Cultivation: The most important Cannabis-Fields are located in the valley of Baalbek. The fields are cultivated on very large scale, many of them using modern machinery. The production is very industrially oriented, tradition is not very involved in the Hash-Business.
Production: The Cannabis-Plants are left on the field until they are nearly dry. By this time they will have acquired a brown-reddish color (some Chlorophyll is destroyed by the UV-Rays of the Sun). Finally the plants are brought in a barn to be dried completely.
Hashish is produced in the same way as in Morocco, basically the buds are carefully rubbed over a fine silk-cloth, the resulting powder can be pressed together. Than finer the mesh used, than better the resulting Hashish.
The Hash-Powder is stored inside 35kg plastic bags, in this form it can be kept for a long time without losing much potency (because the resin glands are still closed).
In the winter months the pressing begins. Hash-Powder is filled in linen or cotton bag and pressed under great pressure. On the surface of the Hashish the structure of the tissue which was used can be clearly seen. Usually the Hash is pressed in slabs of 100g, 200g (usually) or 1000g (1kg).
There is some Hash which is pressed by hand like in Afghanistan, unfortunately it’s usually not exported.
Color: There are two kinds of Lebanese-Hash: Yellow Lebanese, which is yellowish and Red Lebanese which is reddish-brown (very similar to standard Morocco in color). The Red-Lebanese is made from riper plants.
Smell: Spicy to very spicy, refreshing smell.
Taste: Very spicy, harsher than Turk or Morocco. Some Lebanese-Hash is harsher than Afghani, especially when smoked in a Bong. Lebanese is quite an acquired taste.
Consistency: Usually the slabs are very thick (about 2-3cm) and not elastic. However when you cut it, you can clearly see that it contains big quantities of resin and that it can be cut easily. Some kinds of Lebanese, like Afghani have the family stem on them. Very good Lebanese can be re-pressed by hand like Afghani due to it’s high resin-content.
Effect: Compared to most other Hash varieties the High is quite cerebral, however more stony than Morocco or Turk. Of course, the yellow kind produces a more cerebral high than the red kind (which is riper and contains more CBN than THC).
Potency: Usually not very strong, somewhat stronger than Morocco. However there are also very good varieties of Lebanon which are very strong. As already mentioned the high resin content of the better varieties can be clearly seen and it can be re-pressed by hand. (1.0%-18% THC)
Availability: Quite rare, good qualities are very rare. However Lebanese is the third most common kind of Hash in Europe (after Morocco and Afghani). Unfortunately most of the Lebanese which is sold is quite old and dry, fresh and resinous Lebanese is very rare in the last years. Usually the price-range can be compared to that of Afghani. I noticed that Yellow-Lebanese is somewhat rarer than the red.
Various: I’m told that the best Lebanese-Hash is called Zahret el Kolch. The availability of Lebanese is likely to increase since the crop substitution programs run by the UN have been severely under funded, and farmers are returning to more traditional crops to make a living.
