Ahh Moments artisan cannabis bars keep winning awards, and it’s no surprise
If you asked us back in 2012 what kind of THC-infused edible, if any, was most likely to emerge as the most popular product when weed was inevitably legalized, we would have instinctively said gummies and brownies. The former were what we had seen and thoroughly enjoyed on many early dispensary trips out west, while the latter were the form of cannabis ingestible so many of us robotically baked as a default when decarbing just like our parents did before us.
All these years later, gummies spanning countless shapes, sizes, and manufacturing approaches prominently feature on most menus, but brownies are fairly uncommon. We certainly love treats from Bubby’s Baked, and are always thrilled to score a bag of Izzy and Ezra’s hash-rosin bites that melt in your mouth. But as far as the bigger picture looks, it seems that chocolate filled the void where brownies failed, serving as a foundational menu item since 2018, when then-Northampton Mayor David Narkewicz bought a 100mg bar as the first adult-use purchase in Mass and encased it in plexiglass (the expired artifact is currently on display at the Historic Northampton museum).
And when it comes to the superior end of the cacao spectrum, the pair of Ahh Moments sativa bars we recently sampled—their Sky High Chai with assam tea, star anise, cinnamon, and cardamom, and the Summit Ascent Matcha, both loaded with minor cannabinoids in addition to 100mg of THC—are in a school of their own. Manufactured in West Hatfield by Treeworks, which has a reputation for producing stellar sweets, and conceived by the small independent Ahh Moments brand with a deliberate focus on full-spectrum excellence, it’s no wonder that the latter won the gold in last year’s Massachusetts High Times Cup, and placed third in the chocolate category at last week’s NECANN Cup competition in Boston.
The chai selection especially smacked us in the face, surpassing already high expectations set by the impressive packaging. It has the sweetness of a cinnabon and tastes the way we always figured a four-hundred dollar donut might taste like in Aspen. The matcha slab is also simple yet complex, and delectable yet recognizable to the level of comfort food. Not every chocolate bar, dosed or undosed, has to be a showstopper—the world needs Hershey’s goods and other baseline staples against which life’s exquisite joys can be measured against. Ahh bars, as it turns out, make for such moments.
And finally, the presentation … Here’s a rare cannabis item that would make a good gift without even needing a bow, and that could make for something of a fashion statement sticking out of one’s shoulder bag or breast pocket. The curators at Ahh went big for this line—literally, with an eight-by-four-inch jacket that unfolds to reveal a gorgeous cardstock canvas thrice the size that is great for rolling joints on.
Designed by artist and musician Andrew Moon Bain, the inspired folk treatments born from proud Rastafari roots are well thought out and executed, intentional in every way. A treat on top of a treat, it’s something to sit with and savor, just like the candy bar inside the wrapper.
