Ellen’s Bud Break: Fruit, Earth & Fuel

It’s a cool fall morning in California, and the aromatic steam from my cup of orange spice black tea is blending with the wisps of smoke from my bong. The taste pairing of cannabis flower and tea works well. The weed, OC Oranges, accurately mimics oranges in the smell and the smoke. It’s an Orange Sherb x Oz Kush F2 paired with The Menthol in a new line of The Menthol crosses from Compound Genetics, and I’m enjoying the balance it’s bringing to the morning. 

Cannabis and tea are herbal medicines; with both, aromas and tastes go a long way in steering the effects. The cultivars below represent taste and flavor profiles from three common categories found in pot: fruit, earth, and fuel. 

FRUIT

Lime Juice

This strain has an astringent nose-biting bouquet. With a bright citrus aroma Lime Juice smells like there was a mix up in the medicine cabinet and the vitamin C pills got splashed with pine cleaner. Hunted by Esensia Gardens, Lime Juice is a phenotype of Subcool’s Chernobyl and is rich in terpinolene, a terpene also found in pine trees and citrus. Its taste and flavor profile draws from its lineage containing older classics such as Trainwreck and Jack’s Cleaner. 

Whitethorn Rose 

Comedian Bert Kreischer has raved about Whitethorn Rose, calling it the “perfect weed” on the Hawk vs. Wolf podcast, and recently met with its creator, Johnny Casali of Huckleberry Hill Farms, to explore the fruits of this year’s harvest together. Named one of our best strains of the year, Whitethorn Rose combines Paradise Punch and Lemon OG and smells remarkably similar to the lemon and berry aroma in Froot Loops cereal. It has won various awards as a concentrate, and the flowers from the 2023 harvest, which display a deep purple shade intermixed with a pale green tone, smell and taste amazing. This strain is reminiscent of one of our favorite fruit-forward flowers, Forbidden Fruit. 

EARTH

Mazlo 

Created by combining Biovortex genetics, Mazlo has the ability to slow time by producing a relaxing old-school stone. Mazlo tastes like the weed of the past, combining woodsy and earthy flavors that originated in the Hindu Kush Mountains with the subtle sweetness of a dark red maraschino cherry. Cultivated by Moon Made Farms Mazlo smells like sandalwood incense with a backing of sweet gas. The primarily hashy taste reveals the Lolab lineage, a wild primorial landrace originating in Indian Kashmir sourced by Deepak and Irrazinig of the Indian Landrace Exchange. Biovortex’s Jesse Dodd combined the Lolab with a Cherry Lime Dog BC1 F2 and a Mazar x Black Dog BC6. Then Tina Gordon at Moonmade— a longtime collaborator with Biovortex—combined the result with Biovortex’s Orange Valley Sun (Orange Zkittlez x (SFV OG x Black Dog BC4)). The Black Dog backcrosses highlight the fermented cherry myrcene flavors. Mazlo is an opportunity to enjoy the nostalgic, earthy, and resinous pot associated with the original Kush family, combined with the dense flower production and fruity element of more modern-day cultivars. 

FUEL

Motorbreath x Coffin Candy

This one’s for the smokers who recognize that gas never left the building. Sense grew out a Motorbreath x Coffin Candy cross, bred by Duke of Erb and Doja, and introduced the phenotypes at a recent members-only event held at Chronic Culture in San Francisco. Motorbreath x Coffin Candy smells gassy and tastes like the toasted sugar caramel top of flan. It would work well as a wake-and-bake smoke paired with coffee, except for its sky-high stoney effects. Gas was what started CEO Steve Griffith down the path as a cultivator and he’s hoping for a resurgence in consumer preference for that cannabis profile. “While we have enjoyed the wave of candy profiles over the past several years, we’d like to see the Chems and the OGs make their way back to the market,” Griffith said. Also on deck for the Sense pheno tasting were several versions of Tea Time, a Zkittlez x RS11, from Wizard Trees Genetics that cut through the wall of the other samples like a piping hot cup of Earl Grey. Tea Time has a citrusy bergamot taste backed by a malty black tea flavor.