The evergreen state is approaching the end of the first year of legal cannabis and our team has been hard at work getting to know the recreational market. Over the past year we visited many of the state’s legal pot shops and asked their staff which products are considered to be their customer’s clear-cut favorites.
After sampling a few thousand dollars worth of top-shelf flower, concentrates and edibles, we were able to create a list of companies who’s products really stand out. The following selections are based entirely on personal experiences from Respect My Region cannabis users and we believe these brands are at the top of the Washington weed game.
– Most Trusted: Seattle’s Private Reserve –
The first thing that catches our eye is their clean branding and trichome-covered flowers. Their concentrates are inside elegant wallet packs that provide a sleek and private experience. For grams & eights of flower, you’ll find SPR packaged like a gift inside a small branded box and plastic jar. Their larger quantities come in a thicker smell-proof glass jar with a large logo.
For joints they have what I consider to be the perfect joint pack. Indica joints are pre-rolled and placed in packs of black slightly-thicker-than-paper boxes while Sativa joints are placed in white. The packaging allows you to smell their joints which is a huge selling point since they use 100% flower in all of their preroll-packs. Should you come across their Lemonder pack, we will pay you to pick it up for us!
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOXoi3iDIgz/?taken-by=seattlesprivatereservespr
– Clean Green: Gold Leaf & Polar Icetracts –
When it comes to providing the state with the best overall clean-green certified flower & concentrates, Gold Leaf Gardens & Polar Icetracts have our vote. Their teams are providing 5 & 6 star concentrates using various strains from the Gold Leaf arsenal.
In 2016, I’ve single handedly purchased at least 75 of the Peppermint Cookies, Gorilla Glue IV, Tangie & Fire Bubba prerolls. These groups are also industry leaders for the clean-green movement and Gold Leaf has already been partnering with other brands to create exclusive product lines.
Make sure you keep an eye out for the rest of Gold Leaf’s products with Leira Cannagars, Evergreen Herbal’s infused lemonade, and Seattle Green Bud’s joint packs. For Polar Icetracts 6-star Gorilla Glue ice wax, visit Diego Pellicer in downtown Seattle.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BF44s0DAlkb/?taken-by=goldleafgardens
– Flavorful Strain: Artizen Cannabis –
Artizen’s ‘Dutchberry’ flower was the first ‘premium’ recreational cannabis that I ever purchased. At most stores Artizen is offered as one of the top-shelf brands and recently this particular strain won the Dope Cup people’s choice award for flower in 2016.
For me, the most impressive part about their flower is the experience. When you first break down the Dutchberry flower it is dense and deliciously aromatic. The buds have always been covered in kief and trichomes, plus the flavor profile on each flower reminds me of a Starburst candy. As much as I love my citrus and pine flavored cannabis, there is truly nothing as flavorful as Artizen’s Dutchberry.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BFhaNb8ugMx/?taken-by=artizencannabis
– Edibles: Honu –
The Honu team has been killing it in the edible game. I think their chocolate turtles are the true fan favorite around Seattle even though their Coconut Snowballs took home the 2016 Dope Magazine industry award for ‘best edible.’
If you enjoy peanut butter as much as I do, I recommend sampling a pack of their milk chocolate & peanut butter squares.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BEbf4rvBbgW/?taken-by=honuinc
– Potency & Packaging: GaGa –
The story behind GaGa is that the creator was a private chef for Katy Perry and Taylor Swift. Personally, I believe their ‘Juicy’ candies and Swiss peanut butter cups are in the elite level of edibles thanks to a combination of taste and general product appeal.
GaGa’s products all come packaged in the most attractive cannabis packaging I’ve seen thus far. If you’re looking for the ‘highest’ potency, GaGa’s pure shatter and ‘very special reserve’ is some of the most potent concentrates I’ve ever seen. They test in at the middle to upper 90% for THC & THCA.
– Cartridges: Avitas –
I’ve been a huge fan of Avitas ever since cartridges became a significant part of the recreational cannabis market.
No matter what battery I’ve chosen to use with their carts, I’ve never had any problems. Their products hit smooth, taste great, and are one of the most effective brands when it comes to medicinal grade cannabis. I’m one of the people who generally needs higher THC percentages to get the experience I’m going for and every strain from Avitas has done it’s job 100%.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BGzeQAFKGQE/?taken-by=avitasag
– Branding: Western Cultured –
Berner said it best. “I want to buy this just based on the way it looks.”
Western Cultured carries two of my favorite indica and sativa strains, the ‘Seatown Lemon Haze’ & ‘9lb Hammer.’ Their flower is sealed with nitrogen and is kept inside color-coded packs which makes it really easy to differentiate from product to product. If you’re a firm believe that THC percentages really matter, their most recent batch of the Seatown Lemon Haze is up around that 30%+ range. The best part about their packaging is that you can see the beautiful buds which helps us consumers know they are getting something of good quality.
https://www.instagram.com/p/BOa7UY6BfEC/?taken-by=western_cultured
Learn more about Washington’s recreational cannabis market at i502Data.com!
