# Kief

> Kief is the loose, powdery collection of trichome heads that falls or is sifted off dried cannabis through fine screens; it is the simplest solventless concentrate.

- Canonical: https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/kief.html
- Also written: dry sift, keef, kif, dry-sift, crystals (kief)
- Glossary category: Processing · Evidence: Established
- Status: Draft: awaiting expert review · Updated: 2026-10-31
- Licence: CC BY-SA 4.0 (https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/4.0/), attribute "GenetixBay cannabis glossary"

Kief is the accumulated [resin glands](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/trichome.md), mainly the heads of [capitate stalked trichomes](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/capitate-stalked-trichome.md), separated from dried flower and trim by mechanical sieving. The name comes from the North African *kif*, a term once used for prepared cannabis. "Dry sift" is the modern grower term for kief made deliberately and carefully through graded screens, as opposed to whatever settles in the bottom of a grinder.

## In practice

Quality depends on how much plant material comes through with the heads. Grinder kief is usually greenish and contaminated with leaf and stalk fragments. Carefully sifted dry sift is pale tan and mostly intact heads, and the finest grades approach the purity of [ice water hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/bubble-hash.md). Kief can be used loose or pressed into [hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hash.md). GenetixBay defines the product only and doesn't give processing instructions.

## Don't confuse with

- **Hash**: kief that has been pressed or otherwise consolidated into a mass.
- **Pollen**: male [cannabis pollen](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pollen.md), unrelated; "pollen" is also a slang name for kief, which causes confusion.
- **Bubble hash**: [trichome heads](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/trichome-heads.md) separated with ice water rather than dry screening.

## Related terms

[Trichome heads](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/trichome-heads.md), [Hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/hash.md), [Pressed hash](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/pressed-hash.md), [Solventless](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/solventless.md), [Micron bags](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/glossary/micron-bags.md)

## Read more

- [Cannabis plant biology: the parts and what they do](https://genetixbay.com/knowledge/basics/cannabis-plant-biology.md)

## Sources

1. Clarke RC. 1998. Hashish! Red Eye Press, Los Angeles (updated edition 2010).