RELEAF MEDIA 26 January 2019 BOBBY NUGGZ
Hashing things out with Frenchy Cannoli
After 40 years of living for Hashish, traveling to different continents, and studying the art behind it, Frenchy Cannoli has found himself as one of the most influential people in the world of cannabis concentrates.
How has your love of hashish evolved since you were a youth?
My deep love for Cannabis was born when I was seventeen and smoked some Lebanese Hashish for the first time. Experiencing the taste and smell of Hashish was like absorbing the very essence of the stories of the Thousand and One Nights, Marco Polo, Laurence of Arabia and Kipling that had filled my childhood and were the source of my thirst for travel. My teenager self’s love at first sight/experience became a passion through a forty year and counting relationship. It was first a forbidden pleasure in France, it became a cultural aspect of the countries I visited, it then transformed into a spiritual intimacy with a God in India and finally I discovered the medicinal aspect of the Cannabis plant in the U.S. which brought it all to the passion I feel today. A deeper knowledge of the plant was necessary to turn a teenager’s first love to the passion and dedication of a lifetime.
All my life, I have oftentimes been called Frenchy, and I thought that it would make a perfect “nom de guerre” when I started to get involved in the Cannabis industry in California but I also needed a last name. At the time, I was rolling my pressed resin patties into a cannoli shape and the name stuck, since I have Italian origins Frenchy Cannoli actually represents my origins and culture.
Which cannabis cultivars provide the best resin for hashish? Which method of growing produces the finest resins?
If the question is limited to Hashish, dry sieved resin that has been pressed with a source of heat, all cultivars from the Hindu Kush mountains, Lebanon and Central Asia. If we expand to Charas, hand-rubbed resin, the genetics from Northern India and Nepal have no equal. Hashish and Charas are very different and unique in the way the resin is collected and processed however the difference between the genetics is possibly the main differential source. If we expand your question to the cultivar’s diversity I work with in California today, it becomes complicated. It would make for a long list. I would have to start a short list with Sour Diesel, the Pinot Noir, Royal Sour and Black Lime Reserve from Aficionado Seeds, Orange Turbo from MTG, Strawberry Banana from Croquet Farms, Pina from Free Born Selection, a lot of the OG strains are amazing resin producer as well as the Cookies and Zkittlez hybrids.
Trichomes are epidermal protuberances covering the leaves, bracts, and stems of plants. The formation of the trichomes is not related to the growth or development of the plant; they are the chemical defensive and survival tools of the plant adapting to an ever-changing environment. The formation of trichomes is triggered by environmental and climatic changes in order to protect the plant, something that is inherent to sun-grown farming but opposite to indoor growing conditions. You have to create conditions to trigger the defensive system of the plant and the production of trichomes without harmful stress to the plant when you grow indoors.
When you evaluate hashish, how do you determine its quality?
Answer: I judge quality first by the melt, by the amount of resin formed inside the resin head, then it is all a question of smell and taste. The smell of the resin, the taste of the resin in my mouth, the intensity of the taste, the complexity of the smoke, the duration of the experience and the overall pleasure of the experience are the defining factors of quality.
How were you introduced to rosin and what are your thoughts on its influence on our industry?
I was introduced to Rosin by Hash-makers like Nikka T looking to mimic the latest Butane extraction products on the market with heat and pressure. Rosin was the first true non-solvent extract and while squishing trichomes heads or flowers seemed unsophisticated as an extraction process, mechanical separation can also create pure THCA isolate and Non-Solvent Sauce. Rosin has had a huge impact on the industry and will certainly have an influence on tomorrow’s market.
Why are “Your Lost art of the Hashishin” workshops so important to you?
Answer: When I was in my twenties traveling in producing countries, local farmers and hashishins very generously shared their traditions with me. My workshop is an effort to pass on the traditions to a new generation that may not have been exposed to the benefits of cannabis resin due to the War on Drugs in the U.S. The workshop is a detailed live presentation of my approach to what most refer as ice-water extraction but should be defined as ice-water sieving preceded by an introductory two-hour presentation on the Science Behind the methodology. Novice and advanced Hash-makers gain clarity on the benefits of using water as a vehicle to separate and sieve the resin heads gently from the leaf material. Many people may not realize that processing the trim from your 6-plant personal grow into hashish using an inexpensive mini-washer that can be purchased online for $50 is a great way to collect and store the resin. I’ve smoked hashish that was stored for 12 years, and honestly think good resin improves over time.
To see a list of upcoming workshops, and more details go to: www.purplepass.com/frenchycannoli
For those who are not able to attend the workshop we’ve filmed and put a series of videos in the DIY section of my YouTube page that can be accessed here: www.youtube.com/c/frenchycannoli?sub_confirmation=1.
If you prefer text-based learning, you can find a detailed write-up of the process here: https://static1.squarespace.com/static/59cd905351a5846569cfbbca/t/5b317044575d1f8eeef5da6b/1529966673441/Green%2BLeaf%2BMagazine%2BArticle%2BSept%2B2016.pdf
