Hops flowers aka Humulus
Hops are found in the Canabea family, meaning they are related to Cannibis (Oh Happy Day).
As most of us cultured people know hops are used in the making of beer, so what are the effects when you smoke it you ask? Well according to The Herbal Smoke Cafe http://www.herbalsmokecafe.com/loose-smoking-herbs.php
"Many of our customers love smoking Hops! Hops plants are usually tall and can grow as much as 22 feet! As everyone pretty much knows Hops is primarily used in the production of alchoholic beverages. It can also be made into tea and smoked as well."
So seeing as how hops are so well loved as an herbal smoke, and they are related to cannabis, I had to order some. I got mine on ebay http://cgi.ebay.com/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=140489554092&ssPageName=STRK:MEWNX:IT#ht_2039wt_905. It's nice and cheap, and I bought it with some left over paypal money.
Effects of Smoking Hops Buds
Ok first thing I noticed when I opened my package, it smelt like dirty socks (yuck). My first thought was ew everything about beer just stinks. Ok so I am still going to give this herb a try even though my instincts generally tell me don't smoke anything that smells like a men's locker room. I loaded one bud into my lovely Purple Pipe, it was flaky to say the least I didnt want to crush it because I was afraid if I did it would pull through, and nothing is worse than having pipe poop in your mouth. My first hit was really harsh, not enough to make me cough but enough to make me exhale almost as fast as I inhaled I would rate it a 7. I started feeling the effects of this herb immediatly after the first hit. I felt dizzy and my face started to heat up. Much like when you start getting a buzz from drinking, but as I smoked more of this herb I began to feel relaxed with a hint of a headache. I did not get the munchies off this herb, in fact I didn't even want to look at food while smoking this herb. I did get a little horny, but nothing like Damania. I would say try this herb if you want to try something new, but it does not give you that melting butter sensation its illegal cousin is so well loved for. I will try crushing this herb just a little, but not too much and smoke it again, but I'm not sure if this herb will be repeat very often. I did wake up with a hangover the next day. I did not however have what I like to call ashtray mouth, like I get after smoking most herbs before bed. And this herb did not have a foul taste when I smoked it. It smelt the most like weed that I have smelt since smoking weed however, so be careful where you blaze up when smoking this herb.
Ok I ran a couple of buds through my herb grinder, and packed a bowl. It wasn't as harsh this way, and I started feeling the effects off the first hit. this time however it was a "clear head high", meaning I could feel the high, but I did not feel any head change. I played video games on this smoke, and it seemed to me to be more vivid than usual, so that was awesome, but other than the awesome visuals, and the slight head change whenever I took a hit, there was really nothing to smoking hops. They smell like dirty feet, and taste kinda sweet, but did not get me all that high. If you have anything you want to add to this blog, or if you want to post your own experiences while smoking this herb feel free to comment. Thanks for reading, and keep blazing toodles all.
Thanks for your post, very informative. I am currently researching whether various herbs found in an herbal antianxiety pills are active when smoked. The pills, called Pasinerva (i live in Central America) contain extracts from ten different plants, no filler or anything like that, just plant material. Taken orally, the pills are effective, albeit when taken in large quantities. Passiflora incarnata is the main ingredient (which i know from personal experience is active when smoked) and thus far in my little research quest, hops and possibly Linden are the only other ingredients which are active when smoked. All this said, I have found that smoking the extracts is quite enjoyable (since i am currently undergoing a drought of the 'illegal' counterpart to these psychoactive plants). Again, thanks for clarifying that hops are at least somewhat active when smoked.
ReplyDeleteCheers from Nicaragua
It was a nice and impressive post on Hops Buds.
ReplyDeleteI want to give some details on legal buds on Herb9.com.
I run a small brewery and after giving a lecture on hops, I was asked if you could smoke it. We primarily use hop pellets which are just ground up and compressed hops, so I decided to try. I took an old tap handle and made a bowl and began trying the various varieties. Each had a distinctive flavor, some were harsher than others and some just tasted aweful. Breweries will sometimes use hop extract which is done usually with CO2 to get the good bits. You can also use ethanol, Everclear works well. If you use hops fresh off the bine, you can put them in a blender with the alcohol. Transfer it to a jar and let it sit a day or two. You'll see a yellow layer form on the bottom, that's what you want. I strained it and let it sit in a partially covered container to let the alcohol evaporate. I ended up with a sticky yellow substance. I was doing it to use in beer, but I was curious. Its a much less harsh smoke with a nice high. I used Centennial hops which is a high alpha hop. I am now looking into doing the same with hop pellets to see what results I can get out of them.
ReplyDeleteI run a small brewery and after giving a lecture on hops, I was asked if you could smoke it. We primarily use hop pellets which are just ground up and compressed hops, so I decided to try. I took an old tap handle and made a bowl and began trying the various varieties. Each had a distinctive flavor, some were harsher than others and some just tasted aweful. Breweries will sometimes use hop extract which is done usually with CO2 to get the good bits. You can also use ethanol, Everclear works well. If you use hops fresh off the bine, you can put them in a blender with the alcohol. Transfer it to a jar and let it sit a day or two. You'll see a yellow layer form on the bottom, that's what you want. I strained it and let it sit in a partially covered container to let the alcohol evaporate. I ended up with a sticky yellow substance. I was doing it to use in beer, but I was curious. Its a much less harsh smoke with a nice high. I used Centennial hops which is a high alpha hop. I am now looking into doing the same with hop pellets to see what results I can get out of them.
ReplyDeleteI really like smoking Hops, along with Damiana and Vine Leaf it makes a great addition to tobacco.
ReplyDeleteMixed with Damiana it doesn´t smell as "bad", it´s quite nice with the more green-fresh aroma of Damiana.
You can grow it yourself, after one year one little lian of hops produces masses of good looking buds. They have the same orange-red hairs as cannabis! I was amazed when I saw this on the fresh buds, commercially ones never had theese (as they are too crushed up).
The smell is also a lot better when you have a plant, it smells more citrus-like and much fresher than what you get at stores. The bad smell comes from oxidation products so you should use up your self grown hops fast (although thats hard because of the masses you get from one plant) or freeze it maybe.
A really nice "relevant" of Cannabis, the similarities are astonishing.
I really don't have that much knowledge about this so I didn't know how to deal with the flowers and other plants or trees as a herb for the weed.
ReplyDeleteSo thanks for sharing this article.
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