Craft cannabis denotes top-shelf flower cultivated in smaller (compared to its corporate counterparts) artisanal batches with noticeable attention to detail. Whether a premium aroma, distinctive taste, or intoxicating effect, high-quality cannabis can be identified in rich cannabinoid and terpene profiles or by using our senses to assess the flower, with a grading emphasis on quality over quantity.
Although we primarily refer to craft as flower, the concept extends to all manners of smokables to consumables, as we notice more craft brands hitting the shelves across Canada.
Consumers from British Columbia to Nova Scotia have been seeking alternatives to mass-produced, industrial-grade cannabis, shifting focus to licensed producers and micro-cultivators that maintain a higher integrity for their plants. By engaging in numerous finely tuned processes that span from seed to harvest to the customers’ rolling papers, we become aware of cultivators that are, bar none, exceptional compared to their lackluster competitors. With careful cultivation techniques including hang-dried, hand-trimmed, and hand-packaged flower, it is with little wonder that we encounter an upward trend for craft products driven by escalating consumer demand.
Hang-dried
Many craft growers consider hang-drying fresh flower essential in their post-harvest process. It may add an average of 10 to 14 days to a production cycle, but hang-drying the cannabis plant helps to break down undesirable chlorophyll, remove moisture to preserve trichomes and prevent mold as well as help maintain the flower’s aroma and flavour. The environment in the dry rooms is also actively controlled to maintain relative humidity and temperature to produce a “low and slow” dry. Large-scale facilities use drying racks after running flower through a wet-trim machine and often rush the drying process. However, we are noticing more and more facilities are moving away from a wet-trim method and allocating time to a natural dry period followed by a hand-trim.
Hand-trimmed
While a faster process, automated machine trimmers, wet or dry, compromise the structure of cannabis flower and can over or under-trim. Rather than excessively removing brittle trichomes containing resinous oils, hand-trimming flower helps to ensure more trichomes remain intact after harvest. Hand-trimming is also more effective in producing attractive-looking, non-uniform buds free from excess leaves and stems. Furthermore, real people can visually check on quality as they handle flower by simultaneously monitoring for unwanted imperfections and pests. Not all commercially trimmed cannabis is considered subpar, but it is unlikely to be held to an equivalent standard as craft cannabis produced by micro-cultivators.
Hand-packaged
Packaging flower by hand can be tedious, but it ensures quality control and product integrity. Consumers are not pleased when opening jars of cannabis filled with underwhelmingly small nugs, finding bugs in their freshly ground-up flower, or smoking canoeing pre-rolls. When producers can visually select buds for their blanketed frost and various sizing while removing undesirables, they will inevitably maintain a greater oversight on their brand’s reputation. Additionally, having the ability to hand-package orders as needed helps to deliver a fresh experience for the end user. In contrast, automated packaging often allocates stock to wait on shelves until orders arrive, where the clock on drying out the cannabis begins. Hand-packaged flower is often preferred over automated packaging and is another way to distinguish artisanal craft from off-the-rack, large-scale cannabis operations.
As a result, highly effective and optimized techniques introduce an upscale and consistent experience to the market. Craft cannabis cultivators can show off their growing skills while consumers enjoy the tender care and passion that went into growing these plants. With an emphasis on improving the overall holistic relationship with this plant, the craft cannabis market will unsurprisingly grow in Canada and worldwide in the coming years.
Image courtesy of Kelsey Cannabis