It doesn’t taste that much like bananas, or cake, but the Banana Cake flower I got from Hidden Hemlock is a great example of their solid offerings.

I’ve tried several strains from Hidden Hemlock in the past couple of months, and this was representative of their consistent quality. Their website says they have a canopy of under 5000 sq ft, which is micro, and that they grow in organic soil. The origin story of brothers who started growing as a passion project is compelling. The “Banana Cake” is one of about 15 strains listed on their site, and I bought this package from Yamba Market in Cambridge.

These nuggets weren’t big, but they had nice structure, lots of trichomes, and they weren’t over-dense. To my taste, flower that is too dense burns less well, and often acquires a slightly stale smell. These buds weren’t overdry; I could rip off a few pieces, fill my bowl without breaking up much, and have it burn well.

The scent and flavor of this strain was a rich rendition of the classic “hybrid” grassy-citrus. Puffs were flavorful and impactful, and I felt great after smoking this. I have to say that these guys have put out other strains which presented more interesting palates. A couple of months ago I had some of their aptly named “Rotten Peaches” that was like nothing I’d previously tasted.

I tested this flower with the hashtag#Lightlab3 from Orange Photonics, Inc. This is a good example of an “as is” measurement, and provides a sense of how to connect what you see on a label with what you’re actually getting in your product.

This product was packaged back in January, and I bought it in early June. It sat around my home for several days (without climate control), during which time I opened the container on several occasions to retrieve “samples.”

The contents on the label, sourced from compliance testing, are 28.1 wt% THCA and 0.4 wt% THC. I measured two samples of my stash to average values of 24.4 wt% THCA and 1.9 wt% THC.

It’s not too surprising to find a level of THC that is higher than the label. Some THCA may have converted to THC by decarboxylation during storage; in fact, assuming that the 1.5 wt% of “extra” THC had come from conversion of THCA during storage would account for 1.7 wt% of “missing” THCA.

Adding that 1.7 wt% to the 24.4 wt% of THCA I measured gives a total of 26.1 wt%, pretty close to the 28.1% that’s printed on the label. The results from the compliance test, performed months ago, were probably reported on a “dry weight” basis (excluding water weight), while I measured nugs that were not bone-dry. It’s hard to imagine how our results could have made more sense.

In conclusion, I’ve consistently enjoyed the flower from Hidden Hemlock Farms. The “Banana Cake” batch that I sampled was a tasty entry, and these guys have the ability to surprise with novel flavors.

hashtag#TastingTesting hashtag#Cannabis hashtag#Science hashtag#HonestData hashtag#Quality