If you’ve ever wondered what really happens on a cannabis tour, Seed & Smith’s behind-the-scenes experience is where curiosity meets cultivation. Our guests don’t just walk past a few plants; they step into an active grow where they get a crash course in cultivation from our Cannabis Education Specialist and Tour Guide, Jake Figallo. Seed & Smith Marketing Coordinator Emily Wells sat down with Jake to chat about how the Seed & Smith cannabis tour turns the mystery of commercial cultivation into something tangible, fragrant, and unforgettable for all guests, from the canna-curious to the seasoned stoner. Consider this your insider look at what to expect on the S&S tour — before you even step through our doors.
Emily Wells, Marketing Coordinator: Jake, fabulous to sit down with you today. You’re our beloved Cannabis Education Specialist and Tour Guide, and you have the incredible honor and privilege of sharing not only the Seed & Smith process with our guests, but blessing them with some cannabis 101 knowledge that they likely would not receive on an average dispensary visit. I want to start this off and ask what your typical Thursday morning looks like when your first tour group walks in. What’s the vibe like?
Jake Figallo, Cannabis Education Specialist & Tour Guide: Let’s see, the vibe is usually a little apprehensive, nervous. I notice that the first tour of the day is usually the one that’s most serious about it — they have the most to gain from this experience, so they have no idea what to expect. They may have read the reviews prior to coming in, but usually it’s just very uptight nervousness that gets alleviated within five minutes.
EW: That makes sense. Does the anxiety settle a little bit amongst guests as the 4pm tour approaches? Is there a difference in the type of consumer you see from 11am to 4pm?
JF: Yeah, the demographic changes slightly as the day progresses. Usually we get the more responsible stoners in the early parts of the day, then towards the four and 6pm tour, those are the stragglers. Those are the folks showing up, five to 10 minutes late, little bit of high-stress given any amount of the traffic in this city. So, yeah, as the day progresses, the vibe usually loosens. I noticed that the 1pm tours are a little bit less responsible than the elevens, but they’re right on the edge. They got their shirts tucked in.
EW: Okay, hilarious. Yeah, I could see that for sure. So you start your tour, usually on the outside of the building, and give them a little bit of building history on what the facility was prior to Seed & Smith. Then you’re right into the warehouse, into our veg room, where you get to see our plants very early on in their lifecycle. There’s a big, dramatic reveal as you pull the blinds up and everyone gets to see those little babies in their first stage. What’s a common reaction folks give you when they get to see those windows open for the first time?
JF: Oh, drawn out, monosyllabic, “Oooooooh.” My favorite is when they don’t realize the windows are opening and they’re just waiting for something to happen. But yeah, the reaction is always one of my favorites. Though it doesn’t come close to the bloom room reaction. For a lot of them, it’s the first time they’ve ever seen that much cannabis in one room.
EW: You mentioned the bloom room reaction — what’s been the most surprising bloom room reaction you’ve gotten?
JF: Legitimate curse words of frustration. Like, “No way this exists. Motherf***er!” Like, yes, this is commercial-scale cannabis. It usually depends on where we are in the bloom cycle. Even if they’re more than two feet tall, people have a reaction. Doesn’t take much to look impressive when it comes to cannabis.
EW: And I’m sure, given the impressive nature of our plants, you’re also getting questions from folks regarding how close they can get to the plants, and whether they can smell, touch, and see plants from within the bloom room. What’s your go-to line there?
JF: Usually, I inform them if they’re upset that they can’t be in the room, that they’re still interacting with them. Because, for some reason, in our Room 14, where we show off our grow, we get about 10 to 30 pounds more flower than any other harvest. We have no scientific backing for why this occurs. I just tell guests that they’re speaking to the plants, and [the plants] can feel the vibrations on the windows. Something more than nothing is happening, and it’s based on guest interaction. That’s the least scientific thing I say on the entire tour.
EW: I love that, though! I think nearly every cannabis consumer can get behind a little bit of hippie woo-woo magic, too. What other ways can folks engage with the bloom room outside of viewing plants from behind the glass?
JF: Yeah, there’s a few ways. You can put your phone against the very top of the window get a good shot inside [of the bloom room]. But we have the four smell jars that grant the opportunity to smell what we have in the room. We try to match those up as best as we can, and they usually do match up 100% and it’s a very good way to smell what you’re looking at on our tour.
EW: And what about that eight-week timeline on the wall, can you speak to that a bit?
JF: Certainly. In a home grow, you get to be a little bit more finicky when it comes to your lifecycles. [When we grow], it’s gonna be a calculation that we dial in every single time: it is 57 days of bloom. If the strain doesn’t work for that cycle, get a new strain. It is very much a speedy process given the fact that we’re cheating the whole damn time, actively pumping in CO ₂. But that’s the biggest difference. Most folks that notice that timeline on the wall are [people who] grow at home and say, “Wait, you only have an eight-week bloom?” And then we get to the drying process. We only do five to six days, and they freak the hell out over that concept as well. Thank you, Colorado!
EW: I feel like one thing that makes [the Seed & Smith tour] unique is how hands-on and actively engaged people get to be. So immediately after they smell the smells and get their Nat Geo shot of the bloom room, you take them into packaging. They get to hold a pound of premium and even pose with it for a photo op. I think for a lot of guests, it’s the first time they get to interact with or see quantities of processed cannabis like that up-close and personal. What do folks typically do on that tour stop?
JF: It’s one of two things, there’s really nothing in between. It’s, “holy hell, that’s a lot of weed,” or “it’s not that heavy.” And I respond, “it’s just a pound, I understand. You know, a pound of feathers is the same as a pound of bricks.”
EW: How would you compare guests who are already knowledgeable in cannabis cultivation to those who are not?
JF: When it comes to somebody who’s knowledgeable in cannabis cultivation, they tend to use what I call a “yup response.” So every time I say a piece of information, they just go, “Uh-huh, yep. That’s how you do that.” And there’s a clear differential between those folks and the people who just have houseplants at home. Like the concept of cloning, when I call it “propagating,” people immediately latch onto that and say, “Okay, now I know where you’re coming from.”
EW: Okay, so now we’re in the extraction hall. You’re explaining to our guests the different kind of concentrates produced generally, and the different kind of concentrates we produce at Seed & Smith. Consumers tend to be driven by product cleanliness and they want to make sure that what they’re consuming is safe for them to ingest. Obviously, people hear the words “propane” and “butane” when extraction is mentioned, and they kind of freak out. How would you compare the amount of solvent that we use in extraction to the amount of expelled by your lighter?
JF: Vastly different numbers there. Thank goodness. The process that we utilize, we go above and beyond the State of Colorado’s requirements. The State of Colorado requires 1000 parts per million of any residual solvent, and we keep it around 125 parts per million. When you’re striking a lighter, that’s 17,000 parts per million of butane just to get it to light. [Our extraction processes] are far safer than combustion, that is for sure.
EW: I don’t think people are at all aware of the amount of butane in their BIC, and so it helps kind of rationalize that fear. Another one of my favorite parts of the tour are the analogies you make about terpenes and THC, and you grace our guests with some terp knowledge that they probably didn’t have prior.
JF: I’ve had such difficulty getting this information across in a concise way, that I have three different analogies I use in one speech. By the end of the third one, they usually get the message, but the first one I use is that THC is just the on/off button for our television, and terpenes, they’re channel you’re gonna watch. Easiest way to explain it.
EW: That’s my favorite analogy that you use. We won’t spoil the other ones, we’ll keep the sauce secret for now.
As you wrap the tour, just like any other, it ends in the gift shop. I know many folks have questions, particularly our cannacurious or newer consumers. [They’re looking for] those lower-dose products, or want to know what they can do to mitigate a high that’s too much for them. What sort of advice do you typically give, or what sort of questions do you receive regarding potency, dosage, THC percentage, etcetera?
JF: I typically like to ask guests what their usual consumption methods are, and it’s easy to tell when someone does not consume on a regular basis — they’re apprehensive to even ask questions. But here’s the thing: there’s little to no market for a medium tier or low tier strength. The first is what I recommend for people who just want weaker weed: understand that strength doesn’t correlate to THC percentage. If you’re trying to get over an edible, flower, or concentrate, there’s really one mainstay, and it’s going to be liquid CBD. Any tincture that has a higher CBD percentage over THC will provide alleviation for most people in a short amount of time. CBD interacts differently with the body’s cannabinoid receptors and can influence how strongly THC binds to them. But yes, if it’s just THC and CBD, low amount THC, high CBD dose, it will counteract the effects of cannabis, almost entirely.
EW: Awesome. That’s another piece of information that I am so grateful you give our guests. I know that every guest we’ve ever had on tour has had nothing but high praise for you. You’re so knowledgeable and entertaining, and I think they’re almost as grateful for you as the rest of the S&S team is. Thank you, Jake!
JF: I’m just thankful that I’ve acquired this specific set of skills to let me be an educating entertainer.
Every Seed & Smith tour is different, but the goal is always the same: to help people see, smell, and understand cannabis in a way they never could from a dispensary counter alone. After walking through our veg room, our bloom room, and beyond with Jake as your guide, you’ll leave with new knowledge, new stories, and probably a new favorite Seed & Smith product.
Ready to see it yourself? Book a Seed & Smith cannabis tour at our Denver facility and come say “Oooooooh” in-person.