What Is Cannabis Dry Sift?
Cannabis dry sift is a concentrate made by separating trichomes, the resin glands on the plant, from dried flower and trim with screens and no solvents. The result is a soft powder of resin heads, often called kief, or dry sift hash once it is pressed. Because the process uses only cold, agitation, and mesh, it keeps the cannabinoids and terpenes inside the trichome heads intact. Hemp producers use the same method on low-THC flower to make CBD-rich sift.
Before You Start
- Dried hemp or cannabis flower and trim, fully cured
- Stacking sift screens with a collection tray (common sizes are 150, 120, 90, and 73 micron)
- A clean plastic card or scraper
- Parchment paper
- Nitrile gloves
- A cold, dry work area
How to Make Dry Sift
- Freeze the plant material in a sealed bag for at least two hours.
- Stack the screens over the collection tray, coarsest mesh on top and finest on the bottom.
- Spread a thin layer of frozen material across the top screen.
- Card the material over the mesh with light strokes.
- Lift off the top screen and repeat the carding on the next screen down.
- Scrape the powder from the tray and the lowest screen with the card.
- Repeat with fresh material until you reach the amount you need.
Cold trichomes break off with less plant matter, so a freezer and a cool room raise the quality of the batch. Work in small loads. If the powder turns green, you are pushing leaf and stem through the mesh, which means it is time to stop and clean the screen.
How Dry Sift Is Graded
Grade depends on mesh size and on how much plant material falls through with the resin. Finer screens catch fewer contaminants and return a lighter, stronger powder, though the yield drops.
- 150 to 160 micron: coarse grade with plant matter, best for infusions and edibles
- 90 to 120 micron: mid grade with a balance of yield and purity
- 45 to 73 micron: fine grade that is mostly resin heads, best for vaping or pressing
How to Use Dry Sift
- Layer it over a bowl of hemp flower for a stronger session
- Press it under heat and pressure to make hash
- Decarboxylate it in an oven, then mix it into oil or butter for edibles
- Add it to a tincture base for a full-spectrum CBD blend
How to Store Dry Sift
Keep the powder in a sealed glass jar away from light, heat, and air. A cool dark drawer holds quality for months. For longer storage, use a sealed jar in the fridge and let it reach room temperature before you open it, so condensation does not form on the resin. Skip plastic bags, since resin sticks to the sides and terpenes migrate into the plastic.
CBD Dry Sift and the Law
In the United States, hemp is defined as cannabis with 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less on a dry weight basis, so sift made from compliant hemp flower sits in a legal gray zone at the federal level while state rules vary. Sift made from high-THC cannabis remains illegal under federal law. Check your state regulations before you buy, sell, or ship any concentrate, and ask the seller for a lab report that lists cannabinoid content.