WE REVIEW THREE NEW STRAINS
Jul 14, 2023 01:02PM ● By MEREDITH MANN, JESSILYN DOLAN, AND AMELIA
Bern Legacy Cannabis, adult use retail dispensary in downtown Burlington, selected three cultivars (strains) for our crew to review. Thank you to Bern, for keeping us lit this time around! www.berngallerydispensary.com
TEMPLE DURBAN
Grower: First Chair
Strain: Temple Durban
Grown indoors
Genetics: Temple Kush x Durban
Poison
Harvest date: 9.26.23 Package date: 2.4.23
This tight and dense, straight up classic weed smelling profile flower brought us back to our old school Canadian weed glory days of the 90s, listening to Cypress Hill or Phish at Nectar's, Vermont.
This frosty looking flower was tightly trimmed, with a few stigmas poking out and some sugar leaves left on typical to a machine trim.
We were able to get a glimpse of amber trichomes, telling us that the cultivator let this lady go the final stretch when growing.
As we started to digest the aromas, we dug our noses deep into an almost dried tea smell, an earthy and herbal grounding essence.
The classic Durban earthy spice popped when we continued breaking it up with our hands, with the spice of the beta caryophyllene terpene lingering on our fingers.
The Temple Durban’s layers left
distinct notes of myrcene, limonene,
and that spicy beta caryophyllene—a
great combination of spice, sage, and
earthiness, with a slight citrus and
sweet kick to boot.
As we ground up the flower, the sweet and spicy aromas took a quiet front stage, getting us pumped to try this “sweet sugar and spice, and everything nice.”
For 8-month-old cannabis, this flower still had a good squish and feel to the touch, a testament to great packaging and jar choice. It ground well and rolled great.
As we inhaled that first dry hit, aka inhalation prior to lighting, we got sweet, lemony, and earthy, a bit noisier this time, leaving us hoping that the smoke continued to get even better.
Smoking this joint was a good reminder to go beyond those first few hits when you are looking for the flavors. As we puffed our way into the second half, we found the earthy and mildly sweet notes we had smelled, a touch of sweet on the lips, earth on tongue, and spice in throat and nose.
Temple Durban left us creative, chatty, and giggly with a mellow head high and body buzz. Collectively feeling uplifted and lighter from the dominant terpene limonene at 0.723%, it reminded us all of an antidepressant rather than the typical Durban poison stimulant. With 18.14% THC, cotton mouth, and the hiccups, our euphoric banter centered around gummies, homemade pizza, breads, and cheeses.
This is what we would describe as a pleasant smoke that left us energized, wide- yet glossy-eyed, and with mild pain relief effects that we were grateful for.
WATERMELON KUSH
Grower: Old Growth Vermont
www.ogvermont.com
Strain: Watermelon Kush
Grown outdoors
Harvest date: Fall 2022
Package date: 5.1.23
Some people think outdoors isn’t “eye
candy.” When you put a scope to this
Watermelon Kush, eye candy is all we see.
With a moderate amount of trichomes coating the flower, we noted a fair amount of amber trichome heads, and many, if not most, trichome heads intact. It was evident that this flower had a meticulous and careful trim job, leaving bits of sugar leaves intact to protect the trichomes while following the sexy contour of the lady.
This flower is a great example of the very pretty Vermont outdoors, especially for a 9-month-old flower. The stigmas looked mature, red, and ready to smoke!
The jar popping aroma was potent for 9-month-old outdoor with complex layers, like a triple chocolate cake.
We were immediately able to identify dominant terpenes of terpinolene and limonene, with the sweet ocimene popping in the background (0.63% terpinolene, 0.26% limonene, 0.23% ocimene, with 19% THC).
The sweet popped even more on the grind and smelled like tangy watermelon much more than it did on the initial whiff. This flower definitely had some tang with a bang, almost like a fermented watermelon. The perfect squish upon touch let us know this cultivator took their time curing this flower to perfection. Fluffy on the grind and sticky on the roll, it made for an enjoyable and easy rolling experience.
Upon smoke, the intensity was moderate to potent with a complexity that was mostly tangy and sweet, chased with a bit of pine or mint.
The mouth tingles and palate stain didn’t last too long, but the thick smoke was apparent and notable. We thought this was one best to share and cough with a friend. “I always like the Watermelon Kush, it is uplifting for me.”
CARAMEL COLLIDER
Grower: Smoke Ranch Redemption
Strain: Caramel Collider
Grown outdoors
Package date: 2.5.23
These delightful little nuggets were tight and light!
With a dense overall structure, and tight trim job, we found patches of clear intact trichomes with dark orange stigmas closely shaping the nugget.
We all noticed a moderately intense earth smell right off the bat, with a touch of sweet, leaving some intrigue to the imagination—almost a tease!
Upon grind, the aromas were subtle, adding some pleasant piney and citrus notes to the nose, with the earthy and sweet shining through even more.
A bit dry after the grind, leaving us with an imagination toward the exciting untapped potential this must have had at its prime, yet noted how this could be perfect for the vaping consumer.
With our freshly rolled joints in hand, the initial inhalation prior to lighting left a mellow earthiness on our palates, with a slightly pine, slightly sweet combination.
As we lit up, the pine initially shone through, and as we chewed on the smoke, we found earth again. You could almost taste the southwest Vermont soil, full of organic green veggies with a touch of corn and earth blowing in the wind, continuing with sweetness coming through when smoking. The flavor and smoke was light bodied, not the teeth-licking sweetness you find with some smokes.
This simple, classic earth and sweet would be a fabulous choice for a newer consumer and someone looking for a mellow experience, reminiscent of that first “sativa” head high or a low dose edible buzz. It “doesn’t pack too bad of a punch” and is “not intimidating or overwhelming,” even with THC topping 21.1% on lab tests.
Caramel Collider left us focused with entertaining conversation, a “ready for my day” kind of vibe, rather than a night munching on the couch vibe.
Jessilyn Dolan, RN, CMT, CLD is a cannabis nurse, researcher, educator, activist, patient, and caregiver. Jessilyn is founder of the Vermont Cannabis Nurses Association (VTCNA), President of the American Nurses Association- Vermont (ANA-VT), and a former director of the American Cannabis Nurses Association (ACNA). Jessilyn is a certified cannabis sommelier and a Vermont state vendor trainer for canna- bis employee education. She co-founded NurseGrown Organics, Vermont hemp and CBD, and Roots Madder Farmstead, Vermont’s first Clean Green Certified hemp and adult use cannabis farm.
Amelia is the Director of Communications for Green Mountain Patients Alliance, is a graphic designer,medical cannabis patient, and fierce patient advocate. She advocates for progressive medical cannabis reform in Vermont, with a focus on connecting patients and caregivers.
Meredith Mann is a medical cannabis patient and former Medical Dispensary Manager, holding multiple cannabis certifications from The Trichome Institute. Meredith co-founded Magic Mann, a Vermont cannabis adult-use retail store, cultivation, and manufacturer in Essex Junction, Vermont.
