We smoke a lot of flower around here, which is really freakin’ awesome. But we’re also aware that there are other cannabis products out there that deserve some attention, and they can be intimidating if you’re not quite sure what the hell they are. That’s why we’ve decided to throw some concentrate, edibles, and product reviews into the mix. We’ll smoke ‘em, eat ‘em, or rub ‘em and give you our honest opinions on the stuff. Just call us your weed guinea pig.
This week’s concentrate, Sour Relief, came to us from Good Earth Meds in Pagosa Springs. It arrived in vape cartridge form, along with a sweet Coda Signature battery, which the glass cartridge just screws right into.
Before we launch into the product review, there are a few things (aside from the obvious) we’d like to tell you about GEM’s concentrates. The first is that the folks at that dispensary use their shake and trim for extracting concentrates, which means that none of their soil-grown plant matter – which is grown organically in Pagosa Springs – is going to waste. (Side note/pro-tip: Good Earth also sells their trim for $3 a gram, which is super baller if you’re looking to make cannabutter or something and need a lot of cannabis. You can also smoke it, which many of their customers do.)
The dispensary sends the trim off to Karing Kind in Boulder, and those folks use C02 to extract the concentrates. CO2 extraction is the cleanest method around, and while a lot of other concentrates are extracted with butane or other propane products, those substances can be volatile fire hazards, and can also chemically sully the organically-grown buds. C02, on the other hand, does not explode or leave gross chemicals in your concentrate. I guess what I’m trying to convey here is that Good Earth focuses on the best way to create these concentrates, not just the easiest.
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What you’re left with is a very potent, very clean concentrate, like shatter, wax, and other concentrates, along with the vape cartridges we got our grubby paws on. The Sour Relief concentrate we tried tested at 78.8 percent THC, and a 500 mg cartridge is selling for $32. That… is a very good deal.
While there isn’t anything unique about the actual cartridge – it’s your typical glass container, meant to fit a wide array of batteries – there is something special about what’s inside. My recent go-to has been live resin, which I smoke (I know, I know), and while I like the effects (and the overpowering scent of the terpenes that burst out of the container when it’s opened), you have to heat that sugary substance up with a device that looks like a miniature blow torch, get it to the temperature of molten lava, and then smoke it, which in turn makes my throat feel like it’s on fire. I’m also a little put off by the taste of said burning hell-fire.
This cartridge, on the other hand, is a breeze to use. You just need a battery to screw it into. That’s it. It tastes pleasant – no chemical burn or harsh smoke to contend with – and there is no smell to the vapor it emits. It’s so smooth that I was initially convinced that I wasn’t drawing anything in, so I just kept inhaling. And inhaling. And inhaling.
Ten minutes later, I was on my ass and very, very stoned. I was a giggling mess, and I spent the rest of my afternoon with my appendages feeling like they were either numb and or the skin on them was rolling in delicate waves. While I was incredibly amused with the total body high I was experiencing, if you’re not into feeling like a bowl of pudding, please be smarter than me and start slow.
I can see why this concentrate is a favorite of GEM’s customers. The cartridges are so user-friendly that even my dad figured out how to use the vape without a tutorial. (This is the same man who can’t figure out why iTunes doesn’t telepathically read his CDs.) And the trim they use is clearly high quality, because Sour Relief really lives up to its name. This strain could put a serious dent in a number of ailments: boredom, insomnia, and pain. A few hits of that vape cartridge, and any or all of those issues would be resolved.
So, after testing it out all weekend, I can confidently say that there isn’t anything about GEM’s vape cartridge I should warn you about, other than the obvious “don’t be an idiot like DGO Pufnstuf and overdo it.” But at this point, that warning should just be stamped on every cannabis product (and my forehead) anyway.
DGO Pufnstuf
