Full melt is a grade, not a strain
Full melt describes hash or concentrate that vaporizes on a heated surface and leaves almost no residue. A 5-star or 6-star bubble hash gets this label. Lower grades, called half melt, leave charred plant matter behind. The term says nothing about CBD or THC content. It describes how clean the resin burns.
Cannabis Full Melt Hash: The Ultimate Guide to Lab-Tested CBD Products
How the star scale works
Makers rate ice water hash from 1 star to 6 stars. The rating tracks residue after vaporization, not potency.
- 1 to 3 stars: leaves ash and dark residue on quartz.
- 4 stars: melts in part, leaves a brown stain.
- 5 to 6 stars: full melt. Residue is a pale oil ring that wipes off with a swab.
Six-star hash is rare. Most batches top out at 4 or 5 stars.
Screen size and melt quality
Bubble hash passes through micron screens. The 73 micron and 90 micron bags catch the largest trichome heads. Those heads hold the most resin and terpenes. A 25 micron bag catches smaller heads, dust, and plant matter. Most full melt comes from the 73u and 90u screens. Cold water, ice, and gentle agitation keep trichome heads intact. Hard mixing breaks heads and pulls in chlorophyll. Chlorophyll adds residue and a green taste.
CBD full melt
Hemp plants that carry CBD make smaller trichomes with less resin than THC cultivars. Full melt CBD hash exists, but it takes more flower to produce. Under the 2018 Farm Bill, hemp is Cannabis sativa L. at 0.3 percent delta-9 THC or less on a dry weight basis. A CBD full melt product should still ship with a batch lab report. Check the delta-9 THC number and the terpene panel on that report.
The melt test at home
You can check melt quality without a lab. Heat a quartz banger to 500 F to 600 F. Drop in a piece the size of a peppercorn. Watch the residue.
- Full melt: the hash bubbles, vaporizes, and leaves a pale oil ring or nothing.
- Half melt: dark residue stays on the quartz after the vapor clears.
- No melt: the hash chars, smokes, and leaves black ash.
Swab the banger with dry cotton after each test. Let the quartz cool to room temperature before the next run. Banger material changes the result. Titanium and quartz read different at the same temperature number.
Storage
Full melt hash holds volatile terpenes that escape over time. Keep it in a glass jar with an airtight lid. Store the jar in a dark place at 60 F to 70 F for short term. For months of storage, use a refrigerator. Let the jar reach room temperature before you open it. Condensation forms on cold resin and adds water. Do not store hash in paper. Paper pulls oils out of the resin.
What a label should show
A CBD full melt label needs four numbers: total CBD, total THC, delta-9 THC, and total terpenes. Batch dates and a lab name matter too. If a seller cannot name the lab or the harvest date, treat the melt rating as a claim, not a measurement.