And now for something completely different.
If you’re new (or relatively new) to ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº as a medicinal or health product, you’re probably familiar with ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº oil.
You may also know that cannabidiol (the complete name for ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº) can be consumed in capsule or edible form and that some topical creams are infused with ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº to help with surface-level aches, pains, and skin conditions. You may even know that vaping ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº isn’t just possible, it’s a fast and effective way to get cannabidiol into your body and working quickly.
But did you know that you can also smoke it just like weed?
That’s the specialty of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct. The company sells a mind-blowing (no pun intended) assortment of flower, kief, trim, joints and blunts with high ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº content, all produced from the hemp plant rather than the marijuana plant.
Hemp has less than 0.3% THC content, so the products don’t produce any psychoactive effects – only the power of cannabidiol. And since these are (by their very nature) full-spectrum ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº products, they also contain the hemp’s other components like cannabinoids, terpenes, and flavonoids, maximizing the potency of the ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº via the “entourage effect.â€�
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct doesn’t have the usual assortment of oil, capsules, and edibles (although they do one type of oil and also sell gummies during the cooler months). Their version of variety means offering many types and strains of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº-rich hemp, as well as products with high levels of the cannabinoid CBG which is also believed to have medicinal benefits.
Sound intriguing? We thought so. Here’s an in-depth look at ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct: The Background
The company claims to be the “original ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº flower company.â€� We don’t know if that’s literally true, but ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct has been operating (under the corporate name Trim Ready Inc.) in Nevada since 2015. It also owns what it says is the first “ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº dispensary superstoreâ€� that the public can visit, Hemp World, located on Paradise Road near the Las Vegas airport.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct grows much of its own industrial hemp but also sources some of its flowers from West Coast growers. Other than that, there’s not much information available on the company, either on its website or through our independent investigation.
There is one piece of information on the website which is prominently displayed: ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct won the 2020 High Times Hemp Cup in the “best pre-rollsâ€� category, for its Paradise OG Hemp Kief Joint. That doesn’t completely overcome the lack of detailed information made public by the ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct, but it does make us feel much better about the company and its products.
One note: ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct should not be confused with a similarly-named company, Hemp Direct, which also sells ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº smokables as well as a number of other products.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct: The Approach
You already know the bedrock approach of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct: focus on producing smokable hemp for sale direct to consumers, rather than ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº oil and other more “mainstreamâ€� products. Only one ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº oil, made from isolate, is on the menu.
The company grows most of its own industrial hemp, with the strains bred for high cannabidiol (or CBG) content. They’re chosen to thrive in the sometimes-challenging Nevada climate; we’re guessing that’s why ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct also sources some hemp flower from the West Coast, where hemp can be easier to grow. Some of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct’s plants are grown in greenhouses as well.
Many of the strains have been given Las Vegas-centric names, like Casino Cookies and Trophy Wife, but they’re either closely related to – or simply renamed – better-known cannabis strains. There are also choices whose labels will provide comfort to pot/hemp connoisseurs, like Acapulco Gold and Girl Scout Cookies.
Most of the factors we look at when checking out a producer’s manufacturing techniques, like how cannabidiol is extracted from hemp plants and the type of carrier oil that’s used, obviously aren’t an issue when a company primarily sells hemp flower and its byproducts. However, we definitely want to know whether the hemp is grown organically – and ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct makes no disclosures about its growing practices. We take that to mean that its ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº (and CBG) products are not organically-grown, something that does concern us.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct focuses on growing cannabidiol-rich strains of hemp, which is definitely a positive sign, as is the fact that smokable hemp will automatically provide the full entourage effect that maximizes the benefit of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº.
We should also briefly highlight the company’s secondary focus on CBG-rich products. Cannabigerol is a cannabinoid found in both marijuana and hemp, and it doesn’t receive the attention it should. CBG, like THC, binds directly with the CB1 and CB2 endocannabinoid receptors in the body; ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº, by comparison, interacts with those receptors in an indirect way.
For that reason, CBG has its own medicinal properties. It’s believed to work well as a treatment for bowel issues, glaucoma, and even cancer, perhaps even more effectively than ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº. It speaks to ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct’s understanding of hemp that the company specifically grows hemp high in CBG, and produces dedicated CBG product lines for sale.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct Products
We normally separate our reviews of a company’s various products into categories for oil, capsules, edibles, and so on. We’re electing to bunch them all together for ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct since they’re all different “versionsâ€� of the hemp plant. Just about all products are available in both ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº-rich and CBG-rich varieties.
This list will be old hat to regular weed smokers, but ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº-only consumers may need a brief glossary to understand the products offered by ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Direct Hemp.
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Flower: The dried, easily-smokable part of the plant
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Small Buds: Smaller flower buds from the plant, which are usually of lesser quality
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Kief: The more-potent resin glands collected from the plant
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Kief Nugs: Flower sprayed with hash oil and dusted with kief
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Moon Rocks: A different form of kief nugs
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Trim: The excess leaves and trimmings from the plant, usually lower-quality
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hash: Concentrated resin from the plant, high-quality
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Joints, Blunts, and Cigars: Different ways of rolling and smoking the plant
- ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Concentrates: A THC-free wax product that can be smoked instead of flower
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct sells its products in all of these forms, although some may be out of stock at times.
The strains available can also vary at times, but the company offers approximately 15 different strains of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº-rich flower and three strains of CBG-rich flower. The strains generally contain between 15 and 25% ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº (and of course, <0.3% THC), and almost all are Sativa-dominant hybrids.
Some of their most-potent ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº strains are Paradise OG (24% ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº), Honolulu Haze (22.5% ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº), and Hemp World Haze (22% ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº); the three CBG strains (Paradise, Desert Flower, and Jazzy) all have approximately 20% CBG content. The individual website pages detail strain information including lineage, aroma, flavor, and general effect, as well as the strain’s cannabinoid profile and potency level. We liked those all of the details being available, a lot. The greatest selection of strains is offered for flower purchases; there are fewer options when buying the hemp in other forms.
Flower and kief nugs can be purchased in small amounts like 1.5 and 5 grams, or larger amounts like a quarter- and half-pounds. Small buds (the company’s most popular product) are sold in 30 gram and quarter-pound amounts, trim is available in half-pound and full-pound bags, and joints, blunts, and cigars can be purchased individually or in bulk. The concentrate is sold in half- and one-gram jars.
We mentioned earlier that ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct offers one type of ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº oil. It’s Honolulu Haze, which is made from ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº isolate and contains approximately 34mg/ml of cannabidiol, MCT carrier oil, and natural mint flavoring.
Not many companies specialize in selling ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº (and CBG) flower and related products, so it’s somewhat difficult to compare costs. Generally speaking, though, ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct is solidly in the midrange of prices charged by online vendors.
That might lead you to expect that quality would also be in the midrange – and you’d be right. There are companies that produce more potent or more effective smokable ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº-rich hemp (at a higher price), but ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct offers decently-performing products which are pretty effective. And the smoking experience, when it comes to flavor and aroma, is definitely among the most pleasurable you’ll find.
ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct: The Verdict
Most people who take ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº for their medical issues or for cannabidiol’s possible health benefits don’t smoke it. In truth, most probably wouldn’t want to, unless they’re already regular smokers or vapers.
It’s definitely an option worth considering, though, since it’s an effective way to get cannabidiol into your bloodstream and brain. And if you’re interested in giving it a try, ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct’s enormous stock of flower, kief, concentrate, pre-rolled joints, and related products give you a huge selection of dosing methods to choose from – perhaps a better choice than you’ll see from any other online source.
The quality is good, not great (with a few exceptions like the Hemp Cup-winning pre-rolls). Prices are good, not inexpensive but definitely not too high. The (apparently) non-organic hemp is somewhat of a concern, but not necessarily a deal-breaker.
In short, ÄÛ²ÝÓ°Ôº Hemp Direct sells a decent product, with a menu of hemp options that make a visit to their site (or Las Vegas store) worth the effort.