Mar. 2024 - Oregon Leaf

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WINNER OF OREGON GROWER’S CUP

NAME

RANK

PISTACHIO AND BAVARIAN CREAM 1ST PLACE BEST EDIBLE

PRE-ORDER VIA IG: @_SPACE_CAMP

THE ENLIGHTENED VOICE

WES ABNEY CEO & FOUNDER wes@leafmagazines.com

MIKE RICKER OPERATING PARTNER ricker@leafmagazines.com

TOM BOWERS CHIEF OPERATING OFFICER tom@leafmagazines.com

DANIEL BERMAN CREATIVE DIRECTOR daniel@leafmagazines.com

AMANDA DAY STATE CONTENT DIRECTOR

MAKANI NELSON STATE SALES DIRECTOR makani@leafmagazines.com (808) 754-4182

ABOUT THE COVER

The Flower Issue is our annual exploration into the evolution of big beautiful buds from seed to shelf. To showcase this, we called upon the terrific talents of photographer Chris Romaine, a.k.a Kandid Kush. His crisp and colorful Cannabis close-ups (featuring Grape Pie flower from @greenlifeproductions) were skillfully arranged on the cover by Creative Director Daniel Berman. For even more trichome-covered fun, be sure to check out our website and see all of the other unique covers decorated with Chris' photographs.

COVER PHOTOS BY KANDID KUSH @KANDIDKUSH DESIGN BY DANIEL BERMAN @BERMANPHOTOS

CONTRIBUTORS

MARK ARCHER, PHOTOS

JORDAN BADRAN, PHOTOS

JOSHUA BOULET, ILLUSTRATION

TOM BOWERS, FEATURES

TYLER CAMERON, PHOTOS

ERIK CHRISTIANSEN, PHOTOS

DUSTIN COPELAND, PHOTOS

AMANDA DAY, FEATURES + PHOTOS

MAX EARLY, FEATURES

WYATT EARLY, NATIONAL NEWS

RYAN HERRON, FEATURES

MATT JACKSON, FEATURES

BEN LOHRENTZ, PHOTOS

DANIEL PETERSON, PHOTOS PYROSCOPIC, PHOTOS

JESSE RAMIREZ, DESIGN

MIKE RICKER, FEATURES

MEGHAN RIDLEY, EDITING

ELLIOTT VECCHIA, PHOTOS

KATHERINE WOLF, FEATURES

We are creators of targeted, independent Cannabis journalism. Please email us to discuss advertising in an upcoming issue of Oregon Leaf. We do not sell stories or coverage. We can offer design services and guidance on promoting your company’s recreational, commercial or industrial Cannabis business, product or event within our magazine and on our website, leafmagazines.com.

Email makani@leafmagazines.com to learn more about our range of affordable print and digital advertising options to help support Oregon Leaf, the state’s longest-running Cannabis magazine!

WES ABNEY

Editor’s Note

Thanks for picking up The Flower Issue of Oregon Leaf!

Seeds are a wonderful metaphor for life, especially to Cannabis activists and those whose pot journeys began prior to legalization. The humble weed seed stood as a defiant symbol through the war on drugs – the one drug that couldn’t be eradicated because it grew in the ground.

I never understood the hypocrisy of demonizing such a beautiful plant, one that smells and tastes like the most fragrant of nectar, whose expressions release wonderful feelings without the harms of alcohol and pharmaceuticals. This plant survived 100 years of eradication and persecution and emerged stronger, more diverse, and more loved through the advent of indoor cultivation and medical awareness. These are historic times and already the newly-adult crowd can’t believe weed was ever illegal!

"AS CANNABIS LEGALIZATION HAS GROWN, SO HAS THE SCIENCE AND TECHNOLOGY BEHIND THE PROCESSES."

As Cannabis legalization has grown, so has the science and technology behind the processes – leading to the wide world of processed products including vape pens, hash rosin, transdermal patches, nano-emulsified drinks and the classic pot brownie. All are made from the plant, but in the glamorous brightly-lit display cases are shiny finished products, not plants in red Solo cups like the early medical collectives. In my home state of Washington, you can buy every type of weed imaginable – including suppositories and flash frozen Space Weed – but you can’t buy a plant or a seed at a store to grow your own.

This disconnect from the plant to the consumer is real, and it’s felt especially by the farmers in today’s recreational markets. Most growers remember a time when Cannabis was illegal, but also a time when it had a lot of value. But legalization has brought over-regulation and over-taxation with tax code 280E that prevents ordinary business deductions – creating a hostile environment for growers themselves. Add to that the predatory buying tactics of many retailers and it suddenly isn’t shocking when farmers throw in the trowel, or return to the traditional market to eke out a living from the plant.

We all owe our thanks to the farmers and the flowers, the plant that survived its own war and emerged from basements and closets to state of the art greenhouses and corporate business parks. The industry has and is transforming, which is why we must all appreciate the beauty in the plant and understand that change is as unstoppable as the seeds we’ve planted. In the words of Cynthia Occelli, "For a seed to achieve its greatest expression, it must come completely undone. The shell cracks, its insides come out and everything changes. To someone who doesn’t understand growth, it would look like complete destruction."

To all the growers, from the home gardens to the medical and recreational facilities around the country, we applaud and appreciate you for your commitment to this plant. Thank you for reading and sharing the Leaf!

GERMANY LEGALIZES RECREATIONAL CANNABIS

This marks a historic vote for Germany, making it the third country in Europe to legalize Cannabis use for adults. Beginning April 1st, adults will be able to cultivate up to three plants and possess up to 50 grams of Cannabis inside their homes, while allowed to carry up to 25 grams in public. Then in July, licensed non profit Cannabis clubs will open and allow a maximum of 500 members to join per club. Only members of any specific club would legally be allowed to consume the products it produces. “The aim is to crack down on the black market and drugs-related crime, reduce the amount of dealing and cut the number of users,” Germany’s Health Minister Karl Lauterbach said ahead of the vote.

global JAMAICA SENDS CANNABIS TO THE UNITED STATES, LEGALLY THAT IS!

Anew poll conducted for Neilan Strategy Group shows that 70% of respondents are eager to legalize medical Cannabis in Nebraska.

THE SOUTH

MISSISSIPPI PLACES HOLD ON CANNABIS PRODUCTS AFTER ANONYMOUS CALL

A“Jamaica has long been associated with ‘ganja’ but never before in this context as a producer and legal exporter of THC as a pharmaceuticalgrade medicine.”

the third week of February both the DEA and the Jamaican Ministry of Health and Wellness approved an export of Cannabis to be tested at a DEA approved laboratory. Pure Jamaican is the Cannabis company responsible for making this happen, with goals of shifting the age-old view of Jamaica and Cannabis to a more medical than recreational focus. This milestone “is a proud moment for Jamaica and for our group of companies.” “Jamaica has long been associated with ‘ganja’ but never before in this context as a producer and legal exporter of THC as a pharmaceutical-grade medicine,” Cathcart said in a statement from the company. “As the only company in Jamaica licensed for pharmaceutical manufacturing of cannabinoids, we are proud to be leading the way to elevating the role of Jamaica in the global Cannabis ecosystem.” - Pure Jamaica CEO Scott Cathcart

hold has been placed on a large number of medical Cannabis products in Mississippi after an anonymous call alleged that proper procedures were not being taken during pesticide testing at a lab called Rapid Analytics. This places a heavy strain on the market’s availability of products, with nearly 70% of the state’s licensed cannabis going through this facility. There are only two licensed Cannabis testing facilities operating in the state of Mississippi. “They have no basis for anything, except an anonymous call,” Lab Spokesperson Mamie Henry told the Mississippi Free Press.

“This places a heavy strain on the market’s availability of products, with nearly 70% of the state’s licensed Cannabis going through this facility.”

“Nebraskans are clearly ready to legalize medical marijuana,” said Perre Neilan of Neilan Strategy Group. This is not a surprise to poll conductors who have seen very similar results in previous years. This will be the third year in a row Nielan is trying to get medical Cannabis in front of voters, with high hopes of finally making it happen. In order to qualify for the ballot, an initiative seeking a law change must gather the signatures of about 86,000 registered voters and get signers from at least 5 percent of voters from 38 of state’s 93 counties.

$3b $1.4b $158.7m $787.5m

Yes you read that right, billion with a capital B. An amount that was surpassed in Cannabis sales in Michigan during 2023 alone.

The amount of Cannabis Missouri’s adult use market sold in its first year of operation.

The new Massachusetts sales record for a single month of Cannabis sales in MA, which began in 2018. The shocking total comes from just 400 Cannabis shops in the Commonwealth.

Maryland takes a step closer to the big B club with nearly 800 million in sales in 2023 between medical and recreational markets. Keep in mind recreational only went live in Maryland in July 2023.

>> THE FLOWER ISSUE DESERVES A FITTING FEATURE.

So, perusing the pages of Oregon’s overflowing offerings, we were pleased to behold the sheer selection that spans the shelves of this particular Eugene location. It’s been a steady source in the local community since 2014 and is getting ready to give back with a bargain-bedazzled celebration on its April 3rd anniversary. We sat down with General Manager Brittnea Acierno to talk about the wide variety of offerings and vibrant culture that’s cultivated a community of support over nearly a decade.

THE HERBAL CONNECTION

THE SCENE

The Herbal Connection (T.H.C.) sits conveniently between three of the city’s busiest routes. Catering to a clientele from each corner of the city, the staff at T.H.C. takes every customer’s needs into account when stocking up. That means they offer a vast variety of flowers and everything from accessories to edibles, concentrates and extracts.

To house this selection and stock, the dispensary sits in a sizable, industrial flex space that’s something like a Canna compound, playing home to several related businesses. T.H.C.’s sister company White Label Extracts is in the building across the lot.

THE SELECTION

Like the best kind of “sister,” T.H.C. is always waiting next door with a sweet family discount on W.L.E. dabs. If you’re looking for their sugar sauce, shatter, honeycomb or cartridges, you’ll find everything you need here. But you won’t miss out on other incredible Oregon concentrate and extract selections either –while visiting, we browsed over 30 brands on the many shelves of this shop.

“Having them be our right-hand man and always being able to work and collab together is great … they come in and teach our budtenders so much about oil and extracting,” shares Acierno, continuing to tell us that this knowledge trickles down to the overall sales experience, and budtenders feel confident informing consumers about all of the brands boasted in-store.

TROPICANA CHERRIES KAPRIKORN

STRAWBERRY GUAVA RESIN RANCHERS

GELATO #33 NELSON AND CO.

GALACTIC RUNTZ GARDEN OF THE GODS

CHIMERA FROST FACTORY

If dabbables don’t delight you, you’re sure to find a snack among over 20 edible brands. If you’re not wild about Cannabis comestibles, then perhaps a plethora of pre-rolls or the gentle touch of a topical product will suit your needs. We came for the fresh flower, and are faced with a whopping wall full of it – 144 different offerings to be exact. It may be daunting to some at first, but the spirited staff are standing by to make the process painless. Stocking such a massive array of options takes a mindful managerial staff, so we ask Acierno about the motivation behind the process: “We’re working with good people that also care about the community. But we focus on getting something for everybody, whether it be strain, price or potency.”

WE CAME FOR THE FRESH FLOWER, AND ARE FACED WITH A WHOPPING WALL FULL OF IT – 144 DIFFERENT OFFERINGS TO BE EXACT.

STAFF PICKS THE STAFF

This location sees a high volume of customers. Even a visit during the slow hours offers a bit of the bustle. But T.H.C. is well-equipped with ample parking, a spacious store, a team of 25, and no shortage of smiling faces behind each of its many counters. “They’re so sweet and knowledgeable,” Acierno says fondly of her staff. “There’s an at-home vibe, you know? We want to make sure we treat our customers like they’re friends and they’re family – like they’re coming into their grandma’s house. We want you to feel that same amount of respect and love and know that we care about you.”

THE SHINDIG

On Wednesday, April 3rd you can stop by to meet the crew and stay for the festivities too! The Herbal Connection’s 10th-anniversary celebration will be underway with a parking lot party packing music, food, vendors, and fantastic deals on your favorite products.

Trop Cherry

crop shop cannabis crop shop cannabis

oREGON IS LADEN WITH LUSH GARDENS. And given this cornucopia of Cannabis available for consumers of all calibers, what makes a brand stand out to a true connoisseur? Surely, quality matters most – but riding the tide of legalization since its liftoff has lent us a few lessons. There’s still an elusive special sauce you can taste in the end product of each properly produced pound: passion. At The Crop Shop in La Pine, Derek Holliday and Blake Mills don’t just drizzle it on, it’s lovingly ladled into every step of the process. Together, these long-time friends from Idaho have built a business from the ground up. After a 16-year career as a renowned local sushi chef in Idaho, Holliday decided to ditch our neighboring state in favor of Oregon and search for a restaurant location in Bend. Mills had already made plans to join his friend when the two pivoted. “That’s how much faith I had in Derek,” said Mills. “Besides him being a friend, I knew that he would crush whatever he did.”

A perfect opportunity on a plot of land presented itself and the pair decided to pounce on another passion they’d long shared: Cannabis. Building from the ground up, Holliday and Mills made sure that the facility could cater to the high level of cleanliness and attention to detail expected by fine chefs and Cannabis connoisseurs alike.

Since The Crop Shop’s official licensure in 2020, that attention to detail has only grown with their business.

Holliday explains that they continue to innovate: “By the time we got into it, I knew we were going to be up against really stiff competition. So, I was just very focused on creating a product with a minimal amount of overhead. But not just from a business standpoint – from a carbon footprint standpoint.”

Today, the fully hydroponic facility is home to a full-time staff of six and features a custom-built, gravity-fed system that doesn’t require electricity to feed the plants.

“As long as the earth is spinning, it’s working,” Holliday explains. This also provides a free-flowing flexibility that leaves plants to uptake nutrients as needed. “They are feeding on-demand. Each plant gets exactly what it wants.”

That flexibility is fundamental when feeding plants of all profiles – each requiring a different regimen to reach peak perfection. Right now, the team at The Crop Shop is caring for around a thousand plants, including tried and true cultivars like Trop Cherry, Runtz OG and Compound’s Jokerz Candy. They are particularly excited about a cultivar from 3rd Coast Genetics called Gold Cash Gold and are finding some winners among Wyeast’s Ice Cheeks.

You can look out for all of these fine flowers and hopefully, much more in the future as the team tackles expansion. With the addition of another room and 70 lights, Mills and Holliday tell us that they can “continue to hone in techniques” and “grow without growing too fast or sacrificing quality.”

Jokerz Candy

Cure Room

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BIOMAX is a proprietary blend of cannabis/ hemp extracts, oils, emulsifiers and natural flavors, ensuring bioavailability maximization and a faster onset of effects, along with making the cannabinoids completely tasteless making for a better edible experience.

THE BEST HASH, IN MY HUMBLE EXPERIENCE, IS PRODUCED BY DEDICATED HERB NERDS. Like any master of the guitar or any other instrument, countless hours were spent in pursuit of perfection. With a background in food and cultivation, plus an unending curiosity about Cannabis resin, the well-practiced specialists at Squishy Scientific have all of the precedents to make top-tier products.

THIS ROSIN is proof that when a crew is dedicated to their craft and quality is the top concern at every step along the way, it both shows and glows in the final product.

First, let’s give credit to the farmers. Stardust Cult (aka Stardust Cultivation) is in its own lane, hunting genetics that build on trends but stand out enough to be unique.

This Trop Fire Breath is an ideal example – with a bright citrus bouquet that leads with the popular Tropicana Cookies profile but surprises with an exaggerated OG and sharp sour note, all finished with the mellow vanilla scent I associate with Kush Breath strains.

By cultivating in no-till indoor beds, they’ve given their garden the complexity of soil-grown flower with the climate control of an indoor facility.

The Squishy Scientific team stays at the forefront of all things hash tech. Find their ResinRolls at dispensaries around Oregon, and enjoy a pressed dry-sift tube that lights and smokes like a joint. Their hash coins and temple balls combine old-world techniques with modern extraction to produce pressed-hash products rarely seen outside of the homie hookup. With so many avenues for quality resin, they have options on which method is the best fit for the flower.

In the case of this freshly-frozen Trop Fire Breath from Stardust Cult, rosin was the best way to showcase the work. The resulting pale yellow extract looks greasy and slick directly from the freezer. After a few minutes, the jar is fuming with garden-fresh aromas. A low-temp dab vaporizes quickly and delivers a mood-elevating effect that seems to stack after each hit.

Without a doubt and with every dab, I’ll be admiring the tireless work of these two teams long past my last exhalation of the Trop Fire Breath … only partly due to the lingering scent of sophisticated citrus in the air.

TROP FIRE BREATH TROP FIRE BREATH LIVE HASH ROSIN

“After a few minutes, the jar is fuming with gardenfresh aromas. A low-temp dab vaporizes quickly and delivers a mood-elevating effect that seems to stack after each hit.”

NANO-ENHANCED ORAL SPRAY LIQUID LOUD

There’s always been a wide world of weed to smoke, toke, dab and slab out there. But early on, edibles seemed to slump into familiar patterns. For years, gummies have been a go-to and shelves have been chock-full of chocolate. While there will always be a place in our hearts and on our shelves for the classics, it’s exciting to see some innovation. Enter: Liquid Loud.

THEIR nano-enhanced tinctures are not a new concept, but the delivery method is something Oregon Cannabis consumers probably can’t recall encountering. Offered in a handy, plastic spray bottle with a matching wrist strap, these oral sprays can be administered with the tap of a nozzle for a quick, discreet dose of 3.3mg per spray. They pack a potent yet pocket-sized punch at 1,000mg per bottle!

“Like a bolder Binaca with a big blast to the brain.”

Each bottle is formulated with nano-homogenized live rosin and “Cannabis extract with live resin terpenes,” as well as non-GMO, gluten-free, vegan ingredients. You’ll also find natural flavoring and peppermint oil which lends Liquid Loud flavors Exotic Mint, Strawberry Apricot and Apple Citrus their lingering zest – like a bolder Binaca with a big blast to the brain.

If you’re used to edibles like sweets and treats, take this one lightly to begin. The solution is nano-enhanced, so it offers much faster absorption and more bioavailability. But that makes it incredibly useful for folks seeking fast relief or flexibility. This product is also water-soluble. If direct, oral application isn’t your desired delivery, then a quick spray in your beverage of choice can offer precise, personal dosing on-the-go and with the flow.

@LIQUIDLOUDSPRAY

1,000mg THC per bottle

3.3mg per spray

Check out our strains!

M.A.C. 1

Alien Cookies x (Columbian x Starfighter)

"I've been immersed in art my entire life.”

Do you ever find yourself curious about where certain artists draw their inspiration from? Ever since I first laid eyes on Trevy Metal's artwork, I have been intrigued and beyond curious with the aforementioned – left pondering where he comes up with some of the mystical characters and cartoons that’ve been birthed from his brain.

BORN AND RAISED in Morgantown, Pennsylvania, Trevy spent lots of time around his father – a passionate tattoo artist – which fueled Trevy's imagination, along with a healthy dose of cartoons. "I've been immersed in art my entire life. I started working with glass in 2015 in Philadelphia at a studio called Krushmore, and learned carving and how to do it from Rye Glass (@ryeglass)."

Paving his lane in the art world, Trevy skillfully uses a dremel to engrave his immaculate works of art onto all sorts of incredible borosilicate glass pieces. Using everything from nostalgic imagery like Gameboy to ancient Egyptian designs, Trevy's artwork tells a story and elevates the smoking experience to a new level.

You can tell there's a ton of intentionality put into his collaboration pieces, as Trevy works with other world-renowned artists including Stormin Norman (@stormin___norman), Buck Glass (@buckglass), Darby (@darbyholmglass) and WJC (@wjcglas), creating customized artwork in synergy with their bodies of work. But he also channels his creativity in many different expressions and forms of art, including clothing, smoking accessories, canvases and beyond.

He's recently offered his imaginative services to multiple Cannabis brands like Archive Portland and Dabrite, while also doing design work for clothing labels such as Market and OHGEESY's brand OTX.

When asked what he's smoking on these days, the response was simple yet on the money. "A good OG will always have my heart, but I'm repping hard for the East Coast with Pleasant Effect's Zoap!"

BLUE DREAM BLUE DREAM GROWN BY OREGON ROOTS

“This is what all the trappers and rappers were going on about for a long time – Blue Dream helped put Oregon on the map,” my friend asserted, reassuring me that Blue Dream had an unfair reputation...

WITH A GOOD YIELD, a structure conditioned for this climate and a pleasing nose, I could see why it was the box-shipper’s favorite and the West Coast’s top-selling strain for the first 10 years of quasi-legalization. I just wasn’t too excited about it.

Then I nonchalantly opened a jar from Oregon Roots and had my face blown so far back I’m still looking for half an eyebrow.

After years of pot snobbery, I took to this profile with renewed enthusiasm. Damn. I had been missing out. We’re talking big and bright blueberry bush scents like it’s summer and you’re lucky enough to find the first few ripe berries, followed by the earthy and herbal top notes of fresh sage and concord grape.

The aromatics finish with brown butter and sweet notes that give the bouquet a complex bakery profile that sidesteps the typical cookies-and-milk scents that dominate the category. While the lineage is lost, DJ Short’s Blueberry and Super Silver Haze are prime suspects. The nose leans heavily toward the Blueberry in this mix, but the matte-silver trichomes and candysweet undertones betray the Haze.

While the effect highlights the soaring highs we’ve come to expect from cerebral strains, the heavy dose of relaxation keeps the mood grounded.

I spoke with partner Charlie Christopher on keeping this classic around since 2011. “Blue Dream going from almost a punchline during the first couple of rec years to the fastest-selling and most pre-ordered strain we have, has been a fun ride to be on,” says Charlie.

“I think it stands as a testament to the enduring effectiveness of the strain itself. Particularly our cut. I’d put it up against any other Blue Dream in the state. Period.”

Snobs and folks who like a bright and bubbly profile, consider this your reminder to grab a jar, roll up, and see for yourself what makes this the most popular strain of this century.

@OREGONROOTS_CANNA

26.84% THC

GREEN STOP

THE flower ISSUE

breeding brilliance

WHEN YOU LEAVE THE DISPENSARY with the newest heat from your favorite cultivator in-hand, you may not realize it, but decades of genetic cross-breeding, thousands and thousands of scrapped batches, painstaking rounds of assessment and data gathering, all led to that weed strain ending up in that jar. Each year, The Flower Issue aims to shine a light on this beautiful bud we all enjoy and the people who spend their entire lives trying to make sure we don’t have to smoke the same old strains every day. We caught up with some of the world’s premier Cannabis geneticists to learn what really pops their seeds … and to hear what they have in the works for 2024 and beyond.

humboldt seed company

Humboldt Seed Company brings a familial approach to the concept of a global Cannabis genetics business. Run by father-daughter team Nat and Halle Pennington, along with Nat’s partner Ben Lind, HSC currently produces new genetics in facilities on multiple continents.

Their efforts in 2023 included a massive, multi-farm collaborative pheno hunt that provided them with the data they needed to enable them to bring the world’s first Cannabis triploids to market – which possess three copies of chromosomes instead of the usual two – and are 99% seedless due to natural breeding techniques and selective pressures. That project also solidified some new winners they’re bringing to market: the juicy Orange Creampop and the tasty treat called Granny Candy.

Pennington shared some of his vision for the future with the Leaf for this issue. >>

nat pennington

On what he looks forward to in 2024: "We're excited to see folks’ reaction to new strains like Granny Candy and Orange Creampop, of course the triploids too. We'll be producing true breeding F1 Hybrid seed over the summer and that is the result of 20 years of breeding pure lines. This means that seeds will be uniform from plant to plant, like clones, and will display vigor like we've never seen in Cannabis."

On the implications of the new triploid genetics: “It is definitely a new frontier – triploids can increase yields, cannabinoids, terpenes and even make a strain much better for hash production, as we showed in our study with Resin Dial. Hopefully triploids can increase the chances for small farms and lower carbon production and the burden on the nation's power grid.”

On their current projects on the global Cannabis scene: “We just completed a massive phenotype hunt in the Caribbean and we are spending time in Morocco this spring – planning research and phenotype hunting projects there, as well as learning about the traditional hash production that the area is known for.”

On the trends they see across the global markets: “We've seen candy strains have a big run over the last couple months in LA and parts of the rest of the country. The European community is still coveting anything that's not a Haze or Cheese strain, while at the same time New York City seems to love a Haze strain called The Piff. We've learned that a ‘one terp fits all’ philosophy just doesn't work, which is why we breed such a diverse variety of strains. We've always said that the best Cannabis is having a bunch of different kinds of Cannabis!”

Humboldtseedcompany.com

ABOVE: Granny Candy cultivated by Terp Mansion @terp.mansion

RIGHT: Orange Creampop cultivated by Casa Flor @casaflorfamily

breeding brilliance

James Loud is a former awardwinning chef from the San Francisco culinary scene who took his 30+ year love affair with Cannabis and turned it into a career as an award-winning seed breeder, educator and hype man for the plant.

Operating out of his James Loud Genetics facility in Northern California, Loud produces seeds under his own label and also grows them for some of the largest seed sellers in the world. His podcast features an ever-expanding list of respected figures in the Cannabis scene, and he recently published a book to share his knowledge with the cultivation community.

james loud

On his origin story as a Cannabis breeder: “I started smoking Cannabis in 1991 in the Bay Area. In the early ‘90s, my brother had plants that were hidden in the neighbor's backyard at night before my parents got home. I started growing indoors in a closet with a phototron shortly after. Breeding was something that just came naturally. It was an evolution to growing. ... We wanted something different. Back then there wasn't as much genetic diversity. I envisioned breeding early on – most of my friends thought it was a joke that I wanted to do a seed company and they didn't quite get it ... in 2008, 2009. I was making crosses and really kind of eyeing the seed model – I was thinking, ‘Man, this could be really good.’ Because we can have pot and we can also make money selling seeds – we could have our own version of Sour Diesel, which was the big thing. We were all about Sour Diesel back then. And so that kind of evolved. There was Sour Diesel, OG Kush, Chem Dog. Those were all the rage before Girl Scout Cookies. Those were the exotics of their time, and we all wanted our own versions of those things.”

On his new book, Cannabis Breeding: “I've been working on it for five years; it’s the fifth version of the book and finally we got it down. I got a really good team together – the best editor, the best layout person. Angela Bacca did the editing along with my wife Jeanette, and we got contributions in the book from so many people. It's a 380-page book and I'd say there's like 15 other people that contributed something … it's a group effort and I think the book came out really, really good. I'm super happy – it's been quite the journey and it’s still not over. Now we

On the cultivar that impacted him the most in his life: “The most impactful cultivar in my life was Cat Piss. It was so strong and pungent that you could walk in a room and you could smell the Cat Piss – whether it was the flower or the smoke – you'd know right away it was Cat Piss. It tasted good all the way down to the roach. You could smoke a roach a week later, and go, ‘That's the Cat Piss roach.’ And that's what made me fall in love with weed, to be

On what makes a winning strain: “How does it smoke and how does it taste? I want to know the effect. I want to know all these things. I feel like those things are really what makes it, and some of that stuff gets lost with people. People get so excited about the way stuff looks, and the way it films for social media. Social media has taken us into a bad direction in breeding a little bit, because it’s all about looks.”

On finding his place in the genetics world: “I believe in self-improvement, and I think that self-improvement over time equals success. Being passionate about what you do, that's super important to me. … I'm not trying to be the biggest and the best. I'm just trying to be the best that I can be. Training Jiu Jitsu has taught me that. As a business owner, you learn how to fail a lot and you learn to accept failure. … If you love it, keep doing it – and eventually you're going to be good at it. And I feel like that translates to anything that you do, whether it's growing or whether it's cooking or whether it's swimming – whatever it is, you do it enough, you get good at it. If you're passionate about it, you're going to get really good at it.” jamesloudgenetics.com

ABOVE: Zour Diesel bred by James Loud and grown by House of Cultivar.

RIGHT: Seed Cabinet and Podcast Recording.

THE flower ISSUE

breeding brilliance

mario guzman sherbinskis

On how he knew he wanted to be a Cannabis breeder: “I’ve never been a very technical person when it comes to tech. I am more of a high EQ, hands-on person. When I growing and working with plants, I found a huge admiration for the hard work and satis faction of a hard day's work. Building my first grow myself and all the ones that came after, and building a team and a community drove me – and I fell in love. This was the early 2000s.”

On his sources of inspiration: “I’m inspired by the people that do the heavy lifting in life and don’t look for pats on the back or accolades. They just do the work selflessly. They are who they are behind closed doors when no one is looking. They still do the right thing. These are the people that I look up to.”

On the growers he admires: “The garage growers around the world who put their heart and soul into every gram they grow. And also the generational outdoor farmers that this industry is built on. The generations of farmers that came before the social media era, and have nothing left of their faces now but the legendary stories of the people that lived this life be fore us, and paved the way for the life that we now know as the ‘industry.’”

On when he knew Gelato was going to be a hit: “I knew it would be a hit when I started smoking some of the first batches I grew. The look, smell, feel – they were all something new. The Sunset Sherbert as a parent is one of the keys to why Gelato is so good and makes you feel amazing. To this day it’s one of my favorites, the parent to the Gelato.”

thanks to Mario Guzman. The Sacramento-born Bay Area legend developed the Sunset Sherbert strain, and followed that up with Gelato. Every head stash in the past decade has had something that came from that lineage at one time or another. His company Sherbinskis continues to develop new genetics and push the boundaries of the Cannabis genetics scene.

On selecting genetics to release into the world:

“The world’s needs are growing! There is such a huge variety of needs for certain markets and climates/ environments. My work with genetics has broadened my learning and understanding of those needs and it goes way beyond just Gelato, which is really exciting to me. My library goes much further as I’ve been fortunate to be given genetics by the top breeders in the world and have opportunities globally to pursue.”

On his current focus: “I’m 1000% completely focused on delivering flower to the global market through EUGMP facilities. And also the development of my new platform/ brand called ‘Voice of the Plant.’ It’s my passion project and vision of creating a platform for all plant medicine thought leaders, and connecting people with plants through creative interactions with music, art and food.”

On Genesys, the mysterious space-age social media series he posted on the Sherbinskis Instagram: “I had some fun telling a story with AI. It was for the people that saw what it was at its core. The world is changing.”

SPOTLIGHT 3 OF 4

OLD School Smoke new School High

TRULY INFUSED PRE-ROLLS

Always Crafted with Clean, premium flower from farms like

Chris Lynch has been churning out hype strains from his facilities on the West Coast for years. As the mind and palate behind Grape Gas, Horchata, Gastro Pop, Pink Certz and a number of collabs with Berner from Cookies like Apples & Bananas, Lynch needs no introduction among heat-seeking flower fanatics.

His latest release, Blue Lobster, dropped in exclusive collabs on both coasts. (Find more on Blue Lobster in this month’s California Leaf and Northeast Leaf magazines.)

Leaf connected with Lynch to learn more about his new company, Cipher Genetics, and hear his thoughts on the state of the strain world.

On his origin story: “My love for Cannabis started around the age of 14. I saw pictures of Cannabis for the first time in magazines at the grocery store, and thought it looked so unique and special. Over the next 20 years, I became more and more fascinated with everything related to the plant. I grew up in Portland, Oregon, and always had access to high-quality flowers and this fueled my love and passion. In 2013 a friend named OneEye made the cultivar Dog Walker OG. The market was starting to become saturated with similar strains and prices were going down. OneEye was able to maintain a strong demand for his flower because he had exclusive genetics. Dog Walker was trending in the state and everyone wanted it. This opened my eyes to the power of Cannabis genetics and how unique flavors were very appreciated. This spurred my desire to focus heavily on genetics and pushed me over to the next level. I already loved all things Cannabis, but this experience propelled me to see things in a different light. From that point on, I became obsessed with collecting rare cuts and breeding with them. I was constantly testing the new strains and I enjoyed giving them unique names.”

On his influences: “The time I spent in Amsterdam was my first burst of influence. I had impactful experiences hanging

chris lynch cipher genetics

out with Soma that were a major source of inspiration. I was also inspired early on by Exotic Genetix, Archive Seeds, DNA Genetics, Cannarado, Jungle Boys, and a handful of others. Over time, I’ve learned to trust my personal taste for genetics and listen to my inner voice for guidance. This combined with daily feedback from the Cannabis community helps guide my direction and vision.”

On finding pride in his work: “I’m proudest of how my work with the plant has impacted the Cannabis community and people’s lives. It’s amazing to see how far-reaching it goes. Hearing from people all around the world about how my genetics improved their quality of life and health is so powerful. Some of my favorite creations are Apples & Bananas, Blue Lobster, Gastro Pop, Pavé and Grape Gas.”

On his new company, Cipher Genetics: “We’re focusing on breeding new cultivars with strong therapeutic benefits at Cipher Genetics. All the new strains we create awe us with impressive terpene profiles, cannabinoid levels and flower morphologies. I’m working with Kate, my partner, who has a strong molecular genetics background. She brings a tremendous amount of knowledge and insight to Cipher that makes

for a strong work dynamic together. Our next big project is the Blue Lobster seed collection in collaboration with Maine Trees, which is scheduled to drop later this year.”

On what he considers when selecting new genetics: “I look for genetics that check all of the boxes for desired traits and stand apart from the rest. I want to bring new profiles to market, not more of the same.”

On candy terps and the future of trends in the flower market: “Limonene, a main terpene in the ‘candy nose,’ is highly regarded in pharmacology research for its anti-anxiety, anti-inflammatory and pain-reducing effects. Limonene and another candy terpene, linalool, increase THC potency. Candy and dessert terpene profiles also activate the dopaminergic areas in the brain when smelled, so there’s another reason they’re so popular. I think skunk and gas strains will still keep a sizable foothold in the industry. Skunky B-myrcene, spicy B-caryophyllene, a-terpineol and gamma-terpinene are noted as pain-relieving compounds as well. I think the industry will stay focused on the highest terpene content strains because their effects are impressive. The gas and spicy profiles won’t be lost in favor of only candy strains, because every terpene has a high medicinal value.” cipher-genetics.com

ABOVE: Blue Lobster

RIGHT: Breeder Chris Lynch

wedding cake

washington

#1 Wedding #2 GG4 #3 Blue #4 Runtz #5 Golden #6 Ice Cream #7 Gelato #8 OG Chem #9 Purple #10 MAC

oregon

Runtz Super Boof Bananas

Ice Cream Cake

Blue Dream Junky

Garlic Gelato

Donny Burger Strawberry

nevada

california

Dream Cake Milk

#4 OG #18 #5 Biscotti #6 Garlic #7 Kush Mints #8 Lemon Cherry Gelato #9 Gelato #10 Runtz

THE STAGGERING complexity of the Cannabis plant creates a kaleidoscope of shapes, colors, aromas, flavors and effects – enticing people from all walks of life and cultural backgrounds. Concurrently, these people have a diversity of tastes and preferences –translating into a Cannabis landscape where a strain can be a hit in one corner of the country, while not even on the radar in another. For our annual Flower Issue we teamed up with Headset, a company specializing in retail-level sales data for the Cannabis industry, and dug into some of the trends surrounding strains in different regions of North America. Here’s what people around the country are smoking on.

Cookies

7 Pineapple #8 Purple Kush #9 Wedding Cake #10 Funk Master

#1 LA Kush Cake #2 Runtz #3 Wedding Cake #4 Lemon Cherry Gelato #5 Jenny Kush #6 Afternoon Delight #7 Gelato #8 Head Cheese #9 Kush Cake #10 Bananas

arizona

colorado

#1 MAC #2 Blue Dream #3 Ice Cream Cake #4 Lilac Diesel #5 White 99 #6 Glueball #7 Bubba Fett #8 Strawberry Banana #9 Gelato Cake #10 Runtz

#1 Wedding Cake #2 Kush Mints #3 Jealousy #4 Guava #5 Mule Fuel #6 Gelato #7 Las Vegas Triangle Kush #8 Apple Fritter #9 Blue Dream #10 GG4

TOP OF

missouri

#1 Ice Cream Cake

#2 GMO Cookies

#3 Crescendo

#4 Sherbet Cake

#5 MAC

#6 Gorilla Pie

#7 Florida Kush

#8 Bubba Fett

#9 Truffle #10 Star Cookies

illinois

#1 Brownie Scout #2 Pineapple Express #3 Sherbert #4 Kush Mints #5 Bananas #6 Banana Daddy

#7 Georgia Pie

#8 Sour Diesel #9 Gelato #10 GG4

michigan

#1 Runtz

#2 Kush Mints

#3 Super Boof

#4 Bananas

#5 Rainbow

#6 Cream

#7 Ice Cream Cake

#8 Wedding Cake

#9 Gastro Pop

#10 Oreoz

ohio

#1 GMO Cookies

#2 Orange 43

#3 Ice Cream Cake

#4 Animal Face

#5 Frosted Kush

#6 Biscotti #7 92 Cookies

#8 Brownie Scout

#9 Layer Cake

#10 Garlic Breath

#1 Sour Diesel #2 Runtz

#3 Gas Face

#5 Lilac Diesel

#6 Gush Mints

#4 Blueberry Muffin

#7 Glitter Bomb #8 Biscotti #9 Alaskan Thunder Fuck

#10 Wedding Cake

massachusetts

#1Bananas #2Mimosa #3Runtz #4WeddingCake

#5BlueDream #6BrownieScout

#7Oreoz #8ChocolateOG #9SourDiesel #10MandarinZkittlez

maryland runtz

#1Bananas #2Mimosa #3Runtz #4WeddingCake #5BlueDream #6BrownieScout #7Oreoz #8ChocolateOG # SourDiesel # MandarinZkittlez

THE POTS

The Pursuit of

Cultivators are typically going for buds with the best bag appeal. It’s all about growing out the fluffiest and fattest nugs that will sit looking pretty in their flower packaging. On the other hand, solventless extractors making hash and rosin are in pursuit of one very important (but often more inconspicuous) thing: resin.

IN FACT, growing specifically for solventless production has been dubbed “resin farming” and inspired an entire industry of breeding for “hash plants.” But if we’re going to get into resin farming and hash plants, we’ve got to talk trichomes first – the small, wispy structures on the surface of the Cannabis plant that look like little hairs.

The trichome head sits on top of the stalk and contains the highest concentrations of cannabinoids, terpenes, flavonoids and more. It’s basically where all the good stuff that determines the taste, aroma and medicinal effects of that particular plant is stored. Here the glands produce a sticky substance called resin to hold all those valuable compounds together and keep them safe from threats like pests and UV radiation. When a plant produces lots of trichome heads, its flowers will be visibly glistening with a thick, solid layer of sparkling resin – almost like they’re wearing a frosty fur coat!

Resin farmers are essentially growing to maximize the amount of these trichome heads (and therefore resin) on their plants, which are then extracted from the rest of the plant material to create solventless products. They for sure want to see that frosty fur coat.

Factors like the density, structure and consistency of trichome heads can all contribute to whether or not a strain is a “dumper” – meaning it dumps these large amounts of resin. While the way a plant is grown (e.g. the lights and nutrients used) can have a slight impact here, most of these trichome traits are controlled by the genetic makeup of the plant. Hence the need to create new Cannabis genetics tailored to trichome quality and resin production. Simply by nature, some strains tend to yield better or create higher quality solventless extracts than others. It’s why GMO and Papaya are known to be dumpers while old-school Kush and OG varietals rarely extract well.

ABOVE: A 200% close-up of Papaya hash.

RIGHT: Harvest Moon Gardens' GMO.

Resin

Household Names in Breeding for Resin

Bloom Seed Co.

Exotic Genetix

Oni Seed Co.

Little Lake Valley Seed Co.

Ras Kaya Paul of Pacific Northwest Roots

Masonic Seed Company

Top Dawg Seeds

DNA Genetics

Archive Seed Bank

Garden of Grease Seeds

3rd Gen Family Farm

So, breeding new strains for solventless production becomes like a puzzle. These breeders are identifying existing genetics with traits ideal for extraction, then putting them together to create something new that is (hopefully) even better than its individual components. For example, taking a GMO plant that absolutely dumps resin and crossing it with an OG strain that doesn’t yield high enough for commercial solventless production, but has an incredibly sought-after terpene profile. The goal here would be to breed these strains together and find a phenotype that yields well enough (thanks to the GMO parent) without losing that unique flavor from the OG parent.

Owner and Operator of legacy brand Pacific Northwest Roots, Ras Kaya Paul is one of the OGs when it comes to putting together these puzzles. He started working with the plant in the mid-’90s and grew his passion and knowledge into a successful growing and breeding enterprise, developing hash genetics now known across the country such as Kaya’s Koffee and The Freeze.

Ras Kaya explains, “When breeding for ‘hash plants’ there are many things to consider. Chief among these are exceptional terpenes, trichome type and proper yields. Many seed makers are recombining known hash plants and having success creating poly-hybrids for the masses – and that’s good for the people.”

“It’s also important to make a distinction and recognize the folks like Archive, 3rd Gen, and others like myself that have been at the craft for decades,” he continues, “developing those cornerstone genetics and hash-making techniques for others to build on. As with breeding for flowers, this kind of innovation for our industry requires testing and processing the genetics, then making thoughtful selections based on those results.”

With that, the pursuit of resin continues…

"Growing specifically for solventless production has been dubbed 'resin farming' and inspired an entire industry of breeding for hash plants."

EVERY ONE OF US suffers from some form of dysfunction – one that charges our need to act out in dramatic ways. It’s OK … there’s no need to build a defense. Because whatever it is that causes us to project our suffering, we all need to express emotion.

You see, we are often unaware of the root of our anger since it has generally developed from personal trauma endured during the formative years. And when you add the unforgiving stresses that come with modernity, everyone’s pot eventually steams with a piercing whistle. And although every individual’s experience is unique unto themselves, the forum to where much of this frustration is projected is the most common place for public interaction: the grid of shared asphalt.

And what makes the highways and byways the easy arena to cast one’s flared opinions? It’s the fact that each person is secured by a housing of locked doors and fast wheels. This is the haven from where spitting vitriol and emphatic threats towards an utter stranger two times her size will insulate an otherwise pleasant grandmother. Where most ordinary individuals would normally buckle in fear at any face-to-face confrontation with an adversary, within this automobile they personify the confidence of a professional wrestler.

The dissatisfaction of our core sometimes manifests in uncharacteristic ways.

But no one should ever internalize accusations on the blacktop, as it is only someone else’s personal anxiety manifesting outwardly. Self-control has never been a strong suit amongst most people when pushed into small spaces, and therefore the discomfort is sometimes blamed on the obstruction preventing them from their desperately needed open space.

Which is exactly why driving stoned should be legal.