How to Store Bubble Hash to Maximize Shelf Life

Bubble hash is one of the most flavorful and potent cannabis concentrates and a favorite with fans of solventless extraction. Knowing how to store bubble hash is crucial to retaining your product’s properties and extending its shelf life. This is essential both for hash makers who plan to distribute their bubble hash to dispensaries and connoisseurs who want to ensure the longest shelf life for their homemade or dispensary-bought hash.

The meticulous extraction process involved in bubble hash production yields a trichome-based concentrate bursting with terpenes and cannabinoids. Proper storage ensures you get the most out of this precious product.

1. Ensure Your Bubble Hash Is Totally Dry

Make sure your product is properly dried before you store it, as wet hash could develop mold and bacteria. Use a freeze dryer for precise drying conditions or air dry it in a cold room. Be aware that air drying takes longer and exposes the product to increased oxidation. This can affect the product’s color, potency, flavor, and shelf life.

High-quality bubble hash (or “ice water hash”) that's been freeze-dried and then stored correctly is typically light-colored. However, bubble hash can turn a darker color when it hasn’t been dried or stored optimally. A darker color is associated with lower-quality hash or hash that has received a lot of air exposure. 

Please note: Strains or phenotypes with high anthocyanin content (such as purple strains) may also come out darker. In this case, it’s important to highlight to consumers that the darker color is a result of the anthocyanin content of the strain.

Drying Bubble Hash in a Wine Fridge

Wine fridges are considered a superior option to regular fridges for drying bubble hash if you are not using a freeze dryer. This is because wine fridges can be configured to offer an optimal temperature. They also keep your hash away from other food items that could affect its aroma or taste. A wine fridge can function as a designated clean and odor-free area to keep your bubble hash in optimal conditions.

2. Control Temperature and Humidity

Producing bubble hash is a careful process designed to deliver a high-quality cannabis concentrate. Extractors and cannabis connoisseurs, mindful of the craft that goes into creating it, will invariably want to ensure their product is stored optimally. 

Keeping the product cool from extraction through sale and consumption is a key part of this. Storing the hash in a wine fridge or freezer is the best way of extending its shelf life and helps retain its texture. Storing bubble hash in a cold environment also slows oxidation and reduces terpene loss.

Cool Temperatures and Low Humidity

Storing bubble hash in the fridge or freezer is key to retaining its quality. However, the container in which you store your bubble hash will also determine how much the product is exposed to damaging environmental factors.

Extractors should pre-package bubble hash in airtight and moisture-tight jars like ball jars or mason jars in bulk at the lab. It should then be packaged in containers with a vacuum seal like POP VAC jars for sale in dispensaries. Vacuum sealing bubble hash minimizes the exposure to air and humidity that can cause it to lose its potency, unique flavor and aroma profile, and freshness. Because vacuum sealing hash minimizes oxidization, it will significantly extend the shelf life of the hash in dispensaries.

Tip for Consumers: Bring the Container to Room Temp Before Opening

A little patience is required on the part of consumers when it comes time to dab bubble hash or press it into hash rosin. Wait for the container to come to room temp before popping open the lid. This can take between 15 and 20 minutes. If you open the container immediately after taking it out of the freezer, you risk exposing it to condensation. This could spoil the hash.

3. Ideal Containers for Hash Storage

Choosing the perfect container for bubble hash is just as important as keeping it cool and away from light. The best container will guarantee airtightness and be specially designed for storing cannabis concentrates. If you regularly buy bubble hash from dispensaries, look for brands that use these kinds of containers.

POP VAC Jars

POP VAC jars are second to none in their ability to keep hash sealed and protected from harmful environmental factors that affect its quality and shelf-life. Storing cannabis concentrates like bubble hash is different from storing cannabis flower or pre-rolls. Concentrates require a container designed especially to preserve their freshness and extend their shelf life. 

Everything about POP VAC jars, from the size to the seal, is designed with concentrate storage in mind. The vacuum seal provides an airtight seal that protects bubble hash from the damaging oxidation process. POP VAC jars also offer a child-resistant mechanism to keep consumers’ families safe. 

Mason Jars

A mason jar is a good way for extractors to properly store hash at the pre-packaging stage, as it provides an airtight seal that protects the contents from air and humidity. Retail customers can also use mason jars to store bubble hash that they made at home or purchased at a dispensary in a non-vacuum sealed jar. 

Wrap the bubble hash in parchment paper before placing the wrapped package in the mason jar. This prevents exposure to light, adds an extra layer of protection, and prevents the hash from sticking to the jar.

Research on Hash Storage

There is currently limited research on the impact of storage on the volatile terpenes in cannabis concentrates. The following two studies provide basic insights into the optimal storage of cannabis concentrates like bubble hash:

• The THC and CBD content of hashish kept in different conditions over four years was measured in a study published in 2019. The study showed that the THC content in hash stored at -20°C (-4°F) with minimal light exposure degraded significantly less than hash stored at room temperature in both light and dark conditions. Most standard freezers reach this temperature, meaning you won't need special equipment to store your bubble hash in optimal conditions.
• A non-cannabis study on terpenes in caraway seeds concluded that the seeds experienced a significant loss of the terpene limonene when stored at 100°F (40°C) compared to 77°F (25°C). Cannabis enthusiasts will know from their own experience that the delicate essence in concentrates can be easily lost. This could go some way to explaining why.

Store Your Bubble Hash Carefully

You can ensure your bubble hash bursts with exquisite flavors and aromas for as long as possible by implementing storage best practices. Create a cool, dark, and controlled environment, and store your product in an airtight, opaque container.

Once you experience the potency and delightful flavor and aroma profile of bubble hash, you won't want the potency or terpenes to become damaged. Contact our sales team to learn more about the best options for hash storage.