Ah, sweet bliss.
That’s the first thought after a pull from the recently released Hibiscus cartridge from Chemistry. The vapor chases candied fruit and floral terpenes with a wash of mild, light-headed euphoria.
That dreamy feeling doesn’t quite carry you over the line into a cloudy mind space – it walks you right up to the edge and keeps you there, clear-headed and feeling oh-so-fine.
That easy-going effect means the Hibiscus cartridge makes for a great all-day draw, but what staggered us more than the effect was the bright, beautiful flavor. For its oils, the Oakland-based processor curates its favorite strain for each cartridge from a small number of hand-picked California farms.
For this particular treat, Chemistry extracted from hybrid Hibiscus buds cultivated by the stellar Esensia Gardens – an Emerald Cup-winning, full-term sungrown farm out of the Mendocino appellation. Known for its treacled tropical terpenes, Esensia’s Hibiscus makes for a delicious delight in the hands of Chemistry’s lab scientists.
In order to ensure they capture the true essence of each individual Cannabis strain they select, Chemistry first uses the traditional art of steam distillation to extract the terpenes from a portion of the harvest batch. In this case, the dominant terpenes showcased by the Hibiscus are bright, beautiful terpinolene, b-caryophyllene, b-myrcene and a-pinene.
After steam distillation, Chemistry then extracts the cannabinoids using what the company’s Director of Marketing, Catrina Morbidelli, identified as a proprietary method that does not involve the more common solvents such as CO2, butane, propane or ethanol, and instead uses “low-toxicity liquid solvents in a closed-loop system to isolate, filter and refine full-spectrum Cannabis oil.”
After extraction the same-strain, steam-distilled terpenes are reintroduced to the refined oil at a specific ratio (in this case, 5.1%). The goal is to craft an oil that reflects the pure character of the strain in flower form.
Chemistry then measures the oil into C-Cell cartridge hardware, which is slipped into sleek, colorful packaging. Paired with Chemistry’s branded buttonless direct-draw batteries, the Hibiscus makes for an easy, discreetly crushable candidate for your pocket.
This article was originally published in the November 2020 issue of California Leaf.
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