This Valentine’s Day offers myriad options to get your love some flowers and some chocolates. For Visit Hollyweed, that of course means weed buds and infused edibles. Below we discuss Valentine’s Day edibles ideas with a focus on the flavors of Mexico. We discuss below the brands La Familia/Agua de Flor, Mari y Juana, Luchador and others.
The edibles scene in California continues to grow, with every type of sweet and even savory foodstuffs infused with THC and CBD for health, wellness, and pleasure.
Latino-owned brands are having an effect on the foods trends we see in California edibles.
Take Product of Los Angeles (POLA), whose two founders, Albert Valdovinos and Edgar Vasquez, grew up in South Central L.A. and started making edibles for the recreational market based on their own family food traditions.
POLA‘s line “La Familia” offers chocolate bars and baked goods that remind their founders of Mexican family traditions.
For example, they offer not just an infused chocolate chip cookie, but an “Abuelita Hot Chocolate Cookie.”
According to founder Albert Valdovinos, the cookie is meant to invoke memories of childhood.
“Just about every Latino out there has their own story with this table chocolate. When cold weather comes we don’t just drink regular hot cocoa, we drink chocolate abuelita. This is why it was so important for us to get this flavor on point the memories it represents,” Valdovinos said.
POLA offers other family-friendly infused recipies including a Churro Rice Krispie bites, gummies like Naranja con Chile, and infused aquas frescas like Horchata and Lemonada Pepino.
When cold weather comes we don’t just drink regular hot cocoa, we drink chocolate abuelita. This is why it was so important for us to get this flavor on point
Alber Valdovinos, Product of Los Angeles
For Valentine’s Day, Valdovinos suggests their Fresas con Crema chocolate bar.
“It was literally made for this occasion,” Valdovinos said. “Chocolate is an aphrodisiac and strawberries for their status of love and their enticing taste,” Valdovinos said.
POLA Products (La Familia & Agua de Flor):
- La Familia Churro Rice Krispie
- La Familia White Chocolate Mazapan
- La Familia Fresas con Crema
- La Familia Dark Chocolate Menta
- La Familia Fresa Rice Krispie
- La Familia Abuelita Hot Chocolate Cookie
- La Familia Cajeta Bar
- Agua De Flor Gummies Fresa Con Chile
- Agua De Flor Gummies Sandia Con Chile
- Agua De Flor Gummies Naranja Con Chile
- Agua de Flor Sandia
- Agua de Flor Fresa
- Agua de Flor Horchata
- Agua de Flor Limonada Pepino
- Agua de Flor Mango
- Agua de Flor Piña
- Cookies x Agua de Flor in Cereal Milk, Berry Pie, Medellin, and Lychee.
For the brand Mari y Juana, THC-infused edibles were designed to appeal to the founder’s Mexican roots. Daniel Torres created Mari y Juana in 2016. Torres is a first generation Mexican-American whose parents were from Jalisco.
Torres wanted to bring his family’s food traditions to the cannabis market in California.
“Mari y Juana’s goal has always been to bring products to the California edible cannabis market that are indicative of Mexican culture and culinary traditions,” Torres said.
“Our whole brand ethos revolves around bringing Mexican cuisine, in all its traditions and flavors, into the space,” Torres said.
For Valentine’s Day, Torres recommends Mota Mix cups to enjoy with your favorite ice-cold beverage. Each chili-rimmed cup comes with two (2) packs of 10mg THC infused chili powder.
Our whole brand ethos revolves around bringing Mexican cuisine, in all its traditions and flavors, into the space.
Daniel Torres, Mari Y Juana
The brand also carries Mexican-inspired gummies.
Mari y Juana products:
- Mari y Juana ¡Mota Mix! Cold Drink Mix
- Mari y Juana ¡Mango Loco! Mango Chile Gummies
- Mari y Juana ¡Fresitas! Sour Strawberry Gummies
The brand Luchador recently launched offering gummies inspired by Mexican culture including flavors like Cucumber Chili Lime and Watermelon Chamoy. The also make tinctures in flavors like Horchata and Pineapple Habanero. The brand’s mascots are the famous Mexican luchadores.
Luchador’s Founder & Chief Scientific Officer Carolina Vazquez Mitchell was born and raised in Guadalajara. Mitchell says she “grew up around agua de horchata and agua de sandia, and fruit with lots of chiles, lime juice, and chamoy.”
“From my childhood to adulthood I’ve always preferred sweets that are tart and spicy,” Mitchell said.
For Valentine’s Day, Mitchell recommends Luchador’s new Fresa-Pitaya gummy.
I grew up around agua de horchata and agua de sandia, and fruit with lots of chiles, lime juice, and chamoy.
Carolina Vazquez Mitchell, Luchador
“It’s slightly sweeter than our other gummies but it has a little tart kick too. We are using natural dragonfruit extract which gives the gummy a beautiful pink-purple color,” Mitchell said.
“They make a perfect pairing with some red roses,” Mitchell said.
Luchador Products:
- Luchador Cucumber Chili Lime gummies
- Luchador Pineapple Mango gummies
- Luchador Watermelon Chamoy gummies
- Luchador Fresa-Pitaya Vegan gummies
- Luchador Horchata tincture
- Luchador Pineapple Habanero tincture 1000mg
La Influencia Mexicana
It’s clear that Latino-owned brands are having an influence on the weed edibles market.
So too does the Mexican and South American cuisine popular throughout California inspire edibles by brands that are not Latino-owned, but that show a clear influence of Latino culture, especially Mexican culture.
Take for example edibles by the brand Korova, which has been doing edibles for over ten years in California.
They currently offer products like The Elote Cookie and hot sauce tinctures.
According to Brand Architect Blake Powers, Korova’s Elote Cookie was inspired by a trip to Los Angeles.
“The Elote Cookie is inspired by the Eloteros you see in LA. Our first experience with Elote/Esquites was while on vacation to LA many years ago and fell in love. We had been searching for fun and interesting recipes for single cookies when we stumbled on a recipe for a cornbread cookie that got the wheels turning and now we have one of our most unique SKUs a cannabis edible with roasted corn and chili powder,” Powers said.
The Elote Cookie is inspired by the Eloteros you see in LA. Our first experience with Elote/Esquites was while on vacation to LA many years ago and fell in love.
Blake Powers, Korova Unrivaled
Even the packaging is meaningful, he said.
“The package is something we felt needed to represent the area that inspired us, so we had our photographer Cody Gehret shoot DTLA from the historically Chicano Boyle Heights neighborhood while also incorporating the iconic Sarape pattern for our cow’s silhouette,” Powers said.
Other edibles products currently on the market
Many edibles brands in California offer products that are influenced by Mexican and South American cuisine. See for example:
- Valhalla’s Sativa Spicy Pineapple Mango Gummies
- Emerald Sky’s Live Resin Spicy Chili Mango Gummies
- EdiPure Mango Chili Lime
- Kiva’s Pineapple Habanero Camino Gummies
- Tsumo Snacks’ Fiery Hot Cheese Puffs (THC)
- District Edibles’ Mango Spicy Nova Gummies (Sativa)
- Atlas Origin’s Mexican Chocolate Pepitas Granola Clusters
