Our coffees once brewed boiling hot now sat cold. We had barely touched base on how Afgoo_head and marijuana met and the intricate relationship that ensued thereafter. We hadn’t even begun to talk about his creations, Thai sticks / cannabis cigars.
“These lattes should have been ordered on the rocks; midst the “Winter” season, yet here we are with a forecast of 69 degrees and everyone wearing short sleeves. He watched as I held his Thai stick in my hand, but all I could think was “I hope the resin from within doesn’t begin to melt through the cured leaves and hemp fibers.”
— Photo courtesy of Miss MMJGeek
So I came across you via your Instagram; how have you used social media as a vehicle to share knowledge? Do you feel much of your success could be attributed to IG, or any other social media profiles?
“Here’s the thing, you keep on using success…”
After taking a few more sips of coffee I listened as he painted a picture of a humble connoisseur who has yet to find, and isn’t seeking, success and fame via social media; instead he sees Instagram as a vehicle for cannabis awareness, helping people “rethink what cannabis could actually do”.
In my friendly stalking I came across your website: http://www.cannalchemy.com/. Above everything I want to start off by saying thank you for being selfless and sharing knowledge. I know that many people out there are reluctant to share insider tips and secrets. Why did you choose to go against this and lay it out there for the world to dip into your honey pot?
“I’m not selfish … I created this feed for sharing and also for learning. When I wasn’t learning, I started sharing.”
With regards to a future Youtube channel, what videos do you plan on putting up? Educational? Tutorial? How do you plan on keeping your identity masked? Will you be using voice-overs? Blurry faces?
“When it comes to actual tutorials on making cannabis cigars I’ve have had to hold off because the only videos I’ve been able to make are the 14 second videos on Instagram.”
And to be able to re-create something so complex, labor-intensive, and detail oriented as Thai sticks and cannabis cigars, 14 seconds is not nearly enough!
“I’m waiting to have time to establish my Youtube channel and to actually make a good in depth production…as far as me showing my identity, that’s not going to be necessary because…it’s going to mainly be focused on my rolling trait and what I’m doing. It’ll be captioned.”
Thai sticks have been around as early as the late 1960s, early 1970s, but Afgoo_head rolls Thai sticks into cannabis cigars, something that “other people have done before, so I had an idea of what to do, but I wasn’t following anyone’s tutorial.” He pretty much woke up one day thinking, “I have to try this,” and while he had no instructions to refer to other than a friend verbally dictating the general concept of making a cannabis cigar, he was able to produce his first functional cigar –although not as “as neat or smooth as my current ones because I was a little bit clumsy.”
His creations now come about as if it were innate to him, engraved in his genetics. He talks about eye-balling it and knowing the exact moment that the leaves were ready to embellish like drapes over the Thai sticks, like nothing, as if it was second nature to him at this point.
“The idea behind a cannabis cigar is that growers are supposed to make one. It’s considered a harvest cigar.” Why? Because all the materials necessary for making a Thai stick, for rolling a cannabis cigar, comes from the plant herself.
“Based on my feed it makes it seem like I smoke these cigars all the time, but I don’t. I really don’t!” The act of rolling a cannabis cigar post harvest is almost like a celebratory ritual, if you will, and Afgoo_head is able to respect and appreciate each and every one as “a treat.” He encourages other farmer to “do this on your own,” which is why he provides detailed instructions on how to roll these treats both on his website and his IG feed.
— Photo courtesy of Miss MMJGeek
When speaking to others, I’ve referred to you as a trailblazer in your particular line of work: I know Thai sticks have long existed but you put your own twist on it, how exactly did you revolutionize Thai sticks?
“That’s where my design background comes into play; I took the basic Thai stick and thought ‘I could add more vents to this,’ and that’s when I created the 6-shooter Thai blunt.”
As he began to make hand gestures before me he tried to visually aid me into understanding the concept behind the 6-shooter Thai blunt, taking the vision directly from his mind and placing it into mine.
“I was just messing around, kind of like the way I would in my sketch book with study models to have an idea of how something would work.”
He went on to describe his subsequent creations of the double barrel, the masterpiece he calls the “Thaitanic,” and most recently his “DeathStick,” all of which made my mouth water terribly as he described their distinct aromas and inviting flavors.
What skills in your past, if any, have contributed to you mastering something so labor and time intensive?
“Well, thanks to my time in college I’ve been able to have an idea of how fast I work, my work-pace, so I became really good at time management…So when I take on a project I already have an idea of how long I’ll take and whether or not I’ll be able to do it.”
So how long have you been creating Thai sticks/ cannabis cigars?
“Since I first started posting them on my feed… so about 17 weeks ago?”
I laughed because based on the Thai stick that I held in my hand I was expecting a response containing YEARS in it, not 4 months and some change.
“Before that I didn’t, before I was just a happy grower.”
So then do you grow and process all of the materials that go into your Thai sticks?
“Sometimes. Usually.”
If Afgoo_head’s garden is unable to provide the appropriate medicine to meet an individual patient’s needs he goes out of his way to accommodate such requirements.
How long does it take you to plan out a project?
“Sometimes it happens at a red light.”
Haha. Okay.
“Sometimes it happens after I sketch out 4 other completely different projects before that.”
From start to finish, including visualizing your next project, how long does making a single Thai stick take? What generalized steps ensue? Blue print, rolling, curing, etc…
“Ummm…the JetStick and the Double Barrel are probably some of the most complex projects that I didn’t have to sketch. I already had an idea of how they were going to play out.”
His descriptions, which seemed trivial to him, made me ponder the intricacy of this genius’ mind. He didn’t need to sketch them out? Really?!
“The only one that I did have to sketch out was…”
The Thaitanic? If he had replied no, I would have lost it.
“Yeah, but honestly that sketch was more for the followers than for me. I had to come up with a diagram that was going to help people understand how it was going to work, to explain the funneling, the whole network of tubing inside.”
I searched his face for traces of smugness— there were none. I felt a sense of envy that then turned into self-reflection; I wish I could have an ounce of this guy’s skill-set.
He finds it easier to work off an idea that a patient brings to the table rather than leave it to himself and his hyperactive brain to narrow down the endless possibilities. Thus, the time it takes to create a Thai stick/ cannabis cigar is subjective. He is currently working on a patient’s request that to me seemed almost impossible to imagine as an actually cigar.
“How am I going to do that? I have no idea, yet. Right now it’s just an idea. But then again based on my background it’s my job to make that function. To make it work.”
To take something abstract and actually make it…
“Function, yes … every single little piece that you put in it has to be smoke-able …to me the whole apparatus, the whole mechanism should be efficient and sustainable enough to work by itself.”
Man, you’ve put a lot of time and effort into making sure that every part of it burns at equal rates.
“Yes. It’s very important. Very important. I’m not going to be there when it’s ignited, but I’m still going to be 100% responsible [for it’s efficiency].”
So how long did it take you to get your protocol down to perfection? I’m sure it must be second nature to you at this point?
“I don’t think that at this point I’ve gotten it down to perfection, I think I’ve just gotten it down to the point where I’m happy in terms of the burn rate, the ratios [of the materials that go inside of them] and taste. When you taste it, it really just makes your mouth water…”
At the end of the day what do you want your audience to take away from the concept of Thai sticks? Where do you see the world of medical marijuana (MMJ) tomorrow? And what does Afgoo_head have in store for the MMJ world?
These questions and more will be answered in the final part of our series, Interview with a Mad Genius.
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