Medicated Every Day – 01 – Problems and Solutions

By Eric Miller

IG: @medicatedeveryday

www.MedicatedEveryDay.com

Medicated Every Day The Blog is the smaller, portable version of Medicated Every Day, a cookbook series written by Chef Eric Miller that is available for download here.

THE PROBLEM

The biggest problem most people have with edibles, aside from them not working, is unquestionably the taste of lawn clippings that floods your mouth after biting into it. More often than not, the grassy and off-putting flavor of most commercial edibles reminds me of mowing the lawn. Edible companies, by and large, appear to be incapable of eliminating the majority of the “weedy” taste out of their THC based products. In addition, these same companies appear to be fervently against expanding beyond the pastry and candy world. This is evident by small unremarkable product lines crowding the end of the display case in a dispensary showroom. No one seems to be interested or capable of utilizing THC properly. Instead, I’m underwhelmed by a score of mere, sugar laded, broken THC vessels with no regard to the potential in front of them.

I genuinely love edibles as a concept, when I first started darkening the halls of dispensaries under the flawed but functional Prop. 215 a number of years ago, I became plagued by a number of adverse experiences. I had fallen victim to chocolate covered grass proclaiming itself a brownie. I found myself making twisted faces with cough syrup like hard candy that lasted for way too long and didn’t work. I drank lemonade that tasted like an undressed salad one time and failed to get even a simple head change. Why was this happening to me? Why was this happening to us? I can’t be the only one who’s been screwed over by an edible.

So what? Just stop eating edibles then? Screw that, I’m not giving up that easy.

THE SOLUTION

Overcoming the grass taste in edibles involves an incredibly straightforward method, switch the flower for concentrates. Based on taste alone, most edibles products smack of the cannabis flowers which are filled top to bottom with the aforementioned “weedy” flavor.

How do we get rid of it? By understanding the enemy.

The blame rests with the molecule family of chlorophyll, the same stuff that makes grass green is what gives edibles the distinct essence of manual labor. So when making edibles from here on in we will be using concentrates, but what kind of concentrates are we going to use? When there’s so fucking many.

It would be helpful if we had a brief overview of the distinct kinds of THC concentrates. Please note, that if you want more detailed explanations of what exactly is going on here; please consult with a professional who can clarify it better, I recommend anyone from the Good Life Gang on Instagram. Here is a breakdown of some concentrate extraction methods and everyday products:

Butane Hash Oil (BHO)

Butane Hash Oil

A kind of extracted hash oil from cannabis through the use of butane. This is the most conventional method of extraction with a variety of results with everything from crumble consistencies to thin oil. The BHO process extracts the cannabinoids, terpenes, waxes, concrete oils, and occasionally, the dreaded chlorophyll from the plant itself. Which leads to some concentrates looking green or darker in color. When the extraction process is over, the butane is removed due to the lethality of the chemical when inhaled. There are some companies and individuals who substitute propane for butane creating Propane Hash Oil (PHO) which tends to be a lot safer. Regardless, I strongly recommend you DON’T TRY THIS AT HOME, all kinds of hazardous, flammable and lethal, let the professionals handle it.

CO2 Extraction Methods

CO2 Extraction Results

Providing a liquid amber or golden concentrates typically used for vape pen cartridges. The CO2 method is significantly safer compared to butane or propane extraction methods. Upon completion, the final product has no harmful residuals because during the extraction process any bacteria that could have been present in the plant material is killed.

Rosin Technique

Rosin is freshly squeezed THC

While not suitable for mass production, have carved a high-end niche for themselves since debuting in the early half of the last decade. Rosin extracts tend to embody “only for people with sophisticated tastes and money to burn.” Wherein the low yield from the cannabis plant establishes this a rather pricey cost, the actual extraction technique is solventless. By applying heat and pressure, machines literally squeeze the THC straight from the plant. With the availability of rosin presses on the rise, more and more extraction companies are becoming boutique suppliers, catering to a higher class of patient.

Live Resin

Pure gold Live Resin

Made with frozen cannabis instead of cured plant material and any extraction method. Why use frozen plant material? Because frozen cannabis preserves more terpenes and THC versus a traditional curing process that removes them en masse. You can use any extraction method to make live resin, but the rosin technique which was discussed earlier gives us a creme de la creme of concentrates live rosin. This stuff is pure gold.

Trim Run

Trim run has its place too don’t hate

The weakest of all the cannabis concentrates as this one is made using cannabis plant trimmings, these are the least potent forms of concentrates. Despite their low THC percentage, these are the most valid option for those on a budget. If you know anything about life, the modest price has its own invisible markup attached. Despite their reduced price you inevitably end up with a significantly higher chlorophyll amount.

Nug Run

Nug Run ALL DAY

Concentrates made from the highest-quality flower buds provide higher flavor profiles and enhanced effects compared to other forms of concentrates. These have become incredibly popular in recent years.

Crumble

Crumble concentrate

The driest kind of concentrate is THC oil that has been agitated until it reaches a point of crystallization. The easiest concentrate to work with because of the stability of crumbling. My professional opinion says that when making recipes using crumble it’s easiest to do so BY WEIGHT. Meaning you use grams and ounces as opposed to teaspoons and cups for your non-medicated ingredients.

Dry Sift

Dry sift is the REAL sugar

Using silk screens and microns in various sizes that are used to isolate the trichome heads from the bud. The trichrome heads I am talking about are the crystals everyone is looking for in dispensaries. Dry sift is just the crystals so the plant has to be incredibly saturated with crystals and that is achieved when the farmer lets the plant pollinate longer. The crystals are used in nature to keep animals away and prevent fungal growth. Nature has a strange sense of irony as the natural deterrent for other animals is the exact quality people seem to be looking for.

Ice Water Hash

Ice Water Hash looks familiar yeah?

Just as the name implies uses ice water as the extraction chemical but produces a final product similar to dry sift.

Full Melt

Full melt is nothing but the white stuff on your buds

Either the dry sift or ice water hash method can be used and what’s interesting here is that Full Melt has no plant material at all in the end product. A genuine form of a full melt is made only out of isolated trichome heads, and zero residuals.

Forgive my lack of expertise on the subject but there’s a good news, regardless of the concentrate you purchase unless it’s a truly horrendous product, it’ll ultimately mean very little for these recipes and techniques. Why is that? Because we’re ingesting weed rather than inhaling it. The difference is paramount and I’ll fill you in with all the details next time. For now, head to your favorite shop and pick up a gram or two of your favorite concentrate and I’ll see you next week where we’ll get down and dirty then get clean. Thanks for reading.