Episode 30 - Can You Judge Connoisseur Quality Cannabis Before You Inhale It?

Not many can, but the new internet series “High Rollers” features a cast of colorful cannabists who show you how to identify and assess top flight flower -- useful skills for the post prohibition era!

Is a bud’s frostiness the best indicator of its flavor? Does your bud have the right “bounce” when you squeeze it? Do you know what to expect from a “dry hit” before it’s lit? And once it is lit, does the flavor express the fragrance? On “High Rollers” host Derek Gilman invites some of the world’s greatest growers and experts to tackle these and other burning questions, such as “Is the joint is the superior method of inhalation,” and “Why ‘full melt’ hash isn’t as flavorful as hash that leaves a trace of residue on the bowl.”

Swami Chaitanya, Frenchy Cannoly, or Kyle Kushman may not be household names, but they are as knowledgeable (and definitely more colorful) than their equivalent fine wine producers in France. Swami (who left the US for India decades ago as a cameraman called William Allen Winans and returned with a mile-long beard and red dot on his forehead) is a master grower and one of the longest standing judges of the Emerald Cup. Every year he spends six weeks sampling hundreds of varieties to crown California’s finest sun-grown organic flower. He’s no sales slouch either and is now touting his own brand of bud called “Swami Select.”

High Rollers’ host Gilman is himself an amazing grower. When we first met last May, he produced two ceramic jars, each containing the very memorable fruits of his labor. One variety, In The Pines, was especially glorious. I think of it as the Tesla of high-performance cannabis--it took me from 0-60 in two seconds. On his property in Ojai, CA, Derek grows 12 plants like the one in the one above: each is 14 feet tall, 10 feet around, and yields 9 lbs. (!) of clear-headed, fog-cutting, flavorsome bud, rich in pinene and limonene.

REMINDER: for those interested in medical cannabis, check out my new online learning platform, MedicalCannabisMentor.com. We’re launching three courses this year: “Cannabis Therapeutics” for healthcare professionals, “Cannabis Fundamentals” for dispensary personnel, and “Relief Without The High” for patients who want to treat pain, insomnia, or stress and still function fully. Sign up now and remember: Education Before Medicate.

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