Written by Jimi Devine, Ellen Holland, Matt Jackson
It's hard to survive in the weeds these days, but these brands are showing us that they can survive and thrive. Here are the cannabis companies that came out on top in 2023.
Ditai
These solvent-free rosin edibles break the mold of traditional gummy flavors by incorporating tropical fruit. Created by Natura and available in California. Ditai It is the idea of Josh Schmidt, Vice President of Business Development at Natura. Schmidt grew up in the San Francisco Bay Area and loved eating Asian candy and collecting baseball cards as a child. His two brands of Natura, Dee Thai and his Sluggers, a flashy upper deck of his baseball cards designed to look like his pack, are nostalgic for Schmidt's younger days. evoke elements.
Originally conceived as edible CBD, after saying “CBD” over and over again, Schmidt realized that “dee” in Thai means “good.” Dee Thai embraces his long-standing ties to Thailand and starts with his six flavors: Mangosteen, Guava, Lychee, Pineapple, Mango and Jackfruit.
“Cannabis and marketing is all about exotics, and these were like the most exotic fruits,” Schmidt says.
Some of the gummy flavors represent partnerships with other brands, including: His Highness and West Coast Alchemy. The papaya gummies we sampled, made using Kalya Extracts rosin, stayed true to the musky taste of papaya and delivered a powerful stone. Dee Thai has expanded to offer not only vape pens, but also hash-infused joints and blunts.
This year, the brand appeared at Outside Lands and BottleRock music festivals. In terms of brand awareness, Dee Thai is also capitalizing on growing cannabis industry interest in Thailand, which sprouted an industry overnight after the government removed cannabis flower from the list of prohibited drugs in June 2022. ing. -EH
fig farm
fig farm continues to captivate the hearts and lungs of cannabis smokers with its award-winning flower. In 2023, a family-run cannabis company won the indoor flower category of the Emerald Cup, a competition that until a few years ago judged only cannabis grown outdoors. That same night, they collectively changed the face of the Emerald Cup when Blueface won Best in Show.
Thanks to a panel of expert cannabis smokers, including our very own John Cappetta, Fig Farms won first place this year for its Blueface Indica flower. , this year also celebrated the success of a completely different kind of competition. high times Cannabis Cup SoCal: People's Choice Contest. People's Choice is judged by the people.
Fig Farms is constantly developing single plant testers to explore the potential of new strains. The Z-Cross assortment they've been experimenting with lately includes Figment x Z. Its scent is expressed with the moist gas of Figment (Purple Fig x Animal Mint 199 #4) and a touch of Z's Bergamot Citrus Essence. This stock is incredibly frosty. I shouldn't even be typing right now because it's broken. Keyboards have trichomes, which can cause your fingers to stick to the keys.
Fig Farms will expand into Illinois in 2022 and soon offer its award-winning genetics seeds. -EH
gotti
New York's legendary name is once again echoing throughout the city.this year goat global The Los Angeles native helped launch Gotti's California Dispensary Line, a cannabis brand founded by the family of iconic mob figure John Gotti.
This team emerged last year and has since been a member of the Deep East, green dawgand blueprint. They have gained a lot of attention through the releases of Blue Sapphire, Zattie, and Seabiscuit. This last example is one that helped us earn a coveted spot at the Transbay Challenge qualifying event in Los Angeles. The story of this stock is pretty incredible.
This Zkittlez x Zoap was originally bred for Greendawg by Deep East. They ended up keeping his two phenotypes from that batch, but the rest were going to be kicked out the window.team of gotti I was looking for a new cut and heard that if you want to save this #25 pheno, you can get it. This special strain, which also received honors as part of the recent Thelympics Box, was the starting point of Gotti's relationship with Deep East. -MJ
have a hash
Over the past year, Have Hash has dominated the game, adding to the overwhelming legacy of Humboldt County hashmakers. Catch up as they break hearts and make their mark with trophies like Cannafest, Transbay Challenge, King of Z Hill, Northern California Rosin Championship, Ego Clash, Pure Melt's Melt Down, and European Masters of Rosin. is becoming difficult.
Despite only having an 800 square foot facility, the partnership have a hash It is made up of a select number of NorCal farms, including: mendoja farmBoonie Acres, and Pop Stops Growing have given the brand a strong product that has managed to be chosen by hash judges all over the world. Rather than providing smokers with endless rosin flavors (which he considers a major flaw in the hash market), Have Hash owner Jacob is now focused on creating exciting seasonal drops. He said he is doing so. This recent release saw the release of new jars including Mochi, Uvas y Crema, and Pleazure. This was made possible by fostering collaboration between Mendo Mikey and Mendoja Farms.
Our goals since we started in 2015 are: have a hash This is about bringing the quality you see in the trap market to the recreational side, and this seems like an award-winning concept for them (literally). -MJ
mycology auckland
Amidst the flurry of psilocybin companies, Mycology Oakland has proven itself on a much different level than its peers.
There are probably 30 to 40 mushroom chocolate businesses currently operating out of its Oakland, California, home. I've tried most of the bars, including Kraut Boy's, Dead Head bars, and Save the Planet bars. All nine yards. Nothing can match the impact of a Myco bar. The brand has also gained recognition for its cool products, such as peyote-covered bags.
In the age of fentanyl, mushrooms have become more of a party drug in recent years. People take enough to laugh and party all night, but not enough to talk to God unless they accidentally take enough. This actually happened to me with Myco Oakland's 4 Gram Cookies and Cream Bar.
I used to spend all night cracking open chocolate bars at festivals. Variety of chocolate bars he thought he had dialed in after about 9 adventures. Then we stumbled upon half of the Myco bar. We ended up somewhere between Jupiter and Saturn and headed back to our tent to relax for an hour. After I was in a pinch, I explored until 4am. It was the best. -JD
priority garden
There is a valid argument. priority garden is the best indoor cultivator on both coasts. Oh, wait, I didn't even mention that they probably have the best Mix-Rite product in California. This reality has earned the company great respect across the board.
Our commitment to floral excellence has made Preferred one of the most family-owned, multi-state operators. Much of the growing workload is handled by founder David Polley, with his wife Nikki overseeing the books and handling the actual business side.
Preferred's growth over the past few years has been fueled by mixed light cannabis. This means grown in a light-blocking style, where growers use tarpaulins and supplemental lighting to maintain a steady light cycle. One-eighth of the $35 that Preferred is offering to those lucky enough to make the list is gold, and now they're adding indoors as well.
Although Florida won the competition with Preferred Indoor competition, California also finally dropped in the rankings. We're thrilled with the results, as it contained one of the best Zoap expressions of him we've ever seen on the market.
Preferred has also just built a large new mixed lighting facility. We hope to see more flowers available across the United States in the future. -JD
pressure pack
Based in Detroit, Michigan, pressure pack Both the flower and its concentrate caught our eye. A collaboration with North Coast brought us a win in the Cannabis Cup Michigan: People's Choice Edition 2023 contest, packed with Blue Sorbet Hash Rosin, Lemon Rain Infused Donut Pre-Rolls, and Permanent, one of this year's 2022 strains Got another preroll. marker. Pressure Pack has several cultivation facilities and we work hard to ensure our flowers are top-notch. Orange His Bomb, an explosion of bright tangerine citrus aromas, was awarded second place for Sativa Flower.
“We work hard to get the best product because we just want to enjoy the best,” says grower Ian. “I come from a medical background, so for me I use cannabis in a medical sense. I take full advantage of the entourage effect. We are working hard to maximize production.
Check out the latest addition to the certified cannabis smoking trend, pressure packs that dive into hand-rolled hash holes. -EH
Puffco
every year Puffco brings us new devices, firmware tweaks, and general product improvements with each generation. Most famously, in 2020 they completely rebuilt the atomizer for their flagship Peak device.
It's been eight years since Puffco released Plus. Many people will still put the Plus at or near the top of their list of dab pen formats. There was a time when all the best extractors in the world were using Plus until the peak dropped, but in 2018, the peak dropped and things changed. The Pro model was launched in his 2020, followed by the upgraded Pro model this year, the best hardware ever for Puffco's famous electronic dab rig.
While the new Peak Pro model was great, there's no arguing that the new XL 3D chamber isn't their biggest release of the year. The new giant atomizer is the company's biggest hit yet. It starts with 3D chamber technology, which was first designed for proxies and eventually reached its peak. They basically upgraded the size once again and created an absolute ripper in the process.
Ripping fat chunks of hash inside the XL chamber in Max Vapor mode will do wonders for your sinuses and soul. -JD
The Ten Company
By now, everyone has heard of the legendary Blue's Silozin, which shocked the entire community with its unheard of price of $500 per gram. Reaching a new high in the cannabis industry, these buckets were an amazing lightning bolt in the bottle situation. The Ten Company But there's more to this brand than the hash hype.
Creator Stax and his partner Jerry, who came to Los Angeles by way of London, created blue, yellow, and pink versions of Zushi (all combinations of Zkittles and Kushmintz), as well as Wazabi, Zoe, Wagyu, and Tenbanger. Featuring playful manga-style characters, these bright bags inspired several other designs and are some of the best The Ten Company's flowers have ever smoked. It attracted a crowd of people who claimed that.
Back in 2019, people were obsessed with Zushi, but as prices have soared on both coasts in recent years, nothing has been done to quell that craving. -MJ
west coast alchemy
It's hard to say if there's anyone in the game at this point that has higher output or longer reach than West Coast Alchemy. Even message boards in Europe are full of people trying to figure out which jars to try and deal with.
They push out an amazing amount of jars every day and seem to be producing new flavors and cutting-edge single-origin varieties without any problems. You may have to wade through fake pools to find these jars online, but partnered with some of the best names on the scene right now, these jars fail to deliver flavor. There is nothing to do.
Pure Melt's recent drops are incredible and worth scooping up a few jars. -MJ
This article was originally published in the December 2023 issue of High Times Magazine.
