The Bay Area-based cannabis brand's public face, Berner, has become one of the pot industry's first celebrity figures, turning the Girl Scout Cookies strain into dispensaries and licensing deals across the country and into Europe. Cookies finally came to the Colorado market last May, inking a licensing deal with the growers at Veritas to cultivate Cookies genetics for statewide distribution, and sold out at stores in hours. Cookies then opened its own retail location on South Broadway in November, drawing lines out the door on an average Tuesday as wannabes waited for the newest cut of Cereal Milk or Cheetah Piss. Can the hype be too much at times? Yes. Do all celebrity weed brands come at a cost? Certainly. But at least with Cookies, you know there are terpene monsters lurking inside each bag, and they never fail to unleash a sweet, milky combination of flavors most users haven't tried before.

In a world where the term "OG" carries a different sort of significance, 710 Labs is a true original. The established extractor stays on top of the ever-growing mix of Colorado hash makers by growing its own phenotypes of rare strains like Banana Pie and Watermelon Zkittlez and owning the production process from seed to shatter slab. Like a cagey veteran with ten years of experience in the league, 710 stays established while pushing the edge, producing flower, both solvent and solventless concentrates, full-spectrum extracts and vape cartridges — and pretty much all of it is fire.

Who says that edibles can't taste better than real candy? No fan of Colorado-based Coda Signature, which makes infused candy bars that combine flavors like coffee and doughnuts, maple and pecan or caramel and popcorn, and fruit notes (gummies) with mixtures of mango and chili-lime, lychee and cucumber, and cherry and sarsaparilla. Those are dank adult flavors we can get behind, but the fun doesn't end there: Coda's infused chocolate on a stick, intended to be melted into a hot beverage, makes for one beautiful morning by the campfire. We deserve to taste more than sugar and hash oil when eating edibles, and Coda never disappoints.

Flavor variety, price, consistency and availability are all important aspects of a reliable edibles company, and California transplant Wyld has been a four-tool player since launching in the Rockies. Products from the cannabis-infused gummy maker have popped up at just about every store in Denver, available in juicy flavors like marionberry, raspberry, elderberry and peach, with CBD included in several flavors and CBN added to the marionberry for nighttime use for a small additional charge. Yet even after doubling up on cannabinoids, Wyld's price tag is still very budget-friendly, coming in at around $20. Who wouldn't be wyld about that?

With nearly 25 years of experience that stretch back to roots in Amsterdam, Cannarado Genetics brings a level of respect and a reputation to Colorado cannabis breeding that few in this state can claim. Specializing in feminized seeds for sale on the internet, Cannarado reached national popularity after birthing Sundae Driver, Grape Pie and Pie Hoe, the latter of which sparked a well-known collaboration with California's Jungle Boys. As much as we'd love to smoke Cannarado weed from a Cannarado dispensary, we'll appreciate a breeder who stays true to their roots.

This Commerce City dispensary is operated by the Fernandez family, who moved to Colorado from Miami and worked on their grow and dispensary for over two years before opening for business. Son Alex leads the cultivation side; his grandfathers grew tobacco in Cuba, and like his elders, he can produce one helluva smoke. KrystaLeaves is also one of the few pot shops selling multiple phenotypes of the same strain, allowing you to try several different slices of Layer Cake or Frozen Lemons at once. Sure, you can find KrystaLeaves flower elsewhere under the label Cuban Crew, but true stoners want to go to the source, and there aren't many weed wells out there better than KrystaLeaves.

The Colorado cannabis field is full of talented growers, but Cherry's out-of-this-world ability to take users to another planet needs to be recognized. Lead grower Jason Maclean wasted little time asserting himself among the city's best, pumping out versions of Oreoz, MAC, Grape Pie and Kush Mints that are simply better than the rest, covered in trichomes with aromas that cannot be contained inside a wimpy plastic bottle. Don't measure Cherry's potency as if it were flower for mere mortals: Smoking this shit is like taking a dab, and it should be toked slowly, if only to better appreciate that sweet Cherry flavor.

We get it: You can smoke weed anywhere if you really want to. But some people enjoy their highs more when not illegally consuming pot in public, and at Boulder Adventure Lodge, you can soak up Colorado's very great outdoors and burn one freely. Known more for activities than its cannabis policy, Boulder Adventure Lodge is a pot-friendly cabin and camping area that also has a nearby creek, a slackline park, rock-climbing sessions and regular group hikes. While there's no smoking allowed in the rooms, the lodge has several designated smoking areas outside, all of which allow cannabis use.

We're not sure if Max Montrose would call himself an "influencer." He doesn't really hawk products or discount codes, and selfies are rare on his Instagram. But as president and instructor at the Trichome Institute, an accredited cannabis education course, Montrose definitely influences takes on cannabis, psychedelics and plant medicine with his posts on interesting legal fungi operations, shady hemp farmers, psychedelic cacti and the ins and outs of terpenes, the plant compounds in cannabis responsible for their distinct aromas. You almost always learn something new about flora and horticulture from Montrose, reminding us that this journey doesn't always start and end with cannabis.

You can find close-up pictures of frosty buds and saucy concentrates on any pot social media page, but at least following Vangst might get you a gig. The cannabis industry job recruiter's Instagram account regularly posts information about upcoming career fairs, and also highlights growing pot companies and notable executives and business owners around Colorado's cannabis space. More important, Vangst tags the Insta accounts of these movers and shakers, enabling easy networking opportunities for those who are bold enough to reach out. You'll learn about the skunky stuff, too, but it never hurts to know who's pulling the strings.