Candyland

previously published in Weed World, Issue 122
Download PDF: Weed World, Issue 122 – Candyland

Processed by: Dry Sift Jedi and Jackie of Resin Ranch Extraction

Years ago, when I was a young girl living with parents who were adamant about healthy food choices and prescribed portions, my idea of culinary paradise was ‘Candyland’ – a fantasy world full of endless lollipops for trees, gumdrops for shrubs, and roads made out of sour belts of licorice. In my present reality, I am delighted that this Candyland Hashish creates a sense of wonder not unlike the wistful desires of my younger years. The farmer’s tireless efforts, along with the dedication of the Hashmakers from Resin Ranch Extraction, have resulted in capturing pure bliss in a jar. Once unleashed, a wild ride of unlimited positivity and unbounded creativity commences and the experience is truly out of this world.

While stationed at the Buds and Roses booth during the second weekend of the 2016 High Times Cannabis Cup in San Bernardino, Frenchy Cannoli and I are each gifted with this Candyland Dry Sift Hashish by Todd Franciskovic, aka Dry Sift Jedi, and his partner Jackie of Resin Ranch Extraction. Of late, dry sift Hashish has been gaining popularity due to the influences of Cuban Grower, Cuban Hash Queen, and Bubbleman; all of whom Dry Sift Jedi thanks for furthering the progress of the solventless movement. I express my gratitude profusely to Dry Sift Jedi and Jackie, appreciating how freely they want to share with me such a fine example of dry sifting prowess. This Candyland Hashish is a product of flowers grown by a small private farm in the Honey Dew area of Humboldt County, California. For the last three years, Dry Sift Jedi has been creating bubblehash and, over the last year and a half, dry sift as well, using organic, sun grown, pesticide-free material that has been curing for a minimum of 1 month. Using a system they have dubbed “JediTech” he and Jackie collect just the trichome heads; finishing their cleaning process on the 180 LPI screen. I had been following them on Instagram, drooling over their pictures that I now see did little justice to their actual offerings. Opting to enjoy the Candyland Hashish at home, I carefully pack the jar away.

Weeks later, I decide to finally indulge, and the Indica-dominant Candyland Hashish reeks as soon as I open it. The resin is beautiful and robust pearls of golden cannabinoid-filled goodness. Dry Sift Jedi says he is inspired by Frenchy’s “obvious deep love for the resin,” and this Candyland Hashish proves that he too carries on the tradition of top quality concentrates in the Emerald Triangle. Without having to bury my nose in Hashish, and keeping the jar at arm’s length, the terpenes announce their presence; sighing sweetly and enticing me to take a very large dab. I do not want to rush. I want to savor every bit and appreciate the sugary, musky notes of Grandaddy Purple and Platinum Girl Scout Cookies that make up the Candyland’s parentage. I inhale pungent berries and I smile. I swirl the resin using a dab tool and it crinkles softly like parting sugar. I scoop a half dime’s worth into my gloved hand and begin to knead it into a very small modern day temple ball. The resin melts under my insistent touch and before long, a tiny caramel ball is deftly rolled. Under the manipulation of my fingers, the aroma of flowers and sweet fruit is released and it is quite lovely. I have not yet taken a dab and I am already mesmerized. I can tell that a dank delirium awaits me, but I am patient.

I truly enjoy the ritual aspect of dabbing concentrates. This appreciation for the slow process is one of the reasons that vape pens do not appeal to me much. The little details of preparation add to the enjoyment of my experience. I take my time pouring a small amount of Hashish onto a square of parchment paper. After torching my glass hashpress briefly, in one flowing pass, I transform the grainy Hashish into the thinnest mini slab of grease. The ease in which the Hashish has pressed tells me the oil content is very high and I am in for a heady ride.

Since I have so many different types of Hashish at any given time, it is easy for experiences to become indistinguishable. Today I am taking advantage of Frenchy’s newly established scoring table for Hashish. I look over his considerations of smoothness, stability, taste, melt, and the like as I take my first dab. After waiting for my quartz banger to cool to the proper temperature, I ease the dab onto the hot surface and a golden trail streaks across the quartz as the Hashish melts like butter on a skillet. The smoke easily slides into my mouth, coats my throat thickly, and flows out quickly and smoothly. The taste is pleasant; at first sweet before transitioning into a puffed wheat flavor, followed by camphor, and finally rounded out with berries on the end. I feel a familiar tingle in my nose as the remnants of the Hashish smoke slither past my nasal passages. My mouth retains a memory of the cottony smoke and I suck on my tongue absently; already hankering for another taste of this unique and multi-layered combination of flavors. In my body, I feel a sensation of lightness, as if I could float away like an errant hot air balloon. At the same time, I am keenly aware of just about everything…and right now, everything is Tony the Tiger GREATTTTT!

I take a second dab, this time at a very low temp trying to discover the other flavors that burn so easily at higher degrees. The smoke that greets me is light, reminding me of citrus and cake flour at once. Though it is unassuming, it settles in my mouth and shows no signs of going anywhere. Just then, I am overcome with good cheer. With a personality fit for a bounding goat, I am naturally bubbly; almost ebullient. My immediate reaction after the second Candyland Hashish dab is to break out in song and dance about my lemon rinds and my kitty’s fat behind. My cheerful song, belted at increasingly high volume, goes on and on, wending through nonsensical sounds and short words easily rhymed with one another. I am brimming over the top with unabashed happiness and I look at the jar of sift in amazement. I take 2 more dabs and eye my tenor and double tenor steelpans in the middle of the living room. I have been obsessed with these melodic percussive instruments for the past 27 years and right now, I am itching to play.

For the past week, I have been tinkering around with a few classics and jazz standards and I have an overwhelming desire to express myself. The tenor and double tenor steelpans correlate roughly to the violin and viola of classical orchestras. Playing on the tenor steelpan is a showman’s position, but it is on the double tenor steelpan that I feel my best. Using my body to preserve my rhythm and inertia while moving from side to side to reach notes sometimes spread as far as my entire arm span, I am lost in the magic of the instrument. My skill on these instruments have largely been confined to being able to near flawlessly play music as instructed, but I have struggled over the years with creating music on the spot. In my head, I can spin intricate melodies and accompanying harmonies, but clam up when prompted for an impromptu demonstration. Right now, I feel my mind easily leaping over those creative boundaries and running with wild abandon into the unknown. The notes reverberate through my body and I feel the rest of the world receding. I am only concerned with C,D,E,F,G, A,B, and their derivations. A record plays in my head and I hear Sinatra croon, “…I’ve loved, I’ve laughed and cried,” and suddenly I just KNOW how to provide a rich complement to the melody of one of my favorite tunes, “My Way.”

Seemingly outside of my control, I begin composing music full of scales, arpeggios, and most of all, JOY! I feel so very alive, as if the musical notes are giving me sustenance to continue. The sentiments and sensations coursing through me are so exhilarating that for a moment, I briefly wonder if I am in the throes of a spontaneous manic episode. Feeling energized, but not at all racy, I brush that negative thought aside and continue to play. I have already secured the melody on my tenor steelpan and just about finished the arrangement for the double tenor steelpans and I can say this is one of the happiest experiences I have had playing music. From my wrists, chord progressions flow like water and, in a way, I feel possessed. I feel like a conduit for the heavenly music and I begin audio recording to ensure that I can recall my creations when this enlightening solo jam session is over. After a while, I notice that my arms feel slightly warm, as if I had been strolling in the late spring sun. I imagine that I must be glowing as bubbles of glee radiate from my skin.

More than two hours have passed and I am still buzzing off of the Hashish dabs. I am open to the world and letting it all in. I look out of the window and seeing the sun setting, I run up the stairs to the roof to soak in the last of the golden rays. I gaze after the departing light wondering if the sun, as brightly as it shone today, shone nearly as brightly as I did.

As complicated and sometimes exhausting as can be day to day life, we take comfort in those pleasures that can transform our mood and change our perspective. I had assumed all of these years that there was a limit to what I could on my beloved instrument and one long session with the Candyland Hashish banished me of such mental constraints. There may not really exist a world made of fondant and gummies, but this Candyland Hashish adds an overlay of unmitigated freedom and childlike wonder to everything and that may just mean the most wonderful dream come true.