W W W. L A W E E K L Y. C O M | November 6 - November 12, 2020 | L A W E E K L Y
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LEMONADE CONTINUES THE HUNT FOR FINE SATIVAS
Lemonade cofounder Brett Wilson spoke with us on the heels of the brand’s biggest year yet as he continues to chase down exotic sativa genetics BY JIMI DEVINE
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s the Lemonade brand continues its hunt for exotic sativa genetics, cofounder Brett Wilson chatted with us about his own experiences working with cannabis as a teenager in Santa Cruz and his company’s rise to prominence. Many people say that they’ve been in
the cannabis game their whole life, but Wilson remembers those earliest days of Prop. 215. Wilson was first exposed to the cultivation practices that would end up defining his adult life as he watched his father tend to his medical garden. And the weed in Santa Cruz his dad had access to didn’t suck. A few brands have been built on the back of a Lemon Diesel that
came out of the Santa Cruz Mountains back in the day. “He just always smoked cannabis and saw growing was starting to get accepted a little bit more,” Wilson told L.A. Weekly of those the early days watching his dad. “He just started with his little one lighter, I was in the fifth grade. Then after a year or two into it, he would have me come in and help here and there. I was like 12 or 13 when I first started helping my dad,
which is kind of rad and crazy.” We asked what it was like seeing those famous genetics of yesterday up close as his dad prepped them for his enjoyment? “I wish I would have kept so many,” Wilson quickly replied. “There’s so many amazing genetics that we were running through back then that like nobody kept or has. They’re so hard to find, so many you know, like all the berries, Sensi Star, Cinderella 99.” Wilson believes one of the most interesting things about the genetics world is how some of those strains that ruled their day disappeared. “It’s crazy to see things that were the most popular strain, that everyone smoked, can actually get lost that easily,” he said. Wilson says the phenotypes of Granddaddy Purple and Purple Urkel he use to grow are lost to the ages. The lost genetics were actually part of what got things going with his Lemonade cofounder Berner. Berner had plenty of his own handson experience in the cannabis industry to fall back on from when he was still working his way up the Billboard charts and a keen eye for what flavors weren’t in the mix anymore. Wilson said even though his partner wasn’t necessarily a cultivator, it was pretty clear to anyone who has been in the industry what formerly hot flavors were gone, and there was a need for an injection of new flavors, something Berner was already working on with Cookies. “He just saw them come and go. Then when he met me he was like, we need to make a menu, a menu that people will
