The Entire History & Evolution of Concentrate Jars & The Brands That Made Them Famous

We have certainly seen a vast array of jars in use across cannabis that has evolved along-side of improved products. Since wax was first introduced back in 2012, a long list of different jars and packaging have attempted to lure consumers to buy, but they haven't all been successful. As the product quickly improved from year to year, so did our packaging and the many variations on jars and storage. As a nod to our number-one google ranked article on hash storage, here's the not-so-long history of hash jars and interesting packaging. We will briefly cover the major historical moments, jars, and packaging that led to the legal industry, before detailing today's top choices.

As a total hash nerd, I'm surely not alone when I say that cool new packaging and storage containers provide the tiny bit of extra incentive needed to pull the trigger and buy your brand. Unable to see or smell the product, our best guess as to the quality is usually determined by the quality of packaging it comes in. As unimportant as the packaging is, I'm unable to dispose of my jars after purchase and allow them to pile up, creating a physical witness and presentation as to my experience and knowledge of smoking hash. A philosophy borrowed from one of my English professors who saves every book read for the same reason. Having found an innovative new idea (mind-blowing) it's time to relive a moment in time encapsulated perfectly by another hash writer as "The Hot & Hurty Years".

WAX Jars

Clear Hard Plastic with threaded tops

As wax first hit the scene and some type of containers were needed, plenty of plastic jars used for other industries were brought in to make due. One of the cheapest original concentrate jars was a clear plastic jar with a threaded top. The kind of jar that something like lip-balm would come in. A few different plastic models went around for run of the mill waxes, but the earliest example of prime packaging was quick to emerge.

Silicone Cured

It was quite an incentive over all other forms of packaging, that often included branding printed or embossed into the lid, of platinum cured silicone jars. Only more expensive options would come in these often-branded silicone jars, one of which I can still picture was called "Wax Man" or "Mr. Waxman" and came in all white silicone jars with a smiley-face and their name printed on the lid in black ink (St. Petersburg, FL Police Department probably has a few "Mr. Waxman's" remaining in evidence storage... like 20 of them 😳🤣 True story). Back then, the first step after opening a jar of wax was to transfer it to one of my silicone jars that made dabbing the material more feasible. These silicone jars made it possible to scrape every last bit from each sticky jar using a metal dab tool.

Photos are hard to come by, but you can see the hard-plastics pictured inside a silicone jar in the far left picture above. A real "hot and hurty" setup with reclaim catcher under a titanium nail on my ROOR, circa 2013.

This was the time when STOK became a new collectible, with stack-able jars made completely of silicone. The lids would sort-of snap onto the jars with the lid of each jar fit to the bottom of another jar. They even had lanyards made that allowed you to wear a stacked collection of platinum cured silicone. I had to dig deep to find these shots from 2013. They also made 2 gram jars, 5 gram jars, and ashtray sized jars that you could (and I did) fit ten or more grams in.

Shatter Jars

Shatter jars marked the first major change in packaging and the like with credit-card slim containers that looked like the hard plastic frames used on single baseball cards. With shatter coming in extra thin sheets that shattered like the name, this had some interest for a minute. It required some type of wax paper to be folded inside. Other options were folded cardboard envelopes, before coming in those sealed bags. Thankfully, this phase was short-lived and we quickly moved on to much better options.

BHO Live Resin Jars

Just before a full-blown live resin appeared, we had a few forms of wax and crumble that required something new.

This is whats known as "going hard in the paint". All BHO with the first 710 jar shown. Beezle, Activis, Terp Preservation Society was the best BHO EVER.

MODERNITY AND ALL ITS JARS...

Well 710 really pushed the packaging to new limits and their jars and packaging remain a favorite. That isn't to say their hash comes fresh, regardless of the packaging, but they obviously made a serious attempt to find a winner with jar styles changing drastically over the first few years in California. From the basic clear-bottom and white 2-liter bottle caps, to white top and bottom, to small black jars, big black jars, back to white jars and white jars with lids, settling on a mid-sized white jar that comes with an added cap or seal, despite little success in keeping fresh press rosin clear.

Newer 710 fans will probably be surprised to see the original layout of jars (still my all-time favorite) with a thin red lid for rosin, a thin blue lid for hash, and an orange lid and packaging for live resin. That red-cap top is fresh press live rosin from 710labs, my first, in 2017 or 2018. In the end it appeared they settled on smaller white jars with the metal seals, despite little success in keeping the rosin fresh and little to no help from dispensaries to properly store anything.

The Pros

Papa's Select or Papa and Barkley has been packaging, labeling, and wholesaling cbd and other high-end cannabis related beauty products for years. The switch to hash making brought their expertise in packaging design along with. With a box that is truly gigantic for what it contains, they taught us a lesson in appearance and taking up valuable shelf-space. Being seen sells in cannabis, simple as that (and S.E.O. is the answer for anyone not backed by endless corporate funding, reach out).

And from day one they have utilized the same jar, same lid, and same philosophy that gives them the reputation as one of the best, while we witnessed others struggling to provide and present fresh hash rosin. Papas select has never had issue with buttered and dried rosin, thanks in part to their sourcing. Sun grown hash and rosin has proven itself to maintain fresh press hash rosin for far longer than indoor plants. Other than printing their name on the lid rather than applying stickers, not much else has changed for Papas Select and fresh, clear, translucent hash rosin is basically a guarantee from the guys with the biggest black box.

Punch Extracts

Punch Extracts has also used the same large jars as papas select with fresh press a staple for this L.A. based brand. I prefer their sticker design however, making the entire jar into a "puck" (term nod the mitten) by wrapping the sides of the jar with a sticker. Their newest labels are the best, showing farm and brand logos on the lid and strain name. Unlike Papas Select, Punch uses an adequate sized box to keep things efficient.

The Calyx Jars & Squares

Square jars were cool for a bit there but provide little in terms of a seal and have been far too difficult to open for many consumers. Great idea, not the greatest execution. The super thin piece of plastic that is supposed to provide the seal is less than effective and can leak. Other square jars came around, but with the same snap on type locking feature rather than threading.

Recently Heritage Hash Co, Rosin Tech Labs, and several others have turned to a solid box, similar to frosty's, with calyx jars inside. I dig the look and the design. I was even going to go as far as to say this is the ideal box and jar design for the modern market before @kalya dropped a bombshell...

The Best Box and Hash Jar ever

I was somewhat surprised to see a humongous @Kalya box at the store recently, nearing the size of Papas Select and their huge black boxes. Clearly taking up shelf space is key. Unlike the empty space in the big black boxes, Kalya includes a miniature ice-pack fit to the inner dimensions of the box. Genius. Pure genius. However, they chose to use a clear bottom jar, usually not very desirable, but by combining a new child-proof cap, they mimic the black market jars with threaded metal lids, now suitable for the retail market. Simple, effective, problem-solving design.

This allows the rosin to stay fresh, even when I get stoned and forget to put it away. By freezing the gram and box, it will stay fresh for quite some time thanks to the mini ice packs. Mini ice packs in their mini black bag, yeah, you could say: "set for the day".

Congratulations @Kalya, you have won the packaging race! Undoubtedly and despite dispensaries remaining ill-equipped to store commercial products. Despite all of this, most jars come super fresh, totally translucent, and shining.

Find Yours!

Pop-Vac Jars Arrive

Excuse me if I'm late to the fancy jar party, but these bad boys are clutch. At least they seem clutch and even pop when the top is screwed back on, forcing air out and locking in whatever eternal essence we now know as "hash". That's right, its not just factory or brand sealed, but resealable after each use. So, like many expected, these do not prevent a jar from being opened without your knowledge prior to purchase. They do however, seal themselves each time the lid is tightened after hearing the click. Just don't try to get in through the apparent "foil" seal on the lids top. I repeat, this isn't meant for easy access...

Pop-Vac Jars

Now if everyone would just jump on the white jar trend already, maybe we could see the hash. Subscribe to the site and support our work by grabbing a copy of "The Hashish Manifesto 2nd Edition" on Amazon right here!

-Hash-On

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