California’s Weed of the Moment

We got to take a peek at the current landscape of the California cannabis market at the most recent edition of Hall of Flowers, a cannabis industry event at the Sonoma County Fairgrounds that took place Sept. 18 and 19. If we learned anything, it was that the quality of the product in the wider market is certainly beginning to improve since its initial dip after California’s legal cannabis market came online in 2018.

Hall of Flowers brings together cannabis farmers and distribution companies to show their wares direct to dispensary buyers, with many tech, edible and vape companies tagging along. Many small farmers might not be able to spare the funds required to get into these kinds of events, but teaming with distributors helps them get the buyers’ eyes on their product.

So, as one might expect with a room full of people that could make or break any company, people put their latest and greatest genetics on display. Some of those efforts proved far more captivating than others. But in the end, there was generally more good pot at this Hall of Flowers than any of its previous editions in September 2018 and May 2019.

As always, we walked every aisle, smelling every jar we saw. If it was not a good impression, we likely only smelled one and moved on, but there were fewer booths than ever where we were compelled to move on early. Eventually, 44 strains from 31 companies caught our eye in the initial pass through. That pack was whittled down to 20 throughout the course of the day’s rotations. The winners that remained was an ensemble of the best pot available to California consumers right now. Sure, Billy might have some crazy pheno of who-knows-what under his two lights in Rancho Cucamonga. But this list is actually available to consumers on California’s legal market.

First off, there was a bunch of great Miracle Alien Cookies or MAC. We can’t even imagine how much there will be of MAC this harvest season. The most exceptional representations we saw came from the gardens of Ember Valley, Buddy Buddy and Farmacy Phactory. The MAC 3 from Farmacy Phactory was our favorite newer pheno.

There was obviously a bunch of great gas on display. Those strains with a strong fuel aroma tend to be OG variants that lean a lot more on the fuel side than the pine side and are exceptionally grown. The one that stuck out the strongest for us was the Clout Fuel from Clout King. It smelled like a Michael Bay movie. The aroma was an explosion of fuel almost shocking your sense of smell for a millisecond or two before the gas exploded through. It was awesome.

Buddy Buddy’s GMO cut was the runner up for the gassiest strain at the show.

Some booths were on another level than their peers. Alien Labs and Connected had some of the newest and most exciting strains that are grown to the highest standards. This included the El Jefe, Fire OG x Gelato #41, Creme De Menthe, and the newest in-house favorite at Alien Labs, Moonbow. The Moonbow strain pairs Zkittelz and Dosido #74. Expect to hear a lot of rap songs about it.

Other groups with more than one thing that caught our eye included IC Collective, Ember Valley, Buddy Buddy and Hot Box.

The biggest surprise of the day was the spread from A Golden State. While they were stingy on their genetics, the jars were absolutely nuts. The Silver Cloud was cool and The Woods had awesome sour and pinene notes.

Here is the rest of the list:

Gas – Octane 93

Mendo – Watermelon Punch

Connected – Guava x Biscotti

Lit House – Vulcan Valley

IC Collective – Ziablo

Sweetwater Farms – Slurricane

Cream of the Crop – Tiramisu

Talking Trees – Layer Cake

Grand Cru – Sugar Fish

Josh D – Josh D OG Kush

Team Elite Genetics – Creme De La Creme

Ember Valley – Watermelon Gelato

TELL US, what is your favorite strain?