Strain Review: Orange Velvet (sativa-indica hybrid)

Our intrepid ganja chronnoisseur, Dragonfly, travels the world in search of the best cannabis and evaluates strains ranging from the popular and plentiful to the rare and exotic. She samples each strain in joints, glass bongs, vaporizers and bubblers, whenever available, taking careful notes of the smell, taste, and nuanced effects of each one. (photo by Dragonfly)

Orange Velvet is perhaps best known for its genetic antecedents. It helped give birth to Agent Orange (with Jack the Ripper), and later was famously paired with Space Queen F2 to create Jillybean. But Orange Velvet is a worthy strain in its own right. Remember those orange Dreamsicles? You will when you smoke Orange Velvet.

Originally known as “Melvin,” this Pacific Northwest skunk is of unknown genetic origins. What is known is that it ended up in the hands of a breeder who, upon discovering its electric orange flavor, renamed it Orange Velvet and began propogating seeds.

Orange Velvet is not a particularly resinous strain. Its effect isn’t even that powerful. But whatever this strain lacks in potency and trichomes, it more than makes up for in smell and flavor. The smell is absolutely unbelievable. Blindfolded, you might have a hard time distinguishing the bud from a scoop of sweet, orange sherbet. That’s because Orange Velvet smells just like orange Dreamsicles. And it tastes just the way it smells. That a plant could taste that way naturally is hard to fathom. Its flavor was obviously perfected in Mother Nature’s most advanced laboratories.

The smell: The live plant smells like super rich vanilla honey tangerine/orange sherbert with an earthy, skunky bottom-end and topped with a sour surface. Fresh off the grinder, Orange Velvet smells like summer citrus sunshine.

The dry hit: Puff on this before you light the joint and your mouth will delight in the creamy, dreamy, orange sherbert taste. It is also reminiscent of orange Pixie Stix or Tang, rounded out with subtle hints of key lime pie.

The flavor: The smells transition to flavor with remarkable expression — orange/tangerine cotton candy… sherbert… vanilla ice cream… slight sour edge of red grapefruit… mildly spicy mango. All these flavors combine to create the taste of sunshine on a summer day.

The high: This grin-inducing, exotic strain produces a very well-balanced sativa/indica high. On the one hand, it is euphoric, uplifting, and happy, giving your body a cloud to float on. At the same time, it has a grounding effect, bringing clarity and focus. If you like smiling ear-to-ear for no apparent reason, Orange Velvet will take you there riding on the sun.

Orange Velvet is smooth like velvet. It will put you in a mellow, relaxed state, yet provide an uncanny ability to stay on track and get things done. Medicinally speaking, it’s a great mood enhancer and anti-depressant, and is reportedly useful for mild pain management. But be warned: Any time you light up Orange Velvet in a party setting, expect to be swarmed by people wanting to sniff your joint!

The high only lasts about 2-3 hours, depending on tolerance. But a shorter high definitely has its advantages: you can light up and have a chance to come down before going to class, visiting your parents, operating heavy machinery, or sampling the next strain.

The word: Because it lacks bag appeal, Orange Velvet is not particularly viable as a commercial strain, but it’s perfect for the discriminating chronnoisseur’s head stash. The smell alone makes it a must-have novelty strain.