Welcome back to Willamette Weed, your monthly cannabis update that scours Portland to find the best flowers available on the city's dispensary circuit.
LA Qrippler (Recon x Querkle)
Grown and bred by Eugreen No-Till.
Cannabinoid content: 33.2% THC, 0.1% CBD
Dominant terpenes: myrcene, pinene, trans-ocimene, linalool, caryophyllene.
About the farm: Eugene's Eugreen No-Till puts its nutrition where its name is. That is, it embraces "no-till" farming, an organic agricultural practice by which, over multiple harvests, horticulturists develop biologically active beds of soil that are home to diverse populations of bacteria and micro-critters—those that work in concert with deep fungal networks to supply the nutritional elements needed to support naturally healthy plants from seed to harvest. Think of it as next-level organic farming that results in top-tier chronic.
Aroma and flavor: Raw flowers are sweet and vaguely citrus—sharp and powdery by texture—while the smoke is cheesy and metallic with a distant fruit finish.
Effects: A dizzying 33 percent THC arrives in entourage with a metabolite profile of the fruit-forward set for a soaring cerebral experience that's matched by more moderate body notes. Expect a spacey mental energy and general calm that pairs well with mindfulness meditations and backyard birdwatching.
Buy it: Parlour Cannabis Shoppe, 4702 SW Scholls Ferry Road; Attis Trading Company, 2606 SE Gladstone St. and 7737 SW Barbur Blvd. $11-$15 a gram.
Kool-Aid (Lavender x Skunk) x (Afghan x Blueberry)
Grown by Deschutes Growery and bred by Cannaventure Seeds
Cannabinoid content: 13.27% THC.
Dominant terpenes: terpinolene, beta-caryophyllene, myrcene.
About the farm: Bend's Deschutes Growery marries the Old World and the New with an environmentally conscious slant. LED grow lights, solar panels and vertical, quad-tiered cultivation chambers minimize the farm's carbon footprint—packing a potential 1,600 square feet of canopy into each 400-square-foot room. At the same time, Deschutes embraces the anachronism, raising their girls in living soil, mimicking nature for nutrition and preventive health.
Aroma and flavor: Strawberry lemonade, Peachie-O's, pink Starburst and the titular purple drink are apparent from jar to smoke.
Effects: Party weed for the canna-curious newcomer, Kool-Aid is uplifting and cheerful with a manageable, no-head-trips 13.27 percent THC. While regulars might not get excited about that number, the flavor here is a huge draw and will have you and friends guessing at which type of candy it most smells and tastes like.
Buy it: Bridge City Collective, 215 SE Grand Ave.; Nectar Barbur, 0931 SW 53rd Ave.; AmeriCannaRX, 8654 NE Sandy Blvd. $8-$15 a gram.
RudeBoi OG (Irene Kush x Face/Off OG)
Grown by Mindful Organics and bred by Archive Seed Bank.
Cannabinoid content: 29.57% THC.
Dominant terpenes: beta-caryophyllene, linalool, limonene, humulene, myrcene, bisabolol.
About the farm: Though the second-generation cannabis farmers behind Portland's Mindful Organics don't say it outright, they are a consistent, go-to source for connoisseur-quality night-time varietals. Mindful's lineup tends toward classic kush flavors. Its Lavender Trainwreck, GSC x OG, Sour Tip and Nepalese Kush are all stand-outs in this class. So many excellent sleepy strains. So many craveable flavors.
Aroma and flavor: Lavender and leather goods gain notes of green onion, musky blueberry and perfumed compost at the pipe.
Effects: Physical and cognitive changes are strong and evenly composed in Mindful's take on the Portland-staple, powerhouse kush RudeBoi OG. The high is functional to a point and creative in a directionless sort of way, while muscles are oxygenated, soothed and sedated throughout the head shift.
Buy it: Local Leaf, 7570 SW 74th Ave.; Progressive Collective, 9810 E Burnside St. $10-$15 a gram.