The Art of Microdosing: A Chat with Hervé

As legalization spreads across the US, there will be more people looking to discreetly try cannabis in small amounts for the first time. For the first-time microdoser, Le Mirage provides a product that is easy to use and intuitive. Created by Hervé, maker of French-inspired and cannabis-infused luxury desserts and sweets, Le Mirage is a line of sublingual cannabis hard candies and refillable storage and dispensing system. CULTURE chatted with Sebastien Centner, co-founder of the company, to get the low-down on microdosing. 

How did you first become interested in edibles, and what inspired you to start the company? 

 Like many people, cannabis hadn’t really been on my radar since back in high school and university days. I was part of that crowd that didn’t really appreciate the plant or the product for what it really was; then when Canada legalized federally, I started to see the strangest phenomenon happen. People from walks of life I never imagined were becoming interested in cannabis. Our middle-aged friends were talking about it and how they were cutting back on their alcohol intake and replacing it with cannabis; my corporate, “buttoned-up” clients were asking about how we could build cannabis into their events at Eatertainment (our parent company), and our customers who were buying our desserts were asking if we planned on infusing our desserts with cannabis. 

It really came out of left-field and took me by surprise, but it made me realize that this was going to dramatically change the landscape, and that people of all walks of life were going to gravitate towards cannabis either as a healthier alternative to alcohol and/or for all the healing properties the plant possessed.

What inspired me to start Hervé, though, was seeing this phenomenon and also knowing from our other businesses that all these people were used to only the best-of-the-best in every other category of their lives. From wines, to foods, to travel, to fashion … they demanded top-notch products and services and were willing to pay a premium for it. This, combined with the realization that most of these emerging customers were most likely to use cannabis in an edible form (smoking and vaping just wasn’t for them), made me realize that they would very likely gravitate to edibles since they would fit best into their lifestyle. 

For the most part, there were no great, edible products out there, just sugar-filled gummies and average chocolates, which to me, were just a delivery mechanism to get cannabis into your system. This demographic would demand products of the same calibre they were used to in non-cannabis products. We wanted to fill that need with the best tasting hand-crafted edibles that featured only the best ingredients from around the world.

Why do you think microdosing is an important option for edibles? 

 I think microdosing is an important option for edibles for two reasons. Firstly, because until early onset technology is available in all edible products, there is still a timed-release factor to edibles, and people generally like gradual effects that can be extended with small doses over the ‘“hit you like a truck,” old-school brownie. Secondly, because for products like ours, we really are focused on two distinct users:

New or returning cannabis consumers who tend to consume lower-strength products and really like the option of microdosing so they can adjust their use depending on their lifestyle and mood.

Heavier, legacy users who likely are not using our products as their main cannabis intake but can either appreciate having a spectacular tasting macaron infused with cannabis or need an option like our Le Mirage hard candy to keep the high going when they are in environments where smoking or vaping is not convenient (or allowed)—like indoors, restaurants, clubs, concerts, etc. 

What is the process like for coming up with your different products? 

 I love answering this question. Firstly, I am always taking in my surroundings and looking for food, cocktails, fashion and design that inspires me and often makes me think of new products for Hervé, but I combine that with a very strong belief in developing products that I personally would want to use. I travel a lot and have been fortunate enough to see a lot of products in the food and beverage space, so to me, I always try to identify the need for what’s missing. 

For Hervé, that list (I keep it in the back of my notebook) is very, very, very long, since the cannabis industry is still in its infancy as far as product innovation goes. Then comes the hard part … asking ourselves what challenges there will be to making the product we’ve thought up (and everyone knows there are tons of those in the cannabis business), but if we can make it past that stage, we get to the fun part … R&D. 

What are some of your favorites so far? 

 In terms of unique flavor, I will always be very partial to our original macarons, as I am tremendously proud of how that product turned out. I will put our macarons up against anyone else’s in the infused world or not, and will challenge people to find a better-tasting macaron. I know that comes off as super arrogant, but it is really just me being so proud of the seven years of perfecting our recipes and how that effort has really paid off.

But I am also really excited for our new Mirage hard candies. We spent a lot of time thinking about whether our first large scale product would be a gummy, a chocolate, or even a mint, and the reason we settled on a hard candy was because of how we saw it a void in the market. In non-cannabis hard candies outsell gummies 10 to 1, but in cannabis, gummies are the dominant product, despite most of them being below-average tasting (I even just recently learned that some of the largest gummy companies just melt down traditional store-bought gummies and add cannabis to them). This, to me, was an opportunity to bring a product to our customers that could taste delicious (we use fresh fruit purée) while being gluten-free, 100 percent vegan and have ZERO processed sugar (means less than 2 calories per serving and a glycemic index of less than 2; most gummies and hard candies are between 50-85). 

Going back to the process we use for developing new products, once we had settled on the hard candy, we then set out to solve what to me is still one of the biggest challenges of cannabis products—making them discreet and safe for the average person to incorporate into their lifestyle. For this, we designed a patent-pending dispenser the size of a chapstick that holds our hard candy inserts, hence the name Le Mirage. I carry it EVERYWHERE I go.

Is there anything special you want to announce or highlight right now? 

 We are super excited to announce that we will be launching in California late summer/early fall 2021 (just crossing some Ts and dotting some Is). And we’ve already got about 20 dispensaries who have lined-up to get our first batches of product, so for all our West Coast fans who have been asking us to come to Cali … we’re coming!!!!

Also, I want to highlight something that I think is often overlooked in the cannabis space … our female customers! I think women are going to play a massive role shaping the demand for products in this industry, and I don’t think enough cannabis companies are focusing on their needs and wants. At Hervé, we spend a lot of time listening to the women who buy our products, the women we work with, and the women in the industry in general to hear how they perceive products because we know how valuable their insight is.

Is there anything else you’d like to add?

Just how proud and excited I am about how this industry has embraced Hervé and me personally. I have not only been overwhelmed by the support we’ve received from customers, budtenders, buyers and everyone else, but I have met so many amazing people and am more energized than I have been in any business before this.