CBD Archives - The Cannman

Another week and we are back for another edition of What’s What with Weed! This time, we are dipping our hands in the Cookie jar to see if the Gary Payton pre-roll is a slam dunk.

The pre-rolls are grown and rolled by Gage Cannabis out of Hamilton, ON. The strain named after NBA all-star Gary Payton, is a hybrid cross of Snowman and Y. Cookies own website describes the aroma as “strong gas with a burnt rubber finish” with a “smooth gas” flavour.

There are a lot of high expectations over these Cookies drops and we have to say that we are intrigued (or suckers, you decide). We have been hearing a lot about these guys (or at least Gage’s American Cookie’s compatriots) over the past few years, both good and bad, so lets dive in and see what’s what.

The High

JF: I was pretty pleased with the high on this pre-roll. It was a hit me with a powerful indica buzz that didn’t put me to sleep. I thought I would try this as an after dinner joint and it ended up being the perfect scenario for this strain.

CM: I really enjoyed this high. I found that it really brought out my creativity and got me writing. I love when I smoke something that unlocks my mind and this high did exactly that. Definitely indica leaning but with creative and uplifting properties. It also slaps fairly hard and hits fast.

The Burn

JF: I was stoked on the burn on this pre-roll. It burned slow, allowed for giant tokes and didn’t canoe in the slightest. I’m sure that there is a lot that goes into making pre-rolls that I don’t understand but I find it mind-boggling when I get a joint that doesn’t smoke well. As a consumer, I am paying a premium for a product that saves me some work and I expect that to deliver. Cookies did not disappoint here!

In terms of smell and taste, I did not get any of the burnt rubber taste that is typically associated with Gary Payton (both legacy and recreationally) but I am not sure that is a bad thing? Typically, I would not want to smoke anything that tastes like burnt rubber but what the hell do I know? Thoughts, Cannman?

CM: I also found that this pre-roll burned really nicely. Slow but not too slow and definitely allowed for larger hauls. However, after I burned through the first half of the joint, resin started pouring out of the filter. I’m cool with a little resin, but I was getting so much that I had to stop smoking the joint. My lips were covered and even after a nice squeeze into a a napkin and re-light, it continued to pour our resin. I was disappointed with this but it could have been an unlucky anomaly that others hopefully won’t experience.

Agreed Mr. Fry! Burnt rubber sounds like possibly the worst thing anyone could ever want to taste. Though, I believe that burnt rubber is the aroma of the cannabis and not the flavour, thankfully! The flavour was gassy, mild and quite enjoyable.

The Packaging

JF: This pre-roll came in a standard doob tube. I am, personally, a fan of this format. They are easy to open, discrete and reusable. My only second-thought is perhaps the packaging lent to some of the muted rubber taste I noted above but that can be difficult to determine for certain.

CM: I have to disagree with Jonny Fry on the packaging. I am not a fan of plastic doob tubes for premium cannabis products. These tubes are cool for $7-12 pre-rolls but when I’m paying $20 after HST, I want glass or metal. Also, where is the hydro pack? Gage and Cookies need to step up there games. I wouldn’t buy a Ferrari engine with Honda’s Civic’s body, so why should weed be any different? Time to make a change, the market is noticing, believe me!

The Roach

JF: Maybe it’s the time of year or the oversized joint of Ultra Sour I smoked this morning but this week’s review has left me pondering the metaphysical conundrum that is the recreational cannabis market. With a price point up around $20 a gram, are we paying for the Cookies name? Of course… but the product itself is pretty darn good too! So, I guess, if you have some extras holiday loot, giver ‘er a shot but I’m not sure I will be rushing out to grab these again anytime soon.

CM: I am cool with paying $20 for a gram of high quality cannabis in a pre-roll, but I want more from the packaging. Maybe something sustainable with a hydrating pack? However, the high was incredible and I loved how creative it made me. I agree with Jonny Fry, that it’s more expensive, but so is a really nice bottle of wine. If you have a few extra bucks, treat yourself with a jar from Cookies.

The opinions in this article are solely those of the Cann Man and Jonny Fry.

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What’s What with Weed # 2 – Battle of the Blunts

By Jonny Fry

On December 16, 2021

In Reviews

Hey y’all, its your boys, the Cannman and Jonny Fry, reporting in for another addition of What’s What with Weed. On the agenda this week is…BLUNTS!!!!

For the two of us, Blunts are reminiscent of our younger days, running around the streets of Toronto, a pack of Phillies or Century Sams in your backpack. It was a ritual, one that extended beyond our respective circle of friends. All you had to do was tune into any of the hip-hop music coming out at the time and you just knew what was up. Anyway, enough reminiscing. Let’s get down to business, shall we?

A couple of thoughts before we get to the two products, we are looking at this week. Traditionally, a Blunt is a cigar that has had the tobacco removed and the wrap refilled with Cannabis and rolled. As we all know, due to strict tobacco consumption laws in Canada/Ontario, you cannot purchase Cannabis wrapped in tobacco (for better or worse, although a completely different conversation) via the OCS. And as this is an article aimed at looking at Ontario’s recreational market, we are a bit handcuffed. SO…for the purposes of this blog, we will be looking at two products marketed as Blunts, do a quick comparison of the products and see if they stack up as “Blunts”.

Let the battle of the Blunts begin!

Cake Pops BLNT

First up, we have BLK MKT’s Cake Pops BLNT. According to the OCS, BLK MKT’s Cake Pops BLNT are 100% all-natural hemp wraps, centrifuge filled with the Indica-dominant Cake Pop (Blow Pop X Wedding Cake). The site also notes flavours of sweetness and gas.

JF: To begin, I did notice an overwhelming chocolatey, sweetness scent right out of the packaging. Unfortunately, I did not find that this sweetness transferred over well during the actual smoking of the product. That being said, the smoke was very smooth so not all was lost.

The BLNT itself was rolled perfectly. It burned slowly and evenly with a nice white ash. In my humble opinion, this is an incredibly important factor when assessing the quality of a Blunt. Smoking a Blunt should be an experience to be savoured, not rushed. The Cake Pops BLNT did not disappoint on this front. BLK MRKT can also take pride in understanding that a Blunt should be BIG. Anything less than a gram of Cannabis and it feels like something is missing. Again, I view a Blunt as an experience, not something to be rushed, so larger amounts of Cannabis are my preference.

My only beef with this product would have to be the potency. With a slow-burning, 1 gram blunt smoked to the dome (as the kids say), I was expecting to be lit like a metaphorical Christmas tree. Chill? Yes. Enjoyable? Yes. Smashed? No.

CM: I have to agree with Jonny Fry that the Cake Pops BLNT from BLK MRKT is smooth. Although it is a 1 gram cone, I had no trouble enjoying the entire blunt to my face (possibly because I love weed, but who knows). I also agree that it doesn’t taste as sweet and cakey as it smells; though, I will attribute this to the blunt wrap. Flavoured wraps of any kind will blanket a lot of the terps from the weed. So I won’t be overly critical of this because it’s expected when smoking a blunt.

On that note, this blunt does not have an overwhelming cigar tobacco flavour, which I enjoyed. It tasted just enough like tobacco without too many artificial tobacco flavours to make it gitchy. I also believe this contributed to the smooth smoke on the inhale and the nice flavour on the exhale.

I also agree with Jonny Fry that this baby does not slap. However, the high is enjoyable and has a calming, Indica buzz. Perfect for relaxing after a long day but not something that will take you to the next level.

Benny Blunto

Next up, we have the Loud Plug’s Benny Blunto pre-rolls. These bad-boys come in a pack of 3 0.5 gram blunts of the potent Indica dominant hybrid, LA Kush. The THC on for the Benny’s comes in at a great range of 22-28%.

JF: Similar to BLK MKT’s BLNT, there is a sweetness to this product, right out of the gate. The flavour transferred to the smoke quite well and left a pleasant sweet aftertaste in my mouth. The smoke was smooth and the ash was white as snow.

As I mentioned earlier, I feel like a Blunt isn’t a Blunt unless it is a gram in size at least, so I was a bit surprised to see that these came in such a small (0.5 gram) format. They did burn evenly and slowly but was just a bit undersized for my taste. Nevertheless, what these Blunts lack in size, they make up for in potency. Each one of these lil’ guys gave me a nice strong Indica high that was almost perfect for ending my evening. If these were available in a larger format, they would almost always be in my rotation.

CM: LA Kush in a blunt sounds pretty perfect. It has a sweet and gassy terp profile with a strong THC finish. Although I disagree with Jonny Fry that these bad boys are smooth. I found them harsh and had trouble finishing even half of a 0.5g pre-roll. I was coughing every 2-3 puffs and that was really disappointing. In my opinion, although the THC is high, the quality of the flower may not be. Which is disappointing from The Loud Plug, as I like their products. However, this one feels like they just threw whatever weed they had available into a blunt.

Furthermore, the wrap itself has a lot of artificial tobacco flavour. I couldn’t taste the weed at all (which is fine for a blunt), only what tasted like low-quality tobacco terps. This ruined the blunt for me and I would recommend that the producers pull way back on whatever terps they use to flavour the Benny’s.

The one thing I have to give kudos for is that these blunts do slap! Even though I only smoked about 0.25g of cannabis, I was flying high. The nearly 24% THC in the batch I got does not miss on the heavy hitter factor.

Final Thoughts:

JF: Although these are technically not actually Blunts (by definition), I think we have some solid products on our hands here, Cann Man. I would recommend BLK MRKT’s Cake Pops BLNT to a medium tolerance user who was looking for a more authentic “Blunt” experience. That being said, if you like your weed potent and don’t mind the smaller format, Benny Blunto may be right up your alley.

As we are seeing, there are quickly becoming more and more products out there for everyone. Neither of these are the exact fit for me personally but hey, maybe you’ll get to be Goldylocks and one of these will be “just right” for you.

CM: Smoking weed for me is not only about getting high but also the experience. That being said, the BLK MRKT Cake Pops BLNT was vastly superior to the Benny Blunto’s. However, as Jonny Fry said, it depends on what you’re looking for. If you want something that is close to a true blunt experience, it’s the Cake Pops, hands down! But, if you just want to get high AF and don’t care about experience, the Benny Blunto’s have your back.

The opinions in this article are solely those of the Cann Man and Jonny Fry.

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The OCS Problem – Why the Illegal Cannabis Market’s Thriving…

By Cann Man

On November 24, 2021

In Industry News

The OCS (Ontario Cannabis Store) acts as both the wholesaler for cannabis retailers and an online retail store. This creates a direct conflict of interest. They also have huge markups for both wholesale and retail customers. Could this be why the illegal market is still thriving in Ontario? Let’s dig into the facts a little more…

Management’s Role

The primary role of any manager is to implement strategies that return as much profit as possible. Which is problematic for the OCS. The manager responsible for retail sales wants to generate as many online sales as possible. Similarly, the manager responsible for wholesale is doing the same, and now the two OCS managers are in a direct conflict. Who wins when there is a huge demand for a product? How much does OCS retain for retail sales? These are the difficult questions that the industry would like to see answered open and honestly.

Source: https://www.leafly.ca/news/cannabis-101

Is OCS delivery needed?

Prior to the pandemic, the OCS was the only way to legally order cannabis online. However, the Alcohol and Gaming Commission of Ontario (AGCO) changed its regulations, allowing home delivery for retailers. Now that cannabis stores have implemented delivery systems, the AGCO has kindly continued to allow cannabis delivery. So why do we need OCS to deliver? There are definitely some rural areas in Ontario where it might be difficult to find a retail store within driving distance. A simple solution would be allowing cannabis stores to sell cannabis in Ontario by mail, the same way the OCS does. Problem Solved!

Spiritleaf Riverside – Free Same Day Cannabis Delivery – 781 Queen St. E.

OCS Retail

After reviewing their financial statements for the year ended 2020, retail sales were $75 million. Or roughly to 25% of their $300 million in total revenue. With approximately 1,000 cannabis stores in Ontario open to date, these sales would increase each store’s revenue by more than $75,000 annually.

Fair-well

Doesn’t Doug Ford regard Ontario as “Open for Business”? He also claims to be a huge supporter of small businesses. So, without costing the taxpayers a dime, he could provide cannabis retailers with more than $75K in annual revenue? What a hero he would be for small cannabis retailers. Fair-well OCS!

* The opinions in this article are solely the writers’ and are not associated with any cannabis brand or company.

The OCS Problem – Why the illegal cannabis market’s thriving

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Cannabis 101 – Everything You Need to Know for Beginners.

By Cann Man

On August 13, 2021

In Cannabis Basics

The Roll

F yeah, it’s another blog about cannabis! Though I’m hoping to give you some information that you might not have known about; such as, terpenes, and how CBD becomes more effective with THC because of the entourage effect. I will also touch the surface of the endocannabinoid system and cannabinoids in general. With that, let’s roll right into it!

Endocannabinoid System

Did you know that our bodies have an endocannabinoid system with cannabinoid receptors that are specifically in place to receive cannabinoids? This intrigues me because the human body does not have such a specific system for receiving alcohol or many other pharmaceutical drugs. Usually, our livers filter what they can, and our body gets what is left over. However, the endocannabinoid system receives and delivers the effects of various cannabinoids to our bodies exactly as they were meant to be consumed.

Cannabinoids

Cannabinoids are the psychoactive ingredients that many of us know, such as THC and CBD. These cannabinoids interact with our endocannabinoid system to make us feel the effects of cannabis.

THC

Let’s start with the obvious, Tetrahydrocannabinol, better known as THC. This cannabinoid is the most popular and arguably the most psychoactive ingredient in cannabis because it is what makes you feel high. However, it is not the only factor in how you feel when you consume cannabis.

Terpenes

If we compare cannabis to music, THC would be the volume; terpenes are the genre. Finding the right terpene profile for yourself is likely more important than shopping for a percentage of THC. Terpenes or Terps are also what give each cannabis strain its own unique smell and flavour profile. Terpenes are found in all types of plants and are especially high in fruit, which combines with natural sugars to give them their delicious taste and scent. And just like fruit, every person individually likes and dislikes to their preference. So how do you know which Terpene profile is best for you? Truthfully, doing some research into various terpenes can help you decide, but it often comes down to the old method of trial and error.

CBD

Personally, my favourite cannabinoid is CBD (Cannabidiol). Commonly and mistakenly referred to as the non-psychoactive ingredient in cannabis. However, that is false because CBD has a calming effect, telling our brains to chill, and therefore is psychoactive. Several studies and I agree from my own personal experiences, show that CBD becomes more effective when it contains at least some THC. This is due to the phenomenon referred to as the entourage effect. Therefore, if you want to get the most out of your CBD and you are comfortable consuming THC, I highly recommend it.

The Roach

To summarize, more than 60 cannabinoid compounds are found in cannabis, and they each have a unique psychoactive effect on the human body. Each cannabis strain has its own distinctive profile of flavours, smells and ways of making us feel. So, next time you want to consume some cannabis flower, think about what you are looking for and try to find a strain that matches that. Or don’t, and just get high and enjoy. No judgement here!

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Mike Catalfamo (The Cann Man)
@the.cann.man

Cannabis Beverages – the Good, Bad and Delicious!

By Cann Man

On August 4, 2021

In Edibles

Cannabis beverages are the newest and hottest product in the cannabis market. But what makes these infused weed drinks so good? Or bad? I’m here to tell you all about it.

For so long, cannabis users have had to be the odd ones out at parties, going to distant corners to smoke a joint and not offend the other guests. Not any more Leroy! Now we can grab a few tasty treats, and no one will know otherwise. That is my favourite feature of cannabis beverages; they allow “potheads” to feel normal and help remove some negatively associated stigmas.

Childproof Tabs

First things first, the annoying yet necessary childproof tab. I found the solution to opening them in two easy steps, using just your fingertips and no tools.

Push down on the centre of the finger tab to break the first seal.
Once broken, put your finger in tab and pull it up and off with ease.

It seems obvious, but I used to struggle with them, and it can be very frustrating. I wonder how the alcohol/beer industries would react to such restrictions on their beverages?! Anyway, that topic is for another post.

THC/CBD

Currently, Health Canada regulations allow for a drink to contain 10mg of THC with no cap on the amount of CBD. (If you want to learn more about the differences between THC and CBD, check out my post titled “Cannabis Basics”). For an experienced or regular cannabis user, 10mg of THC might not be enough to get high; however, for new or inexperienced cannabis users, 10mg could be too much. And please remember, it can take 45 minutes to 1.5 hours to feel the full effects of any cannabis that is ingested. This is why I always recommend starting low and going slow. With that in mind, there are lots of great options for both types of users.

Houseplant Grapefruit Sativa Sparkling Water
- 2.5 mg of THC, 0 mg CDB, Sugar: 0 g, Calories: 4, also available in lemon and lime
Little Victory Blood Orange Sparking Water
- 2.5 mg of THC, 2.5 mg CDB, Sugar: 6g, Calories: 35, also available in dark cherry, dry lemon and lemonade
UBU Blackberry & Juniper Berry Sparkling Beverage
- 0 mg of THC, 20 mg CDB, Sugar: 0g, Calories: 5
Quatreau Passionfruit & Guava Sparkling Water
- 0mg of THC, 20mg CDB, Sugar: 0g, Calories: 25, also available in cucumber and mint

Experienced Users

The pros know their stuff, so I won’t get into too much detail about how to consume. I’m just going to recommend my favourite high THC beverages:

Collective Project Blood Orange, Yuzu & Vanilla Carbonated Juice
- 10 mg of THC, 10 mg CDB, Sugar: 14 g, Calories: 70
XMG Watermelon
- 10 mg of THC, 0.9 mg CDB, Sugar: 15 g, Calories: 70
Klon Terpene Smash Citrus Beverage
- 6 mg of THC, 6 mg CDB, Sugar: 0 g, Calories: 1

Whether you’re looking to fit in at a party or just love a great-tasting cannabis beverage, I’ve got you covered. And surprisingly, some of my favourite drinks listed above are sugar-free. A great benefit for those of us watching our beltline.

Don’t forget, all of these thirst-quenching treats can be found at Spiritleaf Riverside at 781 Queen St. E. in Toronto.

The opinions in this article are solely the writers’ and are not associated with any cannabis brand or company.
Nothing for sale.
Must be 19 years of age or older.
Please consume responsibly

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Tag: CBD

What’s What with Weed – Gary Payton by Cookies

What’s What with Weed # 2 – Battle of the Blunts

The OCS Problem – Why the Illegal Cannabis Market’s Thriving…

Cannabis 101 – Everything You Need to Know for Beginners.

The Roll

Endocannabinoid System

Cannabinoids

THC

Terpenes

CBD

The Roach

Cannabis Beverages – the Good, Bad and Delicious!

Childproof Tabs

THC/CBD

Experienced Users

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