Frozen hash: what it is, how it's made, and is it legal?
By the Golden High teamUpdated 4 October 20268 min read
Resins & extractions
Frozen hash, often just called "Frozen", isn't a new molecule: it's hash made by knocking the trichomes off plants frozen right after harvest, in ice-cold water, then filtering them through bags with finer and finer mesh. With THC in it, it's a controlled drug like any other hash. Here's how it's made, how to recognise it, what sets it apart from dry sift and Ice-O-Lator, and the myths that surround it.
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Frozen hash? Hash extracted cold.
"Frozen", "frozen hash", "frozen shit": all these names refer to the same family of resin. The word frozen doesn't describe the drug itself but the starting material: flowers frozen as soon as they're cut, without ever being dried. In extractor slang, it's called fresh frozen.
So it's neither a synthetic product nor a new molecule. It's hash in the most classic sense of the word: a concentrate of trichomes, the tiny resin glands that cover the flowers and hold most of the cannabinoids and terpenes. What changes is the way they're collected, and the care taken to keep nothing but them.
How it's made
From frozen plant to blond hash.
Ice water extraction has been around for a long time, but it went mainstream in the Netherlands in the late 1990s. In 1998, Mila Jansen, who had already invented a dry-sifting machine, launched the Ice-O-Lator: a set of filter bags to use with water and ice. The principle is simple, and it hasn't changed since.
Freeze
The flowers are frozen a few hours after harvest. They stay whole, and their trichomes become brittle.
Stir
They're dropped into a mix of water and ice and gently stirred for a few minutes: the trichome heads break off and sink.
Filter and dry
The water runs through bags from 220 to 25 µm. Each mesh catches one grade, which is then dried cold or freeze-dried.
The yield is low: around 5% of the starting weight for an extraction from frozen plants, according to specialist guides. It's one of the reasons Frozen sells for more than regular resin.
What the sources say
Grades, microns and real potency.
Frozen comes wrapped in numbers nobody can check. Here are the ones we can source, with references at the bottom of the page.
Lowtemp Plates · the microns
The best grades are collected in the 90 and 120 µm bags, where ripe trichome heads concentrate. The 45 µm bags catch small, immature trichomes, and the 160 to 190 µm bags pick up more plant debris.
The stars · full melt
The industry rates ice water hash from 1 to 6 stars depending on how well it melts. A "full melt" (5 to 6 stars) melts almost without residue; lower grades, loaded with plant matter, are mostly used for pressing or cooking.
Alchimia · fresh frozen
Freezing the fresh plant keeps terpenes closer to those of the living plant, and stops the flowers from crumbling, which means less debris in the hash.
OFDT · resin in France
The average THC content of resin seized in France rose from 12.3% in 2011 to 29% in 2023. The French drug observatory also notes that resins made with special extraction methods sell for more than regular resin, at around €8 a gram.
In other words: Frozen isn't "another drug", it's a more concentrated and cleaner resin, in a market where average potency has already more than doubled in twelve years.
How to recognise it
Colour, texture, melt: the clues.
- A light colour. Blond, golden or beige: little chlorophyll, little oxidation.
- A texture that depends on the grade. The best grades are very sticky; the others are drier and crumble more.
- A smell very true to the plant. Terpenes preserved by the cold give a fresh, intense aroma.
- A clean melt. When heated, a good grade bubbles and melts without leaving black residue.
When a quality Frozen is pressed flat and then cured for several weeks somewhere cool, it turns creamy: that's what's called Piatella. We explain it in detail in Piatella, the creamy hash.
Versus other methods
Frozen, dry sift, Ice-O-Lator: who does what.
| Frozen | Ice-O-Lator | Dry sift | Rosin | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Starting material | Fresh frozen plant | Dried or frozen plant | Dried plant | Flower, dry sift or ice water hash |
| Method | Ice water + filter bags | Ice water + filter bags | Dry sifting | Heat + pressure |
| Solvent | None | None | None | None |
Ice-O-Lator started out as a brand of bags and became a generic name for any ice water hash. Frozen is its most demanding version, since it starts from fresh plant. Dry sift, on the other hand, is made without water, by sifting the dried plant.
Common myths
Four myths to forget.
- "Frozen is a synthetic drug." False: it's a mechanical separation of trichomes, with water and ice, no chemicals.
- "It's frozen to make it stronger." False: freezing preserves the trichomes and the aromas, it doesn't create potency.
- "The lighter it is, the stronger it is." Not necessarily: colour tells you about cleanliness and oxidation, not about the THC level.
- "CBD Frozen has the same effect." No: without THC, a CBD hash doesn't get you high. The word describes a method, not an effect.
Legal or not?
With THC, it's a controlled drug.
The method changes nothing about its status: in France, a Frozen containing more than 0.3% THC is a controlled drug, like any cannabis resin. Hemp products are only tolerated in France below 0.3% THC.
Key point: "Frozen" is the name of a method, not a guarantee. A product sold under that name with no stated percentage and no lab analysis could contain anything.
At Golden High, we don't sell THC Frozen. Our Delta-P resins, made with CBDX, stay below 0.3% THC and are lab-tested batch by batch. If you're after a clean, intense resin, check out the 3X Filtré Delta-P 40 %, introduced in what is 3X Filtré, or the Heisenberg 60 %. To choose your strength, read the Delta-P resin guide and browse the Delta-P hash collection.
Go small with a concentrated resin: a rice-grain-sized amount to start, time before taking more, and never before driving. Adults only. For vaping, follow our guide on how to vape hash.
Your questions
What people ask us about Frozen.
What is frozen hash?
It isn't a new drug: frozen hash is hash extracted with ice water from plants frozen right after harvest. With THC, it's a controlled drug in France, like any cannabis resin.
Why is it called Frozen?
Because the starting material is frozen as soon as it's harvested, with no drying. It's also called "fresh frozen".
What's the difference between Frozen and dry sift?
Frozen is extracted with ice water from fresh frozen plants; dry sift is made dry, by sifting the dried plant. Both are mechanical methods, with no solvent.
Is Frozen stronger than regular hash?
It's generally more concentrated and cleaner, because it's mostly trichome heads. But its potency depends on the starting plant and the grade collected, not on the name.
Is frozen shit legal in France?
No, if it contains more than 0.3% THC: in France it's then a controlled drug. Only hemp products below 0.3% THC are tolerated there.
Why is Frozen so light in colour?
Because it contains very little plant matter and barely oxidises, thanks to the cold. A light colour means cleanliness, not necessarily potency.
Does CBD Frozen get you high?
No. Without THC, a CBD hash doesn't get you high; the word Frozen describes a production method, not an effect.
Sources
The references cited in this article.
- OFDT. Cannabis (resin, herb, oil, CBD): an overview (in French).
- Alchimia. Fresh Frozen cannabis extractions.
- Lowtemp Plates. What Is the Best Micron for Bubble Hash?.
- Cannactiva. Mila Jansen: God Save the Queen (of Hash).
- Wikipedia. Hashish.
- Légifrance. Order of 30 December 2021 applying Article R. 5132-86 of the French Public Health Code (in French).
