Category: Strain Review

Orange Malt from Crops

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

Another great Orange Malt session. That stuff is amazing. Unassuming. Like what you would get from your best 1:1 THC:CBD gummy. No bite, not racy. What are the noids? It had me cleaning, casual, affable. What a great smoke. And it carries for three hours.

Eventually I'm going to re-up with something else, something heavy but it's 6 pm on a Sunday and I just got a lot of tedious work done, the Malt still running through my veins. It helps me feel capable, ready, open, flexible. What more can you ask for? It's not trippy, it's not spacey, it's not really a high-idea smoke. It's a get-shit-done bowl of get-after-it.

This is a Strain of the Year candidate. It has me thinking about what other strains are made from crossing Ice Cream Cake with a sativa. Because I like Ice Cream Cake a lot. Pleasant high, makes me curious and happy. But the Orange Malt has more energy behind it. Also makes me interested in the other parent, Mimosa. You can get "straight-up" Mimosa. You can get Clementine, too. I'm intrigued.

Let me take this moment to appeal to the Crops brand, owned by Justice Co. I see that Crops is on the menu in Troy, IL and in Maryville, IL (until just now I did not realize there was a dispensary in Maryville... I am never up that way). I go through Sauget, IL, or can, on a regular basis. Please send some Crops drops back to Beyond/Hello. I have supported Crops on the Beyond/Hello menu but there hasn't been any new Crops dropped in Sauget all year. I have had your Orange Malt, Donny Burger, Lime OG, etc. I will buy it if you get it back on the Beyond/Hello menu. And with that, I am out—


For the full write-up, click here...

91 Bacio, Fig Farms

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

This 91 Bacio stank up the basement (twice) when I ground up around a gram to roll joints. It was a minty, piney, herbal smell. Pleasant! It wasn't even a fresh jar. Package date was 8.30.2024. But it had an inner seal, that was in place, effective. If the seal is there, and if it's true, and if the flower is cured well, the jar can last. That's a few ifs, and you never know until you open the jar. That's the Schrödinger's cat of it all. Another Catch 22.

Why 91?

There is a Chem 91, one of the apocryphal Chem Dawg phenotypes. And there are two Chem Dawg phenos listed as ancestors of LD-95, one of this 91 Bacio's parent strains. But neither of those phenos (D and No 4) are Chem 91. So, I don't know. I go to their website but there isn't any additional info. In fact, they list the strain on their page of "Retired" strains. Hmmm. Their site: link here.

It hits. Dependable. For $25? Maybe the best value in the country. Hopefully not truly retired! I lit a sparker. A half joint from last night. It's early for me to smoke, 8:30.

The sun's energy, the fog lifting. Took a solar shower powered by a topper of tea kettle boiling water. Not 100% solar. Pour the tea kettle water into the solar shower bag to raise the temp of the water in the bag, which was left over for yesterday because I never showered.

Felt great this morning, though. My head was itching. I needed conditioner, maybe. Birds, sun, humidity on the run—


The full rundown, click here

Gelato by Vibe

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

I am feeling the prototypical Sherb head-rush as I put pen to paper after puffing a creamy bowl of Gelato. It is raining here, all of a sudden, and we don't need it, don't want it. Today was pretty nice all day but this rain will flare up the humidity bomb as soon as the rain has ended. There is no A/C in this old farmhouse so I'm looking at a damp tossy-turny night in my sleeping bag.

I believe that it's the Burma ancestry in Sherb/Gelato that gives me this sativa-like head-rush at the onset of the smoke session. Sunset Sherbet is a cross between GSC and a strain called Pink Panties. The Burmese sativa landrace is in the Pink Panties. By the way, to mention a strain that I never ever see as a stand alone on menus, I cite Pink Panties. I once saw Girl Scout Cookies (GSC) but only once, which makes me skeptical that it actually was GSC, but probably one grower's "take" on a remake of the classic weed building block.

But I digress, because that's what happens when I get the Gelato feathering my capillaries and synapses. It's a head-rush and it can cause some paranoia, some bite at the outset but it usually mellows out into more of a chill experience. Unlike some other sativas that give me that initial bite-y paranoid rush but then leave me feeling stodgy and stoned, e.g. Durban Poison and Sour Diesel. Sorry, they're just not for me!

Thunder. Everywhere walking this mix of pasture and woods I saw the work, the weave of water. I was looking for morels. I found four, two of which were big, one of which was huge...


My full strain review of Vibe's Gelato is clickable here...

OMG by Rythm

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

As I smoke, my mind wanders. I stay (somewhat) anchored by putting pen to paper. These strain reviews are not always (just) about the weed but about where my mind goes when the smoke fills the room.

I was gonna say. Life itself is an addiction. If I feel better after or while drinking and smoking, then why should I not try to feel better? Yes, drinking and smoking also are addictions. So is getting up everyday. So are money, fame, career, reputation, social status. Which are all (also) damaging but people go in search of fame and career and money and social media buzz and society just nods its head and understands those endeavors. It's expected and respected to go out and try to make lots of money and tout one's accomplishments in life. I don't care about fame or reputation so I have some drinks and smoke a joint and blog about weed. Weeds of grass!


Read the full review of OMG here...

Tropical Z by Connected

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

Citrus dank aroma upon opening the jar for the first time in a couple of days. Unusual texture on this bud, not sure what to make of it. The grind is plush, fluffy. The lineage is Xeno x (GDP x THH). The Xeno derives from Kush Mints x Zkittlez (source: Allbud). GDP stands for Granddaddy Purple, THH stands for Tom Hill's Haze.

Need for Tucson: rolling supplies. Single-wide paper, tips, gummed tips.

Fairly high on Topical Z. Nothing wrong with this stuff. Carefree high, a "peaceful easy feeling." I am out in the casita (a small, detached office) typing and texting. The weather is perfect. I have music going. Blissy.

The Trop Z has a citrus and mint flavor with a menthol finish. It's a spitter, but most j's are. It's tasty and unusual, a happy ride. Songs. Bob Dylan, "Mississippi." A day too long. How was that song kept off of Time Out of Mind? What other uncollected gems lie thereabout? These Tom Petty songs that are coming out, uncollected wildflowers. I will roll my joints and then I will go away. Into the hills, among the saguaro, stray cactus, top of the mountain. Trop Z!

An hour later.... Stoned now. This is the Z, the Zkittlez, the Grapefruit in it? Makes me a little too chill. Ready to re-up, ready for anything.

The Trop Z has carry. Legit. I feel like I must've smoked again but, no, I haven't. I sat down and re-read some writing I did earlier today. I've still got some pep despite several drinks. Binary star, eventually it doesn't work anymore. I'm out there somewhere and spinning. The essence of me here on this planet, thanks to me or whoever got me here, on this weird and strange tangible planet...

Read the full review here...

Giesel by Proper

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

My buddy had some pre-rolls from Proper so we smoked one of them. He selected a strain called Giesel, which neither of us knew. He had "day time" written on the pre-roll container so someone must have suggested to him that it was a sativa or sativa-leaning. I didn't find that to be the case but I did enjoy the thrumming, energy behind-my-eyelids effects.

Judging just by the name, I would have thought Giesel had something to do with Sour Diesel. This is not the case! The lineage of Giesel is quite succinct, as compact a lineage degustation as you will find. According to seedfinder.eu (link here), Giesel is a Chem D cross done by the apocryphal Chemdog himself...

Read the full post here...

Rainbow Chip by CAMP

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

Creamy, doughy taste. Is that the Sherb? This is my third or fourth bowl of it. Not today. Over the last week or two.

The first bowl gave me a splendid head rush that could've derailed me into a ditch, it had that sort of power, force, flash flood effect. Strong, sudden, unpredictable.

Bred by Exotic Genetix, Rainbow Chip is a classic strain. The parents are Sunset Sherb and Mint Chocolate Chip, source: click here. Through the Mint Chocolate Chip, you get some Trainwreck in the lineage, which is part of what drew me to the strain. I've been curious about Trainwreck for a couple years, ever since I started digging into lineages. You rarely evensee Trainwreck as a stand-alone strain so I seek it out as a parent or grandparent. It's a mythical, apocryphal ancestor.

I've also been warming up to the Sherb family of strains. One of my favorite strains of last year was Bacio 91 from Fig Farms in Illinois. Then there was the Butterscotch Bacio I had first in New Mexico and then in Arizona. Both were excellent, and eye opening. I have strain reviews on this blog for both (click here, and here)...

Click here for the full strain review...

Macnanna’s Last Act: a strain review of Macnanna by PTS

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

It had some flavor. If I say tasty, I'm misleading. Sage, a little fruit. Burned well. I had rolled some joints of would-be discard flower, this Macnanna by PTS and a few others. Jars I opened, smoked on some, but wasn't wowed by and set to the side. I always try to circle back and give them a second chance. Sometimes it's like the old break-up bit, "It's not you, it's me." When I open a new jar, expectations are high. When I've set something to the side, expectations are at their lowest, and sometimes the discards come back around to surprise me.

The Macnanna has had a solid effect so far. It's not racy. Macnanna is a cross between MAC (Miracle Alien Cookies) and Strawberry Banana (Crocket's Cut). Source: link here. MAC can be racy so I wasn't sure if that would trace its way through and into the Macnanna. I'd say not...

Read the full strain review of Macnanna by PTS here...

The Fizz by Psycho Somatic

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

It's getting a bit late for first smoke of the day but there it is. About to take a dip in the pool. Hesitant to puff first but yolo.

What's it gonna be, though? Mason jar with joints upon opening stanks real good. Gonna burn a The Fizz. Sativa. Could make me cold in the pool but should give me ride.

The Fizz. Whew. Head rush. Menthol, fruity taste. Sharp. A spitter. It's early on. There is a bite, I'm phishing my own brain. Acceptable only in small doses. Notice how Buddhist meditation is not about self-searching, or soul-searching. It's the opposite. There is no self, there is no soul. We will return to the nothingness from whence we came. Somehow that still doesn't do it for me. Buddhism offers never-ending life as long as you are willing not to be you. The Fizz!

Soul spelunking, trippy high, face in the mirror, wide-arc. Or maybe it's just the circumstances. Reset-ing...


The full post awaits through here...

Banana Macaroon by High Noon Cult

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

We are somewhere near the border of New Mexico and Arizona, headed to Tucson. I'm about to smoke some Banana Macaroon, grown by High Noon Cult. I bought a gram of it in Ruidoso, New Mexico, at the R Greenleaf dispensary there. Did that shop go all deli-style? I used to prefer deli-style, a.k.a. bulk. But deli means no package dates, no provenance. Maybe it's better that way, no fussing over dates. What you get is what you get.

I bought single grams of seven different kinds of cannabis in Ruidoso. Made my own sampler pack. Of the seven strains I purchased, this Banana Macaroon was the most visually distinctive. Lots of red hairs. Crystals on mint-green trichomes. Thin, tall, even skinny buds. This gram weighed out to 1.06 grams. It has a pleasant, fruity scent. It's spongy. Soft. Unusual-looking bud.

I am breaking off a little morsel from the skinny totem-shaped bud. We are now in Arizona.

The Banana Macaroon hit well. I used the $6 glass one-ee I (also) bought in Arizona. I have my own glass back home but I don't mess around driving through Kansas, Oklahoma, and Texas to get from the St. Louis area to Tucson. I didn't find the Banana Mac to be especially flavorful but I did taste some cream and some fuel.

It's been a while since I have smoked in a car. I should say, I am riding shotgun. I am not driving. I don't drive and smoke. Not since 2011 when I made a bone-headed nearly disastrous driving decision after just having puffed a one-ee from a dugout. It was about four years ago that I fired up a Grape Kush pre-roll from the Pecos Valley Productions in Roswell right along this stretch of road, Arizona along I-10 headed west just over the New Mexico border. My wife has the wheel the rest of the way to Tucson, so I'm blazing. We'll be in Tucson in two and a half hours.

I'm feeling the fuel. There's an energy in my legs. The rush, the bite. San Simon River, dry. Mountains all around. Ranchland, scrub land, desert, speed limit 75. There are snow-capped peaks on some of these mountains, which is not usually the case. The sky is clear but the air is hazy. Two hours to Tucson, 13 miles out of Bowie. Telephone poles, electric lines. Remorse, regret, second thoughts. This is that bite. The weed goes in and starts pulling skeletons out of your closet, if you have them. But it's part of the process, it's part of the high. It can be therapeutic. This is the hard part, you just gotta get through it...


Click here for the full review of Banana Macaroon by High Noon Cult...