This episode of Soul D’licious Infused with Benjamin Bey & Stephanie Magurno aired on July 11th, 2020 on KUNV 91.5.
Interview with Brett Nelson and Gabe Martinez of ACC Industries
Benjamin Bey of Soul D’licious Seasonings and co-host Stephanie Magurno of THC Production, LLC interview Brett Nelson and Gabe Martinez of ACC Industries in Pahrump, NV.
You can find out more about ACC Industries and the Superior Cannabis brand by visiting their Instagram or their official website.
The Full Interview with Brett & Gabe of ACC Industries
“Announcer: Hello, Las Vegas and welcome to this segment of Soul D’licious Infused. Now welcome your host…
Ben: Good morning, good morning. This is Benjamin Bey owner of Soul D’licious Seasoning and welcome to Soul D’licious Infused where we talk and discuss all things cannabis in Vegas every Saturday morning at 7:30 a.m. on KUNV 91.5 Jazz and More. We have my co-host, the lovely Miss Stephanie Magurno.
Stephanie: Hi Ben, good morning. We have with us two people from ACC Industries which has the Superior cannabis brand. Our guests today are Brett Nelson and Gabe Martinez. Do you guys want to say hi?
Gabe & Brett: How you doing guys? Good morning and thank you for having us. We hope you guys are having a nice wake and bake session out there. It’s an honor to be here.
Ben: Thank you for coming, we have a great show and I really feel that information is going to be applied to the people out there they’re going to really be amazed.
Stephanie: Absolutely. So before we get into the ins-and-outs of cannabis flower and what it takes to make a quality product, how to know what you’re looking at when you go into a dispensary and you’re buying it, can you just tell our listeners briefly about who you are your experience in the industry?
Gabe: My name is Gabriel Martinez. I come from a family of growers out of Northern California. Humboldt County the Central Valley to Bay Area. I’ve family all over and a lot of them are all cultivators, so I’ve been bred into it. I’ve been building commercial cultivations for about 17 years.
Ben: Wow, you don’t look that old.
Gabe: Ya my family starts them off really young. I’ve been growing commercially for about eight years and the past six years here in Nevada. And it seems like Nevada has been home and is going to be home for a while.
Ben: Oh ya it’s been home for a lot of people, especially people from California. They don’t seem like they want to go back to California.
Gabe: Everybody loves it here. It’s a great state.
Stephanie: For sure. And how about you Brett?
Brett: I was originally from Chicago.
Ben: Most of all my family is from Chicago.
Brett: I got into it at a young age. 15 or 16 years old in the streets. It wasn’t really legal back then in Chicago and you can face a lot of jail time for doing what I was doing. Back then if you had over an ounce on you, you were going to jail for over 10 years. It was bad. But I just always had a passion for not only smoking it but the whole thing. How it’s grown, how it’s cultivated. The community and the people that are around it. I told my parents at a young age when I was 14 or 15 years old, I said I was going to be a weed dealer when I grew up. And they laughed and said ‘ya right, we’ll see.’ Well, look at me now mom. Just been doing that for years. I’ve been in the Nevada industry since day one – since we went medical. I’ve worked with a few different companies out here. Brought a few big brands out here. Done a few different things and now my home lies with ACC – lies with the guys out in Pahrump. And we’re doing some great things out there and really really making Superior cannabis.
Stephanie: Excellent. Well speaking of that, which of course is your brand name, in your company you sell cannabis flower and pre-rolls to dispensaries in Southern Nevada; perhaps Northern Nevada. But let’s start with the basic question for our listeners who are new to cannabis. What is cannabis flower and how do you use it
Brett: To define it more of the actual definition, cannabis is an herb that has over a hundred cannabinoids, specifically THC and CBD. One way I like to describe it is the terpenes. I like describing the terpenes and it’s the same terpenes in the fruits and vegetables you’re using. They’re the same terpenes when you go to the forest and you see the pine trees and you smell them that is that same pinene. It’s in the flowers you’re smelling. It’s in everything. All over the place. It’s those same exact smells.
Stephanie: Ya for sure. And so what do people do with a flower when they pick it up from the dispensary?
Brett: My hope is that they’re using it and they’re enjoying themselves to the fullest capacity. There are many ways you can use cannabis. I mean you can smoke it, you can vaporize it, you can break it down and you can cook with it. You can decarb it. You’ve really got to find your own preference. There’s some trial-and-error when it comes to cannabis, for sure. Not only finding your strain, finding what you like, how you like ingesting it. There are so many different ways and who would have thought that stoners would be the ones that are innovating new ways to do stuff
Ben: I did! I did.
Brett: Well you’ve got that reputation that stoners are lazy and sit on the couch eating potato chips.
Ben: It’s like with nerds. Nerds came up with all kinds of stuff. And all of a sudden we’re doing everything they do.
Brett: Stoners are doing the same thing. Just look at dabbing. I mean, 10 or 15 years ago that wasn’t even a thing. That wasn’t around. And now, I feel like that’s not going to be the last step of it either. I think that there were only breaking the surface.
Stephanie: Absolutely.
Brett: Once major funding comes in, it’s where the stars are really the limit. You’re going to hear all the time too, people telling me ‘oh this weed is so much different than it was 20-30 years ago.’ And it’s only going to get stronger. It’s only going to get better. I mean you’re really going to have weed that taste like strawberries one day and it’s going to be weird.
Ben: It’s crazy getting deeper into the science of it. So, I guess when you break it down to the science, I guess you can make it better or you see the things that we didn’t see years ago. cuz, you know, all I did years ago is I go to my homie and I say ‘what you got?’ And he says he’s got gold weed. And I’m like ‘ok, is it going to get be high? Cool, I’ll take it.’ And it was good. It was good. I enjoy talking about it.
Brett: Same, same. It’s a passion.
Stephanie: And as you pointed out, there are many different ways you can consume cannabis products and specifically there are advantages and disadvantages to each. So what are some of the advantages of, you know, grinding up your flower, putting it in a pre-roll, and smoking it / inhaling it compared to other forms of consumption?
Brett: It’s going to be the convenience factor when it comes down to it. I mean I smoke different products depending on where I’m at and what I’m doing and who I’m with. Pre-rolls, to me, are the easiest way to consume flower and the cleanest way in my opinion. You don’t have to clean a bong. You don’t have to go through and clean all your pieces. Load it, grind it up, it’s like a cigarette. You smoke, you put it out if you’re done with it. You can relight it again. You’re good. But it all depends on the situation. Sometimes you need a little bit more discretion. You smoke a vape pen that doesn’t really have that smell. You’re going to church. You’re going somewhere where you don’t want t smell like a garden.
Ben: I smell like a garden everywhere I go.
Brett: Oh I do too! I carry around this agent card with me and say the same thing: ‘I just came from the grow.’ I always smell good.
Stephanie: It’s especially important when the police pull you over and ask if you’ve been hotboxing in your car.
Ben: Well there’s no law saying that your car cannot smell like marijuana. And there’s no law saying that you can’t. So you gotta understand. My boys back in the day – weed smokers that were smoking a lot of weed back in the day?
Brett & Gabe: Cheech and Chong?
Ben: Ya! You remember how their car used to look. You roll down the window and the police had to wait about 30 minutes before they could even see them.
Gabe: They had a car made of weed.
Brett: And that’s how it is after harvest day. After harvest my briefcase, my lunch pail, everything smells like marijuana. It reaks of it. And it’s funning going to the bank afterward and the looks you get from everybody.
Stephanie: Oh yeah, ‘I’m not in the marijuana’ while deposit all this cash into my bank account.
Gabe: Or you’re grocery shopping and got a family behind you and some kid asks ‘mommy what’s that smell?’
Ben: I am looking at your Instagram page and I am looking at some of the buds that you have. I’m looking at some of the nuggets, as I called them, and they beautiful. I mean they got nice, you could see the crystals on them real good. They’ve got different crystals. I like that. Cuz I’m a crystals man. The whiter the crystals that look like snow all over it, then I’m going to go skiing.
Stephanie: That actually brings up a good point which is ‘how do you know if the Cannabis that you’re looking at is good?’ You going to the dispensary and you see a lot of different kinds of stuff and we’ll talk about strains and whatever. But apart from the strength, if you’re just looking at some flower, how do you know it’s good quality?
Gabe: That’s a tough one. I know that THC has kind of been the one that’s more or less debatable nowadays. It’s tough for me. I really can’t tell until you get into the joint and you really smoke it. Once you get the join down half way through, that’s where you get the deciding factor that this is something good. Personally for myself, I like feeling gassy, and if it maintains that gas for that chemical smell all the way through, that’s good.
Ben: My rule is if it’s three hits, put it down, and if you feel it… that’s what people don’t understand about smoking cannabis. That first hit that you take, it hasn’t made it to your head yet. So when you’re going to hit it another time, then you go hit it again, now you got it hitting you like a gun, BOOM BOOM. And I’ve always noticed that ever since I got with Stephanie and them. I go like, ‘okay I’m going to see how good this is’ so I hit it once, and then if I don’t feel anything, then I go like, okay. So I hit it again and then I start feeling it about 5 minutes in and I start feeling it, I go like ‘okay this is not as strong as I thought it would be.’ And I get upset.
Gabe: You can kind of tell with some of the stuff as it’s growing if it’s going to be good; if it’s going to yield high or produce a lot of nugs. Until you take that down and let it cure and dry it and go through all the steps to really make it ready, that’s when you find out if you got a winner or not.
Ben: So it ain’t all about the choke?
Gabe: No!
Ben: I want you guys to clear the myth up. It’s not about the choke!
Gabe and Brett: Absolutely not. You really shouldn’t be choking too much. That’s in the blunt paper.
Stephanie: So then you can’t just eyeball your cannabis and know if it’s going to be amazing. If you’re walking into a store what are some of the other ways that you would decide? I mean there’s seemingly a gazillion strains. It’s like going down the wine aisle and trying to figure out which brand of wine to buy, but should I buy a Rose or a Chardonnay. And so how does somebody know which strain they should be picking
Brett: From a dispensary aspect, it can be very overwhelming. I remember my first time even being an avid smoker going into a dispensary. It was like a kid walking into Willy Wonka’s chocolate factory. And it was like ‘wait, I can have anything that I want? I can take that, I can take that…’ So to be honest with you, that’s the best way to go about it. I mean have a good conversation with your budtender if you have a good budtender or if you have somebody who’s pretty knowledgeable. Most of the staff in these Nevada dispensaries are pretty knowledgeable about cannabis and use pretty frequently themselves. So ask them. Talk to them. And don’t be afraid of trial and error. If you know that you’re looking for something that you want to keep you up, I mean go the Sativa route. If you know you want to be on that couch or you want to go to bed and you want to knock out, go Indica. But don’t be afraid to try different strains. Every strain affects each person differently. Terpenes and everything that goes in with it is going to affect everybody differently.
Ben: Now what I was just thinking about while everyone was speaking and everything – the terminology in the cannabis industry. People have to get used to it. We had bartenders when you go in to have a drink. Now you going into a dispensary and you have a budtender that tells you all about what weed is all about and what cannabis is. The same as a bartender tells you about what drinks and he mixes them up, so they’ll tell you about the hybrid, they’ll tell you about the Indicas and Sativas and different ones and different strains. So what do you guys think? Are people going to adapt to the language in the marijuana industry because that’s a very very good question? Cuz I get asked that. Since we’ve had this show, people ask about languages like when Bea was on the show and she was talking about different things like extractions and different things that a lot of people don’t know what you’re talking about. So could you guys give them a little bit of briefing on what the language is going to be about?
Brett: I mean I still don’t know the whole language. It’s evolving every single day and terpenes, and different aspects of cannabis. We’re still just scratching the surface of what cannabis is and what it really does to us. I think in the next 10 years we’re going to have some crazy revelations and some crazy discoveries come out of the cannabis field.
Ben: Just like Soul D’licious.
Brett: Oh, Soul D’licious especially. I will tell you I just tried a little sample of this Soul D’licious and I can’t wait to get me some more.
Ben: I got you covered!
Brett: One thing about the lingo, one thing I love is when another cultivator comes into our grow. It’s interesting. I can tell this guy knows what he’s talking about and knows the terminology. And people will be with us and maybe not understand exactly what’s going on 100%, but what’s funny is I see that with extractors, I see that with other people in the industry – budtenders; they’re going to be talking their lingo, extractors, and cultivators talking theirs.
Ben: And I noticed that since we’ve been doing the show, I’m learning a lot. I mean I’m learning how to extract, what brands with marijuana that we have out there, you know, from the growers. And then you got your extractors coming and then you have your dispensaries. We had Frank Hawkins on and everything will have some more dispensary individuals on the show and everything. But yeah, I really learned a lot.
Brett: And like you said you’re going to continue to. I still am every day. I don’t think anyone is a true, true expert in this industry.
Stephanie: No, absolutely not. I mean some of us have some experience and knowledge, but it’s a frontier that we just got to. There’s so much more to explore and tap into for sure. And you know, you talked about being able to ascertain if people really know their business or know their area of the business I should say, like other cultivators. And obviously I’m not asking you to give out any trade secrets, but what does it take to grow really high-quality cannabis flower and what makes it good quality?
Gabe: I would say there are really two areas you can dabble in on that – more commercial and then more medical. You know, your home patients and things like that. But speaking commercially, I would say that your team, your team is the most important thing to grow good cannabis. Specifically, the cultivator-to-owner relationship has to be super strong. I don’t know if you noticed a lot of companies out there that have a lot of capital but no skill, or skills but no capital. You have to find a good balance between that and once you have that good balance and a good team, you grow a good product commercially. But more speaking on medical patients – somebody may be growing their own plants at home or something like that on a smaller scale – the inputs; everything you put in would be the most important, I would say.
Stephanie: Garbage in garbage out?
Gabe: A lot of growers say that ‘environment, environment, environment’ is the most important thing, but in my opinion, I think plants have a little bit more of a spectrum. They can kind of go a little cooler and go a little warmer and still produce good flower. I think the inputs, which is what you’re feeding it, and making sure you get nutrient companies that do good manufacturing practices and things like that. And then you’ll get some good product every single time.
Brett: People think I’m crazy but I tell my plants I love them all the time.
Ben: My mother had a green thumb and she talked to the plants in the house all the time.
Brett: I’m telling you, they feel it.
Ben: All of her plants were green in the house. I can sit in her room and know I’m going to live for another 20 years. So, ya, keep talking to the plants.
Gabe: Absolutely plants feel it. Those vibrations, they know you’re there.
Stephanie: And you know a lot of people were talking before the show began about how a lot of people go into a dispensary and they look for the cannabis that has the highest THC because they assume that you know if it’s 100% THC, that means it’s the best. But those of us who are in the industry know that’s not necessarily the case. You know of course when you have high THC does a certain kind of potency, but it doesn’t correlate to it being the best or necessarily even the best experience. So can you just give our listeners a primer on and why that is? Why it’s not just about the THC percentage that they see on their pre-roll?
Brett: Well THC still plays a big role, I would say. But it seems like nowadays it’s mainly the role of the broker to the buyer at the dispensary relationships. Like the THC is setting the price per pound more than anything. But there’s so much more to it… so much more. You know, the terpene profile, if it has any CBD, or anything like that. I think moisture is a huge thing. How the buds look kind of matters. I feel that a 29 percenter to a 21 percenter, I personally don’t feel too much of a difference on THC. Like I said, the gassiness all the way to the joint, clean burn, white ash… that’s what matters to me the most. THC has taken a bit of a back seat on everything that’s being done in dispensaries and cultivation. There are other factors there that matter greatly.
Gabe: Let me add one thing to that. Superior Cannabis did break a record in the state of Nevada for the highest-testing THC flower if I’m not mistaken. 39.4%.
Stephanie: Congrats!
Brett: Thank you, thank you. But just add on to what Gabe is saying is that it’s not all THC. It’s going to go to the terpenes. Every terpene effects you and that’s what really plays that role in you. I’ve had some 12-13 percenters that have knocked me out, whereas I’ll smoke a 39 percenter and I’m not as stoned as I was on 12 percenter.
Ben: Ya, like when you go into a dispensary, everybody goes in and talks to the budtender and they always ask you know how much myrcene how much terpenes and stuff like that, you know.
Gabe: We call theme the terp nerds. We like them.
Ben: And then, you know, you got your 5.7 and you got your 8 then you got your 13 up there. And everyone just goes nuts. So I mean you know it’s a trip, cause it’s 16. And like you said, a 16 could knock you dead while a 23 won’t even touch you.
Brett: Right, exactly. I think it’s more total cannabinoids on your lab results on your product there is what matters the most – total cannabinoid rather than just specifically THC.
Gabe: And it really depends on what you’re looking for. I mean everyone uses cannabis for a different reason. I mean if you’re looking for relief, if you’re looking to be knocked out, it’s all going to play into it.
Ben: What is your favorite terpene?
Gabe: Pinene. Ya, I like pinene. I like the energy. Gets me going.
Ben: Pinene? That’s what it’s called?
Stephanie: Well ya, that’s the terpene.
Gabe: Are you asking more strain or the terpene?
Ben: Your favorite.
Gabe: My favorite strain is an old-school strain – GG4 – Gorilla Glue #4.
Ben: I got some in the car!
Gabe: That was the first strain legally sold in the state of Nevada and one that helped us win a Cannabis Cup. I love it. It’s gassy. It’s sweet. It packs a punch.
Ben: It’s not boring.
Gabe: But terpene wise, I like that couch-lock. That even smoke.
Ben: I see it on your Instagram. It says ‘you can’t smoke all day unless you start in the morning.’
Stephanie: The different strains, of course; what makes it a different strain is with their genetic factor, that in terms of the consumer end of things, the different strains have those different terpenes; have the different cannabinoid profiles, just like Gabe was referencing. Just like how if you have THC alone, it’s not as powerful as having THC and CBD together. It’s that synergy. You have a multiplicity of cannabinoids and a multiplicity of strong terpenes present, that’s the ‘entourage effect’ right there. That’s, you know, the holistic experience that you feel. And so yeah, each strain is going to affect people differently and different strains can impact one of you in one way and one of you the other way. So it’s good to find out your favorites. And to figure that, as Brett was saying, checking with your budtender and asking what’s good and ‘hey I like this, what do you recommend I try this time?’ It can be a good way to experiment. So for someone who is an occasional consumer of the product; maybe isn’t, you know it Ben’s level; maybe doesn’t smoke an entire preroll at a time or they buy a few grams of flower or they buy a quarter ounce or whatever but then aren’t going to use it all at once, what are the best ways to store these products at home in between using them?
Brett: I would say a mason jar – one that seels really tight. Maybe throw a Boveda in it. All glass is probably the best way in my opinion. You want to keep the air out. That’s the biggest thing, especially in Nevada. It’s dry and we have no humidity. You let a little bit of air in; I hear it all the time. I’ve held onto weed in Nevada for a year and a half and it’s still as fresh as the day I got it. Store it in a cool dry place with no air.
Ben: My nephew used to grow in Oakland, I mean in Bakersfield, in his backyard and cuz it was legal he can grow up to like 10 plants or something like that. And he cultivated the right way. I mean the right type of vitamin D to put in. I mean he was out there all the time doing it right. So every time harvest time came, the neighborhood reeked. What made him quit though was somebody jumped the fence and tried to pull up all the plants. What you had said earlier about the jar and you keep it in there. I had some from him and I’m going to tell you the honest truth; I had for like 6 months he just told me to keep burping it. That’s all you got to do. That was just one of my marijuana experiences.
Gabe: One of the many, I’m sure.
Stephanie: The Boveda pack is a good tip. What would you say that the ideal humidity would be; 62?
Gabe: Ya bout 62% sounds about good. It can vary a little bit, but you don’t want to go on down to anything towards 40 or anything like that.
Ben: Powder. Nobody likes powder:
Brett: Ehhh, actually some people do.
Stephanie: I mean, you could sprinkle that and, you know, hey.
Ben: Put it on top of resin or something. Keep it burning.
Stephanie: Well unfortunately we’re running out of time today, so for listeners who are interested in finding out more about your products and the Superior Cannabis brand, what is the best way for listeners to get additional information?
Brett: You can find us on all social media platforms. You can also find us in dispensaries all across the state. We go all the way up to Reno and Tahoe, and all the way down as far south as Laughlin Nevada. So our products are pretty readily available. We work with a number of great dispensaries out here. NWC, Nevada Made, Essence… there’s a bunch that our products are at. NUWU is a great supporter of ours as well. But, ya, pretty readily available across the state.
Stephanie: Excellent and for those of you that would like to find out any additional information about Soul D’licious Infused or THC production, please visit our websites. That’s all we have time for today so thank you for joining us, Brett and Gabe. It’s been an awesome conversation. We’ll have to have you back on to talk so much more weed.
Brett and Gabe: Any time, any time. We really appreciate you guys.
Stephanie: Thank you so much for listening and tune in next Saturday at 7:30 a.m. on KUNV 91.5 when we will be interviewing a couple of people from DB Labs; one of the cannabis testing laboratories here in Nevada.
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“Soul D’licious Infused”
Each podcast episode of Soul D’licious Infused includes different topics on the Nevada cannabis industry, as well as special guests. We interview different people from across the Nevada marijuana industry and discuss all kinds of topics from the pros and cons of different extracts to cannabis trends, to the stories behind people who work in cannabis.
Additionally, we discuss our partnership with Soul D’licious Seasonings to create the first THC and CBD infused spices! “Soul D’licious Infused” can be heard on KUNV 95.1 and TuneIn internet radio. Come join us every Saturday at 7:30am!
