#CannabisJournalism visits Sweet Grass Kitchen
Sweet Grass Kitchen is located in an industrial sector of Denver, with no obvious markings on the door, or building, to indicate there is a Cannabis bakery inside. However this nondescript building houses a massive bakery, capable of producing up to 20,000 THC infused cookies per day.
Julie Berliner founded Sweet Grass in 2009, with a desire to create high quality, delicious, infused baked goods for the medical cannabis patient. Since legalization in Colorado, the industry has exploded, and Berliner says that medical cannabis only accounts for around 15% of her business.
One of Sweet Grass’s main goals is to create products for people who are either new to cannabis, or are tourists from out of town. To accomplish this Sweet Grass has created the lowest serving edible on the recreational market in Colorado. Their Buttermelts contain only 2.5mg of THC per serving.
Sweet Grass also emphasizes consistency in their products, and it is for this reason they grow the majority of the cannabis used in their products in-house. Their homegrown strain is a sativa dominant hybrid, at about 65% sativa, and 35% indica. Berliner feels as though this strain is ideal for edibles, and can be taken in larger doses without feeling overwhelming.
Sweet Grass also focuses on sustainability and ethics, using thousands of lady bugs in their grow room instead of pesticides. This allows for a cleaner product, with less waste that is harmful to the environment. In addition Sweet Grass is in the process of introducing a laser cutter designed to imprint THC warning labels directly onto their products, the first of its kind in North America. This creates a further deterrent for children, or those who want to avoid accidentally ingesting THC.
Serving sizes at Sweet Grass are vastly different for recreational, and medical users, with the recommended recreational serving size hovering at around 10mg, while the medical recommended serving size can vary, but starts at about 75mg.
Berliner hopes to expand in the coming years, while keeping Sweet Grass true to its core values. She believes being able to scale responsibly, and ethically, while still creating some of the best edibles on the market is what has led to Sweet Grass’s success, and plans to continue this model in the future.
