Issue link: https://digital.copcomm.com/i/599676
f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 | 1 0 9 While most edibles manufacturers purchase cannabis wholesale and many companies use trimmings and stems to infuse their products because the mari- juana flower is so much more expensive, Berliner began to rethink the quality of the ingredients she'd been using in her infusions. "For a long time, I was tak- ing what I could find," she admits, "but what's tough about purchasing whole- sale is that there is a very limited market as far as the quality and consistency of the product." Berliner's solution was simple: "We now have our own cultivation," she says. "We call it crop to table," continues Berliner, explaining that she chose a single strain cultivation of a sativa-dominant hybrid, grown indoor, in soil, and without hydroponics. "We've really refined our cultivation process," comments Ber- liner. "We see everything from when the plant is a few inches tall to when it is infused." With cultivation giving her consistency and control over her ingredients, Berliner and Sweet Grass Kitchen Executive Chef Lauren Finesilver also recon- sidered the standard infusion method, choosing to do a more costly full-flower extraction rather than using trim or stems. "We've seen that a full-flower extraction has a more effective and more medicinal effect on the consumer, and ultimately, we have a more premium product," says Berliner. With recreational and medicinal menus featuring a variety of cookies, brownies, seasonal products like pumpkin pie, and the ever-popular peanut butter and jelly cup, Sweet Grass Kitchen strives to create edibles that are not only delicious but, first and foremost, consistently dosed and safe. "Cannabis is a great fit for baking because it is so regimented," explains Finesilver. "It's very important to be pre- cise in your measurements in any form of baking, and we've developed a formula that really perfects our potency." Flavor is also important to Finesilver, who admits that there are two camps when it comes to cannabis infusions: those who want to taste the flavor of the flower, and those who don't. "It can be a double-edged sword," admits Finesilver, "but I think it is important to have the cannabis taste, and there are some flavors that pair really well with cannabis's very earthy taste. Chocolate is a natural, and mint is also a really nice pairing because it is an herb of the earth, like cannabis. The flavor can be a little overpowering with fruity pairings, but it's all down to personal preference." Finesilver also notes that while flavor nuances are easily discernable when smoking cannabis, it is difficult to tease out the flavors of specific strains in the edible arena: "At the end of the day, it is a cookie, so it isn't easy to say, 'Oh yes, this is Blue Dream or Sour Diesel'; but that's something I think people will continue to develop," says Finesilver, adding that exploring new fat compounds (the agents the THC binds to) such as coconut oils, baking fat, and shortening will also offer new flavor and application alternatives. But with a patchwork of ever-evolving codes regulating shelf-life and packag- ing restrictions on edibles, Finesilver, who dreams of being able to one day offer a menu featuring freshly-baked infused French pastries, admits that we're just at the forefront of this developing field. "We have a long way to go," she says; "we can't have an éclair on our shelves because it is so perishable and not easily dosable, but everything is changing very quickly here in Colorado." Like Berliner, Finesilver, a classically trained chef, recalls that she too was at a fork in the road when a career in cannabis presented itself: "Everyone told me to be careful and warned that I might not get another chefing job after working in cannabis, but things have already changed so much. Now, if some- one saw this on my resume, they'd say, 'That's cool!'" And as the regulatory issues continue to iron themselves out, Finesilver calls Berliner and Sweet Grass Kitchen Executive Chef Lauren Finesilver also recon- sidered the standard infusion method, choosing to do a more costly full-flower extraction rather than using trim or stems. "We've seen that a full-flower ever-popular peanut butter and jelly cup, Sweet Grass Kitchen strives consistently dosed and safe. "Cannabis is a great fit for baking because it is so regimented," explains Finesilver. "It's very important to be pre- cise in your measurements in any form of baking, and we've developed a Flavor is also important to Finesilver, who admits that there are two camps when it comes to cannabis infusions: those who want to taste the flavor of the flower, and those who don't. "It can be a double-edged sword," admits Finesilver, "but I think it is important to have the cannabis taste, and there are some flavors that pair really well with cannabis's very earthy taste. Chocolate is a natural, and mint is also a really nice pairing because it is an upon professional chefs to join the charge driving the legal cannabis-infused industry. "We need more chefs!" she says emphati- cally. "We need good people who know what they're doing in the kitchen and have the tools and techniques to continue developing this industry—not just people who are knowl- edgeable about marijuana. It's a lot easier to learn about marijuana than it is to learn how to be a chef!" As more and more people choose this path, the brighter, wider, and more certain it will become, thanks to those who've come down it before and fought for its legitimacy, one cookie at a time. Lauren Finesilver, Exective Chef at Sweet Grass Kitchen, encour- ages more professional chefs to explore careers in the cannabis industry. Executive Chef Lauren Finesilver turns to flavors that are a natural fit with cannabis, with chocolate and peanut butter starring in the Sweet Grass Kitchen recreational and medicinal infused product line. ■cr f a l l / w i n t e r 2 0 1 5 | 1 0 9