The Story Of Moon Rocks: The Pot Too Potent For Snoop Dogg

Dipped in hash oil and rolled in kief, these coated cannabis flowers are becoming top-shelf products — but they aren’t legal everywhere yet.

The weed Canadians smoke today might be barely recognizable to a time-travelling stoner from the 1970s. Compared to the weed they were smoking then, today’s bud is denser, stronger, and grown under controlled conditions. A 1970s stoner would be thoroughly confused by the array of shatter, wax, budder, rosin, and the like. And they would definitely be curious about a type of cannabis product popping up in North American dispensaries: the moon rock.
What is a moon rock?

A moon rock is a dense cannabis bud dipped, soaked, or otherwise covered in hash oil, which is then covered in an outer layer of kief. The result is a hard outer layer of kief and oil that operates a bit like a shell outside the oil-soaked flower — think Oreo cookies dipped in a chocolate shell.
A brief history of moon rocks

The origins of moon rocks are hard to pin down definitively. As early as 2010, references to a type of cannabis called “caviar” began popping up online. Canonically, caviar referred to cannabis buds that were soaked in hash oil and allowed to dry.

Some people use the terms interchangeably. According to a blog post by Colorado cannabis company The Greenery, “‘Moon rocks” is just the Californian way of saying “caviar,” which is just the Coloradan way of saying “infused flower.’”

One of the first to popularize and sell moon rocks in their kief-covered form was the rapper Kurupt, one half of the rap duo Tha Dogg Pound. Though it’s not clear if Kurupt was the person who actually invented moon rocks, his line Kurupt Moon Rocks was definitely the first to commercialize the product and introduce it into hip hop culture.

Kurupt and the rapper Dr. Zodiak first started producing moon rocks for sale in dispensaries around 2014. “The history of moon rocks is basically me and Dr. Zodiak putting our heads together and wanting to bring something good to the people that’s going to help them through their troubles and their times,” says Kurupt in a video.

Now branded as Dr. Zodiak’s Moonrock, the company sponsored music videos promoting moon rocks, which attracted some star power when Snoop Dogg got involved, hyping moon rocks in the 2015 track “Awake,” written with Pharrell Williams.

The ability of moon rocks to floor even a long-time stoner like Snoop Dogg is part of their appeal, and something Dr. Zodiak’s Moonrock has played up. In one clip posted to the company’s YouTube page, they call moon rocks “weed that’s too powerful for the world’s most famous stoner.”

In the clip, Snoop Dogg is talking on a radio show with Charlamagne Tha God, who asked, “I just want some moon rock to get high, Snoop, how do we get some moon rock?”

“Moon rock is too much, dog,” Snoop Dogg replies, with a tone of concern in his voice.

“Charlamagne, look at me,” he says, flipping up his sunglasses. “Moon rock is too much for you. You don’t wanna start there. It’s too much for me, dog. For me.”

The reputation that started developing around moon rocks helped cement their popularity, and they began getting some recognition within the legal cannabis industry. In 2015, moon rocks came in third place in the “Best New Product” category at the So-Cal High Times Cannabis Cup. The company has been selling them in U.S. dispensaries ever since.
How moon rocks are made

The basic process isn’t that hard, but it also isn’t fully legal — cannabis edibles, beverages and other products can be made at home for personal use “as long as organic solvents are not used to create concentrated products,” and making hash oil involves using butane. Hash oil also contains a higher concentration of THC, above the current legal limit in Canada of 30 grams of THC per millilitre for oils.

Under the proposed regulations for cannabis edibles and extracts, inhalable extracts will be limited to 1,000 mg of THC per package. Liquid extracts will have a maximum package size of 90 mL.

For informational purposes only, here’s how moon rocks are made: First, a nice-sized bud — a dense and tight one, if possible — is sprayed, dipped or soaked in hash oil. A syringe can be used to squeeze the oil out onto the bud. Alternatively, the oil is poured in a dish and, using a pair of tweezers, the bud is gently rolled in the oil. After that, the still-wet bud is rolled around in a pile of kief. (The best way to get some kief is to use a grinder that catches it in the bottom.) Then, the rock is set out to dry for around 24 hours.
How to smoke a moon rock

Smoking a moon rock isn’t as simple as grinding it up and rolling it into a joint, on account of its fragility. The easiest way to smoke it would be in a pipe or a bong, mixed in with some ground cannabis, or by itself.

The other answer to the question of how you should smoke moon rocks is: “very carefully.” Because you’re also smoking (strong) hash oil and (strong) kief, as well as dried flower, the strength of moon rocks can get you pretty high. It all depends on the specifics of what kind of flower, oil and kief are being used, but moon rocks can contain around 50% THC.
Where to buy moon rocks

As of early 2019, it’s not yet legal for Canadian licensed producers to make or sell moon rocks. If you happen to be in a legal U.S. state, however, you may have more luck finding a dispensary that stocks them — because concentrates are legal in states such as Colorado, cannabis companies can produce their own.