Cannabis Holiday Gift Guide

Cannabis and food, as many know, go hand in hand. Besides just satisfying your munchies, matching aroma and flavor profiles can accentuate or complement the tastes and effects, creating exquisite experiences.

Here are some recommended consumption methods, and ways to choose the best strains for cannabis and food pairing. So get to smelling, ordering, cooking, and tasting!

Choosing strains

When choosing strains, try to pick terpene profiles that are prominent for you, ones that have distinct aromas. Keep in mind that everyone is different so your body and its response to terpenes may affect your perception.

The effects of the terpenes in combination with other cannabinoids, all produce the chemical varieties of cannabis. Learn how to shop for strains based on terpenes with your smell, the mood you are going for, and experience over time. For example, you might pick a strain that has the linalool terpene for relaxation or one with alpha-pinene for focus.

Consumption methods

To get the best smell and taste out of your cannabis flower, try grinding it and using a vaporizer like a Pax 2 or a Volcano Vaporizer. This helps avoid combustion or that burning taste you may get with other methods like smoking out of a glass pipe. If you do opt for glass make sure it’s clean to get those flavors with the first hit.

Dabbing concentrates that are full or broad-spectrum may also be a good way to get the optimal smells, flavors, and effects out of cannabis. For example, with live resin, the harvested cannabis flower is frozen before extraction to preserve more terpenes.

Strain and food pairings

Here are a few food dishes and suggested in-house cannabis strains to pair and experiment with that may enhance flavors and your experience.

Gelato Cake with Shepherd’s Pie

Gelato Cake is an indica dominant hybrid strain with dark, hashy, earthy, and slightly sweet aromas and flavors with happy effects. It may accentuate the tastes and smells of Shepherd’s Pie. These tastes may include fluffy garlic potatoes, brown sugar caramelized onions, fresh herbs like rosemary, and savory meat complemented with veggies. Gelato Cake is known for having sedating effects so it may help you blissfully relax after dinner.

Golden Goat with Hawaiian Pineapple Pizza

For many, the best thing about Hawaiian pizza is the juicy pineapple chunks. So before or in between bites of the pizza, take a little hit of Golden Goat, a sativa dominant hybrid strain. Golden Goat is known for having spicy, sweet, and sour notes, so it may make the pineapple and tomato sauce really pop. The strain can also be uplifting and may inspire you to make your own pizza!

Member Berry with Fruit Salad

A fruit salad with fruit of your choosing such as bananas, grapes, strawberries, coconut flakes, and a sweet citrus dressing may make a great pairing with Member Berry. Member Berry, an indica dominant strain, has tart and fruit flavors with sweet and citrus aromas and is known to have calming body high effects. So if you want to mediate a bit on your fruit salad, try this strain with it and make both even more enjoyable.

Lemon OG Haze with Lemon Blueberry Bars

What might go good with lemon, blueberry, and graham cracker crumbs? The almighty Lemon OG Haze, a sativa dominant strain with strong citrus flavors and effects. The fresh blueberries in the bar may be a good neutralizer for the lemon while still enjoying the piney zesty flavors of the flower. Nibbles of a baked lemon blueberry bar after or before a draw of Lemon OG Haze may bring an extra energizing burst of sunshine to your day.

The possibilities are endless with food and cannabis pairings, so get creative. It may have you appreciating your favorite strains and foods even more. Or maybe you’ll find new thoughts and enhancements to your experiences. Bon appetite and puff puff pass!

*LivWell makes no claims regarding the health or medical benefits of cannabis.

From Thanksgiving to Hannukah, Christmas to Kwanzaa, New Years, and all the rest, the holidays can come with their fair share of joy, chaos, stress, and everything in between. Looking for the perfect strains to pair with it all? LivWell has you covered. See below for our list of some of the best strains for the holidays.

Kosher Kush #1 (Indica-dominant)

When a break from the family or in-laws is calling your name, look no further than the deep, relaxing effects of Kosher Kush. This popular strain originates from a group of LA-based Jewish growers and is said to be blessed by a Rabbi, which makes it an especially fitting pairing come Hannukah time. Known for its pungent, skunk-like aromas, this potent strain is perfect for when you're in need of a strong body high to help you unwind.

Blue Diesel #1 (Indica-dominant)

A cross between Indica-dominant Blueberry and Sativa-dominant NYC Diesel, Blue Diesel provides the best of all worlds. Its pleasant and long-lasting body effects are optimal for the daytime and come with little to no fatigue, making it the ideal pairing for taking the edge off during holiday travel. (Delays? What are those?)

Blueberry Headband #1 (Sativa-dominant)

Looking for pleasant cerebral effects and a relaxing body high to pair with fun outdoor activities like skiing? Blueberry Headband is sure to be your jam. With notes of diesel, berries, and pepper, this sativa-dominant hybrid will be a blissful rush of holiday spirit in more ways than one.

Tres Kush (Indica-dominant)

Amidst the go-go-go of the holidays, there's something to be said for soaking up the simple pleasures of doing absolutely nothing. When you do, be sure to bring along some Tres Kush. This rare, Indica-leaning hybrid comes from Afghani #1 and Chemdog, paving the way for restorative terpenes like Caryophyllene, Limonene, and Humulene.

Grape Stomper (Sativa-dominant)

From family game nights to holiday shopping, this Sativa-dominant hybrid is best known for its potent cerebral effects. Grape Stomper offers a unique aromatic blend of skunk and grape with a buzz that's sure to stimulate the mind before easing into a nice body high to last you into the night.

Gelato Cake (Indica-dominant)

For all you sweet tooths out there, you'll especially love the dessert-like aroma of Gelato Cake, a combination of Gelato #4 and Wedding Cake. As for the effects of this Indica-leaning strain, you can expect physical relaxation to come on nice and strong, though many still find themselves to be productive and creative during the day. With mood-elevating terpenes to help ease the mind, pair this strain with the calm before the holiday storm so you're ready for anything.

Capital G (Sativa-dominant)

Few strains compare to the deep-seated relaxation that Capital G is known to provide. With that in mind, here's a perfect one for that post-holiday bliss when all is said and done and you've officially survived the season. Those with a high tolerance will especially love the heavy euphoria that comes along with the territory. So, roll one, pack one, and pat yourself on the back while you do. You did it!

You don’t have to be a botanist to appreciate the plant we all know and love. Here are a few fun science facts about this fascinating plant.

1. Cultivators are obsessed with the plant's sex

Cannabis plants are diecious - meaning there are both female and male versions of the plant. ‘It’s a girl!’ if wispy pistils (female plant parts) are present, whereas males have stamen (male plant parts). It’s the female plants that flower and produce the sticky buds we all desire, while males are really only valuable to growers that are breeding. Growers must identify and separate the girls and boys. One male plant in a room of girls can ruin an entire crop through pollination. How can this happen? If a female cannabis plant is environmentally stressed, it can become a hermaphrodite and have both female and male plant parts. 

2. Cannabis family tree

The family Cannabaceae includes:

• Cannabis (hemp and marijuana)
• Humulus (hops)
• Celtis (hackberries)

Didn’t know your favorite IPA and favorite bud were related? Dad and Dude's Breweria introduced one of the first cannabis brewed beers, made with legal hemp oil, at the 2015 Great American Beer Festival in Denver. The taste was that of a traditional IPA, but with a smoother finish. The THC was stripped from the hemp so that consumers don't get the high effects. Since Colorado is at the epicenter of craft brewing and also the mecca for recreational weed in the United States, look for more cannabis-infused craft beers in the future.

3. Hemp & marijuana genetics

The difference between hemp and marijuana is a genetic switch. Hemp and marijuana are both cannabis plants. They both contain compounds called cannabinoids, however, the cannabinoids vary between hemp and marijuana. Marijuana contains, THC, the most common cannabinoid that makes us feel high, but little to no CBD. The hemp plant lacks the enzyme to produce THCA, the precursor to THC and therefore has very little THC content. Alternatively, hemp is known for its high content of CBD, another important cannabinoid for pain relief with no intoxicating effects. 

4. Women are more likely to develop a tolerance to THC.

Washington State University psychologist, Rebecca Craft, studied cannabis resistance in rats and in a 2014 study concluded that females are more sensitive to the pain-relief side effects of the cannabis plant, but are also more inclined to develop a tolerance. It’s mainly due to higher estrogen levels in women. Women are generally more sensitive to cannabis; the only area where men scored higher in this unique gender-based study was ‘having the munchies’. 

5. Indica or Sativa?

It’s common to hear people talk about a preference for “indica” or “sativa” marijuana strains. However, after generations of cross-breeding, there really aren’t any true indicas or sativas anymore. Almost all strains these days are a hybrid mix of both, and are usually just dominant in either indica or sativa genetics. For example, a strain can be a 60/40 split indica to sativa.

And, don’t forget about Ruderalis. It is the third species of cannabis that wasn't identified until 1924 in Russia. Its name comes from the word "ruderal," which means something that grows on rubbish. It's wild cannabis that escaped human cultivation and was able to adapt to a more extreme environment. Unlike indica and sativa, ruderalis contains little THC.

6. Pot is short for Potiguaya.

Pot is one of the many terms used for cannabis that originated during the underground days of cannabis prohibition. The word is likely derived from the Mexican Spanish word “potiguaya,” the Spanish name for cannabis-infused wine or brandy. Can't put that in your pipe and smoke it!

LivWell makes no claims regarding the health and medical benefits of cannabis.