At a glance
Flavorade is a California cannabis-vape brand founded in Long Beach in 2023 by Nick Coburn. It centers single-process, strain-specific cartridges and rotating grower collaborations. Its profile must include both Coburn’s ColdFire history and a material 2024 independent pesticide-testing report; neither marketing claims nor controversy should be presented without context.
Founder Nick Coburn
Coburn says he previously served as director of operations and sales at Greenmount LLC, the licensed manufacturer of ColdFire, and that he created and built the ColdFire brand while employed there. He left in August 2023 and formed a company he described as 100% owned and controlled by him to launch Flavorade.
Separate from ColdFire
In a January 2024 formal statement, Coburn explicitly said Flavorade is not affiliated with ColdFire or Greenmount. The visual and product-category similarities have fueled consumer comparison, but the founder’s statement establishes separate companies. This profile does not resolve any private employment, intellectual-property or commercial dispute beyond that published account.
What Flavorade sells
The core product is a cannabis vape cartridge. Flavorade says every batch uses one extraction process, contains no distillate and receives no added terpenes or other material after extraction. Those are first-party composition claims. A teased 2024 concentrate/dab expansion should not be treated as a current product line unless it appears in a live release or retailer menu.
Grower collaborations and drops
The weekly Terp Finder ties rotating cartridges to cultivation partners and publishes delivery windows, flavor notes and retailers. Recent examples include Pearl OG by Pearl Pharma and Lemon J1 by No Till Kings. The site warns that drops can change and sell out, making the release page more reliable than a static all-time strain list.
California footprint
Flavorade operates in California and publishes distribution license C11-0001795-LIC on its site. The retailer map and Weedmaps link are discovery tools, not proof that every seller or listing is current. Buyers should confirm the store and responsible license in California’s DCC search before purchasing.
2024 pesticide-testing findings
A June 2024 Los Angeles Times and WeedWeek investigation reported that independently purchased Flavorade vapes were among products in which licensed laboratories detected pesticides, including chemicals not on California’s required cannabis testing panel. The reporting concerned tested products and does not prove that every Flavorade cartridge or later batch was contaminated.
Regulatory context
The investigation highlighted gaps between California’s mandatory panel and broader pesticide screening. A product can satisfy required state tests while an expanded screen detects a chemical the state does not require labs to test. California’s DCC maintains a public recall portal; consumers should check it and the specific batch record rather than infer safety from brand reputation.
Awards and claim limits
No reliable product-award ledger was found on Flavorade’s official site or in the regulatory and independent sources reviewed here, so no competition wins are claimed. “Tastiest” and “purity” language is founder marketing, not an independent ranking or blanket safety certification. Flavor notes are sensory descriptions, not ingredient disclosures.
How to evaluate a cartridge. Use the package UID, batch, licensed manufacturer and retailer record to authenticate the product. Review any linked COA while recognizing that standard panels may not cover every pesticide. Do not use damaged or unverified hardware. The 2024 findings warrant disclosure and batch-level caution, while claims about current inventory require fresh evidence.