How To Add Flavour To Your Cannabis Before, During, And After Harvest
Have you grown tired of the taste of cannabis? Less than impressed with strains that promise fruit, mint, chocolate, or vanilla flavours? Take things into your own hands with infused cannabis. This how-to article gives you three easy ways to make your weed taste better than you ever dreamed.
Strains like Blueberry, Bubba Kush, and Strawberry Cough promise naturally sweet or fruity tastes, but the primary flavour will still be weed. If you'd like to change things up, try one of these infusion methods to add a little more zing to your stash.
FLAVOURED CANNABIS BEFORE HARVEST
Stop watering your plants 3–4 days before you plan to harvest so the soil can dry out. Don't let them get so dry they start to die. If you see any wilting, water lightly. On harvest day, mix up a mild solution of 15ml essential oils or food-grade extracts to 20l of water. Slowly water your plants to minimise runoff. Allow them to slake their thirst for 3–5 hours before cutting.
Because they've been freshly watered, the flowers will contain more moisture than you might be used to at harvest time. Keep them separated and allow for plenty of airflow during the initial dry to prevent mould.
FLAVOURING WEED DURING HARVEST
If you've already started to cut down your plants, it's not too late to flavour your weed. Fill a glass with the above “flavoured water” solution and place a freshly cut branch in it. As long as the leaves are still alive, they'll draw water up the stem and into the flower's calyxes. After about a week, remove the cutting, then dry and cure as usual.
The same warning about mould applies to this technique.
FLAVOURING MARIJUANA AFTER HARVEST
After flowers are jarred, you can still change the flavour by adding items to the jar.
Soak a cotton ball in an extract or essential oil, attach it to the jar lid, and allow it to hang down inside the lid, but not to touch the buds. Keep an eye on the jar for condensation or any other signs of excess moisture that could cause mould and rot.
Adding dried items to the jar works well too, and it minimises the risk of mould. As long as they're fully dried, you can add citrus peels, an apple slice, flower petals, and spices like rosemary, cinnamon, or cloves. Empty out a tea bag, then fill with loose material to keep your flavouring agent and herb separated.
THINGS TO REMEMBER
Different strains, and even different plants of the same strain, will absorb flavourings at a different rate. Plus, each flavouring will alter the weed's natural taste in a unique way. Until you know what will happen and what you like, experiment with a single plant, a single branch, or a single jar of weed. The last thing you want to do is get so carried away by the possibilities that you ruin an entire harvest.
Food-grade extracts are as close as your local grocery store. Walk up the baking aisle, look for the spices and you'll find strawberry extract, almond extract, rum extract, and more, in addition to the ubiquitous vanilla extract. These are best because they're intended to be used in food. If you choose an essential oil, look carefully at the ingredients to make sure they're safe for human consumption. Put a tiny drop on your finger and give it a taste. If it burns, has a chemical aftertaste, or is too perfumey, you might want to take a pass.
Avoid any flavouring that contains a lot of sugar. Sugar burns easily and smells bad when it does, so it won't make your weed taste better.
Enhanced flavours and aromas can fade quickly when they're left in the open air. Once jarred, keep the lids tightly sealed to hold in the goodness. However, you still need to keep a close eye on the humidity level inside the jar to prevent mould. Using a small hydrometer that you can view from outside a sealed jar helps.
Finally, keep your expectations in check. Infused cannabis still tastes like cannabis, only better if you do it right. Use proper growing, drying, and curing techniques to ensure that your herb has a smooth, pleasant taste, with or without additional help.
