Ever Seen Pre-Milled Cannabis Flower At Your Local Dispensary?
What It Is, And How You Can Use It
When we think of buying cannabis at a dispensary, we imagine walking into an aromatic shop filled with many different types of beautiful cannabis buds on display in glass shelves and containers.
There are also the countless types of devices and edibles we can use. However, you may have noticed a piles of rough, brown or green powdery material on display. This is actually pre-milled or pre-ground flower. You may not have considered using them before especially if you are used to smoking joints, vapes, concentrates, and the various other forms that cannabis comes in, but there are many ways you can actually make use of pre-ground cannabis flower.
What is Pre-Milled Cannabis Flower?
This powdery-like substance is the result of cannabis buds undergoing a fine milling process. Growers and manufacturers typically use industrial-size grinders to efficiently grind the flower after stems have been removed, and then packaged for customers’ convenience.
Lower-quality grounds are sold as “shake”, which is made from leftover marijuana plant matter, usually the result of trimming flowers into nugs. Growers produce shake to maximize the plants after they have been trimmed since the remnants that have fallen still do have some therapeutic and economic value for customers. Regardless, shake and pre-ground flower are still good enough to smoke as nugs, though the quality will vary depending on the strain and the trimming process used.
Bear in mind that pre-milled flower and shake are vastly different from kief, which are resinous trichomes that resemble crystals. There are dispensaries that sell kief, but it’s more potent than shake because they contain higher levels of THC and CBD. Bear in mind that some shake can contain kief as well.
Some manufacturers also use shake or ground cannabis flower and produce pre-rolls with them.
Oftentimes, the loose grounds or shake are less flavorful or potent compared to whole, fresh nugs. Despite that, many consumers still buy them because they can be used in many different applications especially if you are on a budget.
How Is Pre-Milled Flower Used?
Cannabis connoisseurs often regard shake and ground flower as low quality, but it really depends on your personal preferences. You can definitely make use of pre-ground flower in many different ways, which can actually be really convenient as well as cost-effective.
Perfect for Beginners
Anyone who’s new to cannabis can appreciate the many conveniences of using pre-ground cannabis flower. Since it’s already ground up, you don’t need to buy a grinder if you don’t yet have one. All you need is a way to smoke it. For most people, loading shake up into an herb vaporizer is a fantastic way to smoke it. You can also add some to your joints and bowls to smoke as you please, even in addition to premium flower to thicken it up or make a blunt.
Edibles and Cooking
Unless you’re rolling in cash, nobody really makes homemade edibles out of premium, top-shelf weed. That would simply be a waste of marijuana since you’re better off taking advantage of top-shelf weed by enjoying its taste and flavor when you smoke it, not put them in edibles. Besides, you would need a large amount of nugs in order to make edibles. That can come out extremely expensive to make.
Shake and pre-milled weed are great for making cannabutter too, since edibles and cannabutter don’t require you to use premium weed in order to enjoy potent infused goods. Even better if it’s extremely finely and evenly ground; this will ensure that you are successfully able to extract the cannabinoids possible from the marijuana.
Keep in mind what when using pre-ground flower for edibles, they are usually less potent. This means your edibles may come out mild, but that’s usually better than making infused goods that are too strong.
Topicals
Making topicals such as infused lotions, creams, and balms is another excellent way to use pre-milled flower. The process is rather similar to that of making cannabutter. Again, you wouldn’t need to use premium nugs for topicals since these products are applied to the skin, where pores absorb the cannabinoids regardless of quality and taste of the weed.
Conclusion
Now that you know what pre-milled flower can be used for, it’s time to get creative with using your leftovers. However, if you are going to shop for these at a dispensary, we recommend talking to your budtender about the type of product you are purchasing so you can make sure that you get exactly what you need. Shake and lower-quality milled flower is not always ideal for smoking because they can be harsh and rough on the throat.
On the other hand, if you merely want to make edibles and topicals out of them, then it shouldn’t matter.
But not all pre-milled flower is made equal. There are higher end dispensaries that produce modern milled blends which can also be potent, flavorful, and powerful. Do your research to find milled products that match your preferences, budget, and needs. (Full Story)