Consumable Cannabis Creates Culinary Cash Crop
Back in the day, there were always rumors of people running amok after knowingly – or unknowingly – indulging in pot brownies; the heavy chocolate overwhelming most other flavors. This technique was and remains to be one reason why so many have historically combined the two ingredients to produce a home edible. Many at-home bakers have tried and failed to create tasty edibles that provided the relief patients needed, while also enhancing the dining experience – an absolute must for many patients who have only found an appetite with cannabis.
The edibles industry, still in its infancy in the United States, has started to come around, with more intense flavorings to minimize the taste of cooked cannabis. Many of whom rely on edibles as the form they can tolerate, are simply not fans of the often earthy / deeply nutty flavor of the produced oil, which is used to create the medicated munchies.
While Utah’s strict laws may keep edibles to patients only, other states who have gone further in the decriminalization of cannabis have seen an entirely new food industry explosion – creating various avenues both within the business industry and for the consumer-side / patient-side.
Pop-up cafes, restaurants, cookbooks – rapper / entrepreneur Snoop Dogg has one called, From Crook to Cook: Platinum Recipes from Tha Boss Dogg's Kitchen, which is frequently gifted amongst many within cannacommunities. Even Netflix got in on the creative cooking with cannabis industry with its show, Cooked with Cannabis, has opened up a new consumer base / audience – while millions more (patiently or not) await their turn to try out these new cannabis culinary experiences, currently denied to the majority of Utahns.
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But it’s not just the pharmaceutical industry that should be bracing themselves for the contending cannabis-related entities. The food/snack industry should step up their games if they want to stay competitive. Pepsi has introduced a hemp-infused soda, Rockstar Unplugged, that unfortunately causes some to test positive on drug tests. Michigan-based company, Happi, is showing Michiganders how delightful THC-infused drinks can be with flavors such as Raspberry Honeysuckle, Lemon Elderflower, and Pomegrante Hibiscus, enhanced with only 2.5mg, a more subtle experience for those rare days when the pain isn’t at its worst, but still definitely there.
The beverage industry is not the only one that THC is infusing into. The wine and spirits / alcohol industry are also playing keeping up with the cannabis connoisseurs. Canadian cannabis company, Tillray, has high hopes to become the leader in the THC-infused alcohol space in the third quarter, while Pabst released THC-infused seltzers back in 2020 and last week announced they will be building a new facility in California to house Pabst Labs, dedicated to cannabis infusions. Their current selection of Lemon, Strawberry Kiwi, Passionfruit Pineapple, and Mango Blood Orange seltzers contain 10mg of THC, and is now available throughout California due to the ever-increasing demand.
Hopefully, if any Californians moving to Utah are patients,they can be or are made aware they will have much fewer options, decreased availability, and denial and/or invasion of many rights, often taken for granted.
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