As a child, one of my favorite scenes in Alice in Wonderland (the animated version, mind you) was when she came to the anthropomorphic doorknob that refused her entry into the mystic garden. She was simply too big, and her realization that she may never stroll amongst a verdant Eden distressed her greatly.
So, when an ominous vial appears in front of her, labeled “drink me,” she does just that and quickly shrinks to the size of a Barbie. Some tribulations ensue, but after imbibing another unlabeled potion and maybe a couple of cakes and mushrooms, she’s the right size for her journey to continue.
Now, cannabis wellness company Koan’s new line of “drink me” cordials won’t tamper with your anatomy—I checked—nor do they taste like pineapple and turkey as Alice described, but they are, just like Alice’s libation, transformative.
The six formulas are, in order of least to most psychoactive: Calm, Balance, Create, Delight, Play, and Wonder, with varying ratios of THC and CBD and the terpenes to facilitate the vibe.
Officially launched in July, Koan, which means paradox in the context of Zen Buddhism, is the first product line by cannabis holding company Resonate Blends. Amidst the deluge of drinkable cannabis on the market, Koan offers a nuanced alternative in the form of teeny, cannabis-based wellness shots, or as they’re called cordials. They currently offer six cordial formulations that combine cannabinoids (THC, CBD) with distinct terpene blends that provide a consistent taste and experience, rather than settling on a single strain. Each formula fulfills an aspect of what their website described as the Resonate System, a matrix of wellness values like Love, Focus, and Connect, that the cordials cater to.
“We felt that there was an equal opportunity here to empower people to really improve their lives,” CEO Geoff Selzer, who has personally used cannabis long before pursuing it professionally, tells me. “We really see it as a way to begin to create more control over emotional and spiritual states. The idea is to break down the sort of hegemony of the rational mind and open you up to the pure experience,” of the cordial.
First of all, they are really cute, and not even in a girly way.
In a word: intriguing.
The six formulas are, in order of least to most psychoactive: Calm, Balance, Create, Delight, Play, and Wonder, with varying ratios of THC and CBD and the terpenes to facilitate the vibe. I’ve been fortunate enough to try three of them, Calm, Delight, and Create, and as with all things weed, I have some thoughts.
First of all, they are really cute, and not even in a girly way. There are three cordials to a pack, and you could easily carry all three in one hand and share them with your friends, foes, and lovers. The little bottles are glass, tactually magnificent, and each is designed with illustrations to reflect the potions within; Delight, for example, has a butterfly while Calm depicts a landscape. The little tops are made of a thin metal that pops right off, and are all boxed in paper-based packaging; no plastic is a big plus in my book.
The outer child-proof box, also color-coordinated, has a nifty visual system to indicate psychoactive intensity and if it skews towards more sedating, Indica-like high or more energizing, like a Sativa. Koan partnered with infusion wizards Vertosa to execute their proprietary nano-emulsions for quick onset and hours of metered effects, all of which are listed on the packaging as well.
The first one I tried was Calm, the one that COO Pam Kerwin told me would be perfect should I ever find myself at an insurrection; it will help, among other things, quell an overwhelming sense of dread. I wasn’t feeling quite that bad last week, but I was definitely down and it was showing in my work. I popped the top on a Calm, which contains 15 mg CBD and just 1mg THC, and has a terpene profile rich in linalool, the same relaxing terpene found in lavender plants.
Calm will not get you high, like at all, unless your system is particularly sensitive to microdoses of THC. Mine is not. But the absence of feeling is still a feeling. I felt a little better: less unmoored and, I will admit, my mind quieted down. Out of all of them, it was my least favorite in terms of flavor, which I would describe as earthy and even a bit bitter. It’s not bad on its own, but you can also add any of the cordials to a cold drink of choice if your palate rebels.
Like the others, Calm is not-strain-specific, nor is it “full-spectrum,” which is often lauded as the gold standard for any kind of cannabis infusion, whether it be a tincture, vaporizer, or edible due to the preservation of naturally-occurring cannabinoids and terpenes. The cordials, by comparison, are a very specific spectrum with an exact result in mind, one you can replicate no matter how many times you drink it. That’s not really the case with full-spectrum products, which are beholden to genetics, cultivation conditions, and extraction methods.
“If you’re not that precise, it’s just not going to work,” says Selzer, and if you can’t provide a consistent experience, consumers will walk away. “We take the cannabinoids, the terpenes, and the formulation matrix and we map them over psychological and emotional and spiritual peace, and we identify a three-dimensional model of how these things work. So the active ingredient is you.”
I tried Create a few days later, feeling listless but very much on deadline. Something was missing from my writing, and it was too early in the day (personally) for a bong rip. Create is like an artist’s little helper, balancing 6 mg THC with 6 mg CBD to get you in the zone, but not zoned out. It was my personal favorite because it felt the most like a sativa high: uplifting, cerebral and focused, and had a citrusy flavor thanks to its prominent limonene and eucalyptol terpene blend.
Create, per Selzer, is actually formulated not to just catalyze those creative juices, but also to give you that nudge to put that art to pen, paper, or whatever medium you prefer.
“Being in a creative mode, you want to be in that state of flow, but there’s another piece to it. You [also] want that little bit of energy, and even anxiety, that drives the creative process, like ‘what am I creating here? I want to reach a little further, I want to try a little harder.’”
Given that I wrote half of this with Create in my system, I guess my editor will let me know!
Delight was, despite having the most THC at 8mg with a 4mg CBD assist, the hardest one for me to identify if it was working or not. Granted, I took it right before heading out to cover a dive bar punk show, so it’s possible I couldn’t feel it with all the moshing going on around me… but it has a flavor that falls somewhere between herbal and sweet, likely thanks to the alpha-pinene.
I did feel my shyness blunted enough to talk to band members and attendees, though I do wish I’d maybe taken two. Granted, Koan’s website and Selzer recommended starting one at a time. Mixing formulas can lead to a muddled high, so tread carefully.
Overall, in the words of Randy Jackson, “It’s a yes from me, dawg.”
They’re definitely not for everyone, particularly if your ingestible tolerance is used to high-dose gummies and cookies. But odds are, they suit some facet of your lifestyle. I could see myself, a tech bro and somebody’s mother easily cheers-ing before a night of karaoke, or settling in for a game of Catan. The whole point of cannabis, in my humble opinion — which is informed by years in the industry—is to make it what you want.
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Vapor Room is the first dispensary in the city to carry the cordials, though they have additional vendors in Marin, should you find yourself north, and are based in SoCal. I have a feeling it’s only the beginning.
