What Is Piatella & How Do You Make It?
Piatella, or piattella, is the latest innovation to take the hash world by storm. Originating in Barcelona in the Catalonia region of Spain, this solventless preparation takes the concept of traditional hashes and takes it to new heights with the help of modern technology.
At Lowtemp Industries, we've started experimenting with this form of hash and are continuing to develop our technique. Solventless processors that can perfect the process could have a very flavorful and lucrative product on their hands.
What Is Piatella?
Piatella is a specialty artisan hash made from fresh frozen bubble hash that is freeze dried and cold cured over a long period with minimal oxygen exposure (see our article on How to Dry Bubble Hash - Air Drying vs Freeze Drying for more on the benefits of freeze drying). The result is a buttery extract that's sweating with terpenes and slices like a loaf of super-soft bread.
The first award-winning “piattella hash” was developed by Uncle's Farm—a social cannabis club in Barcelona—using 6-star full-melt ice water hash from La Sagrada Farms and Slite 23. Their product won 3rd place at Ego Clash in 2020 and put Uncle's Farm on the map as a top cannabis site to visit. You can see Jolly Roger's interview with Zio from Uncle's Farm in his video on YouTube.
Why Is It Called Piatella?
Piatella, or piattella, was named for the Italian word piatto, which means "flat." The inspiration for the name comes from the way the bubble hash is vacuum sealed completely flat for curing.
Based on the original Italian, the most linguistically faithful spelling of the word would be "piattella" with a double t. However, a lot of people anglicize the word and drop the second "t" in the same way that people often write "café" (borrowed from the French word for coffee) without an accent on the "e".
How Is Piatella Hash Made?
There are several approaches to making piatella hash (or piattella hash). The thing they all have in common is a long cold curing process and at least one stage in which the hash is vacuum sealed inside a vacuum sealing bag or wrapped in cellophane, foil, or plant-based cellulose to make the terpenes sweat.
This is the process we use at Lowtemp:
- Start with full-melt bubble hash made from fresh frozen cannabis and dried in a freeze dryer. Drying the bubble hash in a freeze dryer results in a lighter color. Please note that not all strains will produce true piatella form. You might need to experiment to find the best strain.
- Seal 90μm-120μm hash in a small glass jar inside a refrigerator.
- Allow it to nucleate for 4-6 weeks.
- Open the jar and lightly whip the hash to homogenize.
- Remove the hash and place it inside cellophane to form a small flat brick.
- Let the cellophane-wrapped brick sit at room temperature until the terpenes start to sweat.
The result of this long cold cure process (with minimal oxygen exposure) should be a soft but stable consistency that holds its shape when sliced. Photos of piatella from Uncle's Farm can be seen oozing with terpenes, which is the gold standard in the eyes of piatella connoisseurs.
What Is the Difference Between Piatella and Temple Balls?
Piatella and temple balls are both made from ice water hash. The main difference between piatella and temple balls is that piatella is always kept cold whereas temple balls are formed from bubble hash that was rolled over with a bottle of hot water prior to compression.
How Is Piatella Hash Consumed?
Piatella is typically dabbed, but you can also add it to joints. We've found that piatella is easier to handle with a dab tool compared to bubble hash that hasn't been cured.
Piatella - The Best Hash in the World?
Some people say that piatella is the best hash in the world. It's even starting to be sold in some Orlando dispensaries thanks to the efforts of Sunburn Cannabis.
If you can ace this product, you could have consumers lining up to purchase it in dispensaries around the country. Have you ever tried making piatella (or for the linguistic purists, piattella)? Be sure to let us know!
Banner image courtesy of https://www.instagram.com/hashqueenx/