What Is Craft Flower? Exploring Unique Cannabis at the Dispensary

There’s an art to growing cannabis, and as with any discipline, different people go about it in different ways. Although all cultivators prioritize quality — flavor, aroma, effects, stunning visual appearance — some consumers say that craft cultivators’ flower is especially remarkable. And sure, the terms “craft cannabis” and “craft flower” are used somewhat loosely and subjectively, but there are a handful of criteria that distinguish craft flower from other cultivation types. Even though you’ll travel blissfully with any kind of cannabis, it’s worth your while to try craft flower too.

What is craft cannabis?

Craft cannabis is any flower grown in small batches, often by a local cultivator, with a focus on quality over quantity. Craft cultivation may result in top-shelf strains with exceptional flavors and robust effects that elevate your experience. Craft flower may also appear especially colorful and resinous due to high amounts of trichomes, which are packed with cannabinoids and terpenes.

In New York State, some craft cannabis cultivators hold microbusiness licenses, which are limited in size. These facilities are under 10,000 square feet, and even smaller depending on how the flower is grown. The New York State Office of Cannabis Management describes these license types as “ideal for the development of innovative craft brands.”

What is the difference between craft cannabis and other cannabis?

Batch size

Craft flower is always grown in small batches, whereas standard flower is often cultivated in large quantities. Each type of cannabis cultivator’s batch size reflects their growing philosophy — for starters, craft cultivators prioritize flower quality at the expense of product yield. Of course, quality is still essential to standard cultivators, but it’s harder to replicate craft-level results with a larger canopy (grow facility size).

Strain selection

Craft growers may choose to focus on cultivars that are not as easy to come by as the most popular strains. Rare genetics and unique cuts of beloved cultivars (strains) are more likely to come from a craft grower than a standard cultivation operation.

Local origins

Craft flower is more likely to be locally grown, with an operation that’s not present in other states or is only present in a handful of states, than standard flower. If supporting local businesses is a big passion of yours, you may want to buy craft flower more often than non-craft flower. Then again, your town, county, or state may well be home to plenty of non-craft cultivators. Consider researching where the cannabis you’re buying was cultivated before you make your purchase.

Trimming method

In the cultivation of craft flower, hand-trimming is more common than machine-trimming. Ask a craft grower, and they’ll tell you that hand-trimming is more effective for preserving the plant’s integrity. Standard cultivation methods often opt for machine trimming because it’s more efficient for larger flower quantities.

Specialty growing practices

Many, but not all, non-craft growers use eco-friendly growing practices. By comparison, these approaches are all but universal among craft growers.

Because of the smaller size of the grow, craft cultivators can hone in on unique tactics. Some of these specialty growing practices may include:

The use of living soil

Regenerative practices

Using closed-loop systems

Organic farming practices

Curing process

Large grows may move through the curing stage — the process by which flower’s moisture, flavors, and aromas are locked in — as quickly as possible. It’s a stage that can take weeks or months, prolonging when flower can make its way to market. For craft growers, on the other hand, quality supersedes revenue, so the curing process may be allowed to last for longer.

Craft or standard, go your way at The Travel Agency

Swing by The Travel Agency’s Union Square, Downtown Brooklyn, Fifth Avenue, and SoHo locations for craft and non-craft cannabis recommendations from our friendly, knowledgeable budtenders. And when you don’t feel like traveling, we’ll come to you with delivery services throughout New York City.