Red Bench Reviews is just nine months old as of yesterday, and we couldn’t be happier about where we are at this point and where we’re headed in the future. So far we’ve created over 50 videos of herb reviews, have nearly 500 subscribers on YouTube – and the numbers are growing daily! Most importantly – we have folks leaving us great comments and questions, and we’re building relationships.

Nine months ago I had no idea I would be able to give a cannabis review in front of the camera. Nine months ago I had no idea about the existence of hemp flowers and their availability, and now hemp is over half of my flower intake. Nine months ago I was just a well-seasoned herb smoker with 38 years of cannabis experience under my belt and an intense love and curiosity for the plant I have spent so much of my life getting to know.

Those of you who have been with us from early on have watched our channel progress and change. We are constantly working on improving our video reviews, and all that entails. This is probably the most fun we’ve ever had on a creative project together, Tania and I.

Going To A Kind Of Heaven…

Nine months ago I would have never received the message I got a recently when a co-owner of a large cannabis brand contacted me and wanted to meet! Me?! I’m just a small-fry at this point in the world of cannabis, just a fan of the herb, sharing my views about products with the world.

Long story short – this week I headed down to Desert Hot Springs to meet the Director of Quality Control for GrowPacker, the distribution company behind Herb & Zen, and while I was there I got a tour of their amazing facility! I was blown away at the clean efficiency of modern cannabis processing these young men – all friends from childhood – have put together… a great way to get quality herb to the masses at affordable prices. We’re not talking about selling shake and smalls, but top-notch nugs that a working person can afford.

I was happy to go visit GrowPacker because I’ve reviewed Herb & Zen several times, and I’ve always been pleased with what I’ve experienced… plus, they were gonna put a few jars in my hand for me to review!

The Coming Disclaimer

I love helping out our review budget. We buy all the herb we review, with only a few exceptions so far, and the cost of this project has set us back a bit. Several times so far we’ve been offered herb to review, and we’ve accepted – but only in exchange for a completely honest review.

In the future, all reviews where we have received the product for free will be noted with a disclaimer. And, of course, as always – we’ll be providing a completely honest review – the good, the bad and the rest… I foresee that we’ll be receiving more free product to review in the future, so we’re getting this settled now.

I Have A Vision Of The Future

As I toured the facility of GrowPacker, I got very excited at the idea of returning with Tania to film and share the amazing things I was seeing – herb processing, beverage processing, edible processing, and pallets upon pallets of jars of herb. I’ve been called the Bob Ross of weed, and the Mr. Rodgers of herb, but in the future I’d love to be the Huell Howser of cannabis! I’d love to visit farms and cannabis processing facilities across the country, sharing the goodness of legalization and the herb! How fun that would be!!!

Being a firm believer in the fact that the future comes from our dreams – that is a reality we’ve experienced so many times that I can’t disbelieve the truth – I am sharing my dream now so we can all celebrate when it starts to happen.

Back To Heaven

As I was toured around the facility I saw there were, stacked in warehouse-like bays, pallets of herb. Eighth jars in boxes, stacked and ready to be delivered all over the state. At one point I asked the Director of Quality Control, the sharp and knowledgeable guy giving me the tour, how much herb was on a particular pallet. The boxes were labeled GG4, and I had fantasies about just having that herb for my own personal use… I love GG4!

“Let me do the math,” he said and quickly worked the numbers, “about thirty pounds.”

“Oh my, that’s about two weeks worth,” I replied, jokingly.

But here’s the real numbers, as they apply to me. Sitting on the pallet was approximately how much herb I’ve smoked in my entire life! I did the math last year – 38 years of smoking about a quarter a week. Sometimes I’ve smoked more and sometimes less, but a quarter a week is about average. My total came to over 28 pounds. Holy Smokes!

I believe the current figures state that Americans (US citizens) smoked over 30 million pounds of marijuana the last year. That’s taking the pallet I was looking at and multiplying it times a million! That’s a lot of herb!

I believe that Herb & Zen and the GrowPacker team are well-prepared to help supply a bit of that need! Just seeing their temperature and humidity controlled storage room for the herb relieved me of any fear I might have had that a lack of cannabis was ahead. I saw bins upon bins of premium looking herb with labels of all the popular strains – and the smell of being in the presence of that much well-cured herb was a cacophony of wonderful aromas. My kind of heaven!

It was truly amazing to me as I left the well-secured facility and drove out onto a two lane desert road that this kind of place now exists. Here in the middle of the desert, in a very non-nondescript looking warehouse building was a doorway to heaven… you would never guess it as you drove past the place. I had visions of visiting other facilities, farms, and growing operations – and I felt like I had glimpsed the future for Red Bench Reviews.

I also left the facility with a box of goodies to review that included a few jars of herb, gummies, chocolates and drinks – including the High Times Cup winner from this last year for beverages! I got to meet some super cool people, a few who were regular viewers of our videos, I almost felt like a celebrity… I’m trying not to let it go to my head. 😉 All-in-all, a totally positive experience, and as I’ve mentioned, an opportunity I wouldn’t of dreamed of just nine short months ago.

Of course, it kind of goes without saying that my first allegiance is to the consumer, and my responsibility to create honest reviews… some people are basing their purchasing decisions on what I report, and that is a responsibility I take seriously. But, I must say, I am fascinated by the changes that are coming to the cannabis industry. I’d love to get more in-depth on that end of the cannabis world. We’ll see what the future holds!

Until later, best of health.

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