Farmers' markets are closed for the year, but fans of local food and cannabis are in luck: A new brand of edibles brings the two together.

Telluride company 7Sacred Colorado now produces "farm-to-edible" caramels for Rocky Mountain locavores, making each sweet with ingredients sourced in Colorado. The peaches come from Palisade, the apples from Colorado's Western Slope, and the cherries and cannabis are all sourced within the state, as well.

Each edible is dosed at 10 milligrams of THC per serving, with layers of buttery caramel and local fruit, according to 7Sacred founder Mike Alagna, a professional chef for over thirty years before transitioning to the cannabis industry. The company is also gearing up to launch a pâte-de-fruit, which are fruit chews made with Colorado peaches, apple cider and cherries.

Understanding culinary techniques allowed Alagna to fine-tune his confections and bring out subtle, natural flavors in 7Sacred candies, he says. This is an essential skill, Alagna claims, because unlike most artificial flavors, developing a prominent fruity flavor in caramels is difficult with natural ingredients.

“It tastes like a caramel with an actual real bite of peach. It was a bit of a challenge to get real food to come through in the flavor profile," he remembers. "It took me a while, but I figured it out.”

Alagna also considers himself something of a cannabis purist. He was a licensed cannabis grower before launching 7Sacred, and says he only uses cannabis oil sourced from organic cultivations. “I’ve grown a lot of weed," he explains, "so I want to use products and inputs that I want you to eat and feel good about.”

7Sacred makes strain-specific chocolate truffles, too, and expects to launch the pâte-de-fruit line in 2021. However, the company has spent much of 2020 focusing on the farm-to-edible caramels. Released in the spring during the first wave of COVID-19 lockdowns, the farm-to-edible concept "was a little nerve-racking” at first for Alagna and his crew, but he says the bumpy year hasn't changed the approach toward local ingredients.

"This is a total Colorado product, through and through," he says.