3 minute read
COSMIC CONCENTRATES
from Apr. 2021 - California Leaf
by Northwest Leaf / Oregon Leaf / Alaska Leaf / Maryland Leaf / California Leaf / Northeast Leaf
MPUR PLE EXTRACTED b y COSMIC CONCENTRATES EDUSA CULTIVATED b y NORSE ORGANICS
This February, I had the great privilege of judging the hydrocarbon extract category of this year’s Emerald Cup competition. Among the nearly 40 excellent entries I was able to sample, one Live Resin Badder of the flavors that stood out the most was the Purple
Headquartered in Santa Rosa, Cosmic Concentrates is a recent offshoot of Cosmic Distribution (a subsidiary of Radiant Farms/Labs). They specialize in small-batch production based on unique and exotic genetics sourced exclusively from just a few legacy farms around the Emerald Triangle with whom they’ve developed personal relationships.
As its name suggests, this strain is a particularly purple phenotype of the Medusa strain – a Mendo mutt from the Spyrock area that’s been passed down for at least three generations. I hadn’t heard of it before, but local lore has it that it’s actually a cross between Afghan Skunk and a strain called Misty, which itself is a cross between two other legendary strains: crystally White Widow and uber-indica Northern Lights (likely where that purple pheno comes from). It’s reportedly been nicknamed by some “The Nirvana Strain” – both for its even balance between indica and sativa, and the belief that it’s a descendant of the Misty Kush from Nirvana Seedbank.
The plants used in this run were organically sungrown, and the entire crop was immediately fresh frozen on-site to -40° within 30 minutes of harvest. It was then processed using hydrocarbon extraction into live resin, then post-processed to ensure solvent-free purity.
Cosmic currently offers eight different extract flavors (available as either sauces or badders), three of which were entered into this year’s Emerald Cup: the Medusa live resin sauce, the Purple Medusa live resin sauce, and the Purple Medusa live resin badder. Each of their varieties is 100% strain-specific, unadulterated, full-spectrum concentrate, with no added terps or cannabinoids, and comes with a personal note from the growers on the inside of the package (a nice touch).
The Purple Medusa badder comes in a custom, newly-redesigned box that features striking art by SoCal-based Joshua Jacobs. The badder has a deep golden yellow color and a near-perfect consistency – moist but not wet, waxy but not greasy, soft, stable, and easy to scoop up and dab with any type of tool with no drip or mess. It contains around 74% THC and 8% terps – predominantly myrcene, caryophyllene and terpinolene. It has a strong, fresh floral aroma and a creamy, tropical flavor – like smoking a Dole Whip (whose color and consistency it resembles), with underlying notes of lime and herbaceous essential oils.
Like the gaze of the snake-haired gorgon of Greek mythology after which it’s named, the Purple Medusa badder stoned me to my core. Its immediate effect was energizing and uplifting – tickling my frontal lobe and inducing a subtle euphoria that had me feeling funky, floaty, friendly and functional. That was followed soon after by a noticeable easing of pain and tension in my back. I put on the classic groove “Bald Medusa” by Ides of March (for obvious reasons), and to my dabbed-out delight, I found that the song paired perfectly with the head vibe.
Though it may not have scored high enough among the judges to take home the Cup, the Purple Medusa badder was – in my humble opinion – one of the most unique and enjoyable dabs in the bunch. Its light and sweet aroma, potent potpourri of flavor and balanced high kept me coming back for more.
A high-end extract at middle-tier pricing, Cosmic’s concentrates retail for up to $50 per gram and are available at a handful of select dispensaries in Sonoma, LA and Riverside counties, as well as San Jose.
