Welcome to Leafly’s Strain of the day! In celebration of 420, we’ll be highlighting a new strain every weekday in April until the 20th.
Find a new favorite and be sure to pick some up on Leafly Pickup or Delivery.
This article was originally published on April 1, 2020. It was updated April 20, 2020.
GSC
Hannah Espina, Leafly Contributor
GSC, formerly known as Girl Scout Cookies, is a classic West Coast strain that needs no introduction. This OG Kush x Durban Poison baby looks at social situations through a pair of rose-colored glasses; people become more intriguing, casual attempts at jokes are a hell of a lot funnier, and it just might make you loosen up as well.
GSC is my go-to when I want to trade in my anxious, somewhat introverted, overthinker self for the chatty, happy-go-lucky, social butterfly just waiting for her moment to shine. House party with mixed company on the calendar? GSC turns my awkwardness into a good time. The icing on the cake (err, cookie) is its earthy, slightly sweet flavor profile. It hits the spot, much like a certain beloved mint cookie.
A little definitely goes a long way for me with this old standby. Just a couple of puffs is enough to kick up the euphoric vibes all evening. GSC is the best of both worlds—it stealthily straddles the line between a relaxed body high (maybe a little bit of couch lock if the moment’s right) and happy, uplifting feels. It’s like that friend who manages to be fun without overwhelming you.
I’ll be honest, my best hangouts consist of doing as little as possible with people I love and a hefty dose of stimulating conversations. And giggles. Lots of those. GSC is the strain that puts me in a perfect chill zone for many such occasions.
Happy 420 everyone!
Buy GSC near you
Pineapple Express
Justin Sund, Senior Producer, Leafly
When you work on a cannabis farm, or any farm for that matter, an alarm isn’t what wakes you up in the morning. Chirping birds wake you up. Or the daybreaking sun hunting you down through the blinds of your sweat-baked RV. Or the wafting cigarette smoke, coffee, and chatter of the other farmers outside your window, waiting to tend to a thousand-plus sun grown plants.
Growing weed commercially is tough, unrelenting, and often dumb. I had the opportunity to drain ten years of my lifeforce and joy in a mere two years of sadistic hell. So why the fork did I do it? Because of the PLANTS, man. The plants.
No matter what awoke me each morning in that stanky RV parked just outside our farm’s compound out in BFE, what actually got me out of bed was the plants. I had to see them, smell them, kiss them, hold them. And tucked in the front corner of Greenhouse 5 were my favorite plants by far: Pineapple Express.
There were only ten of them—a measly amount compared to other strains on the grounds—but I just freakin’ loved them. I loved them so much. They were tall, not too bushy, and the hue of a perfect Bartlett pear.
The buds were plump and juicy like ripe green blackberries. And the smell? Jesús Cristo—the best! If opening a fresh jar of Pineapple Express nugs is like cracking a cold, crisp Mango White Claw on a schteamy day, the smell of the full-on plant is like taking a bath in POG juice while sipping a spiced-rum-spiked mango lassi.
If you find Pineapple Express at your local haunt, do not hesitate, buy it! Not only will it smell amazing, but it also has a great high: potent and sprightly (I love puffing PineEx for outdoorsy stuff and group activities).
The nugs are small but dense and a nice bright lime green with tangerine hairs. And remember, somebody loved that plant. That gorgeous lady got farmers out of bed every morning. And they spent 4-6 months tending to her, feeding her, and loving her. Just for you.
Buy Pineapple Express near you
Original Glue
David Downs, California Editor, Leafly
Diesel. Chocolate. THC. Joy.
What’s not to like about the popular modern strain Original Glue (formerly known as GG4, or Gorilla Glue)?
Nothing.
Original Glue is what you take a binger of after a long day of work when you need to zap those memories like the mind-eraser pen in Men in Black.
It looks gorgeous and smells phenomenal—shiny, sparkling, and crystalline, with a pungent piney-fuel smell and a chocolate bottom.
It’s got bling and bag appeal, baby.
Greatness begets greatness, and Original Glue comes from it. The best way to describe it is a triple-back-crossed Diesel to Chocolate Thai, which explains where those fuel terpenes come from.
As for the name, Breeder Josey Whales naturally was reminded of Gorilla Glue, on account of how sticky it is. There he was, trimming a test batch when the phone rang, and the receiver stuck to his resinous hand like in the commercials.
Josey and Lone Watty, founders of GG Strains, brought the 4th child Gorilla Glue (hence GG4) to market in the late ‘10s. Clone-only and closely held, it swept Cups thanks to its stand-out gas notes and test-topping THC. Original Glue punches through the haze of other competitive cultivars all day, judges will tell you.
As for effects, they’re intense and hybridized. The high THC and peppery, citrus, and herbaceous terps can make pulses race. A keening, euphoric, anxious high settles into long-lasting relaxation and sedation for veteran tokers only.
Bubbler and bong loads are in order. Joints seem decadent. Fat joints—dubbed donks—seem downright depraved.
It’s for all these reasons and more that you can find Original Glue from coast to coast and continent to continent—in loose flower, prerolls, vape pens, and seeds. It’s the botany of desire, 2020 edition, running $60 for a good eighth-ounce, ideally $45 out the door. But what’s the price of nirvana?
New GG strains continue to hit big, but throw it back to a top shelf, stanky, gassy, dense, shiny nug of the original on 4/20. Put on that new album. Turn off your phone. You’re welcome.
Buy Original Glue near you
Do-Si-Dos
Pat Goggins, Senior Editor, Leafly
I love a sweet-smelling weed strain. The fragrance jumps out of the bag and travels down to your mouth, and you can taste it before you even spark up. Keep your diesels and glues far away from me—I want the cookies and kushes.
So Do-Si-Dos is a match made in heaven—a mysterious GSC descendant crossed with a rare OG Kush pheno (its name comes from the GSC). It’s bright and warm, light green in color, with dark orange pistils that almost look red. It’s also full of sweet limonene, known for relieving stress and anxiety. And with all that kush in there, it’s got that classic heavy indica feel.
This strain is danky, earthy, and comes on quick, gently flowing into your head. It’s great for getting creative or having a philosophical chat with a friend.
I wish I had some amazing story to tell you about Dosi. About the time I saw my favorite band with a joint of it, or the time I trespassed to check out a view of the city, only to be chased by a rabid dog.
No such experience.
But not all weed has to be a crazy wild time. Sometimes you just need a daily driver at the end of the night to take you around your own thoughts and imagination.
All my best experiences with Dosi have been in the comfort of my own home, reading, writing, listening to music, just generally chilling out; or at a friend’s place, coming to mind-blowing realizations about life and the world around, only to forget them in the morning.
If I did confront that rabid dog with Dosi, I probably would have tried to use telepathy to talk it down, or imagined I had wings and could fly far away from it. I don’t think it would have ended well.
So for those nights when you’ve had a long day, or for rainy days when you’re stuck inside and looking to take a journey without going anywhere, or those times when you just want to chill the hell out, check out some Do-Si-Dos.
Buy Do-Si-Dos near you
White Widow
Emily Resling, Creative Lead, Leafly
I hit weed for different reasons in different seasons, but when I want to feel emotionally and physically relaxed, and still be functional, focused, and able to hold a conversation? I reach for White Widow.
If something aches and I want relief? White Widow.
If I want a head high and a body buzz, and want my brain to wind down, not up, and I don’t want spikes of frenetic energy (but sometimes I do!)—White Widow.
In this hugely different season of isolation, White Widow is my most constant companion (besides my husband and our two cats).
As a bonus, she has a great earthy spice flavor, a big aroma, and the flower is beautiful, a bright lime green dusted in white crystals. The kind of bud you can stare at forever if you happen to find yourself with nothing else to do.
It’s pretty easy to find White Widow in any legal market. Now is a good time to support your local cannabis retailer, and you can send an order for pickup through Leafly. Enjoy!
Buy White Widow near you
Durban Poison
Christie Brydon, Leafly Contributor
With a name that’d make your mother cringe and with descriptors like “energizing” that conflict with typical stoney expectations, Durban Poison might not be the first strain you try.
When I got my first vape pen, I knew it’d mostly come into play during the daytime while out and about. I looked for an upbeat strain and followed an excellent recommendation for Durban Poison. Famously uplifting and energizing, this sativa is rich in fruity terpinolene. In more relatable terms—it’s supercharged sunshine.
This plant magic perks me up every time. A day with Durban Poison is pleasantly hazy, with effects like increased attentiveness and focus, which can lead to buzzy conversations. It’s the kind of weed you bring to a picnic or a day hike—and it loves a Saturday with no agenda. Brew a Chemex and load a bowl and enjoy the sunshine however you want.
Durban Poison really showed up for me on an afternoon when I was drinking alcohol, something I rarely do. After a long cycle of eat, drink, repeat (the only way of life in Portland, as far as I know), the day was desperate for a pivot. The promise of a lively night was fading quickly. Fortunately, I had a joint in my pocket and a quiet neighborhood to wander.
Soon, all the undesirable elements of that all-day happy hour faded. The lethargic cloud parted ways, while the Durban sunshine streamed through with a renewed sense of optimism and playfulness. It was like cherry-picking the good parts of day drinking and dissolving the rest.
It turned the night around, and fortunately, we were around the corner from an arcade. You know the claw game, where you make futile attempts to pick up a stuffed animal? Amped in the Durban Poison zone, I absolutely dominated.
Buy Durban Poison near you
Sour Diesel
Emily Resling, Creative Lead, Leafly
There should never be a legendary strains list that fails to include Sour Diesel.
Actually, I’m fairly certain that couldn’t happen. That’s like excluding Cheech & Chong from a recap of counterculture heroes of the ‘70s.
Sour Diesel, or Sour D, as she’s called by her legion of fans (raises hand), is a beloved strain for all levels of consumers, who enjoy and/or require weed for different reasons, in every type of market from legal, to kind-of legal, to fully hostile.
A lot of amazing strains come into your life when you live somewhere that goes legal. But Sour D can appear in your life no matter what kind of legal environment you’re in. She’s that good. Her appeal is universal.
She’s an alluring bright green with delicate ginger hairs throughout. She smells amazing with complex aromas of strong citrus and spice. The kids (21+) would say she’s gassy (that’s a compliment).
Most notably, she doesn’t make you wait. You feel the effects of Sour D immediately. There are a lot of wonderful strains that reward you for waiting a few minutes between tokes. Sour Diesel rewards you as you exhale your first hit. She’s cerebral, peaceful, giggly, utterly reliable. You go up up up … and then stay up. She’s like magic! Ahhhh, weed magic. Sparkles emoji.
Everyone wants Sour D around. Medical consumers rely on her. Social consumers stockpile her. Talk to your friends and you’ll hear that she’s a go-to, a fall back, a long-time favorite, great for house guests from out of town.
If you haven’t yet enjoyed the dreamy, uplifted, extended bliss of Sour Diesel and you think you might need to go find some (you do), she’s easy to become obsessed with. Love at first light.
You’ve been warned. Now go get her and bring her home.
Buy Sour Diesel near you
Zkittlez
David Downs, California Editor, Leafly
Whoever said there’s nothing new under the sun hasn’t smoked Zkittlez.
This fragrant, flavorful, and potent modern cannabis strain demands your attention this 4/20. Go ahead and splurge on a top-shelf cut of it.
An award-winning group of growers and hashmakers—”3rd Gen Fam”—popularized Zkittlez in 2016. But even they admit it was a gift from a grower named Gas Station Bob.
It’s reported to be a three-way cross of Grape Ape, Grapefruit, and something.
My favorite part about Zkittlez is that its looks can be deceiving. Those aren’t the diamonds of MAC or Wedding Cake. Zkittlez looks OK. It can be downright rangy. It’s hard to grow. But it doesn’t matter. Break open a nug and stick your nose in.
Thick, rich, luxurious waves of berry dank-liciousness emanate. When smoked or vaped, gobs of sweet, tropical terpenes will fill your nostrils, and a relaxed, euphoric sedative effect soon follows. It’s not grassy thin, it’s like syrup. It somehow smells expensive; a perfumer’s delight.
This is not daytime, productive weed. It hits the hippocampus like, “Where were we?”
And then, “Where are we?”
Indeed.
For the weed nerds, award-winning Zkittlez tests high in humulene, linalool, limonene, and nerolidol. Plus some rare citronellol. All on a huge caryophyllene back.
Novices will shrug and say, “This smells like good weed.” And that’s fair. Zkittlez rewards all types of smokers.
It’s maybe best as fat joints like they do in the Humboldt hills, where you can face the most direct flavor. Thin joints won’t do. The bud is too oily. Pinners go out.
Zkittlez is great in bong loads or pipes. It’s also superb to vape. The huge terp bouquet really perfumes the vapor.
In 2020, Zkittlez is now a global brand, found from Seattle to Los Angeles to Detroit. It’s grown from Santa Barbara to Salinas to Humboldt and has spawned dozens of new crosses. Cypress Hill rapper B-Real considers it a top 5 strain of all time. Zkittlez’ DNA is here to stay.
For their part, 3rd Gen Fam has moved on to new strain The Gak, another mysterious gift from the remote hills of Humboldt. Another hopeful glimpse of cannabis’ ever-unfurling, gob-smacking, technicolor horizon.
Buy Zkittlez near you
OG Kush
Christie Brydon, Leafly Contributor
Oh, OG Kush, you worthy legend.
It’s hard to succinctly write about the strain that has inspired so many others. Selected by endless growers for crossbreeding, OG Kush continues to give way to soothing, stimulating, creative strains. Stemming from Hindu Kush (and parent of the equally standout GSC), this iconic lineage is forever a favorite.
To me, OG Kush is a safe space. It feels like the comfort of the most welcoming living room, wherever you are. That makes it an easy place to start with cannabis, or with navigating strain names at the dispensary. Add any word (Bubba, Triangle, Kosher, Vanilla) or place (San Fernando Valley, Tahoe) and you’re still holding the promise of a good time.
Now, I’m not saying I brought OG Kush to Burning Man, but it’s possible that OG Kush brought itself to Burning Man and made its way into my lungs, and if that did happen, it might explain how I wandered wide-eyed and free through life-sized artwork and dusty-pillow-lined camps, awash in a swirly appreciation for the sights and sounds of the most engaging (and overwhelming) art festival in the world.
In an environment of extreme heat and constant stimulus, OG Kush provided a soft place to land—and then took off like a magic carpet, flying me around so I could observe the beautiful chaos while calmly nestled into the serene part of my brain.
When the night is winding down but your head is still buzzing, OG Kush is your friend. You know that moment when you get home very, very late and you realize that tomorrow’s going to, um, hurt? OG Kush paves a little runway for your party-going jet to touch down, from high-flying to soft landing.
OG Kush will turn the proverbial volume down, light the incense, turn on the salt lamp, and let your imagination spread its wings—which, IMHO, is the quintessential cannabis experience. Happy 420, OG Kush. We love you.
Buy OG Kush near you
Gelato
Hannah Espina, Leafly Contributor
There are some people who seem to breeze through life without being hounded by anxiety or stress. I am not one of those people. Don’t get me wrong, I’ve collected enough tools in my toolkit over the years to manage the day-to-day pressures of being an adult human in 2020. But let’s be real, there are times that call for a little more than meditation.
Enter Gelato, a heavy-handed strain that feels like getting a hug from Mr. Rogers himself. One hit instantly teleports me into a warm and fuzzy alternate version of this world. It’s a great strain to mentally decompress with while happily jamming out to a favorite record. For me, it manifests as an intense, whole-body buzz, but it doesn’t instantly dismiss going out and being social as a bad idea, either.
Gelato’s enticing, dessert-like aroma and flavor is a sweet result of crossing Thin Mint GSC and fruity Sunset Sherbet. Delicious as Gelato may be, it’s a potent strain that should be approached with restraint if you’re a newcomer. Like a sugar rush from an ice cream binge (don’t judge!), Gelato has an impressively quick onset time. You might even feel its euphoric effects while exhaling your first hit. Tasty and efficient, Gelato is here to deliver happy, relaxed vibes.
Will Gelato make you a happier, less anxious, overall better person? Maybe. But what I will say is that Gelato can help bring out your glass-half-full side when you need to recalibrate.
Buy Gelato near you
Jack Herer
Emily Resling, Creative Lead, Leafly
There’s a small but mighty crew at Leafly known (to ourselves) as Team Terpinolene. Sure, nobody here has heard of us. But if Team Terpinolene could get all of HQ in a big smoke sesh and pass around Jack Herer…Team Terpinolene (and Jack Herer) would find a lot of new supporters. Terpinolene is the primary terpene in Jack Herer. Terpinolene is GOOD y’all. FUN.
But I’m here to honor and gush over Jack Herer, all-up.
If you like your highs focused, energetic, hella creative, with that buzzy “whoa hey” stoniness rolling through your body every so often, Jack Herer is fantastic. I like Jack Herer when I exercise or when I’m on a Zoom call with 10 of my socially distanced BFFs.
Jack Herer is a daytime buddy. Bliss level: high. Energy: high. High: high. I seek out this strain in the 15%-19% THC range, and when I find it, I hit it for a flood of optimism and motivation.
If you discover you L-O-V-E Jack Herer like Team Terpinolene does, you might love other terpinolene-heavy strains, too. Here are some to look for.
P.S. “Herer” rhymes with “terror,” a fact that human Jack Herer enjoyed quite a bit. If you aren’t up on your 420 legends, might I suggest you settle in with this little nugget of history? Preferably while high.
Buy Jack Herer near you
Wedding Cake
Christie Brydon, Leafly Contributor
Last summer, my best friend got married. In a mind-bending reminder of life before social distancing, this was a five-day affair on a lake with barbecues, boats, and about, oh, two hundred people who traveled from all over the country. Every day held another event, where friends and relatives from all stages of life and all branches of the family tree came together, attempting to connect with the help of alcohol and small talk.
The night before the wedding, a small group of us attended the rehearsal dinner, experiencing all the usual wedding complexities of strangers meeting strangers and night-before butterflies. After the plates were cleared, I gathered everyone in the backyard and brought out some of Seattle’s finest Wedding Cake.
Imagine a wayward circle of friends, uncles, half-siblings, middle school classmates, and parents, cannabis enthusiasts and skeptics alike, passing around two sizable (and pre-pandemic) joints in a half-giggly, half-awkward fashion. Eyes met. Walls went down.
Twenty minutes later, I looked around. The uplifting sparkle of this limonene-dominant, GSC-lineage strain had taken hold. Our once-cautious circle had drifted into two haze-happy clusters, each absolutely doubled over in laughter, talking about everything from apples to outer space. “Sparked joy” only begins to describe it.
In that moment, it clicked: Wedding Cake. At a wedding. Of course. Amidst all the sometimes-stifling traditions of marriage, we managed to subvert one with an ego-dissolving, sociable substitute. And it was perfect.
That year, Wedding Cake continued to dominate.
Every time I asked for it, budtenders would light up (metaphorically speaking), so excited to share a strain they clearly loved. Soon after, a local dispensary ran a promotion that compared the popular strain from three different growers, celebrating its delectable variability. (One of them was absolute fire for intimacy, by the way.)
And of course, soon after, Leafly named it the 2019 strain of the year. This high-THC, stimulating yet soothing strain has earned its place at the top.
“If you love it so much, why don’t you marry it?”
I do, Wedding Cake. I do.
Buy Wedding Cake near you
Blue Dream
Justin Sund, Senior Producer, Leafly
If sculptor Gutzon Borglum was tasked with carving a Mount Rushmore of cannabis, the first chisel would be struck on the face of Blue Dream. You can’t deny it. Look me straight into my dry, bloodshot eyes and tell me that wouldn’t be true.
Here at Leafly nobody wanted to touch this article. Nobody here wants to write a strain review about our friend Blue Dream, and here’s why: It’s not cool to like Blue Dream. We’ve all moved on from that old chestnut, right? We’re more bougie than that now.
But, I think Blue Dream is secretly in most folks’ cannabis pantheon. Ultimately, I think we’re all too chickenshit to admit that Blue Dream could possibly be the most perfect strain of the modern marijuana movement. Certainly one of the most important.
So why are we afraid to admit it’s awesome? I believe it’s because Blue Dream is intrinsically tied to our coming-of-age story with cannabis. It reminds me of the first craft beer I ever drank: Sierra Nevada Pale Ale.
As I took my first few sips, the floral bubbles tickled my taste buds and my brain foamed with delight. This isn’t Bud Light or Olympia or Grain Belt, this is something completely different. And in that moment, my eyes were opened so wide that I couldn’t help but look around and notice, “Hey, there’s MORE to this goddamn world!”
I think many of us had a similar moment with Blue Dream—that sesh when you realized there was more out there than dirt weed. Blue Dream, for many, was an important stepping stone on our cannabis journey. Blue Dream was our Sierra Nevada moment, but we just don’t want to look back. To look back at it is to acknowledge a time when we were less informed. Less savvy. Less bougie. As human beings we want to move forward. But a strain like Blue Dream is worth turning back for.
Blue Dream is that beer you hate to love. It’s that fast food joint you sneak to without your partner. It always feels good and always tastes great. Blue Dream is the weediest of weed and consistently consistent. Somebody seriously struck gold when they crossed Blueberry with Haze—it’s a near-perfect mélange of all things cannabis should be.
Buy Blue Dream near you
Granddaddy Purple
Adam Pallay, Former Education Editor, Leafly
You would think a strain with such a reputation would have a history that dates back further than 2003, but that just speaks to the cultural impact Granddaddy Purple has.
A cross between Purple Urkle and Big Bud, this beautiful purple flower gives me a stony head high and intense body relaxation. This is definitely not a strain you want to smoke when you have important things to get done, but if you are looking forward to a quiet evening on the couch and a good night sleep, it’s perfect!
What I also love about this iconic strain is that you can easily identify it by smell. Heavy in myrcene and caryophyllene, GDP sits at the bottom of your nose, smelling of sweet berries, herbaceous pines, and wet earth. For many, we know it when we smell it.
With so many strains to choose from and new strains coming out all the time, when I see a strain like Granddaddy Purple that comes with over a decade of history, I pay attention. It has something special to offer. It’s a strain that’s so good, it has left a lasting impression on the cannabis community as a whole—we want to return to it again and again.
Even if you can’t find Granddaddy Purple at your local pot shop, there’s a good chance it’s somewhere in the genetics of something else on the shelf: Grandpa’s Breath and Brandywine are two of my favorite strains with GDP in their genetics. Both offer similar effects for me and are just as delicious. Enjoy!
