The Smoking Spot

Essentially a cheat sheet for how to start a vape brand. Cannabis purists step aside, the vape market is dominated by botanical terpene profiles, but that's not necessarily a bad thing. Amanda Breeze and Ryan Herron discuss how vape brands can set themselves apart from their competitors and muse over the fact that most don't put the effort in. We talk about the restrictive effect descriptions Canadians are dealing with, what exactly Houndstooth tastes like, and what to do when the terps you ordered smell like a literal garbage fire.

Finally, we quick-fire some questions we ask our clients when starting a new vape project and discuss common pitfalls when launching a new flavor. Hit a few blinkers and start writing that business plan you told your Dad was already a done deal, we're launching Vape brands this week on The Smoking Spot.

Check our professional work educating on and formulating scent and flavor profiles @Scentelligence

Follow us on Instagram @the.smokingspot to join the conversation. Amanda is on Instagram @emerald.temple.living

Ryan, too @theloud100

We sit down with Marge from the Bite Me podcast to discuss this summer's Camp Canna. Amanda tells us the (tragic) story of being disqualified from the stoner-lympics, Marge tells us why summer camp fosters the best community, and Ryan listens intently while mentally practicing his archery skills. Stick around to hear the ladies' rating for this year's camp and details on the next.

After camp, we bite down on the topic of creating your own edibles and the balancing act between creating something delicious that also has a precise dosage and desired effect. Let's just say, it's not as easy as it looks.

Marge talks us through her interview process and some of the heavy hitters she's had on the show. This episode is going to make you hungry, encourage you to munch an edible, and finally subscribe to the Bite Me podcast. Grab the strongest cookie in the cabinet and join us for this sweet little baker's dozen of an episode.

Check our professional work educating on and formulating scent and flavor profiles @Scentelligence

Follow us on Instagram @the.smokingspot to join the conversation. Amanda is on Instagram @emerald.temple.living

Ryan, too @theloud100

We're back from our hiatus with a round-up about the latest scent-based news. We talk about A.I. perfume and why they're going to suck for a while. Amanda presents some newly trending scents in fragrance production and we both explore what "Opal" might smell like. Stick around and hold your nose while we try to describe that teen-boy smell (body spray, that is). No worries, herb fanatics, we focus on cannabis scents in everything from luxe perfumes to hard seltzers. 

Let's explore how we might someday be able to add the Headspace app to our phones and fax our friends a smell. Oh! The possibilities. Lastly, we sneak in some weird topics and discuss fat-washing rum with ham, WD-40 perfume, and the Tajinification of the grocery store aisle.

Twist open a cannabis-flavored seltzer and top it with an exotic citrus garnish for this week's bouquet of scent stories.

On this episode, Ryan and Amanda relive their tangie-scented trauma and talk about those big bright citrus profiles found in our favourite plant and the compounds that contribute to it. Despite the prevalence of Limonene-rich cultivars, we uncover why they don't always dominate citrus profiles as expected.

Drawing from Leafly's compilation of limonene-dominant strains and Abstrax's insightful analysis, we dissect the draw of citrus profiles and how terpene tests are doing a disservice to the profile. From the celebrated past to the present day analysis, we trace the lineage back to the days before Cali O and Skunk.

We unravel the complexities of scent preferences, exploring why some prefer a subtle breeze scented with orange blossoms and others go out of their way to drive by the garlic processing plant.

Let's explore the essence of exoticism in cultivars and how certain traits can elevate something ordinary into a luxury product. 

Reach beyond the bottle of orange cleaner and grab a jar of something that smells like a candy-scented candle. Light up, and listen in, you can practically smell the Tropicanna-Sulphurs from here.

Join Ryan Herron and Amanda Breeze as they delve into the complexities of ADHD and focus for both diagnosed and undiagnosed individuals. Together, they sift through available research and draw from personal anecdotes to explore the impact of plant medicine on those affected by ADHD. Discover how our brains respond to stimuli, the nuances of our reward centers, and the role of plant medicine in this intricate equation.

Ryan shares his journey of receiving an ADHD diagnosis as an adult and walks us through how his use of plant medicine became an issue during the diagnosis process. Meanwhile, Amanda elaborates on the neuroprotective and neurotoxic effects of these substances, emphasizing the delicate and uniquely individualized balance required for an optimal outcome.

Grab a jar of something rich in alpha-pinene, twist one up, and ignore those distractions. Better yet, set everything aside and procrastinate with us as we discuss how terpenes, cannabinoids, and flavourants influence brain function, focus, and memory. 

Amanda Breeze and Ryan Herron sit down with an owner of Crop Circle Chocolate for an in-depth look at the last ten years in the Oregon edibles market. Jeremiah talks us through what it was like diving in head-first and admits, "I didn't even know what a logo was until we needed one." 

A decade ago, we were still eating mystery mg space cake and dreaming of the day we could open a box of truffles that didn't taste like stems and seeds. Today, we can stroll into any decent dispensary and walk out with a box of chocolates that would make a fitting Mother's Day gift. Though that didn't happen by chance, the hardworking crew at Crop Circle were in the commercial kitchen, putting in their 10,000 hours.

Like the truffles, Crop Circle Chocolate's journey has been a delicate balance of trial and error and sweet success. Grab a jar that might contain a golden ticket and tune in to hear how this small team was able to take their ideas from a stoned plan to full-on fruition. 

Amanda is fresh off the Literary Showcase and Ryan wants to hear all about it. We touch on Germany's recent legal push and Thailand's retreat back toward prohibition before settling in and talking about the Expo.

The book fair of our youth has been reimagined to showcase our favorite plant! Amanda talks about the months she spent sourcing the cream of the crop of our industry's best authors, educators, and storytellers. The trials and tribulations of setting up a portable library, and how finding the perfect furniture really tied the room together.

Get a J and a pencil to write down recommendations as Amanda talks us through her favorites and shows off the folks pushing the conversation forward.

Do us both a favor and take a stoney stroll to your local book dealer to pick up one of these hand-selected recommendations or buy one from the list of booksellers we've curated.

https://www.emeraldtempleliving.com/books

Photos by @digitalstashboxmedia

Check our professional work educating on and formulating scent and flavor profiles @Scentelligence

Follow us on Instagram @the.smokingspot to join the conversation. Amanda is on Instagram @emerald.temple.living

Ryan, too @theloud100

This week we've swapped out the pink couch for a boardroom table and invited the women making an impact on the Canadian industry to share their individual stories. With more knowledge than most C-suites, these founders cover everything from regulations to what it takes to gain major traction in the industry.

Herb-inspired heartfelt moments are shared along with highlighting the shifts we'll need to see in the industry to continue leading global legalization. Hear what goes on the scenes when creating packaging, pushing back against regulators, and how to establish your own rules in an industry with rigid mandates.

Focus that feminine energy and twist up your best bouquet of high-quality flower, light up, and listen in on how these ladies continue to kick ass on the daily.

Keep in touch with our guests:

Marijane Baker, Noobie and the Doobie @thenoobieandthedoobie

Winnie Clark, Disciplined Stoners @disciplinedstoners

Alexis and Jolyn, Blunts and Beans @bluntsandbeans

Annie and Amanda, High Ladies Podcast @highladiespodcast

Amanda Breeze @the.smokingspot

Check our professional work educating on and formulating scent and flavor profiles @Scentelligence

Follow us on Instagram @the.smokingspot to join the conversation. Amanda is on Instagram @emerald.temple.living

Ryan, too @theloud100

Spice is tickling our taste buds this week on the vintage pink couch. Experts Amanda Breeze and Ryan Herron explore the Spicy wedge of the aroma wheel this week and delve into the nose-tingling and sneeze-inducing compounds found in our favorite plant.

Dessert flavors are all well and good, but spice highlights the variety of life! We highlight some of our favorite spicy cultivars, smoke some Larry Bubba, and then go on a sprawling convo that starts with Beta Caryophyllenes unique properties as both a terpene and a cannabinoid, touches on the spice trade, and culminates with Ryan judging what you fill your pepper grinders with.

Cozy up next to us on the couch while we wax poetic over getting peppercorns in our eyes, wonder if dogs like spicy foods, and give away our best lazy-girl self-care tips. Grab some herb that wouldn't be out of place on the spice rack and join us for this heated discussion.

Check our professional work educating on and formulating scent and flavor profiles @Scentelligence

Follow us on Instagram @the.smokingspot to join the conversation. Amanda is on Instagram @emerald.temple.living

Ryan, too @theloud100