Stoney Chicken | Interview
Stop choking the chicken for a minute, and take a hazy ride on the rosin express with conductor, Stoney Chicken. We ran into this vato at Errl Cup 2018, at the Canna Cactus vendor booth to be exact. We were having a killer time dabbing like kings, raffling prizes donated by our friends (Blazy Susan, Smokies Smoke Shop, Paraphernalia Boutique) when all of a sudden this angry tall hulking dude brings back a rubber chicken we had hid at a random location. Whoever found it was asked to bring it back to our booth for a prize. It turns out the person who originally found it brought the rubber chicken back to Stoney’s booth for a free prize thinking the chicken was his, little did they know the Cannabis Cactus crew was behind the fiasco. We explain the deal to the Chicken Man and give him a bunch of free swag! Soon I start following the dude on instagram (@stoneychicken) and by watching his live feeds I felt connected with him. He keeps it real when he talks about his life and, did I mention, he won an Errl Cup solventless category.
The community on his live feed is unreal. When he showed up to record the podcast he was so pissed off that I literally thought he had just got in some road rage fistacuffs but it turns out he just forgot his dabbing rig. He turns on his live feed and explains the situation. Within 30 minutes a Chicken Head dashes across town and brings the rig to the show. Stoney turns from night to day after he hits a dab of his famous award winning rosin, Marionberry Kush. He squished a fresh batch just for the Roach Clip! The episode was both fun and educational. The Chicken has been in the industry for some time now, but his time on the rosin press might surprise you. Grab your favorite blunt, a cold drink, and a recliner seat because this is one to enjoy!
What is a non solvent?
It’s either hash, bubble hash or where we are taking and making rosin with a press, it can be hash rosin or flower rosin. Basically any kind of concentrate made without using a chemical solvent like butane.
Stoney Chicken pressing rosin
What is your method of extraction?
I use a press. We take our flower, we put it in a CVault, which is a metal container to keep light out and the humidity in. We also use humidity packs to bring the moisture back up. We need to press it as close to harvest as possible or you rehydrate it and then you press it.
How hot does the press get?
It depends what you are pressing. The rosin I made for tonight I pressed at 180 degrees, it is literally the Errl Cup winning strain – Marionberry Kush, it’s an indica.
What the difference between indica and sativa?
Indicas are from colder climates and they are shorter and stockier. The nugs are going to be super chunky. The sativas are from closer to the equator they are going to be taller and stalkier and have more popcorn like buds. But the real tell is when you smoke it your indicas are going to put you on the couch and the sativas are going to give you a head high in the cerebral cortex so you are bouncing and running around.
How long have you been in the cannabis industry?
I actually been growing for over ten years and I started it out in California. We were inland parallel to Humboldt County we have warmer climate and our outdoor grows are amazing, it’s an untapped market not many people know about Siskiyou County. Its crazy, you go up there, it’s all crazy backwoods rednecks and its crazy as shit but there is some serious fire up there. My aunt still grows, my brothers grow, my mentor who taught me how to grow is still there.
Why did you get into it?
I literally got into it because I was tired of paying $50 an eighth. I was working at a bar as a bartender I always had tips to buy weed and I got pissed off at my buddy. I knew he had a better deal and I was like this is bull shit, I have to meet somebody. It quickly became apparent the only way I was going to get a deal is to meet the grower. At that point, I met a grower and I asked him what do I do? He said, “Just grow your own, man.” and he literally tried to hand me a plant. He was like get your script and start reading, get a Bible. I went and got a subscription to High Times, I ordered older issues on indoor and then I got a Grow Bible from Jorge Cervantes. I read that book over and over from cover to cover, I started studying it long before I cracked a seed and started talking to growers.
Once I felt like I was ready I got started on what I called my science project. It was a little closet grow and I started figuring shit out. One day I just started doing an outdoor grow and it failed, it sucked. Me and my little brother worked our asses off we were barely able to pay back what we took out to grow and it was just so hard. The next year I was thinking this is stupid and I looked out the window at my garden. It was an actual vegetable garden that was glorious and I was you know what, fuck this shit! And we built a nine foot fence around it. We had 16’ tall plants.
Did you ever get in trouble for growing?
No, never got in trouble because we always followed the rules and I was never in it for money either. From what I have seen people that go in it for money fuck it all up and that’s what’s happening to our industry. I am not going to name drop but the mold out there is pretty gnarly.
Are there regulations on chemicals you can spray on MMJ?
You can spray whatever on it if you have mold. The big thing is Eagle 20 for powdery mildew. There is some gnarly caustic shit that you do not want in your lungs. I wouldn’t spray these on my worst enemies weed and especially not for my friends or cancer patients.
Some of this stuff when you burn it it releases carcinogens. Look it up. I don’t know the scientific shit on it and I won’t claim to. I know that when it burns the shit that it’s releasing is so toxic to your system you don’t want it there. The thing is people have to stand up and say no I am not going to buy your weed. The Errl Cup is the perfect example of how to do it because they go and test everything and then release it to the public.
What is a rig?
A rig is a bong but not a bong. When you are smoking oil usually rigs are smaller and lighter and you do not want to smoke flower out of them and they are usually more expensive.
What is your favorite piece?
I don’t have a favorite piece that right now.
What is your most expensive piece?
Dude I broke them all! Right now I am buying a piece and I am slowly paying it off. The cost is $1,800. The dudes name is Kahuna Chris and he makes Kahuna Glass.
What’s your favorite type of concentrate?
Diamonds! It’s the caviar top shelf shit! (pulls out container of Diamonds from 50 Shades of Gold)
When did you start smashing rosin?
This is going to piss people off! I started pressing rosin two months before the Errl Cup. Honestly I’m not going to lie I didn’t walk into it thinking “I’m going to win this!” You are an idiot if you think you are going into a situation like that. The reason I went into it was people simply liked my rosin and they were like damn dude that’s some really good shit! And one person was like you should enter that I was like eh! And another person told me then I started thinking about it so I found out how much it is to enter which was only $100 and have to give them seven grams. Then I was like it would be really cool to see how Stoney the Chicken really is.
Volume 4 of the RCC Big Thanks to: Stoney Chicken @stoneychicken Catch the rest of the interview on: Roach Clip Podcast, Episode 31
To read more from Victor Ortega of Roach Clip, click here.