Cannabis is a natural product that will degrade if proper methods of preservation aren’t taken. Did I lose you? I promise it’s not nearly as complicated as it sounds. The proper answer is colder, darker, airtight, and out of reach of your children and pets.
Let’s start with flower. It’s the most complicated, but trust me, it’s far less complicated than your nightly skincare routine.
COLDER: Think refrigerator cold, not freezer cold. Don’t freeze your flower unless you plan to make edibles with it. A cool cabinet will also work! Increased temperatures increase Terpene emissions. So keep your flower as cool as possible.
DARKER: UV rays not only damage your skin but also your cannabis. Keep it out of the sun unless you’re currently enjoying it in a pipe or pre-roll.
AIRTIGHT: You’ll want to limit the oxygen the flower is exposed to before enjoying it, so keep it in an airtight container. This will also control the humidity. If your cannabis is too wet, it won’t burn; too dry and it will burn too quickly. Either extreme will degrade your flower and, potentially, your experience.
Flower you buy at the store should have zero mold in storage (it’s too dry, even if there’s too much moisture in it to be ideally smokable). This is because farms test for moisture content and water activity to get their products approved for store shelves. If it’s too wet, and you live in a low humidity environment, air it out overnight. If it’s too dry, add in a Boveda 58%.
Be sure to open the container every few weeks for a smell and taste test and to air it out. Can’t smell anything? Give it a little squeeze and smell again. If the cannabis has “gone off” (smells bad after attempted rehabbing, too brown, looks different than when you bought it), grind it up and make it into butter for edibles or topicals. Note: Dry does not equal BAD. It just won’t taste as good, isn’t as potent, and might be less effective.
For CONCENTRATES, feel free to freeze away, but a cool, dark place in an airtight container is about as complicated as concentrate storage gets.
BEVERAGES should be stored in a cold, dark place. Never frozen. I keep mine in my walk-in pantry next to the wine we are laying down.
TOPICALS are suspended in oil which preserves the cannabinoids, so store these where it is most convenient, in your makeup area or bedside drawer.
Here’s how I store my stash:
I keep my cannabis in two medium-size Pelican cases that are scent proof and have a lock on them. They live under my bed and are safe from Blaze the Vizsla and the kids.
Topicals live in my bathroom, but I keep them all together and put the products I am currently using in my bedside table drawer (so I remember to actually use them at night).
CBD and CBD/THC tinctures live with my vitamins, so I remember to take them. (See the pattern of forgetfulness here?!)
Cannabis tea is housed with the teas in my pantry and cannabis beverages that come in a can live in "The Liquor & Cannabis Curiosities Cabinet.”
My purse is filled with my staples. I am currently carrying a Pax Era (it's the smaller one) with a cartridge from Bloom Farms, a CBD/THC pen from Lowell Farms, and a tincture that is for stress, which I use on and off all day, lately.
For long-term storage, I’ve found a few options, but honestly, they aren’t pretty! I have a few fresh storage ideas up my sleeve. If you’d like to follow along as we bring our pretty cannabis solutions to market, opt-in to join our e-mail list and we will keep you updated.
In the meantime, sign up to pre-order your KG scent suppressant pouch to keep all of your “for now” goodies discretely on hand. They are limited edition, small-batch, and will sell out so get on the list today!
Next up: we talk to textile designer Michelle Pereira about designing the perfect fabric for the KellyGreen Pouch! Sign up for KG emails to receive exclusive product launch details and keep up with the wide world of luxury cannabis HERE.
xo,
kelly
