We are excited to team up with local hemp farmers at Celestial Wellness to bring you to special tea + hemp blends (AM + PM blends). It’s not every day you get see what’s involved with producing and harvesting hemp, so we wanted to share some Q and As, as well as photos from behind the scenes! If you have additional questions for our local hemp partners, you can get in touch with them here. Special thanks to Justin, with Celestial Hemp, for providing this organic material for us to see and know more about their local hemp, which we look forward to including in our tea blends!
Q: How are hemp blossoms harvested? Please explain the process as best you can – in a nutshell.
A: They are harvested in several different ways. Our method is to cut off the branches and then run the branches over a fan blade. We then hang the rough trimmed branches in a temperature and humidity controlled environment. After they are sufficiently dried, we then remove all of the flower from the branches, and fine trim it. After it is fine trimmed, we then store it with humidity control packets in a temperature controlled place, and let it cure for at least a week.
Q: You have shared that the hemp blossoms have to decarboxylated- basically put in the oven for a certain amount of time in order to activate the compounds. What is the purpose of decarboxylating hemp and what does the process entail? What properties become activated when the hemp blossoms are decarboxylated?
A: Decarboxylation is the process that turns CBDA into CBD. It essentially activates the CBDA so it does not have to be activated by the user at the time of consumption. This does not have to be done to hemp that is smoked because when it is lit, the decarboxylation occurs almost instantly. With hemp that is ingested, however, it must be done beforehand. Heating it to 210-230 degrees for 30-45 minutes typically will do the trick for decarbing.
Q: We use two different types of hemp blossoms in our AM and PM hemp tea blends. What are the differences between cherry (in the AM blend) and berry (in the PM blend)? Why are they called names of fruit and are they flavored with cherry and berry?
A: The types of flower, Cherry Blossom and Berry Blossom, are only named that because the geneticist that created the strains named them so.
The Cherry Blossom is, to my knowledge, actually a strain that was created with Cherry Wine and Berry Blossom. It was created by combining the genetics of Cherry Wine and Berry Blossom.
The Berry Blossom strain was created with Cherry Kandahar S1 and Chardonnay genetics.
We did not create these strains, we just purchased the seeds from another licensed farmer. We have had several customers mention that they had a fruity flavor, so that may be why they were named that way. It really comes down to your personal preference as to how it aligns with the other ingredients when creating the blends.
We look forward to having these two delicious and nutritious ALL organic tea + hemp blends available for y’all to order soon. So, please keep checking back on our Tea-lation store, where we currently have 4 authentic tea blends ready to go – so you can sip your cuppa happy!
Happy Spring + Easter! 