LIFTED: the HIGHTEA.life Edit
written for KIND MAG April 2020
This is it. We are witnessing weed culture’s cultural renaissance; the long-awaited elevation of the cannabis experience, in full bloom before our eyes.
As the wave of legalization continues to bud across the globe, we are quickly seeing the effects the power of this flower can and will have across a multifaceted industry: food, beauty, fashion, music and more. Legalization has birthed a new crop of creative culture-makers and brand-building entrepreneurs alongside the grow, and we are here for it.
HIGH STYLE is an ongoing exploration of an ever-elevating cannabis culture—and our mainstream culture embracing cannabis, curated by the voice of HIGHTEA.life.
HIGH STYLE ACCESSORIZE
As the smoke starts to clear around the idea of the old-school stoner (the heady haze of the head shop finally beginning to pass), what’s being revealed in the light of the aftermath is that the art and magic of the plant has inspired a whole new wave of the weed experience. The elegance of our cannabis rituals, now finally embodied in our accoutrements.
These new ideas and their makers are elevating the notion of cannabis culture through their consumption wares—an organic intersection of weed with design and style finally worthy of being out of the proverbial closet, and displayed proudly atop the coffee table. Is the hottest new accessory this spring the cannabis accessory? We’d venture to say yes. Here are some of HIGHTEA.life’s latest HIGH STYLE favourites.
VERDEVIE'S STASH BAGS
Another homegrown cannabis concept, VerdeVie offers a one-stop shop for any ganja-lover's kit requirements, an online offering that invites buyers to fill a stash bag of their own personalized weed needs with papers, chic lighters, rolling trays and more. With consistent artist collabs coming at us quarterly, there’s always something fresh, and a recent move into apparel lets us wear our love for the flower loud and proud.
LAUNDRY DAY'S HUDSON PIPE
Laundry Day’s glass-blown pieces are as elegant as the smoke itself, designed to highlight the visual beauty of the smoking experience as you watch the smoke billow through colour-saturated chambers, straight into your soul. All of their milk glass pipes offer refined and elegant shapes we haven’t seen elsewhere, each a worthy conversation starter.
F8 LIV GRIND BY 48NORTH
F8, the accessories line designed by 48North, has another true objet d’art worthy of being displayed in the home. This solid-brass grinder is a stately expression of one’s cannabis appreciation. Weighing a grand 2 lbs. and featuring an air of future-vintage, the Liv Grind feels sure of its place as an inevitable stoner heirloom.
SACKVILLE & CO'S GRINDERS
This lineup of Toronto-born luxury cannabis smoking accessories has had the industry buzzing, first for their stellar lineup of sultry Gilded Grinders (appropriately nicknamed "the Bougie series"), and then for their quick parlay into products like pre-rolls and CBD, expanding their easy offerings for the connoisseurs and the curious alike. Our favourite of the grind series is the oversized Gilded Grinder: three tiers of smooth, diamond-shaped teeth and oversized deep chambers allowing you to break up more bud than you’d ever thought possible, all with a piece of design worthy of the mantle.
EDIE PARKER FLOWER'S GLASS TIPS
Handbag maker Edie Parker has gone all "high-end head shop" with their cannabis accessories line Flower. After failing to find cannabis consumption accessories aligned with her aesthetic, founder and designer Brett Heyman just created her own: a line of ashtrays, lighters, bongs, rolling trays, even acrylic carrying bags made for taking one’s Mary Jane out on the go. But in the age of social distancing, our favourite accessories are certainly Edie Parker Flower’s glass smoking tips. These hand-blown, coloured glass smoking tips protect the end of the joint from germs and juicy lips.
KRUSH CANNABIS SETS
One of the OG’s of weed, Krush has been the grinder of choice for many stoners, offering their signature grind in a rainbowed array of colours. But we’re straight-up in love with their cannabis sets—see: the all-you-need modern Carrera marble-style rolling station (made to be displayed). But their piece de resistance is the Krush A’Dore: a biometric based storage case that keeps your stash locked tight. This $420 black walnut case is fingerprint-encrypted, and offers four sizes of weed-storage containers carved into moisture-controlled docking stations. A place for everything, and everything in its place.
HAROLD'S NATURAL WOOD FILTERS
We’re always careful about the papers we smoke—making sure they’re never bleached, and organic as we can—but we hadn’t considered how to get greener with our filters until we came across these beautiful, natural wooden tips. Hand-carved from maple wood, they conjure a whole new level of respect for the plant; with about 35 tips per box, they are a thoughtful addition to the ritual of smoke.