Flower Infusion 101

Hello and welcome to Just Say KNOW. That’s KNOW with a K K-N-O-W. I'm your host, Maria Calabrese, and you're listening to KCAA Radio 105.0 AM 106.5 FM and streaming wherever you listen to your favorite podcast. Hey, today we're talking about something that more and more people are curious about homemade cannabis infusions and edibles. But we're not talking about complicated chemistry experiments or intimidating recipes.

We're talking about confidence, intention, understanding the variables and learning how to create more thoughtful, predictable experiences at home. Because, let's be honest. For a lot of people, myself included, homemade edibles can feel pretty intimidating. Maybe you've heard the stories. One gummy did absolutely nothing. Another one hit way too hard. Or maybe someone waited 20 minutes, got impatient, took a second gummy too soon, and suddenly found themselves having a very different evening than they had planned.

And let's face it, those inconsistent experiences have kept a lot of us away from edibles entirely. For years, homemade cannabis infusions meant having to deal with stovetop experiments. Mystery potency, a strong smells in the kitchen, and recipes that sometimes worked beautifully and sometimes absolutely did not. Maybe the butter burned, maybe the oil overheated. Maybe one batch worked and another somehow just plain didn’t.

And honestly, that inconsistency is part of what intimidated so many of us, myself included. Now, can you make homemade infusions using the traditional methods? Absolutely. People have been doing that for years. Generations. But what's interesting and what excites me the most is the emergence of modern infusion devices and tools. As legalization progresses, we are seeing innovation in this area.

These new infusion devices blend old school infusion methods with more precise temperature control consistency and a little bit of modern engineering, helping take some of the fear and guesswork out of the process. And as someone who came into cannabis later in life, and definitely not from a culinary cannabis background, I personally found devices like the LEVO Oil Infuser helpful because they brought me more confidence and consistency to something that once felt so unpredictable and so overwhelming, I became really discouraged.

And that's really important because today we're not necessarily looking for stronger experiences, right? We're looking for more predictable ones, more repeatable effects, more confidence in how something's going to feel before we eat it. We want to understand what we're taking, how much, how it was prepared, and how to recreate an experience that felt positive, balanced and enjoyable. And maybe most importantly, we want to move beyond fear and guesswork.

And that's really what today's episode is about. We're going to talk about infusion basics activation, what's often called decarboxylation, dosing, flavor pairing, and how understanding of few simple variables can completely change your relationship with homemade edibles. And we're going to do that through one of my favorite infused recipes that I actually made using the LEVO II Plus a, Rosemary Citrus Cannabis Honey that I drizzled over.

One of my favorites, a Ricotta Fig Crostini. Now, that might sound fancy, but the truth is, infused honey can be used in all kinds of approachable ways. In tea, over your yogurt, ice cream, yum on toast, or anywhere you want a little herbal warmth and intention. And I love this conversation because it brings together so many of the things that I care about.

We care about food, herbs, wellness, tradition, community and yes, this fascinating, often misunderstood plant. Now, if you've listened to this show before, you know I didn't exactly grow up in cannabis culture. No, I grew up a child of dare. I went to law school. I was probably the last person on earth, anyone ever expected to end up hosting a cannabis education radio show, let alone talking about my infused Honey and Crostini on the air.

But what changed for me was education. The more I learned, the more I realized this conversation was never just about getting high. It was about understanding plant compounds, intentional use, wellness culture, stigma, and responsible access to information that, frankly, should have been available a long, long time ago. Because when it comes to homemade edibles, consistency isn't luck. But remember, it's the main course.

It's understanding. It's understanding your ingredients, your potency, your activation, your dosing, and your intention. What is the purpose of taking your edible? So today we're diving into a conversation about flower infusion, homemade edibles, and understanding how a few simple variables can help you create more intentional, predictable, and consistent experiences in your own kitchen. And trust me, if I can learn this, any one can.

So settle in. Relax and let's get started. This is Just Say KNOW.

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Welcome back to Just Say KNOW. I'm your host, Maria Calabrese. And if you're just joining, perfect welcome. Because I'm about to share my own journey into homemade cannabis infusions, which didn't begin with expertise began with curiosity of a few, maybe a lot of kitchen mishaps, and honestly, a desire to better understand how to create more intentional and predictable experiences at home.

Because, like a lot of you, I found the world of cannabis cooking a little intimidating at first, I mean, walking into a dispensary and just trying to choose flower understanding potency. How much cannabis do I use in the recipe? Trying to figure out why one edible experience felt completely different from the next. That's where most of us drop off.

I did, but I came back, and that's part of why I appreciate modern infusion tools and devices, honestly, which brought me back, gave me the confidence not because they replace traditional methods. People have been infusing oils, butter and honey for generations with. But because they can help simplify the process and bring a little more consistency and confidence into the kitchen.

So today I'm using the leave as a practical example while we explore some of these concepts through one of my favorite recipes of Rosemary Citrus Infused Honey. And it pairs beautifully with another one of my favorite recipes Ricotta Fig Crostini. But it also works wonderfully in tea over yogurt or anywhere you want a little herbal warmth and intention.

So let's jump in the. As an Italian inspired cook who knew nothing about cannabis, grew up a child of dare. I've always, though, been drawn to to traditional herbs and their flavors. Eventually, though, my curiosity led me to another kind of flower. We all know what I'm talking about. All right, so. But I didn't even know where to begin.

And let's face it, if you've ever tried to make edibles or infuse cannabis at home and ended up with a sticky mess, right? We all know that. Scorched well. Wasted herbs, unpredictable potency. You ever have, like, be left wondering, why is this batch of brownies? It didn't even hit me. And the other one hit me so hard. Hit you differently.

Or a kitchen? My kitchen. The first time I did it, it smelled like a grow room. And. But let me tell you, if that's ever happened to you. You're not alone. My first stove top olive oil infusion. It's smell. Really? You ugh, more like burnt toast than something I'd ever want to eat, let alone serve to my guest.

Right? But not anymore. LEVO takes the mystery and the smell out of the infusion. Now, I got to tell you, it brings consistency, precision and calm. Calm to the process. There's no mess, there's no guesswork and no chemistry degree required. It has three super simple cycles. Dry activate and infuse. This frees you up to focus on creating, not science.

And through the LEVO process, we're going to demystify decarboxylation. It's not just a tongue test. See, it's not just a tongue twister. Guys. It's important. So we're going to demystify decarboxylation, infusion and dosing, decarboxylation and dosing., super important. Once you have that down. You're good to go. We're going to learn how to combine herbs like rosemary with -and our very special flower- with healthy carrier oils for increased absorption and flavor.

And we're going to discover together how LEVO makes precise, consistent infusions every time. But before we dive in, let's get the hard part out of the way. It's not really that hard. Let's start where every good recipe begins with your ingredients. Okay. And that brings us to choosing the special flower. I don't know about you, but I have never been in a dispensary.

And I live in California. But I'm well acquainted now, walking into a dispensary for the first time. He can feel a bit like stepping into a fancy wine shop. Rows of jars, endless options and people thrown around. Words like terpenes indicolony indica leaning hybrid, sativa. It's a little. It's a little confusing, but don't even worry. You do not have to know it all to get started.

The key is intention. Know Your Why Before You Buy . All right. Know K-N-O-W your WHY before you buy. And that doesn't apply only to cannabis. Guys, that applies to everything. Know Your why before you buy. So, your WHY, If you want something relaxing or grounding, choose a CBD dominant or balance string for daytime creativity or focus,

look for a key forward uplifting string. Know Your Why. Check the label. Look for the THC and CBD percentages. That's your flowers potency. And that's going to be really important to master potency and dosing at home. Look for the THC or CBD percentage. All right. Should be on the label. So check the label and asked about terpenes. Now what are terpenes.

Terpenes are the aromatic compounds that give cannabis, even lemons, their scent and subtle effects. You may have heard of limonene. Now you want to know the scent and the effect. And that's what you want to take. Note when you're choosing your flower as your ingredient. So limonene, for instance, it has a bright and citrusy fragrance. It's great for effects like focus and mood.

Mercy, earthy and relaxing, saying I find it perfect for winding down. And these terpenes are not only in cannabis, they're in plants, fruits and vegetables. So all our herbs, I mean, it's got an herbal, fresh scent. I like to think about it in terms of effects, like taking a walk in the woods. So exploring strains that complement our herbs.

This is where the magic happens, and this is where we're going to focus. We're going to learn the potency and dosing. But this is where the magic and fun happens. And today's rosemary it just pairs so beautifully with strains that are piney or citrus forward. Now fresh is always best. Choose flower that's aromatic slightly springy to the touch.

Not to dry, not to damp. And for heaven's sakes, go slow. Start low. If. Listen, if this is your first infusion, I want you to treat it like your test kitchen batch. Use a smaller amount or a lower potency strain. You can always make it stronger, but never weaker. All right. If I put too much garlic, maybe my husband sleeps in the guest room.

If I put too much cannabis way, it's not going to be the... It's not going to be so simple. All right, so what we need to know is how much flour to use in our recipe. And no lie, I've got to share this with you. Every time I search that query. Right. Child of dare the stigma. I'm in the cannabis industry.

I have been and I've got to learn to say marijuana and just embrace it. Cannabis. Marijuana. You know what? Because we need to destigmatize it. But I say flower or I say medicine flower. So every time I search a query how much flour to use in my recipe, autocorrect changes it from f-l-o-w-e-r to s-l-o-u-r. A two autocorrect.

All right, well, the easiest way to calculate how much cannabis to use in your recipe. Start with your target dose per serving. How strong do you want your edible or an infusion to be? Now, if you don't know, that's fine. Why would you? Let me tell you? For most people, it's been my experience, especially if you're new or returning to cannabis.

It's about 2 to 5mg of THC per serving. The strength of your infusion. It depends on three things. So you want to remember. It depends on how much flour you use. The THC percentage on the label, and the total amount of oil honey or butter in the base batch you're going to make. For today's example, I'm using flour labeled at 18% THC.

Now a simple way to estimate s. And I say estimate potency. Is this one gram of flour at 18% THC contains roughly 180mg of potential THC. It's basically the percentage of THC or CBD in your flour multiplied by ten. So I have 18% THC flour here multiplied by ten. One gram is roughly 180mg of potential THC. It all comes down to whether the labeling is accurate and other variables we don't have control of.

But based on lab results, what we know is it's labeled at 18%. So take that percentage, multiply it by ten. You've got your milligrams. So most flour I find in dispensaries that I choose has 18 to 25% THC or CBD. There's much stronger flowers. But that's what I go with. So all right one gram 18% is roughly 180mg.

So if I use two grams for today's recipe, that gives me about 360mg of potential THC in the full batch. Before we account for normal infusion variables, the hearts of today's show, right. There's variables that's going to influence that. And that's why sometimes one batch feel stronger or less than the other. So.

Two grams at 18% is going to give me 360mg of potential THC in the full batch of honey that I'm going to be making today before we account for normal variables. So I'm infusing the 360mg of potential THC into one cup of honey, and one cup contains about 48 teaspoons. So if we divide the 360mg in the entire one cup by 48, we'll get about 7.5mg per teaspoon.

Now, I'm not using a full teaspoon on each piece of my recipe. The ricotta for Crostini I'm using closer to a quarter of a teaspoon when I drizzle it, which would bring each serving to around two milligrams, which is perfect because I don't know about you, but I can't eat just one piece. And for many people that is a really approachable starting point two milligrams per serving.

And this is really why the math matters. You don't have to become a chemist and you don't have to be perfect, but you do want a reasonable, dependable estimate. With cannabis. You want that estimate. I might guesstimate when I'm putting basil or parmesan, but not no, no, not when it comes to potency. So start a low, go slow label clearly and give your body time to respond.

Wait an appropriate amount of time before diving back in. All right, now here's the best part. Level has a potency calculator. It does all the math for you. It does the infusion and it does the math. Here's how it works. You just plug in your flower on mount on their website. Go to their potency calculator. The percentage of THC or CBD, the potency and what infusion base you're going to be using.

Oil honey or butter. It instantly gives you your milligrams per serving. Now, if you want to know the mathematical formula behind it, really get deep in the weeds. That's a really bad pun. I use it all the time. You can go to our website. So the big key takeaway here is start low, go slow and let your calculator or use the mathematical formula we have.

We have a beautiful blog on our website., greenbeelife.com, LEVO, levooil.com. They have their potency calculator. All right up next we're going to get into one of the most misunderstood parts of homemade edibles, activation, or what's often called decarboxylation. And trust me, understanding this step can make all the difference between guesswork and a more intentional experience. So stay with us.

Did you know THC and CBD are just two of more than 100 cannabinoids.

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There's a calculator or the map. No guesswork here, guys. When I'm working with parmesan cheese or bassil, sometimes I do a little guesstimate. Not with this. This is the only thing you got to watch. Otherwise, you're free color outside of the lines. That's the fun part you get to create. So the best part is bringing it to life.

So the label makes this really simple with three simple automated cycles dry, activate and infuse. Now why would you want to dry your herb? Well, you don't want to put any herb or flowering that's wet or moist. And if you dry it like for instance we're going to use orange zest. And this afternoon I air dried it. It's a little tricky drying your herbs in the oven.

Some albums run cold some rum warm. You have to use a thermometer. You have to constantly monitor. I like to air dry outside and use fresh cut herbs if you can get them fresh from the from the store. I did air dry live in LA. It was 85 degrees today, believe it or not. Oh, and I air dryed itt.

It gives it a beautiful color and I wish I could smell it. It maintains the fragrance because if you dry it too much, you lose that. And that's why I don't like to buy a package drying store. But you do not want to put that in there because the moisture is going to make your final batch cloudy. It's going to affect absorption, all kinds of things.

But when I air dried it I wanted to test the lever. So I put it in the lever. I ran the dry cycle. They recommend running it for 15 to 30 minutes because I had already started it. I ran it for 15 minutes at 115 degrees. It's so it's it's just golden. It's beautiful. I'm going to infuse our honey with that one, but I'm also going to drizzle it as a garnish on the final recipe.

So the dry cycle is optional. It's a little bit about the rosemary quickly. I like fresh. And you can also use like a teaspoon teaspoon and a half store bought dried. But I really like to go with fresh and dry it. This is how I like to dry it. I like I like to for this recipe and in honey I like to slightly under dry rosemary.

When you're infusing with rosemary I like to slightly under dry. It had to be dry to touch, but still flexible. This retains you know you've retained the herbs aromatic essential oils which is what we want. That's what we want to we want to infuse our liquid gold with. That's what I call my honey liquid gold. So and it just pairs so beautifully with the citrus, with the with the honey.

My first infusion with the level I made a beautiful rosemary, garlic, olive oil. Let me tell you. Knock my socks off. When you're working with cannabis flower and you want to master potency dosing at home, you don't want to turn your kitchen into a lab. You want to know it's safe. You want to know friends come over.

They're not going to say, oh, no, didn't even hit me, I don't know. I tried an edible and did nothing, or it goes in the other direction. You just want to have that nice balanced. No. The why? Before you buy what is your why? What is the scent you want and what is the effect you want? You want to get that effect, but you don't want it to be weak or too strong.

So what? What you have to do is activate your flower. That's the decarboxylation and activation unlocks flowers potential for the effects and the fragrance when it comes to cannabis flower. So whether THC or CBD cannabinoids start in there. And by the way, just quickly CBD and THC are only two of of over 150 cannabinoids through the major ones.

And then there's wonderful minor cannabinoids CBG, CBN, CBA. But in any event,

whether you're you're infusing with THC or CBD, the major cannabinoids, they all of them start in their raw inactive forms. So actually for all those people who are like oh marijuana da da da da da. Well, you know, THC is the the one that can have that euphoric high effect. It's the only compound that does that. And it starts out is THCA when the flowers in its raw form.

And there are other applications and benefits to having it in the raw form. Not what we're talking about today. Today we're talking about edibles. So in anatomy you want to convert the THCA or the CBDA from their inactive form to their active form. And the way to do that is heat thing that intimidates a lot of people is how much heat and for how long.

And we got to do it right. So think of this as flipping the on switch for your infusion. Without it, your cannabinoids are going to remain locked away. So what we're going to do is instead of trying to do it in the oven instead of oh, my oven sometimes runs hot, it sometimes runs cool, I got to stand over it.

I got to have the to monitor. I don't know this batch, we've all wasted a great, or at least I have, a great deal of flour trying to figure this out in the oven. Believe me, I tried the crock pot. I tried the stove. Either. You know, the smell, the mess. We, you know, so what we do with the level, it's it's it's just so simple.

I, you know, I fought it for a while because I didn't believe it could be this simple. So what you want to do is you don't need a grinder. You want to just shred the flour a little bit. Like I like to say, think granola size, not powder. You want it to look like camomile fresh camomile tea size, and you want to just lightly break it up.

Just, you know, not a pattern, not too fine. And then you'll take it. use your hands, you put it in the pot and it'll activate, I believe. Yeah, for 30 minutes at 240 degrees. So I didn't forget it. And believe me, this is. This is like when the Vitamix came out or the first automatic coffee maker. After we activate them, we're going to infuse.

And what we're going to do is we're going to add our rosemary to the pot. We're going to add our honey and citrus zest to the reservoir, and we're going to let it infuse real nice. So the pod holds up about a half a cup of dry leaves or a quarter of an ounce of flower. Cannabis, marijuana. So you can use two power pots and you just let the machine do the work.

There's no oh, there's no ovens, there's no stove tops. There's no guesswork. Once that's complete, we move to the final stage. And the most fragrant step the infusion. And also while it's activating.

I'm going to move on.

Once you understand some of the basics, homemade infusion starts to feel a little less intimidating and a lot more creative. On to the Ricotta and Fig Crostini. And this is really fun. So it's elegant. It's simple. It's perfect to use with can I or any time. You just want to, you know, elevate the dish. You want to get a sour doe or a baguette and you want to you want to slice it about a half an inch, put it on a pan, and then I take a brush or a drizzle by olive oil on both sides of the bread.

I sprinkle a little bit of parmesan and then I let it get toasted, turn it over, repeat microdosing and go low. That's a whole other episode mixing alcohol. I don't recommend it, but if I have a 1.5mg glass of prosecco, oh, the party's starting. So.

If you want up the ricotta cheese, I can tell you this the the warmth of the ricotta. Cannabinoids. Why you want a carrier oil is, they bind to fats and ricotta. Oh my goodness. To warm it up it helps release the rosemary citrus aroma instantly. And your kitchen it just smells like a celebration. It just smells like yeah it could be any afternoon.

You could be home alone having lunch. Someone walks in. Whoa. You're having a party. It really smells celebratory. And then, you know, I love the hint of the orange zest on it. The pursuit gives it a real festive touch. It's sweet, it's savory, and it's herbal. So that's where we get into our flavor layering. And I think that's where the Italians have my goodness, the flavor layering.

And you bite into this and you go from the citrus zest and then you have the fig, the sweetness of the fig, the honey that's sweet and savory with the rosemary and the and the citrus and the and the cannabis flower. And then you hit the cheese. You've got the ricotta, but the ricotta doesn't stop there because you've got the sharp provolone graded into the ricotta and then you catch a pine nut.

I can't even explain it. It's the flavor layering. It's it's layering the flavors. And that's the fun part of this when you're making your basis. So you would take your decarboxylase, you take it out your decarboxylation cannabis and then you're going to add your rosemary. So in the pod we'll go your rosemary and your flower in the reservoir will go your honey and your citrus zest.

Now you can also put some citrus s in the pod you want within rosemary when you're drying it I don't take it off the stems to dry it, but when I put it in the pod, I do take it off the steps.

And with honey, a small amount of sunflower lecithin can help create a smoother, more even infusion and more consistent dosing. And that consistency matters because homemade edibles should feel intentional, not unpredictable, once the infusion is complete. I strain it carefully, label it clearly, and remember you want to start low and go slow and give yourself time to understand how your body responds.

And you'll have your merry and bright rosemary citrus honey. I've got one tablespoon is 7.5mg. It's shelf stable. It's gift really nice. So nice. You know, it's something different. I, I'm not even a big by wire, but I will tell you, I am into health and wellness now. And knowing what the ingredients are that you're putting in there, knowing that there's no chemicals, no preservatives, having control to put fresh ingredients, having control, customize it to your taste, to your potency, to your strength and peace of mind that all.

I could eat three of these and I'm not going to be couch walked over, have a bad experience and never want an edible again. That's that's that's you know, it breaks my heart. I talk to so many different people and I talked to some, many people who are like, oh, edibles. No, no, no, I, I, they either had one once and they had such a terrible experience or they had one and had no effect.

And so they don't doesn't do anything for me. And I always ask, well, when was this? You'd be surprised. People of my generation.

Oh, man. I used to make up in the 70s.

I missed out on that. I was a child of dear. I was a good girl. I went to law school, so I don't know about that, but I know about ............. and it's different. And we're not using what was called dirt ditch and just throwing in as much as we could get for $20. Decarboxylating it, not decarboxylating it.

I'm sure some of you have some some memories or stories, but it's up a smelling the citrus. I'm smelling I’m smelling way you would normally smell. This is a beautiful flower I got. It has a real lemony, earthy scent and don't even ask me the name or strain. That's another thing. Cannabis 101. We're talking about potency and dosing, mastering that for at home.

We need a new naming in convention. There's a wonderful, wonderful book and and a doctor scientist. He's got a website if you look them up. Doctor Jeffrey Rayburn, he he talks about we need a new naming convention. I mean, you can't go by oh, diesel this or Girl Scout cookies. I don't even know what the names are. I go by the smell.

You know, when I talk to Doctor Jeffrey Rayburn, he always says, Maria with a real og Kush. Please stand up. You know, you can't go in and say, you know, it's like saying, oh, Macintosh, Apple. I don't just go in and buy a macintosh. Apple by the name. I look at it, I smell it, I feel it, I touch it, I mean, you know, Fuji, they're not all the same, right?

Especially with cannabis flower. There is an art in a science to it level is making it for the homemaker. You don't have to be a chemist. But there is an art and science. And when it comes to strains, you know, when it comes to growing, you can grow it at home. It grows like a tomato. You know, if you live in a state where it's legal, you can get seeds.

You could grow your own. I grow my own. However, when you're buying it. It all depends. And I don't want to overwhelm anybody. But it was a grown indoor. Is it small? That sun grown outdoor? What were the soil conditions? Was a grown in Southern California or depending on what state you live on in Colorado. Was it a rainy season?

I mean, we all know if we grow our own tomatoes, peppers, zucchini, you can't just call it a name and expect every time it's going to be the same. So my point is, I love when I'm buying my fruits and vegetables. If I don't grow them. Going to a farmer's market, right. And just look in the farmer, right in the eye, smelling it, touching it, feeling it like the old country.

That's what they did, right? They grew it all themselves. I'd go to the market with my grandmothers by everything fresh. She went every day and whatever looked good. It wasn't. On going in to get sour dough bread, we might come home with rye bread because this our dough maybe didn't look so great. So that's what I love about this.

It frees you up to be creative, to be nimble, to to. So as far as the strain goes, I don't know the strain name, but I know, I know how it hit me when I went in the dispensary. And they don't all have samples to let you smell them, but I really do so.

The effect and the scent, that's it. No, just need to know and then you'll know how you feel. Go by how it makes you feel and mastering the potency and the dosing. You will get that desired effect. You won't be disappointed and get too little. It won't be cataloged or God knows what else because guy's an edible, different from smoking and edible gets metabolized and digest, digested through metabolized through your digestive system.

This is why they say low and slow you smoke. Its immediate. A lot of people smoking recreationally or medicinally. God forbid you're in terrible pain. You need it right away, the inhalation. But when you eat it, it has to be metabolized through your digestive system and it takes longer. Just like, you know, sometimes they say if you're eating something so delicious, stop way 15 minutes because it might take that long for it to hit you to feel that full.

If you just keep going and then you get that.

Oh.

There's no backing out of that. And then, you know, with cannabis, if you're not sure this is your test patch, that's what we're talking about. And you're going to see how the flour you picked affects you because, you know, if if it hits too hard. I mean, it wait 45 minutes, even wait an hour, wait and see and then try a little more.

Find your magic dose. It's there. But how do you find your magic dose? If you're picking up a piece of Crostini and someone gobbled a huge gob of tablespoon of of honey that wasn't activated consistently and is super, super, super more strong than it was meant to be, you know, you know, you have control. Okay. These are 2.5mg I, I know I do well with five, ah, tonight

I'm going to be adventurous. I'm not going to drink. I'm not driving. I might try seven and a half. I'm going to try ten. Scale up slowly. Slowly. See how it feels. You're not backing out of it. Once it is, it hits. But there are, and I've got to look more into the studies, but anecdotally, many people have reported to me that if they got a bad effect from a edible too much or a strain where the percentage was a lot higher than they thought, taking CBD helps alleviate that.

Topic two taboo.

Coming up, we're going to talk more about why so many people had inconsistent edible experiences in the past, and how understanding a few simple variables can change everything. So stay with us.

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The judgment free zone. Let's figure it out together. Let's share notes. And that's what this information got from the years of prohibition. Lies are such a loving community. I love the legal community and you all to join the Green Bee Life hive. You know we are. Green Bay is out there pollinating and finding the best and bringing it back to the Hive and to have level in our hive and your community.

I want to get better at making topical infusions. When you make a topical infusion, you want to use a neutral carrier or you don't want it to have flavor per se. And I like MCT oil and LEVO also has an MCT oil. I like it for absorption bioavailability, but cap real quickly before we go. How to choose your flower.

That's most important ingredient. Know Your Why Before You Buy. Check the label. Get that percentage of the THC or CBD. Always buy fresh. Ask about the terpenes. That's it. Smell the terpenes, smell the flower. Once you've got your flower and the understanding of the potency and the activation, the math, right. We have the formula. And, you know, the takeaway for me is infusion is empowerment.

I started out curious, but I was intimidated and I went from curious to confident. And this makes the confident I know if, if, if I have a friend at the radio station, he's got an 88 year old mother. He brings her over. She wants a little something to tell you. I trust what I'm serving her. So it's knowing what's in your food, and that's with any homemade food.

Why? To make your own. You control the ingredients, you can customize the flavor. You know what's going into it. You save a great amount of money and you know you're getting higher quality. Plus it's fun. So without having to get bogged down, if you need a lab and LED lights and a chemistry sag, how to know how much is in it?

Let this do that. And this is where we have the fun part. And because, you know, when you combine these are nature's ingredients. So is this poor, vilified, misunderstood flower. It's all nature's ingredients herbs honey. And when you combine those and then LEVO gives us this modern, modern engineering, you can create you truly can create something unique and magical.

And that's what its

going to make me tear up.

I love having I want to know your flavor. I want to know what you make. I want to know what you thought of because we're all unique, and you're going to think about pairing things that would have never occurred to me. You know, I'm I get swayed and biased toward the familiar, my comfort zone, the Italian herbs, I know.

But I want to know what you're doing and what you're discovering. And that's what community is about. We share and we exchange the ideas responsibly, safely, deliciously. And we have fun. So, you know, you do create something magical and leave all this is what it does. It bridges. See, this is what I'm so excited about with Green Bee Life,

I want to spotlight the products and highlight the innovative products and the brands that are responsible in doing it right that are bridging beautifully modern innovation precision with ancient plant wisdom. Because that's what this is. And, you know, all the, the, the stigma and the war on drugs. It's ancient plant wisdom. It dates back to the Bible. I had a rabbi on my radio show we did last year, a Hanukkah episode.

He would. What a great episode. Hanukkah Lighting The Way he makes kosher challah bread. And people thought it was, oh, a gimmick? No. He had a son with a terminal brain tumor and the poor young man succumbed to it. But they were kosher. And when Western medicine failed and he wanted to investigate this as a remedy, he made it kosher.

flower. And we're going to replay that episode as the holidays come up. It's a lot of fun. It's called the Hanukkah Lighting The Way ,it's Rabbi Cohen and it's it's chilling. So. and it's warm and so today inspired you keep exploring and keep sharing. Let me know what you're coming finding out. You can find the full recipe. We'll have a dosing guide and more infusion ideas.

And we want to know your ideas. We want to know what you did at greenbeelife.com. Follow us. DM me, hit me up at Green Bee Life. As long as Metta doesn't shut us down, we call it medicated flower, we call a flower. A mix on that because I want to destigmatize it and it's time to just, you know, draw the current back.

It's marijuana. That's not a dirty word. It's THC, it's a compound. Use it responsibly anyway. Don't get me going. So.

Check us out. We'll have more workshops, recipes, and seasonal wellness inspiration. Because to stay curious and remember, knowledge. Knowledge is the first and the best ingredient.

Knowledge is the first and best ingredient. So that brings us to my closing segment, which is our rapid fire Q and A, we have a little bit of time, and I want to just go through some of the cannabis questions I hear all of the time. And we're going to start with some rapid fire. MythBusters. True or false?

True or false? If I don't feel an edible after 20 minutes, I should probably take more falls. And honestly, this is probably one of the most common mistakes people make with homemade edibles. Unlike smoking or vaping, edibles have to move through the digestive system and be processed by the liver before you're going to feel the effects. And that can take time.

For some people, it may be 45 minutes, for others, it may be two hours, depending on the food intake and other factors. That's why patients matters. Believe start slow, go slow, start low, go slow and give your body time to respond before taking more. Because remember, you can always make it stronger, never weaker. All right, rapid fire. Question number two that I hear all the time.

Why did one brownie or recipe hit me differently? Well, completely different from another. Honestly, sometimes it came down to inconsistent mixing, uneven infusion, inaccurate dosing, or simply not understanding activation and potency. And for years, a lot of homemade edibles really were guesswork. That's part of why conversations like today matter, because understanding of few basic variables things like temperature, infusion consistency, serving size, new devices that are out there and patients can completely change the experience.

People aren't necessarily looking for stronger experiences anymore. What we're looking for is more repeatable and predictable ones. Okay. All right. This is a fun. True or false. True or false. The stronger the edible, the better the experience. Definitely false, at least for me. A good cannabis experience isn't necessarily a bad intensity, right? It's about intention, the purpose. Why are you taking it?

To chill, to activate. For creativity, for pain relief? A million reasons. So for some people, their magic dose may be very small for me. For instance, for chronic pain I like to micro dose throughout the day. The goal isn't always to feel more. Sometimes it's to feel balanced, relaxed, creative, social, or simply comfortable in our own skin. And honestly, learning that difference changes everything.

So, another cannabis question I hear all the time, especially around this recipe, is can infused honey only be used in recipes? Absolutely not. One of the reasons I love infused honey is because it can be incredibly approachable and versatile. You can start a small amount into tea, drizzle it over your yogurt, spread it lightly on toast, pair it with cheese boards, or use it in entertaining recipes like the Ricotta Fig

Crostini we talked about today. And again, intentionality matters. Sometimes cannabis cooking doesn't have to be complicated. Sometimes it's just about creating small, thoughtful experiences. So I want to thank everybody for joining me today and leave a while. And, you know, enjoying the experience. That's really the heart of this conversation. Not perfection, not chasing the strongest experience possible, and definitely not fear or guesswork.

It's understanding, understanding your ingredients. To start with. What is the percentage of THC or CBD in the flower you're using? Understanding how the different carrier or or carriers for the base of your ingredient effect you have. You can use honey, you can use butter, you can use all as your base. The carriers have an impact. I have a wonderful masterclass that I did with leave a while if anyone's interested the information on our website.

So understanding your ingredients, your dosing, your activation, your intention and learning how to create experiences that feel more thoughtful, predictable and personal. Because for a long time, cannabis edibles carried a kind of mystery around them. People traded stories about the brownie that did nothing or the gummy that did whoa. Way too much. And honestly, a lot of those inconsistent experiences came down to the variables we simply just didn't understand.

Yet today, we know a lot more. We understand that consistency isn't luck. It's temperature, timing, labeling, portioning, patience, and knowing your why before you buy. And maybe most importantly, it's remembering that everybody responds differently. Your ideal experience may not look like someone else's, and that's okay. That's the beautiful thing about the community. There's no peer pressure, it's individuality.

Part of this journey is learning to find your own rhythm, your comfort level, your own magic dose. And that takes knowledge and information and a little experimentation, safe experimentation. And that's why I always come back to the same reminder start low, go slow, and give yourself time to understand how your body responds. Because confidence comes from understanding, not from overdoing it.

And honestly, that's true for a lot more than cannabis. I hope today's episode helped take some of the intimidation and mystery out of homemade infusions and edibles, and maybe even inspired you to get a little more curious and creative in your own kitchen. Whether that means infused honey in your tea, a thoughtful appetizer shared when you have friends come over simply feeling more informed the next time you walk into a dispensary.

And if there's one thing I hope you take away from today, it's this you don't have to be an expert to start learning. Trust me, if I can learn this, you absolutely can too. Thanks so much for spending time with me today. You've been listening to Just Say KNOW with Maria Calabrese on KCAA Radio. And remember, you can always make it stronger, never weaker.

I'm Maria Calabrese. Be well. Stay curious, and I'll see you next time.

Just say know is a greenbeelife presentation airing live weekly on Friday afternoons from 4 to 5 p.m. Pacific on KCAA radio and KCAA TV. Archived audio episodes are on greenbeelife, greenbeelife.com, iHeart Radio, Spreaker and most third party major platforms. For archived videos, check them out on GBL TV on greenbeelife, YouTube and Rumble.

To follow us! Our Instagram and Facebook is at Just Say Know Radio to apply to be a guest on the show or for sponsorship and advertising opportunities, go to greenbeelife.com/just-say-know and feel free to reach out to me Maria for any questions. I’m at Maria@greenbeelife.com or call me at (818) 758-6925.

And what you give is worth it when you're holding me, when you hold me so good.

Cannabis helps me get into Zen state. It helps me tap into my creativity. I like to use cannabis to work with the creative stuff I get into, and I'm also a musician. It helps me tap into my creative energy in terms of the way I interact with people. Don't stress decompress the flower, the way I interact with my boyfriend, the way I interact with my friends and it helps them interact with me.

Don't stress vegan friends.

For power.

I'm not judgmental. They're not judgmental, and we're able to communicate on a very even playing field. You're watching Green Bee Life.