Cannabis and chocolate – what’s not to love? Let’s face it, one is as moreish and flavourful as the other, and when you combine the two, it’s a recipe for warm, happy, contentedness. Pairing cannabis with chocolate may seem like a piece of cake, but it’s far from it. There are so many strains of cannabis and different types of chocolate that finding two that work perfectly together might seem like a bittersweet endeavour. Seedsman unwraps the issue.
The Relationship Between Cannabis And Chocolate
Before we sink our teeth into the art of pairing weed with chocolate, let’s take a look at why the two work so well together. It’s a decadent pursuit, sure, but there’s some science to exactly how this marriage between cocoa and cannabis is one made in heaven.
Chocolate contains cocoa, and much like cannabis, science has found that consuming cocoa releases powerful endorphins – feel-good chemicals – from the brain. These incredible neurotransmitters control many aspects of our mood, and our sense of well-being. In fact, a whole conglomerate of chemicals is released when we eat chocolate. These chemicals enhance the effects of cannabis, making us feel happy and chilled-out.
There are two chemicals in particular that cause chocolate and cannabis to combine and create those feeling of sheer bliss – anandamide and tryptophan.
Anandamide - also known as the bliss molecule - is like a naturally-occurring THC produced by our bodies. It can help to regulate appetite, as well as our sense of pleasure and reward. When our anandamide levels increase, it can heighten the pleasure we experience when eating chocolate. What ramps up the pleasure many people experience from eating chocolate even more is that chocolate actually contains small amounts of anandamide. So, by eating chocolate, we automatically prime our bodies for pleasure. Introduce cannabis to the mix, and you have the perfect recipe for happiness..
Tryptophan is an amino acid found in certain foods, including cheese, chicken, eggs, peanuts, and…..chocolate. Tryptophan plays a key role in many metabolic functions, including the secretion of serotonin, another chemical responsible for mood regulation. Your body cannot produce this essential amino acid, so you must get it from dietary sources.
It’s no surprise, then, that both cannabis and chocolate have such a positive effect on mood, given the relationships they forge within our brain’s chemistry lab.
In addition to these variables, there’s also the relationship between cannabis and dopamine at play, where cannabis use boosts production of the happy hormone, in the short term at least. As well as that, dopamine also contributes to feelings of reward and satisfaction, and if left to run amok, can contribute to addiction. Pair these factors with chocolate’s ability to stimulate oxytocin, a.k.a. the love hormone, and it’s not hard to see why the combination of weed and chocolate may encourage feelings of heavenly delight. Who doesn’t enjoy a bit of self-indulgence?
What’s Involved in Correctly Pairing Chocolate With Cannabis?
While a spliff and a Snickers will almost certainly feel lovely, there’s a hack to take this to the next level – knowing your terpenes. Terpenes are the essential oils found in the cannabis plant that ultimately determine the aromas and tastes of any individual strain, and knowing a bit about which strains have which terpenes can help you marry chocolate with your weed like a fine chef creating a new dish.
Let’s take a closer look at specific terpenes.
Limonene is a terpene found in the peel of citrus fruits, and in certain strains of cannabis. If you have a cannabis strain with a lemony taste to it, such as:
it’s safe to say that flavour is the result of high levels of limonene.
Valencene is similar; named after Valencia oranges, you’ll find valencene in strains like:
As a sesquiterpene, valencene typically available in smaller amounts in cannabis than a monoterpene like limonene.
Phellandrene is available as alpha and beta varieties, and is found in the eucalyptus plant. As such, it’s known to give an earthy, minty quality to cannabis strains such:
Depending on the cocktail you’re looking to create, strains containing these terpenes are a good start for a sweet-toothed experience to die for. Of course, which chocolate you choose to combine them with can ultimately make or break the experience. It’s a balancing act of flavours that can take a bit of experimenting, but you must admit – it’s going to be fun trying them out.
Which Chocolate Should You Pair With Cannabis?
Whether you’re a fan of milk, dark, or white chocolate – or all three – it’s safe to say there are levels to the chocolate game as well. How you approach this entirely depends on how much of a connoisseur you consider yourself. If you want to drop big dollar on high-end artisanal chocolate, you’re in for a real treat, but you can still have a delicious experience with household-name, off-the-shelf chocolate bars.
The main thing is to experiment with strains and chocolate types, and remember the sky’s the limit here. There are so many types of chocolate available, with or without intriguing and delicious fillings such as caramel, nuts, raisins and gooey fruity fillings that the possibilities are literally endless.
How To Pair Weed And Chocolate – Tasting
If you can, get a few different cannabis strains and a few different types of chocolate, and start tasting. Invite friends to bring their strains over and make it a social get-together – this will help increase the diversity of cannabis strains and give you people to bounce ideas off, too.
Once you’ve settled on your cannabis strains and types chocolate, it’s time to start searching for combinations and begin the tasting. Now the fun really begins!
Start with the chocolate – take a decent-sized bite and hold it in your mouth for a few seconds. Don’t just chomp, chew, and swallow. Let your tastebuds become accustomed to the nuances in flavour for a good moment before you swallow. This will set your mouth up nicely for smoking. Then, take a nice hit on your strain and pay attention to the combination of flavours. Try each chocolate with each strain, and take note of what you love and what you don’t. Compare notes with your friends and see what makes for the most sumptuous combinations.
How You Consume Your Weed Makes A Difference
For an ultra-decadent experience, try vaping your cannabis instead of using a joint. Vaping will preserve the terpene profile better, creating a noticeably more flavourful experience. If you decide to go the route of vaping concentrates, be aware that the powerful taste of concentrate will most likely completely overshadow the chocolate. Vaping with white chocolate will be the sweetest and most powerful combination of flavours, with milk chocolate a close second.
A joint or a bowl is wonderful, of course - and the smokey nature of these methods does make for some interesting pairings, particularly with dark chocolate.
Suggested Pairings
A strong citrus strain coupled with dark chocolate is particularly exquisite. Try pairing a lemon or berry-flavoured strain with some dark chocolate containing 70% cocoa or above for a truly mind-bending taste experience.
Try to combine different flavours of cannabis for different effects, rather than going with, say, three fruity strains. Mix it up as much as you can, get creative, and remember there’s a near-endless variety of great tasting cannabis strains available at Seedsman. Cannabis nowadays is so well-engineered that every flavour from peanut butter to mint is available in one strain or another.
Experimentation will let you see which combinations of flavours you prefer, but take note of effects, too. Depending on your chosen strains and their terpene combinations, you may even find adding chocolate to the mix knocks the bliss factor up a notch or two.
Remember, though – it doesn’t end there. Once you’ve found your favourite combinations, you can branch out by creating your own delicious edibles. From muffins, brownies, and cookies to delicious stoner desserts like cannabis chocolate mousses, there’s a whole world waiting for you to explore. You can even look through some of the great recipes in our blog, and put a new slant on your favourites.
