We’ve got a bit of a confession. We’ve always felt a little uncomfortable with the term craft. While at one point it served as a rallying cry for artisans to get behind in their fight against monopolistic giants, it’s now just an overused term that is almost devoid of meaning.

Even throwing shade at the term craft is a little tiresome at this point, but we think there’s an important discussion to have here.

The over use of ‘Craft’

Type in ‘craft’ over on the ocs.ca and you’ll see brands using the term in a variety of ways, whether it be brands that rename every cultivar in their portfolio to include ‘craft’, or large scale producers launching sub brands under a ‘craft’ moniker where they effectively buy from smaller growers that meet the craft criteria.

While we can sit back and denounce how much craft has been misused as a term, it still means something to most people, and that’s important. Smaller, independent growers who produce a quality product need a banner to rally behind, to help distinguish themselves from the irradiated mids that make up +80% of the market today.

Retailers are starting to differentiate themselves based off their craft assortment, and are going so far as to exclusively merchandise parts of their stores to showcase a craft section.

Overall we think these are positive trends, and we at Carmel hope to shape what craft cannabis means for Canadians.

So, that’s why we won’t ditch the term.

Recently the OCS decided to draw a line in the sand about what craft means, and we commend this action.

OCS Craft Cannabis Criteria

Less than 10,000 KG per year per facility (we’re about 2,500kg)

Hang Dried (We do this, obviously)

Hand Trimmed (Yes, we do this)

Hand Packaged (Yes, we do this)

All in all that’s a good start. We’ve also heard that they’ll start enforcing the craft washing that’s taken place in the industry by brands that don’t meet this criteria. We think this is great, as it will benefit both smaller producers and consumers.

Sure, we can debate whether or not 10,000 square feet is a reasonable size, why curing isn’t included, and whether or not irradiated product should be considered craft (we do not irradiate) but at the end of the day this is a step in the right direction and we’re all for it.

The worlds longest launch campaign is finally over and the whole team at Carmel Cannabis is excited to announce we’ve shipped the following three strains in Ontario 🎉🎉🎉

We couldn’t be more excited to finally get our product into your hands, and you should start to see us available at your local Ontario retailer (virtually) over the coming days.

To help celebrate our launch, in this post we sit down with 3 team members of Carmel and dive a little deeper into our 3 launch strains:

ANIMAL FACE

Roey (Co-Founder)

Animal Face is a perfect intro to what we do here. Clear headed, with a nice sativa energy/euphoria. I love gassy strains and this one delivers that gassy taste with a little sweetness at the end. We’re always looking to grow something new, but this one is so perfect it’s hard to not see it as a staple of our grow.

Watching Animal Face grow and get dialed into our facility has been validation of our vision. You can leave for the weekend and come back on a Monday and it’s swollen into monster nugs.

When you step into the drying room it’s got the most aggressive aroma of anything we’ve grown, with just enough sweetness to balance the gas.

GARLIC BREATH

Billy (Flower Manager)

Garlic Breath means a lot to me because how long I’ve followed the breeder, Thug Pug.

I started following Thug Pug on Instagram because his strains are probably the most photogenic buds you will ever see. Incredibly frosty and often lots of purples. Once I got a couple packs and grew them out I became instantly hooked, scooping up as many strains as possible. He’s since retired and no longer breeding, so the packs we’re sitting on are extra special.

I love growing Garlic Breath, the bud structure is really unique and the smell is hands down the most pungent weed I’ve come across.

I think people are really going to enjoy Garlic Breath, there’s a real unique depth to the flavour and she’s extra terpy.

Drew’s Dark Helmet

Dustin (Co-Founder)

Drew’s Dark Helmet is flat out the most important strain in our catelog. The first time we met Drew (Master Grower) he opened a 5 gallon curing bucket and that thing just punched us in the face. Drew would run blind tastings for us and it was unanimously our favourite.

When you’re smoking Drew’s Dark Helmet what really jumps out at you is how clean and smooth the taste is, you get a perfect balance of fruit and gas. The best part is the high though, the most simple way to explain it is it’s a real choose your own adventure smoke. it’s really the best strain I’ve ever tried, it takes you wherever you want to go.

We hope you’re able to try out any or all of the above soon, and if they’re not available at your local retailer shoot us an email (whatsup@carmelcannabis.ca) or DM us on Instagram and we’ll make it happen.

Thanks for reading 👌