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Whether floating atop spring mocktails, swirling in a glass of fresh-squeezed lemonade, or dripping over the edge of a stack of pancakes, THC syrups can be a tasty addition to a variety of foods and drinks, making them a compelling part of any stash box.
THC in syrup form is not a new concept, but that doesn’t make these contemporary reinterpretations any less exciting. For users who prefer to consume cannabis without the smoke, or for patients looking to avoid overly sweet, artificially flavored edibles, syrups can be an attractive option. And in a world still rattled by COVID, sharing a bottle of cannabis syrup by pouring it in separate beverages is a considerably less risky way to imbibe with friends than passing around a bong.
THC syrups offer controlled dosing in the same manner as cough medicine, making it easier for people to consume commensurate with their tolerance levels, but are typically far more pleasing on the palate. With that in mind, we tried four locally produced THC syrups to determine just how well they integrated into our cannabis kitchen routines. Here are the results:
Hapy Kitchen Stone’d Fruit Syrups
Hapy Kitchen’s Stone’d Fruit Syrups are all produced with fresh fruit purees, giving them the mouthfeel of a juice concentrate rather than a viscous honey or molasses. When taken straight up, the syrup has a concentrated fruit sweetness that is pucker inducing and a potent cannabis aftertaste, which is why we prefer to squirt a dose into a glass of plain club soda. With the mixer, the more delicate, authentic fruit flavors (blackberry, raspberry and peach orange mango) are more soda fountain than tea party. The syrup would also be an agreeable addition to many aperitifs. Bonus: Beyond the 250 mg indica, sativa and hybrid varieties, Hapy Kitchen produces a blackberry syrup that’s equal parts THC, CBD and CBN to support healthy sleep.
BUY: Eden Cannabis, 7420 NE Sandy Blvd., 503-477-4368, edencraftcannabis.com.
Luminous Botanicals Sun Syrup
Sun Syrup’s primary ingredient is honey, creating a rich, viscous mouthfeel. At first whiff, I wanted to pour it across a tall stack of buttery pancakes, but a dry cake doughnut was all I had on hand. I drizzled a restrained, 50 mg teaspoon on the top of the pastry and, well before the onset, wholeheartedly thought the creation was worthy of a boutique bakery. In retrospect, pancakes wouldn’t have showcased the honey as well as that stiff doughnut did considering the syrup’s delicate, lemony essence.
BUY: Home Grown Apothecary & Dispensary, 1937 NE Pacific St., 503-232-1716, homegrownapothecary.com.
Mule Extracts Muleshine
Made by Estacada’s Mule Extracts using a low-temperature, low-pressure process, Muleshine is a blendable, corn syrup-based liquid THC product that can be used to dose a wide variety of beverages. Viscosity wise, Muleshine lands somewhere between warm honey and diluted table syrup, with high potency when it comes to both flavor and dosage. Muleshine feels like it was developed exclusively as a drink addition, but that didn’t stop us from dribbling a bit of the pineapple variety over a dish of vanilla ice cream, on the ganache of a sandwich cookie and, again, across a hearty cake doughnut. Those applications all felt a bit too sweet for self-care, so our takeaway is that adding the syrup to a fresh-pressed juice blend, nutritious smoothie or club soda was likely the best way to consume it.
BUY: Happy Leaf Portland Dispensary, 1301 NE Broadway, 971-800-0420, happyleafportland.com.
Magic Number Magic Drops
Magic Number products are ubiquitous in Oregon dispensaries. The Bend-based brand produces seltzers, sodas and even a cannabis-infused sparkling apple cider sold in fancy Champagne-style bottles in addition to its compact containers of Magic Drops. These tinctures would make a wonderful addition to any bar given their curated flavor profiles and strain-specific collaborations. For example, the Cream Soda and Orange Cream drops deliver strong ice cream-counter nostalgia when blended in a custom soda, and the Strawberry Lemonade variety would brighten a dewy glass of iced tea or lemonade.
BUY: Virtue Supply Company, 510 NW 11th Ave., 971-940-6624, virtuesupplycompany.com.
