Cannabis-Infused Olive Oil Goes on Sale in U.S.

Pot d’Huile aims to sat­isfy the culi­nary crav­ings of both gas­tronomes and cannabis con­nois­seurs. Certified extra vir­gin olive is infused with cannabis extract to pro­duce Pot d’Huile. Its users are able to con­trol their dosage and expe­ri­ence.

The cannabis infused olive oil, which can be used in place of reg­u­lar olive oil, is guar­an­teed to bring a touch of piz­zazz to even the drea­ri­est dish. Carolyn Insley, Pot d’Huile’s account coor­di­na­tor promises, ​“Users will cer­tainly feel the effects of cannabis.”

Pot d’Huile’s olive oil is made from Hojiblanca and Arbequina olives sourced from a fam­ily farm in North California. The cannabis extract is derived from California-made ​“Gorilla Cookies.”

When asked for sug­gested ways to use the prod­uct, Insley told Olive Oil Times, ​“Pot d’Huile is at home in a range of recipes includ­ing salad dress­ing, hum­mus, olive oil cakes and cook­ies. Instead of rely­ing on the unhealthy (and often un-deli­cious) prod­ucts cur­rently on the mar­ket, users can work with their own culi­nary cre­ativ­ity to develop health­ful, deli­cious food that also offers the cannabis expe­ri­ence they are look­ing for.”

Insley added, ​“Because of the neu­tral fla­vor and sim­ple dos­ing in Pot d’Huile, the prod­uct has a wide range of uses for home cooks as well as culi­nary pro­fes­sion­als. It can essen­tially be used as any olive oil. It is impor­tant to note, how­ever, that the oil should not be heated above 314 degrees to main­tain its potency, so cook­ing tech­niques such as fry­ing and sautéing are not rec­om­mended.”

Pot d’Huile was founded in 2015 but its mak­ers had to over­come major chal­lenges to per­fect the prod­uct. Yannick Crespo, the brain behind Pot d’Huile, admit­ted, ​“Our first try tasted awful.” Extensive research was under­taken to find an effec­tive way to neu­tral­ize the grassy fla­vor of cannabis and elim­i­nate unde­sir­able chem­i­cals while main­tain­ing a pre­cise dose. Numerous extrac­tion machines were dis­carded for fail­ing to pro­duce a sat­is­fac­tory prod­uct.

Biochemist Allison Comiso Bordsen was even­tu­ally recruited by the upstart. She devised a suc­cess­ful pro­cess­ing method that ensures con­sumers receive the max­i­mum ben­e­fits from the prod­uct. The process is a closely guarded secret, Insley said. Pot d’Huile can­not be patented as cannabis remains ille­gal under fed­eral law.

Insley said Pot d’Huile was founded as an answer to the dis­ap­point­ing state of edi­bles in a food cul­ture that val­ues qual­ity ingre­di­ents. ​“By bring­ing California food cul­ture up to speed with California cannabis cul­ture, PDH aims to give users the abil­ity to con­trol their dosage and expe­ri­ence while deliv­er­ing a high-qual­ity prod­uct on par with other gourmet food­stuffs val­ued in the California mar­ket.”

Pot d’Huile’s mak­ers claim, ​“we are the only olive oil that’s dosage-spe­cific and fla­vor-neu­tral.” A fifth of a tea­spoon of Pot d’Huile deliv­ers one mil­ligram of tetrahy­dro­cannabi­nol (THC). The rec­om­mended dose for light cannabis users is two to four mil­ligrams, which has a sim­i­lar effect to a glass of wine. Seasoned cannabis users can enjoy five to ten mil­ligrams; the equiv­a­lent of three glasses of wine.

Pot d’Huile will retail for $42.50 for a 100ml bot­tle. Each bot­tle con­tains 100 grams of (THC) and the full scope of the ter­penes plant. This ensures con­sumers will ben­e­fit from its ​“med­i­c­i­nal” ben­e­fits. The oil’s potency can be reduced by mix­ing it with reg­u­lar olive oil. Pot d’Huile can be stored for up to 6 months in a cool, dry place.

Medical use of mar­i­juana is legal in 30 US states. Recreational use is per­mit­ted in Alaska, California, Colorado, Maine, Oregon, Nevada, Massachusetts, Washington and Washington DC. Overall, around 20 per­cent of Americans can access cannabis for med­ical or recre­ational use.

Pot d’Huile goes on sale this month in San Francisco.

• Bon Appetit


• Pot d’ Huile