Just in time for my 40th birthday, I received a pretty amazing package. I have been to dispensaries all over the country and one of the products that I have always been drawn to, but never tried, are cannagars. Until now that is. I opened a USPS package at my home in Florida after returning from New England, to find the Purple Rose Supply cannagar kit inside. Watch the video below to see the whole process of me putting the cannagar together.
I have browsed the cases in many of the Las Vegas dispensaries displaying the handful of brands that sell cannagars, but I have never actually bought one. Instead, I scratched my head and thought, how does somebody smoke weed like a cigar? I brought it up to a buddy of mine and he said he smoked cannagars all the time. “They’re called blunts,” he had said.
I have smoked quite a few cigars, and blunts are not like cigars. Maybe blunts are typically wrapped in tobacco leaf, though hemp wraps are better in my opinion, but really they are just big joints in tobacco leaf. A cigar is packed really tight relative to a blunt or joint. You use a torch to light a cigar and typically you smoke it all in one session. You can relight a cigar maybe twice, but every time you do they taste a little more ashy. You have to smoke about a third of it before you get to the best and most flavorful part.
In my experience, when people smoke weed, they smoke it until they get as stoned as they want and then stop. Cannabis smokers certainly have an appreciation for flavor, but marijuana is something I am used to seeing people conserve. That may not be as true as it once was since there are now 11 states where adult-use marijuana is legal, and 33 with relaxed medical marijuana laws. Still though, I see people cornering bowls, storing away unfinished joints and even scraping bowls for resin. All methods to make the most out of their precious stash.
Between the expense and the challenges people often face buying black market weed, conserving it has always been a major focus. The cannagars I have seen at dispensaries can have as much as a full ounce of weed in them, plus they can be lined with concentrates. I have even seen cannagars that have gold in them and cost over $10,000. What is conservative about that? How many times does a cannagar need to be put out and then relit? Does it begin to taste terrible? I couldn’t imagine that a person would sit and smoke a whole cannagar like they would a cigar.
None of that changed the fact that I wanted to try a cannagar, but I was willing to be patient to find the right opportunity. If it ended up being a more decadent cannabis experience, well then okay, splurging on occasion is alright. I certainly thought my 40th birthday was a worthwhile occasion. Instead of buying a super expensive cannagar, I would make one myself. I wanted to better understand how these things were constructed anyways. I like understanding how things work.
The Purple Rose Supply G2 CannaMold Small is $44 on their site and comes with the mold, a packing tool, skewers and a wooden filter tip. You can watch my video below on how I put mine together. The cannagar shells need to fit the mold exactly, so I got the ones that went with the G2 CannaMold Small kit. They are about $20 each and are made with hemp leaves and the shell is very hard.
I watched a video and read that the particular mold I have could hold up to 7 grams of weed, or a quarter of an ounce. I purchased 7 grams of weed for a total of $66, which is on the low-end. But again, since I was going to be putting a full quarter into the cannagar, I wanted to make sure I found the best deal. I am old-school in that way. So, $44 for the mold, $20 for a shell, and $66 worth of weed, brought the total to $130. Obviously, I won’t need to get another mold, so any future cannagar I make I am expecting to pay roughly $86. After putting the cannagar together, I thought I could have even packed in another 3 grams or so if I really wanted to.
I would say that actually taking the time to grind up the cannabis and then pack it into the mold, took me approximately 20 minutes, but I was talking during the process and taking my time. The instructions say to wait at least three hours before putting the molded cannabis into the cannagar shell, but the top suggestion was to wait at least 2 days for the most optimal smoking experience. So, I waited the two days before putting the cannagar completely together. I stored everything in a humidor that I have. After I made the cannagar, it sat in the humidor for nearly two weeks awaiting my birthday.
When my friends came over for a small get together that my wife had organized, I pulled out the cannagar and we were ready to go. Like me, they were skeptical. They expressed concern that 7 grams was a lot and wondered why I just didn’t roll a blunt. They also talked about how we would need to set it aside and relight it later because they could not see themselves smoking it all with me in one session. I certainly thought I needed help with it, that was for sure. I asked if they thought the wooden filter would be a good idea, and they agreed that it was. It fit snugly onto the cannagar shell, just as it should.
I hadn’t pulled the skewer from the molded cannabis yet, I wasn’t sure when the best time to remove it would be. It was rather tough to pull out. I was worried I would break the mold or the shell when trying to get it out. I even had to use my teeth to bite the skewer and pull it free. The mold and shell proved to be plenty durable and so the skewer came free without a problem. The hole created by the skewer is essential for air to get through without a problem. You may want to watch as you pack the mold to make sure the skewer stays straight. Mine was a little off center and I had not realized my mistake until too late in the packing process. The hole being a little off-center did not turn out to be a problem while we smoked it though.
All I can say is that I love cannagars now. It surprised me in every way and turned out to be an entirely unique smoking experience. It does feel decadent, but a little gluttony on occasion I think is alright. I had packed the mold really tight and that seemed to pay off. I used a torch to light it, just like a would a cigar, and it burned very slowly. I also thought the wooden filter tip was a super key element to the smoke experience, especially considering I was passing it between two other friends. Like a cigar, it began to smoke really well about a quarter of the way through. There was a little sweetness to it as well, which I have to assume came from the premade shell. I thought it was a nice touch.
We must have put it out and relighted it 6 or 7 times throughout the day, and each time it lit perfectly and continued to smoke perfectly. My buddies said it would be great for an 18 hole golf game or a chartered fishing trip. Any long event you might do with a group of friends makes a cannagar ideal. There is no continuous repacking of a bowl, or rolling multiple joints or blunts throughout the day. Just one mighty cannagar that can be put out and relit frequently. The opportunity to indulge in a cannagar at a much lower price than buying one from a dispensary is awesome in my opinion. I highly recommend trying the Purple Rose Supply cannagar kits.
Find out more about Purple Rose Supply by clicking here.
