Welcome to The Nug Report, which awakens from the ghost of L.A. TACO’s vaults to bring you a detailed look at the latest and greatest in the world of cannabis and other mind-altering substances.
Gone are the days when subpar pre-rolls, packed with low-quality cannabis that had been ground into a fine dry powder, ruled the shelves at your local dispensary. Today, pre-rolls “infused” with kief, ice water hash, diamonds, terpenes, and moon rocks that will send you to outer space and back are becoming the norm.
Consumers like infused pre-rolls because they tick all the boxes: They’re convenient, they generally taste good because they’re often infused with terpenes, and they’ll get you stoned AF (unlike most non-infused pre-rolls).
They're a great way to take cannabis consumption to a level that borders on a psychedelic experience.
Cannabis brands seem to like infused pre-rolls, for one, because adding concentrates that can be three times as strong as some cannabis flower provides brands with a kind of cheat code that can turn swag into something that can pass as top shelf. They’re also attractive to brands because the entire manufacturing process can be automated with the help of robots and other machinery.
Thankfully, brands mostly infuse their pre-rolls with “premium” indoor buds and high-quality concentrates. Unlike regular pre-rolls, which appeal to a more general audience, infused pre-rolls are marketed towards the cannabis “connoisseur.”
The demand for infused pre-rolls is so high they’ve become one of the largest cannabis product categories behind cannabis flower. In 2022, infused pre-rolls made up nearly 42 percent of all pre-roll sales in the U.S., according to cannabis market researcher, Headset.
For today’s Nug Report, we bring you a trio of infused pre-rolls from three California cannabis brands that all use high-quality cannabis flowers and concentrates. We’ve got a mini moonrock-and-kief-laced preroll that is deceivingly potent, as well as a king-size pre-roll that utilizes an extraction method that dates back centuries. It is also a' 90s-inspired preroll coated in kief and packed with a “proprietary blend” of wax and terpenes derived from fruits.
THC Design
Before diamonds, moon rocks, butter, and wax, there was hashish (aka hash). The centuries-old process of making hash involves compressing kief and cannabis plant matter together into a brick-like weed patty. THC Design is using this old-world technique of extracting cannabis in their new ice water hash-infused pre-rolls. Released on 4/20, THC Design’s infused pre-rolls combine one gram of 100% “hand-broken unmilled” Crescendo, their award-winning strain known for its uplifting and euphoric properties, with their ice water hash (which is also made from their Crescendo strain). What makes hash different than many of the other concentrates on the market is it’s completely solventless. This leads to an exceptionally clean-infused pre-roll. The hash compliments the bud rather than overpowers it. Unlike pre-rolls that add terpenes, it also makes for a more natural, gassy flavor profile. At 48% total cannabinoids, this pre-roll has a higher THC percentage than any other pre-roll on this list, but we didn’t find it to be overly intoxicating. This is an infused pre-roll that you can consume in the middle of the day without falling asleep.
Moonbeams by Dime Bag
At first glance, you might not think much of these one-and-a-quarter-inch pre-rolls since all the concentrates are packed inside the rolling paper. But as the name suggests, these miniature joints are designed to send you to the moon! Make sure you cue up your favorite playlist and create a comfortable environment for yourself before you take off. Infused with diamond moon rocks (cannabis flower dipped in wax and then coated in kief), Moonbeams come in hybrid, sativa, and indica strains and are competitively priced. The sativa and hybrid Moonbeams are fair game for daytime smoking if you’re down, but we suggest saving the indica Moonbeams for that final session before you head to outer space, or bed, or whatever psychoactive adventure you’re embarking on.
High 90s
High 90’s is a 1990s-inspired cannabis brand offering you the “sweetest high.” And they live up to that slogan with their line of infused pre-rolls. Infused with diamonds and rolled in kief, these king-sized infused pre-rolls come in a number of deliciously sweet fruit flavors like pink lemonade, gelato, and a lean-inspired “double cup” flavor. High 90s infused pre-rolls burn very smooth, almost like a cigar. And the secondhand smoke alone that they emit feels potent enough to get someone high. We didn’t find the sweetness too overpowering, but if dank terpenes aren’t your thing, you might want to stick to THC Design’s ice water hash pre-roll. High 90s-infused pre-rolls are definitely a flavor bomb. You’ll likely want to share one with someone else. Or you can take a couple of puffs and put it out, but we found that difficult. These pre-rolls are too sweet not to finish the entire thing.
