We may not see again the sweltering temperatures that swamped the city earlier this season, but the rest of summer will still be hot; and cold, sweet treats are the shit when you’re stoned and sweaty. That is what Chris Vasconcellos is offering in Canada with his Remedy Ice Cream, a THC-infused frosty treat for medicinal patients. (Recreational cannabis is still illegal up there.) Feeling inspired, I’ve been experimenting with my own homemade weed-infused ice creams.
It’s simpler than you think. If you have an ice-cream maker or want to buy one (they are actually pretty cheap these days), that’s cool, but making it by hand is fairly easy, and I actually think it preserves more of the terpenes, meaning your weed’s smells and flavors will be richer. There are a ton of videos online on how to make ice cream at home, but I want to share some tips about making weed ice cream in particular.
Regardless of what type of “cream” you use—dairy or vegan—it needs to be incredibly rich and thick. Spoil yourself and get the good stuff. I used heavy whipping cream from a local dairy. Looking through the thick glass, half the bottle was solid milk fats, and that’s important. The abundance of fats gives the THC molecules something to grab onto. While steeping your cream, take your time. Don’t rush this, or you’ll burn it. Just let the weed and cream hang out for a while and get snuggly. You will need about one ounce or 28 grams of said cannabis for every quart of cream. If you have nice shake, use that. If you’re using bud, shred or grind it first, and decarboxylate your flower in the oven to activate the cannabinoids. Also, consider playing with the effects of the sugar high you get and the energy boost of sativas or the dreaminess of indicas.
Think about the strains you love to smoke and pair your flavors accordingly. Easy combos are matchy-matchy: lavender with lavender, Strawberry Cough with strawberries. In our first batch we used Blueberry with fresh blueberries and lemon zest. It was bright, fruity, and juicy. We tried Tangerine with vanilla chocolate-chip ice cream, and it was silly good. I want to explore some weird stuff, like hazelnut and juniper berry with super-piney strains like Headband or OG Kush.
Other sweet treats I’ve been experimenting with are stoney coffee popsicles—one of the best decisions I’ve ever made. I went to the International District for a bottle of concentrated Vietnamese coffee, then gently steeped it with sweetened condensed milk and the indica strain Chocolate Chunk. After letting it cool, I poured it into a couple of ice-cube trays and let it freeze. The indica’s chocolate-mocha notes came right through the coffee flavor, and I’m pretty sure it’s the “Seattle Speedball”—coffee + weed—I’ve tasted in my dreams. I may or may not have started nearly every day with a couple of those ice cubes in my coffee cup this week.
stashbox@seattleweekly.com
