Smoking resin left in the bowl of a pipe or bong from previous smoking sessions. After smoking enough flower, resin will accumulate in a bowl—resin is often scraped off and discarded, but can be smoked as well. Resin hits are known to be harsh on the throat and taste bad.
“I was hard up on weed so I did some resin hits—they tasted terrible but got the job done!”
“After cleaning my pipe, I couldn’t bring myself to throw out the resin, so I took some resin hits.”
How to do a resin hit
The easiest way to do a resin hit is to smoke it directly off a bowl covered in resin. The problem with this is you’ll often taste the butane from the lighter as well.
Resin is often scraped off a bowl and packed together into a solid ball. To collect resin, you can scrape it off with a hairpin, paper clip, or some other small piece of metal. The scraper will get covered in sticky resin, so you’ll want to throw it away after.
The resin will come off in small chunks. Scrap them off onto a piece of paper and press them together to form a ball. Then place the ball in the bowl and smoke it.
You can also soak a pipe or bong bowl in isopropyl alcohol. The alcohol will dissolve the resin off the pipe or bowl, then let the alcohol evaporate and collect the resin that remains. This is a rudimentary form of extraction—the isopropyl alcohol acts as a solvent.
After collecting the resin, smoke it directly in a pipe or sprinkle it on top of some flower in a bowl. Most people smoke it by itself because of its harsh flavor, so as not to ruin the flavor of anything else.
Pros and cons of resin hits
Resin is a byproduct of smoking cannabis flower. It builds up on bowls and inside of pipes over time. When you’ve smoked all your stash, resin hits can get you high until you can re-up. However, other than helping you get through a dry spell, there are no real benefits to smoking resin.
Resin tastes bad, is harsh on your throat, and has significantly lower cannabinoids and terpenes. A large buildup of resin in a pipe or bong can destroy the flavor of any flower you smoke. It’s recommended to clean pipes and bongs regularly with isopropyl alcohol and coarse salt.