If you thought the only connection between high-end, sun-grown cannabis and artisanal ice cream was a case of the munchies, you probably aren’t familiar with Pink Jesus. That’s the name of both Sonoma Hills Farm’s award-winning, wildly popular cultivar and the limited-run Humphry Slocombe ice cream flavor it inspired. And it’s the kind of genius collaboration cannabis brands should pay attention to.
That was my takeaway after popping by the Woods dispensary in West Hollywood last Saturday to meet Sonoma Hills Farm’s co-founder and chief operating officer Joyce Cenali who was scooping up free samples of the dope-inspired dairy product.
“It doesn’t have any cannabis in it,” Cenali assured curious customers. (In a truly only-in-L.A. moment, one fellow waved off a bright pink cup with the response: “Oh, I’m fine with the cannabis. It’s the sugar. I just can’t.”
(Fun fact: Products that combine cannabis and dairy products — butter being the singular exception — aren’t legal to sell under California law.)
What the sweet stuff does have, though, is a flavor profile Cenali said was developed to approximate this particular plant’s aroma and terpene profile.
“Beta-caryophyllene, myrcene and humulene are the three most predominant [terpenes],” Cenali said. “Generally, folks will say it’s like raspberries or black raspberries maybe with some ginger, some bubble gum or some licorice.” The ice cream created to capture that vibe, combines the flavors of raspberry, hibiscus and chipotle with a swirl of rose- and lavender-infused caramel.
The flavor first launched last April and was brought back again this year and is available at Humphry Slocombe scoop shops in the Bay Area while supplies last. The partnership, Cenali said, is a natural extension of the weed brand’s already serious connection to the foodie scene. Aaron Keefer, Sonoma Hills Farm’s vice president of cannabis cultivation and production was once the head gardener at Thomas Keller’s French Laundry.
According to Cenali, the inspiration works the other direction too — they created prerolled joints filled with Secret Breakfast (a cross between OG Kush and Grapes & Cream) as a nod to Humphry Slocombe’s bestselling signature flavor that includes bourbon ice cream and cornflake cookie crumbles.
She said both the culinary collabs have helped raise brand awareness beyond the canna-crowd.
“Absolutely [it has raised awareness],” Cenali said. “And seeing a format where a very well-known local food company is honoring us and then we can bring them into our endeavor has been really fun. … And it is encouraging [to] other chefs and other food people. At the end of the day, there's a lifestyle around eating ice cream and there’s a lifestyle around cannabis …”
It’s that last part — lifestyle — that has the potential to link fine food and fine flower even further here in California, continuing a long line of efforts that includes growers leaning into the the terpene profiles of their sun-grown weed and emphasizing their comparable-to-organic outdoor growing conditions, celebrity weed chefs hosting multiple-course infused gourmet dinners, wine-and-weed pairing seminars (like the ones offered by the sommelier/cannaseur known as the Herb Somm) and next-level confections. And, with the the California Dept. of Food and Agriculture working on an official cannabis appelations program establishing terroir designations similar to the one used by wine-grape growers, that kind of wider exposure could mean the difference between just surviving and truly succeeding in the Golden State’s beleaugured legal cannabis environment.
And the crosspollination doesn’t seem limited to the food and drink arena either, Cenali said that a Pink Jesus eau de parfum ($195 for 100 ml) created by luxury fragrance brand 19-69 rolled out earlier this year and a Pink Jesus candle is coming for the year-end holidays.
Until Cenali makes another scooping swing through SoCal, your best hope for scoring a taste is to scour the Bay Area Humphry Slocombe scoop shops to see what stock might remain.(Follow the Sonoma Hills Farm Instagram account for updates.)
Unless you’re lucky enough to be at this Saturday night’s California Cannabis Awards ceremony at the state fair, that is.
That’s where Cenali says she plans to dole out celebratory scoops of the sweet stuff at the afterparty in honor of Sonoma Hills Farm’s three 2025 medal winners; Chemberry CBD (which landed a bronze in the outdoor flower category), White CBG (silver, alo in the outdoor flower category) and their Pink Jesus hash hole joint, which snagged a gold in the solventless infused preroll category.
I’d like to imagine, in a very loaves-and-fishes way, that no matter how many people stop by and how many scoops are scooped, no one who wants to savor the sweet taste of victory Saturday evening will be turned away.
Share this post