Pairing: Blaze Strawberry Lemonade and POG Soda x Oregon Spirit Distillers Cascadian Vodka
Tannins
Nothing sells the Pacific Northwest like clean air and water, which grow the best weed and help distill the highest quality spirits. The Cascadian Vodka by Oregon Spirit Distillers uses the freshest mountain water to deliver a 100% wheat vodka that’s smooth, gently sweet and ready to add a smooth buzz to any drink recipe. Support local distilling and taste the freshness of the mountains with each sip or shot.
Terpenes
Evergreen Herbal is the true OG when it comes to Cannabis edibles and drinks. They’ve been in the game since 2012, and their current menu is full of delicious gummies, chocolates and drinkables, including the newest Blaze Soda lineup. The Strawberry Lemonade is sweet, syrupy and fizzy, with perfect lemon and strawberry flavors teasing the senses. If tropical is more your flavor, relax with a POG, which is bursting with passion fruit, orange and guava that hits the palate with a fresh-squeezed buzz that’s so natural, it’s easy to forget that there’s 100 milligrams of THC floating inside these crushable cans. Effects hit hard and melt the mind and body into a puddle, continuing the legacy of excellent edible highs from Evergreen Herbal.
Pairing
Vodka and juice are always a winning drink combination, so we went all in on the new Blaze drinks to sip a simple cocktail that’s ready for happy hour. The POG leads with a bright hit to the senses of citrus and guava, with a mellow passion fruit finish that lends itself to a cocktail perfectly, as it tempers the gas of the spirits. We poured a full can with a shot or two of vodka, and then we added some more sweetness with a spritzer of the Strawberry Lemonade for a fruity punch drink that smacked our senses. Easily mixable separately, add fruit or a garnish with ice to either for a fun buzz that will lift your spirits and plant your body in a chair like a tree to its roots.
Test Results: 100mg THC
oregonspiritdistillers.com | buy.forevergreenherbal.com | @oregonspiritdistillers
Pairing: 1937 Farms Autumn Sunset 57 (Chimera 4 X Dip N Stix) – Breeder’s Batch x Maker’s Mark 90 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky
Tannins
First distilled in 1953, this Maker’s Mark 90 Proof Kentucky Straight Bourbon Whisky was aged five years before the first bottles were released with the distinctive hand-dipped red wax neck, maintaining this high standard into the modern era. Aged in American oak barrels and distilled with a soft red winter wheat, this whisky is known for a sweet flavor with notes of vanilla, oak and fruit that remind us of cool fall nights after hot end-of-summer days. Known for the distinctive mark of the red wax and the passion that goes into aging fine whisky, we felt it deserved a pairing with a strain grown by breeders with a similar passion for cultivating and curing top-shelf Cannabis.
Terpenes
1937 Farms grows craft-scale, award-winning Cannabis, with the pinnacle of its lineup being the Breeders Batch, including this unique cross of Chimera 4 x Dip N Stix to create the Autumn Sunset 57. Inside the glass, the nugs shine with huge visible trichomes that cover every bit of surface area, teasing and sparkling from buds that have a fall-themed color palette of light green, purple tips and orange hairs. Opening the jar releases a rush of warm citrus and sugary notes of earth, wood and pine with a maple-spiced, mineral finish that’s complex and delicious.
Pairing
A true sip and savor pairing, we prefer the whisky neat with ice, which brings out the earthy and sweet notes with a sip that smacks the palate and warms the body from the tummy to the chest. Nothing cuts the fuel-like flavor of premium whisky like a hit of smoke, and the Autumn Sunset 57 is ready to end the night on a high note. The perfectly frosted nugs break up easily, with pillowy soft bud that burns exceptionally smooth, releasing a rich and earthy rush of warming smoke that cuts the sharpness of the whisky with a creamy, smooth and spiced exhale. The effects rush to the frontal lobes, slowing time and centering the mind and body in the moment, staying smooth until the last hit of summer escapes into a chilled harvest night.
makersmark.com | @makersmark | @1937farm
Pairing: Green Revolution Solace Comforting Body Cream and Liquid Death Doctor Death
Tannins
Sometimes, we feel like dying, especially after a long hike with a supersized a la carte order of bug bites and sunburn. When the body hits the point of no return, it’s time for Liquid Death, and Doctor Death is the closest thing to a Dr Pepper that can legally be made, but it’s water. Much like a Cannabis success story, this canned water company has gone from a Warped Tour idea to a billion-dollar brand. Liquid Death has branched out from simple waters into fizzy and flavored soda replacements that are ready to refresh without a glut of sugar and calories.
Terpenes
Cannabis topicals are powerful medicine for healing and recovery, which is essential after pushing the body to its limits. Green Revolution’s Solace Comforting Body Cream is loaded with 1,000 milligrams of CBD, 200mg of CBN and 30mg of THC. The CBD and CBN work wonders topically, penetrating through the skin, the body’s largest organ, to deliver relief to sore muscles and drive away inflammation. When it comes to recovery — for burns, scars or pain — we’ve found topicals to be an essential part of the healing process.
Pairing
Getting back to the parking lot after a hike or day at the beach is both a reward and a sad experience, as the weight of the day hits hard. Shake it off with Doctor Death and a lathering of Solace. Sipping this beverage while rubbing on Solace rewards the palate with refreshment, as the cooling topical layers and wafts notes of wintergreen, cooling mint and eucalyptus. Spreading on sore knees and muscles feels like a treat for the body, and the quality topical has a light texture that absorbs quickly, with aloe vera, shea butter and oils (including hemp seed) aiding in the absorption. Within 20 minutes, we felt tension release and muscles relax, and with a sip of Doctor Death, we felt ready to keep on trucking and defeat pain and inflammation with Cannabis medicine.
Potency for body cream: 1,000mg CBD, 200mg CBN, 30mg THC
greenrevolution.com | @expgreenrevolution | liquiddeath.com | @liquiddeath
Pairing: Ooowee All-In-One Vapes x Time Warp Pet Nat
Tannins
Slow down time for your next happy hour with the light and bubbly Time Warp Pet Nat that’s fizzing with notes of raspberry, berries, grapefruit and white peach. A pét-nat, aka a pétillant naturel, is a sparkling wine that is bottled before fermentation is complete. With less fermentation than a Champagne, which gets two hits of fermentation, a pét-nat finishes in the bottle and is ready for brunches with a lighter alcohol level.
Terpenes
Ooowee is a brand that kills the flavored vaporizer game and is also the sound we make when a new pen and 510 cartridge combo gets dropped off at Leaf headquarters. Their new design features a sleek, branded battery with an updated cart design that has the logo cloud and name embossed on the tip. It has a big window to see the golden oil and the strain name listed on the cartridge, which makes remembering much easier when super baked.
Pairing
Lightly sweet and easy to drink, we love the sip and savor opportunities with a beverage in one hand and a custom vape pen battery in the other. The Super Raspberry Boof unleashes a wave of warming citrus raspberries with a creamy, gassy finish that’s refreshing and uplifting. Washed down by a bubbly sip of the pét-nat, we switched hands and puffed the Washington Peach, which tastes like a fuzzy, fizzy weed version of a mimosa, with bright, smooth terps smacking the palate and frontal lobes with a heady, happy buzz. Together, the fruity flavors combine for a happy hour buzz that’s freshly picked and baked for our pleasure.
Test Results: Super Raspberry Boof 86.9% THC / Washington Peach 87% THC
Pairing: MJ Esthetics skINFUZED CBD Salve and GoKo Pineapple Sparkling Coconut Water
Tannins
Seattle is the birthplace of modern coffee culture, thanks to a corporate entity we won’t name or shame, but it doesn’t mean we have to get our caffeine served with ultra-processed syrups and enough sugar for an entire day in one plastic cup. That’s why we looked to GoKo for a new twist on refreshing energy, with a blend of sparkling coconut water, a hit of pineapple and the essential ingredient: caffeine. The terpenes found in pineapple include myrcene, limonene and pinene, which are also present in many Cannabis strains and the citrus-forward MJ Esthetics skINFUZED Orange Grapefruit CBD Salve. As always, Mother Nature has shown her love for us by spreading terpenes around the plant kingdom, and we happily sip and spread those on our achy joints for natural pain relief.
Terpenes
MJ Esthetics is a Washington topical company that’s woman-owned and focused on natural plant medicines that go beyond Cannabis alone. Check out our interview with founder Jessica Mills in our May Northwest Leaf at leafmagazines.com. Mills makes her topicals with all-natural ingredients, focusing on synergistic properties between the natural plant world and the healing power of CBD. With salves, liniments and even lip balm, you can literally cover yourself in healing terpenes with the skINFUZED by MJ Esthetics lineup.
Pairing
Nothing brings refreshment like a cold drink and a rubdown with infused topicals. We cracked the GoKo and reveled in the light, bubbly taste of coconut water with a delightful kick of pineapple that added the perfect amount of sweetness to this fizzy pick-me-up. With 95 milligrams of caffeine, this hits like a cup of coffee but adds hydration with electrolytes at only 80 calories. Rubbing salve and spraying liniment from the skINFUZED line brightens the senses and releases tension as the CBD and natural plant medicines — including willow bark, dandelion and witch hazel — combine forces with hemp-derived cannabinoids to crush pain and inflammation like an empty drink can. We love the citrus salve that rubs easily onto sore spots and gets the body floating. With the skin high and the body hydrated, the only thing missing is a favorite flower or dab to kick the next adventure into go mode.
Potency: skINFUZED 1,000mg CBD Salve and 1,000mg CBD Cool Liniment
Available at:
skINFUZED
30331 US-2 #4
Sultan, WA 98294
And Farmers Markets:
Bellingham, Snohomish, Sultan, Seattle Waterfront Marketplace
mjesthetics.com | @mjesthetics | gokoenergy.com | @gokoenergy
Pairing: Washing Tons “Strawberry Pie” (Strawberry Banana X Cherry Pie) Cold Cured Live Hash Rosin x Frostie Soda Strawberry Watermelon
Tannins
Whether you call it soda or pop, the fizzy and sugary concoction has had a huge impact on culture and flavor. A cult classic today, Frostie Soda started brewing in 1939 in an old Maryland jailhouse. Using the jail cells to store equipment, the company started with just root beer and later added offerings like Blue Cream Soda, Cherry Limeade and our special pairing flavor, Strawberry Watermelon. Made the old-school way, served in a cold bottle, this soda delivers nostalgia and flavor in each big sip.
Terpenes
Washing Tons is a craft processor that focuses on high-end rosin, and their hard work shines with Strawberry Pie, a cold-cured live hash rosin that’s stunningly beautiful with a light golden color and a terpy, slightly oily consistency. The first notes are bright and full of ripe strawberries that dance with a fizzy, gassy and grassy brightness tempered by a deeper cherry-banana-pie finish that sets our mouths to watering. The first hits are bright and gassy with a fruity-berry zing that ignites the mind with a creative euphoric buzz.
Pairing
Embrace the California sober lifestyle by ditching booze and going all in on weed with this heady hash and soda pairing. Both soda and rosin deliver a childlike wonder when a classic flavor hits the palate and a sugary THC rush hits the mind, which we chose to replicate with the best of both worlds. The first sips of strawberry and watermelon goodness coat the palate in a syrupy, fizzy soda that’s hard not to chug, but with an e-rig belching clouds, we sipped back and forth in revelrous delight. The Strawberry Pie slows time as a sense of wonder and happiness hits with each puff, transporting the mind to a simpler time when soda, sun and fun were the primary goals for a fall day.
