Btown CBD encourages hemp flower users to play around with their moon rocks; aside from using it to enhance bowls or joints, they suggest that you can take the CBD experience even further by adding .5-1 g of CBD isolate.
The base of these moon rocks is their indoor strain of Special Sauce, which is the flagship of its breeder, Oregon CBD, and possesses notes of sweetness and hops, and leaves the mind feeling relaxed and ready to be creative.
The best of these nugs are rolled in full-spectrum hemp oil before being dipped in CBD kief, and the result of this process is moon rocks that are organic, loaded with terpenes, and exceptionally tasty.
$24.99 for ⅛ oz
$49.99 for a ¼ oz
Total CBD: 30-40%
Benefits of Hemp Flower
Hemp flower is the flowering bud that grows from female hemp plants, which are closely related to the cannabis plant.
While both hemp flower and cannabis possess a similar array of beneficial terpenes and phytocannabinoids, their most discerning difference is that hemp flower doesn’t contain enough of the psychoactive phytocannabinoid THC to get the user high.
Phytocannabinoids are special components which have an interesting reaction with our bodies: when we inhale or ingest hemp flower, phytocannabinoids enter the endocannabinoid system, which is an important series of receptors known to maintain balance in the body by adjusting mood, stress, appetite, pain, and sleep.
The endocannabinoid system does this by creating and dispatching transmitters known as cannabinoids. This is important, because phytocannabinoids are, put simply, cannabinoids derived for plants, so when the endocannabinoid system recognizes them in the body, they are absorbed and used to strengthen functions.
Terpenes, on the other hand, are a series of organic compounds found in plants, and are believed to protect flora from foraging animals.
Terpenes tend to come with distinct aromas, and are what give fragrance to herbs such as hops, lavender, oregano and hemp flower.
Sweet smells aside, terpenes may also possess their own benefits, and may be helpful against anxiety and inflammation, as well as kill bacteria.
From chronic fatigue to diverticulitis, individuals have proclaimed a great deal of anecdotal evidence, but for many instances, research is still in its infancy.
That being said, here are some uses of hemp flower with some of the fastest-growing research.
Anti-Inflammatory and Pain Relief
Chronic and acute pain is arguably the most common reason people seek out hemp flower, especially for inflammatory autoimmune conditions like fibromyalgia and arthritis.
This 2009 study purported CBD to have a bright future in anti-inflammatory medicine, while this study observed that hemp-derived CBD reduces inflammation by regulating cytokines, which are proteins known for signaling inflammatory responses.
Despite increasing anecdotal evidence, it’s still recommended that patients with diagnosed severe inflammatory conditions talk to a medical professional before trying hemp flower as part of their medicinal regimen.
Stress Relief
There is also an increasing amount of evidence that hemp flower may help reduce symptoms of stress.
One group of studies, for instance, showed that CBD has reduced symptoms of several anxiety and stress disorders, including post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) and social anxiety disorder (SAD).
Meanwhile, according to studies conducted by the National Institute on Drug Abuse, CBD has appeared to ease symptoms of generalized anxiety in animal studies.
Sleep Aid
Likely in conjunction with its purported calming properties, hemp flower may also help improve the quality of sleep.
In one 2014 review, it was observed that CBD derived from hemp flower improved the quality of REM sleep in patients with Parkinson’s disease.
Meanwhile, a 2017 study showed that CBD can reduce REM behavioral disorder, or RBD, and more recently, research from 2019 focusing on subjects with anxiety and poor sleep found that after one month, 79.2% of the patients reported lower anxiety levels and 66.7% reported better sleep.
What is Kief?
Kief, which is often also referred to as “keef” or “kif,” looks like a light dusting of powder or pollen, but it's actually an extremely concentrated part of the hemp flower.
Kief is found in the fuzzy coating of hemp flower trichomes, and while they may appear to have a powdery texture, they are actually resins, which are more like tiny crystals, and they tend to loosen and fall into the kief catcher in a three-part grinder when hemp flower is put in it.
If you enjoy strains of hemp flower that are rich in cannabinoids and terpenes, but want to stay on a budget, kief can be an excellent option, since they’re so highly concentrated.
Not only is kief something that you can collect when grinding your hemp flower, but you can even purchase it from hemp flower sellers for an affordable price.
Conclusion/Takeaway
If you enjoy concentrated forms of hemp flower, but want to get the most bang for your buck, you may especially enjoy kief. Kief is affordable, easy to incorporate, and offers ultra-concentrated levels of phytocannabinoids and terpenes.
You can save your own kief by breaking down hemp flower in a three-part grinder, but as hemp flower becomes increasingly available, purchasing kief online will get you more in a shorter period of time.
FAQ
Though kief looks like a fine green powder at first glance, it’s actually a crystal. Kief is the crystalline formation found in trichomes, and is concentrated with terpenes and phytocannabinoids.
You can smoke kief on its own, but we recommend that however you use kief, you should incorporate some hemp flower into it in order to sustain a better burn.
That being said, you can use kief to sprinkle over a packed bowl, which is called “crowning.” You can also add kief to joints, or even roll kief on the outside of a joint, which is called “twaxed,” or you can add it to edibles along with decarboxylated hemp flower.