When I was a kid:

When I was a kid we used to have just 3 channels on TV, no mobile phones or internet, and at Christmas we had basic cardboard advent calendars with little doors that when opened would reveal a crap picture of a star or a donkey underneath.

And that was it. Every day a new crap and badly printed mystery Christmas picture was revealed until Christmas day when Santa would arrive and let you down just as badly. Where's my f**king Raleigh Burner huh Santa? That was Christmas.

Christmas 2024:

These days you can get calenders stuffed with chocolate, or Lego, or beer, or chocolate Lego beer (probably), and now it seems you can get one with cannabis edibles on LB.

What a time to be alive. Advent perfection.

I don't know if this is the only stoner advent calendar as it'd work for hash or weed or extracts too - maybe if it was a fridge calendar. And while I'm personally unlikely to buy one I'm down with the concept and I'm glad it's available. I hope they sell out and it makes Christmas more magical for all who buy them.

It's definitely a significant notch up from seeing a tiny blurred picture of three kings revealed in a torn cardboard window.

The magic of Christmas:

As always thanks for reading my topic, I hope we've all learned something about the magic of Christmas and now have a warm feeling as though sat in a thick knit jumper in front of an open fire while holding a steaming mug of mulled wine with both hands and a smiley choir wearing wooly hats sing carols outside the window in the snow covered street. If not hopefully it was entertaining in some way anyway.

Would you buy a cannabis advent calendar? Are any others available?

This has been a curiousity of mine for a while. How and why do the hash producers / distributors go to so much trouble to make the hash - literally an entire season of work - then wrap it in plastic with a shite label?

How, during that long season did one of them not think to download one of many graphics apps or ask their mum's friend's son's mate who's handy with computers?

Is it simply irrelevant to many hash producers what the label looks like? Perhaps it's the culture here where a fancy label adds to the price and how easy it is to sell many products as they form a brand or product identity.

Take the Titanic hash from GAW here.
https://littlebiggy.net/link/R9AeKG

This is actually a pretty nice basic commercial hash. Someone has put some love into producing it. Yet they slapped a crap picture of a sail boat onto it making it look like they'd not taken it seriously at all.

How does that titanic hash not end up with one of many easily sourced photos of the titanic on it? It's one of the finest examples of a mismatch between label and quality.

GAW actually have a few nice hashes but mostly with terrible graphics. I'm not picking on GAW though, if you look at Eddy's commercial hash listing here:

https://littlebiggy.net/link/5jWrj7

You'll see similar lackluster designs albeit more on point than the titanic. The BMW does have a BMW badge, and some have at least used easily sourced images. The super turtle in particular looks like someone put some effort in to create that label. It's an example of the sort of graphical embellishment that I believe hints at extra effort by the team.

This Rasta Mafia hash from SOTL has a nice quality graphic but still there's little love gone into the label. The image itself is a stock image that's unaltered. The hash again is a decent commercial but you'd not note the quality by the hastily prepared label.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/agse21

Green Cat have just dropped a New Zealand flag hash which I've not tried. The label is at least a collage of two photos so someone put some effort in but I've no idea what it's trying to say as it's hard to imagine what the NZ link is - although if someone knows please fill me in. I'd like to think the plant pictured is what the hash was made from but I suppose its likely as relevant as the flag is.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/HHNEIi

And to hammer home the point one last time below is a pineapple beldia from Pistach.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/k7oQau

I guess the pineapple sorta makes sense but it's not a graphic that inspires any faith in quality.

There are of course better examples of hash labels such as some of the hashes at Dr Green Thumb like this tropical nerds.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/mEEBYV

I'm not sure if it's a stock image or stolen or if they created it but it's a nicer looking label and the hash looks pretty nice too. It feels like in our culture that these go hand in hand.

As soon as you look at Cali hashes they instantly look good quality due to posh labelling and proud branding. My favourite Barz LA being a great example of something that looks high quality before you even see the hash. You know there's a team behind this that love what they do and want to proudly represent themselves. The label is like a stamp of approval.

https://littlebiggy.net/link/6HlEIN

And in this case the label ain't lying. This is a fantastic hash that's probably one of the nicest I've tried. It is of course also about four times as expensive as a commercial Moroccan hash. I'm unsure if this proves my point or if I've just started arguing against myself.

So to round this topic up, why have the Moroccan and Spanish hash producers / distributors seemingly failed to learn the basic marketing trick of a posh label and brand being a keen indicator of quality? It'd surely help both their sales and pricing to do that part well and it'd seem relatively straightforward to create a decent label if you're already committed to printing a bunch of colour labels anyway.

Chefs say it best: The first bite is with the eyes.

I'm genuinely interested in hash production so please do chime in with your own knowledge on the subject.

Thanks for reading my topic. I hope as always it was useful in some way and if not that it was at least entertaining.

I'll see you in the next topic.

Please share with me your best and worst hash labels plus feel free to educate me about hash production.

Green Cat were the first vendor I ordered from. I ordered zereals. And, although I'm a complete LB slut liable to jump onto any vendors tasty flavours at a moments notice, I do keep coming back to GC. So while I can't exactly claim complete loyalty, they were a solid first choice and I'm glad I chose them.

My first order:

I randomly had some bitcoin at a time when I had an injury and couldn't get about easily. My local fella refused to pop over to me (something which ultimately has turned out to be a costly decision) so I started looking online.

All I found were the typical scam sites and I'd nearly lost all hope when I found a Reddit post telling me to ignore all the websites being discussed and head to little biggy. It said that I would thank them later. And I definitely would if I knew who it was. Thanks Reddit person, you were completely correct.

So I ended up on little biggy looking through all the listings, trying to find something I wanted from someone who looked trustworthy and who'd take orders from a newbie. I found Green Cat and ordered zereals. Or I found zereals and ordered from Greet Cat. I can't remember which way round it was. I can remember thinking quite carefully about who looked to be trustworthy though as my expectations were actually low about the likely outcome. I guess I figured that a cartoon cat felt more trustworthy than the other options.

At this point I was still wondering if it'd actually turn up. Not least as I'd just put both my money and my faith into a cartoon cat on the internet. I wondered if it'd be any good. Would it be ditch weed; would it be cbd?

The weed of course was top quality, delivered in good time and it weighed over the amount. I remember that really blew my mind as your average local round here aims for 6.9 on a quarter and that last point is mostly dust. The GC order arrived overweight and no dusty sprinkles. It was a decent bit of weed and cost less than a local would charge. All delivered to my door by Postman Pot.

So that was me instantly converted to an LB user. Since then I've been once or twice to score locally and only because of bitcoin or postal issues.

The qualities I look for in a vendor:

- Top products
- Reasonable prices
- Fast delivery
- Good communication
- Reliability

I find myself constantly in need of decent weed, at a good price, delivered quickly from a reliable vendor.

The last bit - reliability - that's really core. Knowing that your order will be processed and will arrive at a predictable time is essential to ordering weed online for me. I've had delayed orders from some vendors for a range of reasons varying from reasonable to what the actual fk. So a vendor who churns through orders in a timely and reliable way is always most likely to get my repeat business.

GC don't have the huge number of listings of some of the big boy (and girl) vendors, and don't have extracts but I've never had a bad bit of weed from GC and their listing text is accurate. Basically you get exactly what you expected to. There's a lot to be said for that when I consider some of the bits I've had elsewhere that were definitely not up to the promise of the listing.

At the moment I'm consuming lots of the GC super cheap cookie dawg which is lovely. I'm not actually a fan of cookies nor most dawg named strains but I'm chugging through the cookie dawg and enjoying it. It's 50 bucks a quarter so a bargain smoke. I've ordered it three times.

A while back I had the Blue Nerds from GC which was one of the best bits I've had from LB and one of the nicest smokes I've had anywhere. It wasn't that expensive but I can't remember the price. Think it was 75/80 bucks a quarter. It had a sort of silver blueberry flavour - absolutely spectacularly delicious. Lovely stuff.

While you've missed that the Jealousy is a lovely bit available right now and they have a cheaper UK Skywalker OG which is a favourite of mine. I've just ordered some Purple Mochi and while I can't vouch for it yet I'm betting it'll be lovely. Check out their LB shop from the link.

I focused on Green Cat here as they were my first vendor and that's what the topic is about. There's loads of vendors I've used on here that give an excellent service as well and would be worthy of their own topic. I might do a future write up on my top LB vendors.

But, coming back to my original question which got lost in my Green Cat fandom - do you remember your first order on Little Biggy? How did it go? And do you still order from the same vendor?

Thanks for reading my topic. I hope it was informative and if not I hope it was entertaining at least. I'll see you next time.

Let me know about your first order in the comments.

If you're shit at baking like me, trust in Betty Crocker. She's a dab hand at baking and makes a near perfect blend of whatever ingredients go into a tasty biscuit. So all you need to concentrate on is your concentrates - the one key ingredient that Betty leaves out of her mix.

Maybe someone should package ready-made thc cookie mix as the Betty Canna brand. Until that day here's my method.

I've been baking cookies out of various stuff from weed to vaped weed to hash to distillates for a while and have recently decided upon my perfect blend.

You will need:
- Butter or margarine
- Grease proof paper
- Pack of Betty Crocker cookie mix
- RSO
- D9 Distillate
- An oven
- An evening with nothing important on
- Music and/or sci-fi

Making the cookies is simple. If it wasn't I'd f**k it up and this would be one of my disaster reports.

First you need to decide how many cookies you are making. Then put enough mix for that many into the bowl. This is easy so far right? I usually only make one or two cookies at once then I save the rest for another night. I'm making two small cookies for sake of these instructions. Never underestimate what I do for the lb community folks.

You'll need the oven turned on to start heating up. This probably isn't news to you but an Ideal starting point nonetheless. I've no idea what temp it'll be for you. Go with what the pack says.

Next you'll need to get the small bit of butter and melt it. By small I mean a teaspoon. I use a microwave for two seconds. Probably dangerous. Ask a grown up about this.

Both the RSO and the D9 are easier to work with warm. I pop them in a baggy in hot water for a few mins.

Then you want a blend of D9 and RSO squeezed into the butter. I am doing 200mg RSO & 400mg D9 for two little cookies. But please find what works for you. I recommend starting small. Too much RSO isn't completely wonderful to experience. But you do you.

Mix the D9 and RSO and hot melted butter up so it's blended together. Sometimes D9 can be stubborn so take care not to discard it if it's solidified into a small lump. The RSO makes the butter go green and you start to question your life choices.

Let the mixture cool a bit so it's not boiling when you add it to the cookie mix. If you do it melts the chocolate chips.

Mix the butter and cookie mix up with a fork. Get it to a breadcrumbs look. Then add a tiny bit of water. Like a teaspoon. It should form into a ball in the palm of your hand as you roll it about. If not add a bit more water. You're aiming for a dough not a liquid though. It should be easy to handle and mildly sticky.

Pop your balls of dough onto the baking tray on the greased proof paper I'd forgotten to say to get ready earlier, and flatten them a bit so they're biscuit shaped. I usually mark with a fork on top but I don't know why.

Put that into the oven at the correct temperature or about 190 if you're using my oven. (Also say hi. I'm in the front room.)

It takes 9 mins in my oven which tends to aggressively cook stuff.

Let it cool for a few mins. Eat the first one while it's warm and melty but let it solidify into a biscuit format. Find the Goldilocks point of perfect cookie consumption. RSO does taint the cookie flavour but later on you'll be glad you ate it.

First you bake the cookies and then the cookies bake you. You need to chill and give the cookie(s) an hour or so to work their magic.

If you've made lots of cookies I'd recommend waiting over an hour to see how you're going rather than munch them all. Space out the cookies so the cookies don't space you out.

And that's my perfect cookies. That's all you do. Then all you need do is find a comfy position and absorb whatever evening's entertainment you've got lined up. Doesn't matter if it's a sci-fi film, spacey album or a night out at the bingo. Whatever floats your boat is likely to be even more floatier after eating the cookies.

I used D9 and RSO from Dr Distillate who's generally got a good deal on them. Have linked below.

Even if your tolerance is high I'd recommend starting with a disappointingly low dose to check out how it is. Or make multiple cookies so you can test and then dive in after an hour or so. Caution really will be your friend when it comes to edibles.

Happy to hear recommendations on baking, thc products to use, or any questions or advice. It's always nice when people chime in and knowledge gets shared so please do comment if you have something to ask or add.

I hope my cookie recipe was useful to you and if not that it was entertaining at least. If you know about cooking, as I say, please add your own ideas.

Thanks for reading. I'll see you in the next topic.

Dithering:
I'd been looking at options for dabbing concentrates for ages. Polly Puff had recommended an Ace Cup a while back but it didn't seem as portable as I wanted and also like it may make more vapour smoke than my little ol' lungs could handle. It's an expensive bit of kit to invest in if I ended up not liking it. So I did what I usually do when I'm unsure: Nothing. Nothing at all.

Commitment:
Recently I decided to finally commit to buying something cheap and simple to dab with just so I could see how it was. Crikey - it's a minefield. There is too much choice. Too many different options, all with a distinct angle on how dabbing should work electronically. There were more shapes and sizes than an Ann Summers catalogue. This also confusingly included a lot of differing technical terminology making direct comparisons tricky.

I think the pen I have is a wax pen. I have no idea if this is actually distinct from a dab pen and if it is, I've no idea why it is or what the difference is.

A wonderful discovery:
This shopping mission did however introduce me to a wonderful chunk of the internet that I didn't know existed. And that is the cannabis paraphernalia reviewers on YouTube.

I saw quite a few wonderful dab equipment reviews where the reviewer takes a few blasts on the device and becomes instantaneously too spangled to say anything useful about what has just happened.

You'd see their spaced out eyes staring through the camera calling out for help. But while their useful words were sparse, the frozen rabbit-in-headlights look was actually a good marker for equipment performance in this instance; their eyes so glazed over it reflected the dazed world they were in almost enough to see into it.

I probably shouldn't condemn them too much as most of my own topics probably read like that too for the exact same reasons.

What did I buy?
I ended up buying a Utillian 2 wax dab pen. The reviewer said, after taking a blast on it, "oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah, oh yeah," before taking a long pause to think carefully what he would add to this but still only managed to add another, "oh yeah." I couldn't help but want a device that could reduce my vocabulary to that of a 1980s Casio calculator and was sold immediately. Oh yeah.

Utillian 2 wax dab pen:
It's a little pen that comes in a storage box a bit bigger than the footprint of a credit card but much fatter, so it's easy to transport the pen without destroying it.

Inside the box, the pen is in two bits which magnetically stick together. It's all magnetic which is pretty cool and simple. There's a charger and dab tool in the box too.

It's got 4 different voltage / heat settings and uses two little coils in a chamber where the extracts go. Was 40 quid from a seed shop online. Did I do well?

In use:
In use, I like it. But I've nothing to compare it too. My lungs won't take a big hit on normal bongs or pipes these days so I only have little but constant puffs on the thing but even that can still be a bit harsh for me. It does get me super stoned though.

There's a bubbly attachment available for it so I might give that a go. It certainly makes extracts go a long way compared to rolling them in a joint.

Thanks:
Thanks for reading my topic. I doubt that you've learned anything because I largely failed to but hopefully it was briefly entertaining.

I would like to better understand dabbing extracts and the best equipment so if it's your bag please jump in and educate me and possibly other folk on LB.

LB Community Help:
What do you use for dabbing / smoking extracts?