An Elevated Edible for Conscious Connoisseurs

This post is sponsored by Binske.

Think about the best piece of chocolate you’ve ever eaten. Was it handmade, organic and sourced from rare Peruvian cocoa? Imagine that bar of chocolate in Colorado, infused with top shelf cannabis. Now we’re talking Binske.

Binske is the first truly gourmet cannabis brand in Colorado. Creator, Jacob Pasternack, looked at the cannabis industry and asked, “What’s the marketplace? What gap can we fill?”

He noticed that edibles, especially chocolates and gummies, were very popular, but there were no all-natural, high-end options. Nothing worth eating for the taste alone. So, he gathered the top minds in the culinary world and cannabis industry to create Binske.

Binske’s first four chocolate bars were recently released, created with all organic ingredients and the finest fair trade cacao. Two of the chocolates, “Earth” (70 percent pure cacao) and “Wind” (47 percent cacao with hazelnuts) are created with Peruvian Nacional Cocoa, deemed the “rarest chocolate in the world” by the New York Times because it was thought extinct from 1901 to 2008.

Recently rediscovered in an obscure valley on the Marañón River in northern Peru, some of the beans are white because of a mutation that only happens when trees are undisturbed for hundreds of years. These white beans produce an intense chocolate aroma and mellow richness without the typical bitterness of cocoa, making it a unique and delicious experience.

The other two chocolate bars, “Fire” (75 percent cacao) and “Water” (65 percent cacao with raspberries) are made with Honduran Oro Maya Cacao, believed by the Mayans to contain the “spirit of the gods.” These beans are known for their intriguing bursts of citrus, molasses, sharp stone fruit and banana. It’s slightly tannic with vibrant pops of flavor and a drying finish.

All four chocolates are “single origin” bean-to-bar, meaning you’ll be able to experience the taste sensation and aromatic character that reflects the soil, climate and environment of individual farms in Peru and Honduras. Much like single origin coffee or wine, the “terroir” effect makes all the difference to a connoisseur.

Binske chocolates are truly artisanal because once the cocoa beans are harvested and fermented, the chocolates are handmade and tempered without the cheap, corporate process known as “compound coating” that most other cannabis candy companies employ.

Compound chocolate is basically a low-cost alternative to real chocolate and is made from a combination of cocoa, vegetable oil, sweeteners, emulsifiers, stabilizers and preservatives. It does not need to be tempered and is better for coating candy, like M&Ms, or cake frosting.

Binske, on the other hand, is a “couverture,” or real, chocolate, which was tempered and created by a professional chocolatier. The ingredients list is simple: raw organic cacao, organic cacao butter and organic cane sugar.

Binske’s also recently released its first two fruit leathers, a delicious and all natural alternative to gummy bear-style products.

“Earth” is the strawberry fruit leather and is made from organic strawberries sourced from France, the birthplace of the garden strawberry. “Wind” is made from organic Granny Smith Apples sourced from Australia, the original cultivar of Granny Smiths back in 1868. These all natural treats don’t use any preservatives or GMOs; in fact, look at the simplicity of their ingredients list: organic fruit, organic cane sugar and organic lemon juice.

Binske products are crafted with intense attention to detail, so it’s no surprise the cannabis they use in their edibles is totally vertically integrated. That means they grow all their own weed using only organic soil and nutrients in a state-of-the-art grow house they developed from scratch.

Then, they make their own cannabis concentrates in their on-site extraction lab. Their grower and chemist are absolute experts in their fields and are able to customize the weed and the extract, from flavor to high, giving the cannabis in Binske products an edge in the marketplace. The cannabis concentrate created in the extraction lab then goes straight to their kitchen where it’s mixed with amazing ingredients to create the truly luxury cannabis products the marketplace was lacking.

Not only does Binske use the finest ingredients, top shelf buds, and employ the most talented professionals, they also give back to the communities they work with. In Peru and Honduras, they not only pay the cacao farmers well, they also donate a portion of profits to help improve the local communities. The farmers vote on how to best use the money, and so far, they’ve built a school and an orphanage.

“Binske, where luxury and cannabis come together,” where gourmet food meets organic bud and where the cannabis industry steps up and helps the communities that are making it so successful.

Binske may be the first of its kind, but I hope they’re not the last!

RELATED: Is Cannabis Chocolate the Ultimate Edible?

For all of HIGH TIMES’ edibles coverage, click here.