True Terpenes, Circanna & the Entourage Effect in Edibles

Circanna has found the key to the edible cannabis experience – terpenes.

Circanna, a Seattle-based recreational cannabis processor, is known for producing high quality cannabis extracts. The company focuses on whole-cannabis vape products, but they’ve taken a different tact when producing edibles due to the complexities of cooking with cannabis. Circanna uses True Terpenes to bring the entourage effect to their Nectar Craft capsules.

To give you a background, the cannabis plant produces cannabinoids such as THCA (tetrahydrocannabinol acid) and CBDA (cannabidiol acid), not the THC or CBD you’re used to seeing and hearing about. THCA and CBDA aren’t active in the same way as CBD and THC and they have different effects. However, when you smoke a cannabis flower or extract that contains THCA or CBDA they are decarboxylated, which means to remove carbon molecules, and they become THC or CBD due to the heat. A similar process happens whenever you cook with cannabis products, again due to the heat. This is also why eating raw cannabis won’t get you high.

However, heating the cannabis flower or extract to create THC or CBD also removes the terpenes in the flower or extract. This happens because terpenes are volatile compounds that evaporate at around 70 degrees, and higher temperatures cook them off like boiling a pot of water. This is why cannabis edibles typically have little to no terpene content. As such they typically lack the full spectrum and don’t give you the aromas, tastes or effects associated with the strain profile you started with.

Circanna solves this problem by adding True Terpenes botanically-derived food-grade terpenes into their edible line of products like capsules and breath strips. This gives their products the ability to recreate the whole plant. Their indica line features True Terpenes myrcene and linalool, which are known for their soothing effects. Circanna’s sativa features alpha-pinene and limonene which are uplifting and their hybrid meets in the middle with the terpenes myrcene and beta-caryophyllene. Their CBN and CBD capsules also feature myrcene and beta-caryophyllene.

If you’re in Washington, pick up a Circanna edible product to see how True Terpenes can enhance your experience.