With so many options to choose from, it can be hard to find the best cannabis products.  The short answer is that there are a handful of premium brands, a whole lot of mediocre brands, and an even larger number of counterfeit products on the market. In this article, we will get into what makes a product great, what makes a product mediocre, and what makes a product counterfeit.  

-What makes a premium cannabis product?

Premium cannabis products use high quality ingredients, it's as simple as that.  What goes into making the highest quality ingredients is where things get a little more tricky.  

Products intended for smoking, such as flower and oils, require the use of high quality flower from the female plant, using good growing practices and curing techniques that maximize the potency of the cannabinoids as the terpenes.  The cannabinoids are the compounds in the hemp and cannabis plant that cause the CB1 and CB2 receptors to get activated, thus giving a supplement/drug like effect.  Terpenes are best known for their flavor and aroma, but can also contribute to the effects of the other cannabinoids.  The reason it is so important for the plant to be grown in an environment where it can thrive is so that the cannabinoids are high potency, and that the terpenes smell fresh, delicious, and heavenly.  It is the difference of the smell of hay, versus the smell of a fresh flower that can list everyone’s mood from the complex aroma filling the air.  Smell perception is so important, as it is processed in our brains very quickly, bringing nostalgic memories.  

When it comes to the best cannabis vape, it’s all about the taste and function.  The taste comes from the terpenes, and there are many terpenes out on the market.  95% of vape companies use “botanically derived terpenes”, which are derived from plants other than hemp and cannabis.  Boom Bestie uses “Live Resin Terpenes”, which are from the flower of the actual cannabis plant, and they smell absolutely amazing.  All of our vapes are made using Live Resin Products.

When it comes to the best cannabis flower, indoor rules the world.  The majority of hemp grown in the United States is done so outdoors and in greenhouses.  This is due to scales of economy, but just like with any kind of plan, indoor settings can control the environment much better and give a better product.  Some factors that contribute to an optimized cannabis plant is light cycle, temperature, humidity, and CO2 levels, female plants, etc. All of the flower at Boom Bestie is grown indoors, with state of the art curing techniques.

Edible products are a little different than products that are intended for smoking.  The best cannabis products that are edibles also comes down to using the right ingredients, but instead of using the best cannabis ingredients, there is more of an emphasis on the other ingredients that we are eating.  For example, gummy candies have a typical dosage of 5-50mg of cannabinoids, whether it is delta 8, THC, CBD, CBG, or other cannabinoids.  A typical gummy weighs around 4 grams, so there are many other ingredients than just the cannabinoids, and they are important.  All of Boom Bestie edible products use all vegan, organic, and natural ingredients.  For example, our Boom Bestie Blueberry CBG Gummies are made with organic cane sugar, organic rice syrup, organic vegetable pectin, organic blueberries for flavor, organic butterfly pea powder for color, and hemp derived CBG.  Boom Bestie gummies not only taste great, but they have superfood ingredients that are actually healthy on top of the cannabinoids.  

One of the best new products to hit the market recently are Nano Cannabinoids.  Nano refers to the form the cannabinoid is in.  When a cannabinoid is in its nano state, it is in a nano emulsion that allows the oil to dissolve in water.  The results of this nano emulsion is that the cannabinoids can enter the blood stream much more quickly, giving effects in minutes.  This is very useful, because normal edibles only have a bioavailability of around 15%, while nano cannabinoids have bioavailability around 90%, so much more is absorbed into the body when it is nano.  Another benefit of the Nano products is that the cannabinoid is not digested in the liver as much like the traditional edible is.  In fact, when a normal THC edible is eaten, its onset is around 45-90 minutes, and it is extremely potent and intoxicating.  This is due to the THC molecule actually getting digested while in the liver into a more potent chemical that our bodies aren’t used to.  This is why many people can overdose on edibles.  Nano Cannabinoids avoid all of this, by absorbing into the bloodstream quickly.  Boom Bestie offers some delicious shot beverages containing Delta 8 THC and CBD.  They taste great, and are good for all sorts of settings like parties, book clubs, yoga class, and much more.  The possibilities are endless.

The best cannabis products will have a perfect aroma and flavor as well as high potency.  Every Boom Bestie product is quality control tested before being sold, made and assembled in a GMP compliant facility following ISO 9001:2015 standards.  Boom Bestie strictly uses Live Resin Products for all oils, indoor flower, and all natural vegan organic ingredients for edibles.

-What makes a mediocre cannabis product?

Mediocre cannabis products use mediocre ingredients.  At some point during the making of the products, whether it is flower oil or edibles, something happened to the product that brings its quality down.  

Vape and oils issues come from three main sources: Adulterating ingredients, sub-standard extraction, low quality raw materials.

Adulterating is when a foreign substance is added to a product that changes it from its original state.  In the context of vapes, it would be in the form of cutting agents, or other products that either take away from the product, or simply make the product worse.  For example, most companies use “botanically derived terpenes” in their products.  “Botanically derived terpenes” are the terpene essential oils derived from various plants that are not cannabis or hemp.  They are not necessarily bad, but they are also not the real thing.  Done right, Botanically Derived Terpenes can be a reasonable solution, and are not necessarily bad, but they are not quite the same aroma and effects as cannabis and hemp derived terpenes.  For example, Medical Terpenes at MedicalTeprenes.com offers Botanically Derived Terpenes, and they also carry Live Resin Terpenes derived from Hemp and Cannabis.  But there are lots of botanically derived terpenes on the market that do not have stringent protocols such as Medical Terpenes, and those brands may fall short.  

Edible products are very straight forward, so as long as the products are made with dosing in consideration, and in a safe way, there isn’t too much to go wrong, other than the obvious factors.  Some of those factors include but are not limited to low quality food ingredients, poor manufacturing practices, bad tasting food, bad texture food, bitter, or has some ingredients that causes upset stomach or other kinds of ailments.  Another thing that makes many edible products mediocre is if they have a low bioavailability.  Nano emulsified oils have a very high bioavailability, but if the food product just adds the hemp oil directly to the food, it may not necessarily get digested in the body very well in a way that causes low bioavailability.  For this type of product, even though it may have 25mg of Delta 8 THC or HHC, the cannabinoid doesn’t actually absorb very well, and decomposes before ever making it into the blood stream.  

A mediocre Nano Drink is one that tastes bad.  Taste is so important to everyone, it is one of our five most important senses, and holds a place near and dear to our hearts at Boom Bestie.  All of our products at Boom Bestie taste amazing, but it is not easy.  Bitterness is a very difficult thing to master, and without careful precautions, the nano drinks and other nano products can taste bitter and undesirable.  No one wants to consume a product that tastes nasty and bitter, and this is the main cause of mediocre products in the Nano Drink space. 

-What makes a counterfeit cannabis product?

Counterfeit Cannabis products are ones that knock off other brands.  What happens is a brand gets very popular usually because they have a good and product or good marketing.  After its popular, it gets a high demand, and it is hard for the company to keep up with demand.  Due to this high demand and limited supply, other companies buy the packaging from different packing manufacturers and make the product themselves.  The problem with this is that the market gets flooded with the counterfeit product, and the majority of that brands presence is actually represented as counterfeit product.  Where it gets worse is the people making the counterfeit product don’t actually care about the quality of the product as much as they care about selling while a certain brand is hot and popular.  Sometimes these counterfeit suppliers put ingredients that are sub par, and they smell bad or cause undesired effects.  The best way to avoid this is to buy products from verified vendors.  Boom Bestie only uses the highest quality oils and made with only live resin terpenes derived from hemp and cannabis.  

Check out Boom Bestie where you can buy Delta-8 products online and much more.