Who Invented Bubble Hash?

Every experienced and health-conscious stoner knows that only a few products are as perfect as a bubble hash. Its potency and high versatility are next to none, and regardless of your preferences, you can agree that bubble hash is too good to be true.

So, to whom do we owe our gratitude for this awesomeness? From the Ayurvedic tradition to the late Nevil Shoenmakers, Skunkman Sam, etc., many people have been acknowledged for the important roles they played in transforming the bubble hash into what it is today. But who is the mysterious inventor of the bubble hash process? Let’s find out.

 

The Anonymous American—Maybe Canadian?

It wasn’t until 1987 when David Paul Watson (popularly referred to as Skunkman Sam or Sadhu Sam) posted a High Times ad, that Western civilization discovered water hash for the first time. Anyone who needed his secret method will have to pay $10 for the knowledge. He’ll then instruct them to separate the oil-filled trichomes that covered the cannabis from the plant material. According to various sources, Nevil was Skunkman Sam’s cold water hash secret mentor, a secret they claimed originated from an anonymous American. Sadhu Sam believed his name was Mike.

The role Montreal Mike played in the bubble hash narrative remains unclear. However, we have it on good authority that he learned his marijuana extraction techniques from his mother’s textbooks. Montreal was also well-traveled, navigating Kathmandu, Nepal, and Afghanistan.

 

The Skunk Era; Before Hash Was Cold And Wet

Skunkman was covered in a web of controversies after 1982 when the DEA busted him for growing Skunk #1 first buds. He would later be seen in a long ponytail, thick glasses, and a cannabis seeds’ box with Ed Rosenthal traveling to the Netherlands on Wernard Bruining’s command. Unfortunately, it wasn’t long until the Dutch Ministry of Justice also began their investigation on Watson and Hortapharm, his company.

Later on, Hortapharm partnered with GW Pharmaceuticals and after Nevil’s legacy, the process of extracting water hash became as shrouded in obscurity as the period between Skunkman’s DEA bust and Germany. As such, that secret can only be traced back to the unknown American who invented the method before him, even though the actual bubble hash creator lived in the Emerald Triangle of California.

 

Trichomes’ Secret

There are many variants of the cannabaceae family, including cannabis and hops that contain trichomes and lupulins. These are resinous glands that store terpenes and terpenoids.  Alpha and beta acid isomers are among the modified terpenoids that hops create. The trichomes of cannabis, on the other hand, are where THC and CBD are produced. Both plants have a rich profile of terpenes hidden within their resin glands. 

The process of separating the cannabaceae to make hash entails pulling these sensitive glands from the surface of the plant. After that, the resin full of terp is sieved out after it settles in the water. EO2302, which is the IUPAC standard, doesn’t recognize this technique in its extraction definition as it involves forming a solution.

 

Mila the Hash Queen

Mila Jansen, popularly referred to as “the hash queen,” was accustomed to Indian, Turkish, and Lebanese traditional hashes as the cannabis leaves from Amsterdam weren’t good enough for smoking. Many years later, the businesswoman and mother of 4 decided to separate trichomes by using a  screen and removing the heater, to customize a clothes dryer. 

Not so long after, she met a man named Eldon and made water hash extraction much simpler by releasing Ice-O-Later, a two-bag system. However, this process was inspired by Reinhard C. Delp, the official inventor, who showcased his paper filter-fitted  hash machine at the cannabis cup.

 

The Bubblemen’s Ice Battle

Taking lessons from the Ice-O-Lator system, Marcus Gary Richardson, a British Columbia resident, designed unique silkscreen-bottomed bags,  called bubblebags. These bags were made to create cold water hash more efficiently and earned him the name, “the bubbleman.” After losing out in a property infringement lawsuit, Richardson started paying respects and royalties to Reinhard. Unfortunately, Reinhard’s works had already been taken out of history books.

In 1998, Skunkman Sam’s friend, Robert C. Clark, released Hashish, a book that highlights Baba Bob’s (people think Baba Bob is Clark’s alias for himself) PVC-based revision of Reinhard’s Ice Cold-Xtractor, the Aqua-X-Tractor. Skunkman, in his secret manuscript, stated that his water hash had a bubblegum consistency. Meanwhile, in 1995, Robert C. Clark told Richardson, “If it doesn’t bubble, it isn’t worth the trouble,” as he tried to introduce a new hash quality to him. All in all, bubble hash’s history closely resembles good hash as described by David Watson and Robert Clark rather than by Bubbleman.

Here’s a timeline of notable events:

• 2015— Frenchy Cannoli discusses the value of grading systems, probably with the use of stars and descriptive language; Soilgrown produces flower rosin
• 2016— Justin Benton (SPACE) invents the present-day star system; Daniel Lantela’s Whistler Technologies is incorporated and employs Richardson
• 2017— Reinhard Delp kicks the bucket
• 2018—
• 2019— Canada legalizes bubblehash 

 

The End 

There you have it—the history of the bubble hash as we know it.  Do you think Montreal Michael is the anonymous American? Are you in support of Reinhard’s cannabis space patent battle?