Beer-inspired vape cartridges hit the shelves at Skymint

Do you like craft beer? Do you like pot? Well, strap in. Skymint is about to take you for a ride.

Soft Parade Vape Cartridge

Price — $52/1g

THC content — 84.7%

Yet another dank collaboration between the cannabis brand and Short’s Brewing Co. has landed just in time to finish out the summer with a familiar fruity splash — this time in the form of 1g vaporizer cartridges that taste just like Soft Parade, the Up North brewery’s flagship fruit ale.

State law doesn’t yet allow for alcohol to be combined with cannabis products, but that hasn’t stopped the weed wizards at Skymint from packing all of the strawberry, raspberry and blackberry flavors (only without the booze) into a handheld pen that is totally loaded with THC.

Introduced last week under Skymint’s Jolly Edibles lineup, each 1g cartridge retails for about $52 and contains about 850 mg of THC — the dosing equivalent of about eight pot brownies. I puffed on a free sample cartridge all weekend long and still have plenty left over for this week.

Having spent several summers living near the Short’s Brewing taproom in Bellaire, I’ve had my fair share of Soft Parade straight from the source. It turns out those same fresh, fruity and bright berry flavors that permeate a pint carry over delightfully into a vape pen. Only a few tokes was enough to spend the morning (and much of the afternoon) relaxing in the sun on my front porch.

As an avid joint smoker, I’m often critical of the sterile sort of high that distillate-based vape cartridges are known to produce. Most of the time, they just make me inordinately sleepy. But this particular blend seemed to carry just enough of a terpene profile to add in some welcomed complexity to the mix in the form of a full-body high and a serious case of the munchies to boot.

If you want that authentic marijuana flavor, perhaps turn elsewhere. But if you’re looking for something potent, discreet, fruity and affordable, this summertime vape is well worth a shot. Just take it easy. With nearly a full gram of straight THC, it can be way too easy to overdo it.

Short’s Brewing Gummies

Price — $20/10 gummies

THC content — 100 mg

Don’t like vapes? Skymint and Short’s Brewing still have you covered this month with an expansive lineup of other beer-inspired gummies. Flavors include Mule, Huma Lupa Licious, Starcut Ciders’ Mosa and, of course, Soft Parade. Bartenders are sure to hate the Mule variety, which tastes strikingly similar to a Moscow mule with real lime flavors and a ginger infusion.

Mosa — which was absolutely loaded with citrus flavors — was my favorite of the whole bunch.

Outside of the Short’s Brewing products, the pucker-inducing flavors of the sour Michigan cherry gummies from North Cannabis Co. are another great option to trigger that Up North state of mind. With 10 mg THC in each gummy, it’s also easy to dose precisely to personal preference. Consider starting with two or three and working up from there. My sweet spot is six gummies.

Fluresh — Good Vibes Drink Enhancer

Price — $25/20 servings

THC content — 100 mg

I wrote about this product in April and absolutely hated its chalky, concentrated taste when mixed into a beverage. But that was before I realized using it to make popsicles leads to much better results — and the perfect summertime treat for stoners who want to try something new.

Just mix some orange or pineapple juice with a few squirts of the drink enhancer, pour it into a popsicle mold and let it freeze. If you want to be fancy like me, mix in a splash of cranberry juice and a few raspberries. Slurp it down, wait 15 minutes and then check out for the next four hours.

Kyle Kaminski is City Pulse’s managing editor and cannabis enthusiast who has been smoking marijuana just about every day for the last decade. Every week, Kaminski samples some of the best cannabis products available in Greater Lansing, gets real high and writes about them.