Featured Brand: Kalya Extracts
At a Glance
Category: Concentrates, Vapes, Flower, Tinctures, Capsules
Type: Solventless, Fresh Frozen, Ice-Water Hash
Region: Oakland, CA
Heritage: Legacy producer successfully makes transition to legal market
People: Marc Hammond, Joe Ryan
Ethos: Craft, Perfection (Flavor, Consistency, Potency)
Overview
Kalya Extracts has been riding the top of the hash market for several years now, since they clinched the top 3 spots in the Solventless Rosin category at the Emerald Cup in 2020 and the top spot again in 2021. But Rosin this good does not happen overnight and the Kalya story starts with one of the OGs of the category, co-founder, Marc Hammond.
The Heritage
Marc Hammond has been making hash for over 11 years. He grew up in Santa Rosa and spent his early years learning about cannabis first-hand from experts both online and in-person. Marc was already steeped deeply in cannabis, but his eyes truly got opened through meeting Ken Estes, the originator of Granddaddy Purple (GDP), whose kids went to school with. Connecting with Ken changed his world and Marc knew right away that cannabis would be his future life and career.
Marc spent lots of time in Southern Humboldt and got to meet many of the OGs in the Emerald Triangle. He originally started Medicine Man Extracts and Ahti Hash (precursors to Kalya) while he was up north. Ahti Hash has a storied history as well, taking home several top spots in the 2017 Emerald Cup.
Marc is joined by his partner, Joe Ryan, who graduated from the Naval Academy with an Engineering degree. Whereas Marc is tied to the vision and evolution of cannabis, Joe is a technology expert who has been the driving force for innovation at Kalya.
Quality hash has always been important to Marc - the names Ahti and Kalya are both derived from Sanskrit - Ahti meaning transcendence and Kalya meaning perfection.
The Ethos
The Kalya team’s relentless pursuit for perfection has led them to innovate on process and technology. Quality can mean many different things - for the Kalya team this first means flavor, flavor, flavor above all…then potency.
Marc loves to try out all of the products in the market from the competition - whom he views with the utmost respect as part of one cannabis community. When the Kalya team was looking to roll-out rosin into vape pens, they tried every product on the market before finally settling on a device that would translate the full flavor and effect of their rosin into the vape.
But it wasn’t always easy - Marc lost everything in the Santa Rosa fire and he and his partner Joe did not pay themselves a dime out of the company the first 2.5 years plus. Marc realized early on that the techniques and processes that drive the market would get out to everyone ultimately so having unique flavors and genetics would be the key to long term differentiation and success in the market.
As a result, Kalya started a deep partnership with Dancing Dog Ranch to develop their own cultivars. As of early 2023 Dancing Dog is providing about one third of the input material for Kayla - but they see this rising to 80% over time.
Kayla’s pursuit of perfection has led them to several innovations. Marc’s partner Joe developed a brand new jar that reduces waste and has a beveled angle so that hash does not get stuck. Kalya’s rosin also comes with a unique ice pack in the package, placed directly around the jar to keep it cold and fresh until it gets to the end consumer.
The Products
Kalya’s product development prowess does not stop with the Rosin! Although Kayla has become famous for their fresh press rosin, they have since expanded their product line in several directions.
For the Kalya premium rosin, in addition to increasing the unique genetics that are being sourced from Dancing Dog Ranch, Kayla has moved into the cold cure world and more recently launched another brand called Community.
Community offers similar products and is backed by Kalya’s expertise, but the products are made available at approximately 40-60% of the price of Kalya’s premium rosin products.
Kalya has continued to innovate with their Community brand, taking the early lead on using Popvac jars for their rosin. These jars have a built-in gasket that makes the familiar “pop” noise when opened and locks in the rosin with a vacuum seal when closed.
Kalya and Community have also expanded their product line to include premium flower, hash rosin tinctures and capsules.
Finally, there is the Kalya Club for loyal customers in both Northern and Southern California that would like to purchase directly from Kalya. The service offers exclusive drops and products at discounted prices with a monthly ordering window that includes delivery with a $250 purchase minimum.
Kalya is always releasing new products and drops - keep an eye out for them to sample a bit of their perfection!
Visit the Kalya website to learn more!