The golden age of weed has a problem, Leafly Nation: seemingly every strain has Gelato in it. Or Z.
Now don’t get us wrong—we love that stuff. But almost every head I talk to bemoans the state of cannabis genetics bottlenecking. Something like ten flavors dominate the top 50 best-selling strains in the US.
So instead of whining, let’s all do something about it. Let’s do the first annual edition of New Year, New Terps: 12 nostalgic, weird, or revolting weed strains for 2024.
Step aside, Gelatos, GSCs, Wedding Cakes, Zs, and Blue Dreams. It’s time to celebrate the deviant stuff that’s outside the center of the bell curve. It’s time for New Year, New Terps!
Nostalgia strains
Bubble Gum Marker
We’ll start our adventure at a nostalgic departure point. This year, top breeder Seed Junky Genetics is excited to release a Bubblegum Marker. Founder J Beezy tells Leafly that it oozes the old-school Indiana pink bubblegum flavor with the Leafly Strain of the Year 2023 Permanent Marker chassis. He made it with a Bubblegum-dominant Sherbet and hit to Permanent Marker, resulting in massive-yielding plants that smell like pink bubblegum. It’s contemporary candy, but also nostalgic.
“Smokers want old school meeting new school,” said JBeezy.
Top of the pops
Authentic Trainwreck
Leading seed maker Humboldt Seed Co operator Nat Pennington would love to see a classic that’s fallen out of fashion come back around—Trainwreck. This strain has a lot of the terpene terpinolene, best smelled in a Jack Herer. It’s not fashionable, but Jack Herer was the No. 1 seller at the world’s best outdoor-grown weed dispensary Solful San Francisco in 2023. Terpinolene strains like Jack and Durban also consistently show up in the top 20 best-sellers nationally.
“These tend to be a more uplifting type of cannabis. More ‘get shit done’ rather than the lazy stoner stereotype,” said Nat.
Tangie
Tangie ruled the cannabis scene in California during the medical days before OG Kush and Cookies stomped out its prevalence. With a new generation of smokers turning 21 in the legal era, Crockett Family Farms’ Crockett the Younger Brian predicts a renewed wave of fruits and sours.
“Big wave, bro,” he told me at The Ego Clash competition in Mendocino County in December. “The new generation is not familiar with legacy strains.”
Go upstream from Mimosa, Superboof, Trop Cherry, and Trop Cookies with the versatile, daytime citrus strain that started it all. You can buy authentic Tangie seeds from DNA Genetics and see for yourself.
Crazy contemporary flavors
Cinnamon Milk
{ Cinnamon Milk 🥛 } ! Dropping at Cookies Melrose opening . Cereal á la mode X Sherb z #1 pic.twitter.com/yHh63OqoT9
— Berner (@berner415) January 17, 2024
Coming soon from Cookies and Powerzzzup, Cinnamon Milk builds on the Cereal Milk wave with a cross of Cereal A La Mode to Sherb Z #1. This is Cereal Milk work off The Y line that brought us the all-star strain Gary Payton. The Sherb Z #1 provides the potential for maximum flavor, while the Cereal A La Mode yielded an odd new unique creamy cinnamon terp, and it’s ready for prime time. See also: Mexican Flan, Horchata.
Singapore Sling
The lead indoor cultivator for one of California’s biggest cloners—Ian Strouss at Phinest—has a small, weird clone brand called Dubplatez. Taking a cue from the music world, Dubplatez provides fresh beats for the world’s great weed DJs to remix with.
“We’re slowly veering people off the same old shit path,” he said.
The latest is Singapore Sling, a sativa hybrid cross of Tiki Cookies and Creamsicle, the yields notes of zesty lime, sweet grape, classic cookie funk, sweet cream, citrus and berry.
“I like the funky gym socks stuff.”
Ian Strouss, Uncle Dad Vibes brand genetics
After you’ve taken the Dubplatez off-ramp from the Gelato highway, Strouss has an even weirder personal project called Uncle Dad Vibes. Uncle Dad Vibes’ genetics focuses on strains growers love, but are too risky to mass-produce because they don’t test at 30% THC or look like Eye Candy.
“I got super-crazy stuff. Black, purple, crazy sativa things,” he said. “I like the funky gym socks stuff.”
Since the masses want candy, and his wife is Latina, Strouss hunts a Mexican candyterp like Tamarind this year. He has a Lemongouli that smells like steak. And on March 30, Uncle Dad Vibes hosts a Spring seed germination carnival in Northern California called FREAKS!
Chili Verde
Let’s move beyond strains the majority of people would like and highlight truly weird niche stuff. I’m talking about Chili Verde. The odd cross from Lavender has an authentic, spicy, green chile terp that’s as liable to attract as repel.
“Shut the fuck up, no, that is crazy,” said weed expert Amanda Breeze on The Smoking Spot podcast.
We saw a cross of it called Blanka at The Ego Clash. But what we really want to see is a Chili Verde bred to a Cheese to isolate the first Nachos-tasting strain. Nachos—who’s with me?
“Yes. More weed savory terps. Gimme those profiles l like: cumin, burritos, and korean stir fry. Let’s really blow out the savory this year,” said Ryan Herron on The Smoking Spot podcast.
Holy Moly
Fig Farms’ Holy Moly has an authentic Mexican molé terp with that earthy, chocolate dankness. It’s crazy-strong and a favorite of California budtenders bored by yet another LCG. Fig Farms crossed their award-winning Banana Fig to Seed Junky’s Animal Mints 198 #1.
Whitethorn Rose
Smells of rose water and your grandma’s purse come from this award-winning California rarity Whitethorn Rose. Released by Huckleberry Hill Farms, it’s a cross of Paradise Punch and Lemon OG. Paradise Punch is Blackberry Kush x Lavender Berry; Lemon OG is a cross of OG #18 x Las Vegas Lemon Skunk. The rosin is incredibly pale, and highly coveted. Full-sun 2023 season outdoor jars have hit shelves. And look out for the first sighting of a Whitethorn Rose cross in our seeds guide next week. See also: Pink Boost Goddess.
“Grandma’s purse, let’s bring it back,” said Herron.
Crushed Ice
While many breeders follow their nose to new flavors, Mark Lewis of Napro Research and Molecular Farms also uses science to survey the terpene landscape looking for missing profiles. Lewis is super-proud of Crushed Ice and Hawaiian Ice, two extremely rare new flavors that are pinene-dominant. Grown by Farmer and the Felon, Crushed Ice won the award for most total terpenes in an outdoor flower at the California State Fair. Napro crossed Piney the Elder, an inbred pinene line over four generations, to Jade (In the Pines x Old Amsterdam) to yield a delicious and smooth pinene and caryophyllene-dominant flower. It boasts more than 4% total terpenoids and often 30% THC or more.
“When someone walks into a dispensary and asks for the flower with the highest THC, you can now ask, what terpene profile would you like to go with that 30%?,” said Lewis.
Molecular will be selling Crushed Ice seeds, among others, at Emerald Cup this year.
Citizens of Stankonia
Old Dirty Bastard
There’s a couple legacy ODB strains honoring the famed Wu-Tang Clan rapper. But here we’re big-upping southern Oregon breeder Kush Kirk’s cross of early Cookie fam OGKB x Sour Diesel Bx3 (from New York’s Top Dog Genetics). Kush Kirk adds a refined sour to a stanky, leathery kush breath. Guaranteed to whoop your THC-tolerant butt, and repel those with a delicate nose.
“It’s got this mouthfeel that’s very bold. It touches every point of the taste buds from front to back, and side to side.”
Kush Kirk, on ODB
Old Dirty Bastard is nighttime bud for medical insomnia, said Kirk, or as a daytime rescue medication for stress. “Think of it as a big red ‘Stop’ button. When you want to say ‘f*ck it’ to everything, take a dab of this, and everything relaxes and fades away,” he said.
ODB is so-named because neither OGKB nor Sour Diesel had fathers, so to speak. (They first circulated as female clones, sans parents.)
Ogre Breath
One of the few Michigan hashmakers invited to The Ego Clash, The Baked Tater entered an Ogre Breath (GMO x Meat Breath) that smelled absolutely rank and fabulous, and we wish we had more money to have bought a jar of the rosin.
For lovers of stinky cheese, or onions, or savory burger—Ogre Breath shows how weird Michigan is getting with the Breath family from OGKB.
“This one plant straight-up smelled like a halitosis sufferers group meeting.”
Redditor, on Ogre Breath
“Michigan weed is really fucking fire. Second to Oregon, I was wowed by the selection that they are growing,” said Breeze.
One Reddit poster said, “This one plant straight-up smelled like a halitosis sufferers group meeting.” Love it.
Kacklesnatch
Washington breeder Exotic Genetix Mike has just dropped Kacklesnatch, this hybrid indica cross of Leafly Hot Strains to Watch 2024, Chimera x Grape Jubilee.
“This frozen monster will give you arms of complete sub-zero nuggets everywhere, coupled with the foulest aroma of putrid raunchy stank!” said Mike.
Mike’s not too sure where the grape aroma went from the parent but, “I dig it!” he said. “This isn’t for those who may have a weak gut. Although it sounds weird, these nuggets smell like hot fumes from your butt—yet delicious. I promise!”
Well, that escalated quickly.
OK, we have to stop. There’s even more of course: Pistachio, Red Pop, Rootbeer, Michelada (see also Bloody Mary). We just smelled Umami Seeds’ Bath House and it smells like Ovaltine.
Let us commit to becoming more adventurous and less predictable in the new year. Let’s go out there and keep cannabis weird, Leafly Nation.
