MediCann Exclusive Craft strains:
You’ve probably heard the phrase “craft cannabis” being thrown around in the cannabis community lately. That’s because a demand for superior quality bud is finding its way into the market. Cultivators who haven’t had a chance to show off their growing skills are slowly rising to the occasion and are producing some fire batches.
Anyone who grows under the craft designation needs to show the consumer that the flower was grown with mindfulness and adoration for the process.
Similarly to craft beer or slow-roast coffee, craft cannabis is cultivated through a selective process. Rather than boasting about their facility’s capacity size, smaller cannabis cultivators are using highly effective and environmentally-optimized techniques to market unique bud. With this precision, consumers can expect exceedingly superior quality cannabis.
Below are some ways that you can determine if your cannabis is considered craft.
1. SMALL BATCH
If you’ve heard that the stash you just grabbed comes from a small batch, you’re almost always guaranteed to believe that the product will be considered craft cannabis. To be a designated craft cannabis licensed producer, the flower must be grown in a facility that produces less than 10,000 kg of dried cannabis (or equivalent) a year. This limitation certainly highlights that artisanal cannabis really does value quality over quantity. Every single plant is carefully tended to and because of this, quality is the largest differentiating factor between craft and commercial cannabis.
2. HIGH TERPENE %
What’s all the fuss about terpenes anyway? Quick lesson: terpenes are naturally occurring aromatic compounds found in plants. The word is often associated with cannabis due to the significantly high concentration of terpenes found in the plant. The trichomes (aka crystals) on the buds produce terpenes. Because of this, a high quality batch of weed would have trichomes that are intact after the harvest.
Craft cannabis really hones in on the experience of a great smoke and what better way to do so than with a focus on terpene rich cannabis. Through decades of cultivation traditions, techniques and breeding, cannabis enthusiasts and growers have been pumping out exclusive drops of cultivars they have been working hard on for years. Much of what you see on the craft market is cannabis with high terpene percentages (between 2-5%) that look and smell really great. This is definitely a trend we can get on board with.
3. HAND-CRAFTED
There are 3 main aspects that determine hand-crafted cannabis: hang dried, hand trimmed and hand packed.
Hang dried
After harvest, the method in which the grower dries the flower plays a major role in determining the quality of bud. By drying the flower by its own branches upside-down, the aroma and flavor of the cannabis is preserved. This process allows the flower to dry naturally which then permits the batch to be more potent when smoked, last longer on shelves and be smoother upon inhalation.
Hand trimmed
By trimming buds by hand, you guarantee you’re getting a clean bud without all the excess sugar leaves. Since every bud is uniquely shaped, a machine trimmer is not as effective. Unlike automated machinery, hand trimming preserves the trichome density of the flower. This, in turn, preserves the terpenes. Because hand trimming is not ideal for large facilities, the big producers often have a greater risk of pests and other growing concerns through mass production.
Hand packed
Packaging by hand ensures product integrity. Instead of crushing large buds into small jars or having a machine pack extremely mediocre pre-rolls that are bound to canoe, doing these things by hand really makes all the difference.
The experience, from unboxing to smoking is very much so at the forefront of the craft connoisseur’s mind.
4. YOU’RE SUPPORTING A SMALLER BUSINESS
After decades of cannabis prohibition, many in the craft cannabis community were charged with criminal offences for a now-legal drug. The same people may have had great difficulty obtaining security clearances to participate in the legal market. While all the big cannabis companies were pumping out loads of mediocre weed in 1.0, the small businesses of growers were left behind. With craft cannabis as a new designation in Canada, we’re given the opportunity to support smaller, more passionate businesses that truly deliver on superior quality cannabis. There is now equal opportunity for those who may have been historically involved in the legacy market and are otherwise law abiding citizens.
