With the legalization of recreational marijuana in the state, the possibilities around what kinds of edibles you can get your hands on seem to be limitless these days. However, the Framingham-based Cloud Creamery may be pushing the limitless into some undiscovered territory as they are the first corporation to gain a license to create and sell cannabis-infused ice cream.
While the product is still in development and waiting to get approved for sale, they are hoping to be sold in dispensaries right before summer. The creamery is planning on rolling out delicious flavors with a kick such as Vietnamese coffee, sage and ginger, lavender and honey, strawberry and rhubarb, and some other special flavors that are still in the works.
While cannabis-infused ice cream may be the dream for stoners all over, head chef and proprietor David Yusefzadeh began experimenting with this ingredient as a way to help those who not only enjoy its side effects but may need them to enrich their lives. With the growing acceptance of edibles, Yusefzadeh would like products like his to change the perception around the culture of cannabis products.
“I think no one would associate me as being a stoner growing up. I definitely smoked a few joints in high school but that was a pretty normal thing that high-schoolers do,” says Yusefzadeh. “It wasn’t the focus of my life. As a chef, I was always working and hustling. There’s a lot of drugs in the restaurant industry so we always had access to everything. It wasn’t until I was diagnosed with Crohn’s disease that I considered making it a part of my lifestyle. It’s challenging when I talk about it or bring it up in a pitch and everyone always thinks about silly stoner, Cheech and Chong, “Dazed and Confused”-style scenarios where you must be an idiot or you must be lazy or you must not be ambitious.”
As a trained chef, Yusefzadeh wants to put the focus on flavor first so that customers can appreciate it on more than just the one buzzworthy level. Sure, the cannabis aspects will bring in curious one-time customers, but without amazing flavors, it would be hard to keep experienced edible enthusiasts coming back.
Another issue that Yusefzadeh is looking into is the allotted amount of THC that they will be allowed to use in each pint of ice cream. The national Cannabis Certification Council recently limited Cloud Creamery to only being able to use 5 milligrams of THC per pint, when certain brownies at dispensaries are allowed to use around 100 milligrams. For this, he believes they are being treated unfairly for being the trailblazers of such a new and exciting product.
“A big part of it is being able to discern what a dose is,” he explains. “There’s a lot of unique questions and people are asking, ‘How do you know if you’re going to eat too much?’ Well, how do you know if a glass of wine is going to be too strong? You have to try one. You never really know, you just have to experience it. We’re encouraging people to take their time, be responsible, be in a safe place, not operate machinery. But the reality is, everyone’s body is different. It’s crazy to think that there is a standard for this across the board.”
