STRAIN OF THE MONTH

Growing and selling popular Cannabis cultivars can be a bit of a gamble for brands. On the one hand, it can mean instant bag appeal: When faced with a variety of options, many of which a customer may be seeing for the first time, chances are the average shopper will reach for something they’ve seen before. Instant recognition can translate to instant sales.

The flipside to that coin is that by picking a cultivar with significant market history, the product will instantly be held to a set standard – meaning that if the grower screws up, it’s going to be pretty evident in the final product. It’s with that perspective that I tore into a jar of No Till Kings’ Cookies and Cream #2, fully expecting a sweet, earthy-smelling and tasting smoke with a deep relaxation to accompany it.

Reader, believe me when I say that this living soil expression of this cultivar is perfect. The smell and taste are exactly what one would expect – instantly sweet and nutty, with a hint of vanilla, an undercurrent of earth and a little bit of bread flowing underneath. The buds are dark green with flecks of deep purple, marked by bright orange pistils. It’s nothing new, but that’s the beauty of it – it’s something recognizable and familiar.

One puff of this and it’s clear what’s being smoked, which is a hat tip to the Long Beach-based cultivators for selecting and bringing to market a perfectly dialed-in rendition of Cookies and Cream.

The resulting high is balanced, as it should be. Those looking for a buzzy head change will find it alongside a nice body high that’s relaxing but not too stoney. Cookies and Cream buds tend to clock in somewhere around the mid-20s for THC percentage and this was no exception.

With this batch at 26% THC, I found it ideal for an evening toke – with a cerebral upstart helping me process the day behind me and a slightly weighted body high removing the tension and helping transition me into a state of relaxation.

It tasted so good that I smoked almost the entire eighth in one sitting – mostly through a bong to maximize flavor, but also one very tasty pinner as a nightcap.

“One puff of this and it’s clear what’s being smoked.”