Cannabis Insider: A Very High-End Pot Shop Opens on Geary + The Etsy of Cannabis

Field notes and gossip from a local marijuana reporter from the intersection of pot, money, and power in the epicentralized San Francisco Bay Area.

SHOP: high-end retail

Elitism may be a dirty word, but hey, the top crust deserves a safe place to buy marijuana too. Step into San Francisco’s most elegant new pharmacy. Harvest, now open for business on Geary in Inner Richmond, is the perfect pit stop for professionals commuting home to their Sea Cliff homes after a long day of work downtown to relax with a glass of Cabernet and a select indica Relax flower.

In the apartment of the former hemp center – an iconic pharmacy but a certifiable dump that helped in particular with the introduction of the Girl Scout Cookies variety – the address was given by Oakland developer Marty Higgins, who allegedly bought the building, along with approval for the Operation of the pharmacy determined for $ 3.5 million. Then a complete gutting followed.

The new harvest is nothing short of magical – a signal of what’s to come from the next generation of pot clubs. Gone are the aesthetic allusions to dingy methadone clinics and cash-safe check cashing kiosks made of glass. With a muted gray facade, stylish industrial pendant lights, and a modern sans serif logo, Harvest feels more like a high-end tea boutique that meets The Body Shop. Large windows decorated with a sandblasted abstract daisy provide full transparency to the interior. And there is no linebacker-sized security guard who looks at passers-by skeptically. Just open the door and be greeted by a cheerful girl who will lead you to a small registration desk.

Harvest offers high quality artisanal cannabis extracts made from guild extracts, including this Sour Diesel A-Pow. (Courtesy Guild Extracts)

Once you get to the cleanest smelling club in town – the owners spent a fortune on state-of-the-art ventilation that makes snobs gasp in air quality – let the flavorful scents of cinnamon and lavender soothe you as you sip a free pellegrino and sign on an iPad according to the motto “All Along the Watchtower”. Then you can shop freely, and this is where Harvest really breaks apart from the crowd: unlike pretty much every other pharmacy where the product is hidden behind the counter and can only be accessed from the budget tenders, Harvest looks more like a high- End natural cosmetics store, the entire range of which is proudly displayed on the shelves for you to pick up and look through. And with world class prices guaranteeing there won’t be any hoi polloi to bother you, you can take your time shopping for some of the world’s most expensive cannabis extracts.

On our last visit, when the yoga pants and the Converse crowd were hanging out trying samples of medicinal chocolate, we discovered standout products, including $ 218 per gram of THC-A and CBD extracts from The Guild; Gorilla Glue # 4, the hot strain of the moment named for its resinous stickiness; the CBD-rich C-3PO; and Dragonfish Farms’ Chem 4, a Chemdawg phenotype that promises an energetic, dissociative head high that lasts for hours. Harvest is also stocked with some of the best foods, themes, tinctures, and extracts – there are even plenty of Forias cannabis lubricants for women.

But that’s not all: Harvest takes it one step further with its member-only lounge at the back of the store. Plush leather sofas and elegant coffee table books on buds await. // Harvest, 4811 Geary Blvd. (Inner Richmond), 415-702-6767

Outset’s low-dose vegan fruit chips were developed by an Outer Sunset athlete to help relieve pain. They are designed for a healthy lifestyle and are available online from Sava. (Courtesy Outset Edibles)

ALSO … seekers of health conscious, handcrafted cannabis foods and body products have a hot new curated place to shop online. Sava – a local online retailer not that different from Etsy – brings together small-volume brands, many of which are based in the Bay Area. The offer includes delicious low-dose pineapple fruit chips (also vegan and gluten-free) from the Outset Edibles brand by Outer Sunset; Herbabuena body oil; and pre-rolls from Hepburn’s in the Bay Area.

PS: Sava will have his first salon dinner on February 26th at a private location in the Mission. For $ 100, ticket buyers (this is expected to sell out) can get a five-course, plant-based meal (no medication), along with curated varieties, Firefly vapes, and a takeaway gift bag. // Sava, getava.com

If you prefer to ingest your cannabis with a billion live cultures and a dash of dark chocolate, then these probiotic bites are for you. (Courtesy Functional Flora)

TASTED: Chocolate Therapy

Speaking of amazing foods, three big trends officially collided with the launch of Functional Flora, a maker of gourmet probiotic chocolates infused with marijuana. Why, you might ask?

According to Berkeley company’s founder, Charlotte Burger Troy, disruptions to your microbiome can cause everything from rashes and acne to yeast infections and gastrointestinal problems related to mental illness. And the skin and intestines happen to be the main centers of activity of the endocannabinoid system. Therefore, it makes sense to combine support for symbiotic bacteria (probiotics) with support for the nervous system (cannabis THC).

The bite-sized therapeutic candies are made from a pesticide-free pot (laboratory tested for efficacy and pathogens), artisanal dark and mint chocolate, and robust probiotics – each 5 mg THC bite contains 70 percent cocoa and 10 billion live cultures. As for the high? You shouldn’t feel anything. // Functional flora, functionflora.com

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Contact Herb Caine at Cannabis Insider at highsociety@7×7.com for announcements, tips, notes, and rumors. Herb Caine is a pseudonym for Bay Area cannabis reporter David Downs – a columnist, editor, and best-selling author. The Medical Marijuana Guide Book (Whitman) will be published in 2016.