Orange Soda by Paul Bunyan

Orange Soda joint.

Idea for a new website: frontporchbirding.com

Took some of the laundry down. Saw the copperhead again, same spot. Then it went back under the low porch. That knocked my buzz; harshed me out a bit; not great.

I’m rallying back. I feel that Soda. It’s a great smoke, that buzz, an electricity. A body sativa; bit of a shaker.

If it were on a menu again, I’d snap it up. I’ve had a jar this year and I had a jar last year. Both were good to the last bud.

I’ve had other PTS/Paul Bunyan but the Orange Soda has been way better than anything else I’ve had from them. Papaya x Gelato wasn’t bad but Panama Mac was forgettable. Macnanna was just OK.

I bought this jar back in 2024. Held onto it for almost a year. It was still very good! I must have put a moisture pack in there to bring it back. It’s not the prettiest bud but they gave me 3.58 grams.

This was a disappearing eighth and it will also be a Strain of the Year candidate for 2025, despite it not appearing so far on the Beyond/Hello menu at any point this year. Maybe it’s up in Collinsville/Maryville/Edwardsville. Bring it back to Sauget, please...


Read the full post about this excellent sativa fuel…

Mandarin Cookies by &Shine

Where was I. This is a strain review of Mandarin Cookies V2, a cannabis flower eighth marketed by &Shine, which is one of several labels used in Illinois and other states by Green Thumb Industries, aka GTI. Since I bought this eighth in the spring of 2024, the shine seems to have worn off the &Shine label because I don't see it on the menu much anymore. The "budget" label of choice for GTI now appears to be "Good Green."

This eighth was sold in a plastic jar with a tamper-proof seal but without any additional seal on the jar under the cap. It had a package date of 02.01.2024. I opened it on February 16th of this year, 2025. So it was pretty old. And yet, and yet.

I varied between smoking these Mandarin Cookies out of a glass bowl or in the form of a joint/marijuana cigarette. I wrote many short snippets about my experience across various sessions as I burned through this eighth with relative speed. These Cookies were a great smoke. They provided a gentle up-lift. They were steady fuel. No doubt I would get them again. Especially considering this eighth retails at $25 per, and although I don't specifically recall I am fairly certain I used one of several discounts Beyond/Hello in Sauget, IL offers their customers. Buy two eighths, get 15% off each. Buy on a Friday or a Saturday, get 20% or even 30% of everything you buy...


For the full strain review of Mandarin Cookies, follow this link...