Frenchy Cannoli is an Oakland-based teacher, consultant, artisan and activist dedicated to the production and appreciation of traditional cannabis concentrates.
Frenchy grew up in Nice, France but left home as soon as he could, inspired by the promise of exotic adventure — and by the imported hashish common in late-60s Europe. He lived nomadically for over twenty years, staying with traditional producers and learning techniques handed down over generations. This took him from Morocco, to Mexico, to Nepal, Pakistan and India, where he spent eight growing seasons living in caves and harvesting cannabis resin with Parvati Valley cultivators. Eventually, he settled with his family in California, where early medical access laws let him go from hiding his life’s work to producing legal cannabis concentrates.
Collaborating with legendary Emerald Triangle growers and experimenting with techniques like ageing, Frenchy’s since scaled up to producing “pure gold” (Cannabis Now) for licensed dispensary distribution: “unmatched” hash, with a character “unlike anything that you would ever smell or taste in cannabis [flower]” (Nick Smilgys, Emerald Cup judge). He’s also taken an open-source approach to promoting traditional methods. His “Lost Art of the Hashishin” seminars provide hands-on training for aspiring concentrate-makers, and Frenchy freely shares the same techniques on Youtube, as well as with his 114,000+ Instagram followers. He’s likewise pushed for broader post-legalization public education: beyond working to develop hashish grading standards, Frenchy is a prominent supporter of regional growing certifications for cannabis production, inspired by appellation d’origine contrôlée rules like those protecting the integrity of Bordeaux wines. He’s also developing a feature-length documentary that showcases the challenges legalization has brought to small California farms.
Frenchy’s lively personality and unique expertise make him a sought-after international speaker, on topics such as cannabis terroir, the promise of organic and regenerative cultivation approaches, and the importance of independent “craft” production. He also writes about the science and global history of cannabis for publications including Extraction Magazine (USA), Skunk (Canada), Weed World (England) and Dolce Vita (Italy).