2020 Wisconsin Cannabis Expo
Zygote Nation was there! ... At the first-ever Wisconsin Cannabis Expo on Feb. 8, 2020, at the Wisconsin Center in downtown Milwaukee.
This event was quite worthwhile, especially considering that it was its inaugural year and that the expo ran only five hours. The organizers deserve credit, as there was a large assembly of what I would call quality vendors—most of which hailed from the Badger State—plus, expo visitors had access to panels of experts giving educational presentations on two stages in the exhibit hall. I guestimate that several thousand people attended.
My take-away is there is much going on in Wisconsin cannabis-wise, with intriguing businesses emerging, including those innovating. (See bottom of entry for note on cannabis and hemp.) For example, I came across one vendor utilizing cannabis root, something I had not seen before (see below). I also noticed small-sized, family-owned ventures taking a different tack from the mainstream with hemp extracts by offering small-batch, artisanal tinctures using different varieties of hemp flower (also see below).
Photo by Michael Sirak
From what I saw, I was impressed, and the future of cannabis in Wisconsin is bright. A speaker on one panel, a university professor who is an expert in agricultural issues, noted that the state could play a large role in cannabis’s expansion in the United States as the cannabis market moves beyond hemp extracts and delivers new types and greater amounts of hemp foods and hemp fiber products. That’s because the state has an established infrastructure for processing food to support the cannabis industry, said this speaker.
One suggestion I have for the expo organizers is to expand next year’s expo to two days. I think the public and vendors alike would embrace this.
Here is my list of the expo’s notable vendors and products:
Hop-Derived Cannabidiol Oil
Photo be Michael Sirak
I have known for some time that the hop plant is related to the cannabis plant; in fact, they are in the same family: Cannabaceae. (The hop plant produces hops, the flowers that are a staple ingredient of beer.) What I did not realize is that researchers had discovered that one variety of hop found in India, Humulus Kriya, contains cannabidiol (CBD), just as the cannabis plant does. CBD is the substance in hemp extracts with health benefits that researchers have verified in studies, such as easing inflammation in the body and alleviating anxiety. Verdant, a Milwaukee-based, family-run business selling hemp products, had Real Scientific Humulus Oil (RSHO-K) at its display table. This product is “the only CBD supplement from a non-cannabis source,” and this CBD has three times the bioactivity of cannabidiol from cannabis-derived hemp oils, states Verdant’s website description. (Higher bioactivity means that the body feels the benefit of the CBD sooner.) RSHO-K, which comes in four-ounce glass bottles, contains a patented Humulus Kriya extract called ImmunAG and medium chain triglyceride oil, according to the product’s bottle. The extract has high levels of CBD and the terpenes beta-caryophyllene and humulene, states the product write-up at the website of Purecannastore, another online retailer. (Terpenes give a plant its aroma and also are said to work synergistically with CBD to amplify its effect in the body.) The humulus oil is “ideal for anyone who is interested in CBD, but prefers to avoid using any sort of supplement from cannabis,” reads the write-up. I found the oil to have a neutral taste, not the earthy flavor of many hemp tinctures I have tried.
Chocolates with Hemp Extract
Photo by Michael Sirak
I am a chocoholic, always on the lookout for quality, organic dark chocolate. Thus, I am happy to see the emergence of what I consider to be high-grade chocolates with hemp extract. Two vendors here, Driftless Dreams and Tabal Chocolate, had dark chocolate bars I found to be excellent. The former, of Madison, Wisconsin, markets hand-made 0.5-ounce CBD bars containing extract from U.S. Department of Agriculture organic-certified hemp grown on its farm in the Ocooch Mountains in western Wisconsin. Driftless Dreams bars have a cocao content of 58 percent. I especially enjoyed this chocolate when I let it melt in my mouth. Tabal Chocolate featured CBD bars at its table with 70 percent cacao content in 1.2-ounce and three-ounce sizes. These are small-batch, single-origin, organic-certified, stone-ground craft bars produced at the company’s retail store in Wauwatosa, Wisconsin, west of Milwaukee. They come in several varites, including one with sea salt and another with huckleberry. Both these companies’ chocolates, like others I have eaten with hemp extract, have an earthy taste. That’s not a bad thing; in fact, I think it is pleasant. But the taste may be a bit of a adjustment for first-timers. I think it also is important to note that both of these vendors’ bars state CBD on their respective labels, but they do not contain just CBD in isolated form. Instead, the bars have full-spectrum extract that contains more of the hemp plant’s reportedly beneficial substances, which I think is preferable.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Multi-Varietal Small-Batch Artisanal Formulas
Photo by Michael Sirak
Photo by Michael Sirak
I have met numerous vendors selling hemp extracts in the past several years. They have offered a line of extracts with varying price points based on the concentration of CBD in each bottle (e.g., 250 milligrams, 500 Mg, 1,000 Mg). But to my knowledge, they have used just one variety of hemp in their product. I am not implying that this is bad. … However, at this expo, I found it interesting that there were two small-sized hemp businesses distinguishing themselves in the marketplace by offering lines of small-batch, artisanal formulas that vary by the variety of hemp flower they contain. I think the justification behind this approach is that a consumer would be able to try the different, high-quality formulas—each with a distinct cannabinoid and terpene profile—to identify the one that works best with his/her individual body chemistry for a desired benefit such as pain relief, alleviating anxiety, or aiding in sleep. One of the two businesses, Monarch Hill Hemp and Botanicals currently markets two formulas of full-spectrum CBD oil that feature the Abacus North and Red Kross Premium varieties of hemp flower, respectively, along with fractionated coconut oil. These formulas come in 30-milliliter bottles and in four different CBD concentrations: 250 Mg, 500 Mg, 1,000 Mg, and 2,000 Mg. Monarch Hill Hemp grows its hemp organically on its family farm in western Wisconsin’s Chippewa Valley, according to its website. Similarly, Stone Lake Hemp (formerly Stone Lake Organics) presently sells a full-spectrum extract featuring the Cherry hemp variety. This extract, which also features organic hemp seed oil, is available in a five milliliter bottle (approximately 250 Mg of CBD) and a 30-milliliter bottle (1,500 Mg of CBD). Stone Lake Hemp also is preparing to release a formula featuring the Electra hemp variety, again in five-milliliter and 30-milliliter bottles, the brother-sister duo behind this business told Zygote Nation. More formulas are a possibility once Stone Lake Hemp has a larger customer base, said the duo, which grows its hemp using organic and sustainable farming practices (e.g., no chemical herbicides, pesticides, or fertilizers) on its family farm in Lake Mills, Wisconsin, between Madison and Milwaukee.
Photo by Michael Sirak
Photo by Michael Sirak
Peanut Butter-Flavored Hemp Extract
Photo by Michael Sirak
I could never understand why there are vendors out there selling hemp extracts that contain artifical flavors—and even colors. After all, I thought research has associated artifical flavors and colors with causing, or contributing to, hyperactivity in children, and anxiety in adults. If hemp tinctures are meant to alleviate anxiety, why add substances that might minimize or nullify that effect? Needless to say, I avoid such products, as I assume those vendors either are cutting costs or less focused on quality. That’s why I was happy to run across Carbon Cannabis, a cannabis business operating out of La Crosse, a city in western Wisconsin on the Mississippi River. Among its products, the company has a line of full-spectrum hemp extracts that use “all-natural flavors.” The five varieties are Natural, Citrus, Grape, Peppermint, and Peanut Butter. Yes, peanut butter. Carbon Cannabis is the first vendor I’ve discovered selling what I consider to be a quality tincture with a peanut butter flavor. I tried this variety and liked it much. It does have a nice peanutty flavor that is not overbearing. The company uses high-CBD content, Wisconsin-grown organic hemp, plus organic medium-chain triglyceride oil and the flavors in its tinctures, according to product labeling. I realize that “natural” is a word in food-speak that still can hide a crap ingredient, but I trust that Carbon Cannabis is not doing that, based on a conversation I had with one of its representatives.
Photo by Michael Sirak
”Defeeting” Foot Odor
Photo by Michael Sirak
Outta Dodge Hemp of Iron Ridge, Wisconsin, northwest of Milwaukee, sells an anti-fungal foot powder with cannabis root called Defeet. This is the first product I have come across utilizing the root, which I have heard several botanists refer to as a valuable, yet still unexploited part of the cannabis plant. Defeet contains arrowroot powder, hydrogen borate, cannabis root, and alum. The description on the product’s glass bottle calls it a “miracle formula that destroys the most rancid of foot odor.” Outta Dodge Hemp uses organic, high-CBD-content hemp grown in its local area, according to the company’s Facebook page. It currently has no website and, unfortunately, its products are not for sale online at the moment.
Background note: For the purpose of this entry, these are my overly simplified definitions of cannabis, hemp, and marijuana:
Cannabis is a plant.
Hemp is cannabis that contains a substance called cannabidiol (CBD) and no more than the legal amount of tetrahydrocannabinol (THC), the psychoactive compound that gives a person the euphoric feeling of being “high” when ingested. That amount must be 0.3 percent or less of a hemp sample by dry weight.
Marijuana is the US government’s term for cannabis that has more than that amount of THC.
