Great Tasting Edibles
When making edibles, I believe they should taste as good as they make you feel. And since cannabis makes you feel amazing, they should taste amazing! But making amazing tasting edibles isn’t always an easy task. Most edibles are grassy with a bitter aftertaste. We tolerate the unpleasantness because we know it will be worth it for the medicinal and therapeutic effects of cannabis, but we can do better.
To start with, you need a good cannabis extraction method. Without it, it can be quite difficult to create something delicious. A bad cannabis extraction method will likely still be effective, just not as delicious and without as wide range spectrum of cannabinoids. The real secret? Don’t burn the plant. When you burn your plant matter by not stirring constantly or letting it over heat, not only are you wasting precious cannabinoids but also creating that awful bitter taste in your edibles. So, much like all other cooking: burning = bad.
Now, when crafting edibles, be sure to consider the flavor profile of what you’re making. Find ways to punch up your flavors to help them compensate for the distinct taste of cananbis. Whether it’s chocolate or cinnamon or garlic, add a bit (or a lot) extra to accommodate the strong flavor of cannabis. Look for opportunities to use additional complimentary flavors to add to create a more complex flavor profile. Complex flavors are always more complementary to cannabis than simple flavors. For example a sugar cookie is a poor pairing because there’s nowhere for the cannabis flavor to hide, whereas a chocolate mint cookie would compliment the cannabis nicely.
To learn more about how to cook with cannabis, consider my Edibles Mini 101 live virtual course on December 10, 2022. We’ll cover a broad range of topics on edibles: the ancient and modern history of edibles, how to cook with and extract cannabis, much more on my personal flavor theory on how to make edibles that taste as good as they make you feel, and much more. Similar to the 101 courses I’ve taught at Oaksterdam and Merritt College. Plus, I offer a Full Edibles 101 Lecture Series to deep dive into developing edibles from multiple DIY extraction methods. I hope to see you in Plant School, soon!