Category: The Bite

Catalina Wine Mixer by Illicit

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

After burning a .39-gram joint of the Catalina Wine Mixer, I stood outside watering for an hour. The effects were bite-y. Confrontational. True.

This is some strong bud. Psychedelic? That bite, it's another level. We put our dog Hugo down two weeks ago. It's hard not to think about him 24/7, especially when I'm high, especially if the strain bites, which the Wine Mixer certainly does. It's that Sunset Sherb in there. As a parent in a cross, its effects always seem to carry through. The high is almost immediate and it will reach into your closet, into the depths of your mind and grab anything it can to throw at you. This is probably what freaks out less-seasoned smokers. This is what gets called paranoia. Nay. This is part of the process. You cannot run from what is already in your mind, what has already happened. Go in knowing this. Face what you have to face. Get through to the other side.

I have serious second thoughts about putting Hugo down when we did. Why didn't I fight harder to keep him around? Why didn't I realize I would miss him this much? I'm having to look in the mirror. No dog to scapegoat any more. This hurts but it's my reality and I need to handle it. At least I can stand outside and water the plants during what has turned into something of a drought.

As my Dad said recently from his nursing home bed, "It's complicated, but it's not complicated. Crippled by a years-long dementia, he still dishes the odd bit of wisdom and I take in every drop...


Read the full post here...

91 Bacio, Fig Farms

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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

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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

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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...

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...

Donny Burger by Crops: a strain review

~ johnbrandall ~ Leave a comment

GMO lemon sponge cake flavor, how I've missed you.

There was a tamper-proof seal on the container but no inner seal. The package date is 2.6.2024. Which means it has been in this jar for almost a year. And yet. And yet. This is the tastiest smoke of recent memory. The tastiest since Proper's Black Maple. But let me back up.

This is a strain review of Donny Burger as grown and sold by Crops in Illinois. I bought this eighth of Donny Burger last March from the Beyond/Hello in Sauget, IL. Goose Lake. I had enjoyed GMO previously but didn't have any in inventory.

Donny Burger's lineage is GMO x Han Solo Burger. GMO is Chem D crossed with Girl Scout Cookies. Source: Seedfinder (click here). Han Solo Burger is GMO crossed with Larry OG. Larry OG is a cut of OG Kush crossed with SFV OG. So there is a lot of GMO, a lot of OG Kush in Donny Burger.

I had heard of the Donny Burger strain, I'd seen it around. I was curious about the name. Donny Burger, it's one of those strains that any time I see it written I have to say it out loud, in a New England or New York accent. Donny Burg-uhh! Drop the "r" sound at the end, and shout it a little.

What's up with the name, Donny Burger? And Han Solo Burger, what's that about? Turns out the breeder, Skunk House Genetics, was making a reference to an Adam Sandler film that I have not seen, probably will never see. It's called "That's My Boy," co-starring Adam Sandberg. Apparently, the lead characters are Sandler (Donny Berger) and his estranged son named Todd Berger, who must have a nickname along the lines of Han Solo Berger? It doesn't really matter but I was curious. Now, onto the review of this Donny Burger by Crops...


The full Donny Burger review is here...

Gelonade by Rythm

~ johnbrandall ~ 1 Comment

The Gelonade is a tasty one. It's a funky orange-rubber taste. Similar to other strains with similar lineage like Lemon Bean or Biskante. And quite similar in taste to Rythm's L'Orange, although the genetics aren't as much a match. I say it's like if a pencil had an orange-flavored eraser, that's what this smoke tastes like. It's not a sharp citrus tange. It's a rounder, softer orange flavor, with that funky rubber element mixed in. And there's some menthol or numbing effect on the tongue.

I'm high now. It's a pretty fast-acting high. Maybe that's what we mean when we are talking about sativa effects. The come on is quick, in your face, up in your mind. The bite. It could be from the Gelato branch of the genetic tree, which draws on both Durban Poison, the South African landrace sativa, and the Burmese landrace sativa. I guess that's why I was always surprised Gelato would be listed as an indica-leaning hybrid.

Anyway, Gelonade is a cross of Gelato and Lemon Tree. Lemon Tree is a cross of Sour Diesel and Lemon Skunk, both considered sativas in their own right. But, for me, Sour Diesel never has had an energizing effect and Lemon Skunk has been an uplifting but never a racy sativa smoke.

I wonder, though, where the orange rubber flavor comes from. Not Sour Diesel. Not Gelato. Maybe from the Lemon Skunk part of the lineage. Or maybe the flavor is sui generis, arising only when Gelato and Lemon Tree are crossed.

Prepare for the head rush with Gelonade, is the long and short of it. Outside, it's snowing like hell. I have been shoveling on and off for hours but it keeps falling. I'll go back out again later. I am stunned and knocked back a bit by all of this snow. I'm sore from shoveling and while the weed never makes me feel worse it does do a heck of a good job of pointing out to me the strains I have lurking in my musculature. And I mind those yellow flags because pushing through a strain is never a good idea. Even stretching through a small strain I discover while high has gotten me in trouble. It feels good at the time to stretch, especially because I'm under the influence. But it always seems to make me feel worse the next day...


Read the full strain review here...

‘Scotch Bacio by Abundant Organics

~ johnbrandall ~ 2 Comments

This time earlier in the day after not so much alcohol. As a one-ee, as opposed to a joint. Effects are strong and clear, clear and potent. It's a smooth smoke. I picked up this "super eighth" grown by Abundant Organics earlier this year in Tucson, Arizona. I'd been sitting on it for a few months. Fear not, the jar was competently sealed. The bud was cured. And they didn't short me. 4.72 grams in the jar. Seriously, the Abundant Organics BOGO at Trulieve has to be one of the best deals for legal weed anywhere in the country. Y'all in Arizona have got yourselves a good weed scene.

I had AO's 'Scotch Bacio (short for Butterscotch Bacio) for the first time late in 2022, as a gram I bought at Prime Leaf. I wasn't into the dessert strains or Gelato crosses back then but I was trying just about anything Prime Leaf had on its menu (which was still a great menu back in 2022, but that's a discussion for another day).

Then I picked up an eighth of Butterscotch Bacio early in 2024 from a dispensary in New Mexico. That was the High Noon Cult Butterscotch Bacio, and it was fantastic. I have a strain review of that jar that you can find here.

I cracked the AO 'Scotch Bacio about a week ago. The first time I smoked it was while I was drinking, later in the day, as a joint (.35 grams), after some friends stopped over somewhat unexpectedly (but they were welcome), and it all might have been too much. I got stoned and retreated into myself for twenty minutes or so. Then I was able to unwrap myself and be present in the festivities.

Today I smoked some of the 'Scotch Bacio through a one-hitter and it is giving me a lift. It does have a bite. The experience begins as a drilling down. This is how it begins but not how it ends. You gotta get through the bite. Embrace the bite. The smoke comes in and it takes a look around. It turns over stones. It pulls your skeletons out of the closet. It has me questioning myself, feeling not good enough. Which can be unpleasant. And would be really unpleasant if it were not temporary. I try to accept the introspection, I try to learn something from it...

Find the full strain review of 'Scotch Bacio here...