Jimi DevineIt’s time for our annual list of California’s yule log heat: The 12 Strains of Christmas.
As with last year, weed has a special spot in our hearts during the continuing lockdown. The heat is now more important than ever as we wait for the Greek alphabet to run out or the world to open.
But regardless, there is still plenty of great weed out there. Here are a bunch of holiday offerings sure to make Aunt Ethel’s famous sour cheesecake go down a bit smoother.
1: Rated Gas – 93 Zapreme
Courtesy of Rated Gas
One of the more exotic offerings on the 12 Strains of Christmas this year, you’ll have to head over to Cookies San Bernadino, Gorilla Rx on Crenshaw, or Mission Organics in San Francisco to get some, but you will not be disappointed. You can very much expect it to live up to its gas enthusiast branding once you open the bag.
2: Fig Farms – Kryptochronic
Fig Farms test phenotypes. Photo: Jimi Devine
We see a lot of heat from Fig, all hunted in house from seed. When they aren’t working with their award-winning in-house lines like the Purple Fig, they are knocking some of the big hitters of the moment out of the way as we’ve seen in recent years. Their latest find is a stunning pheno of Kryptochronic from Compound Genetics that ranks as one of the top renditions of the strain we’ve seen. Keep an eye out as it starts to hit shelves across L.A. in the near future.
3: Ball Family Farms – Bonsai Tree
Courtesy of Ball Family Farms
L.A.’s original social equity farm continues to rank among the states best when it comes to those given an accelerated chance in the marketplace due to the impact the war on drugs disproportionately has on certain communities. But people are buying weed from Ball Family Farms because of its heat. Supporting L.A.’s original equity farm is an important bonus and we hope everyone realizes they’re doing it in those moments.
4: CAM – Biscotti otti otti
Courtesy of CAM
We still love deals and steals heat here at L.A. Weekly and this Christmas, as with most other days, there are few people hitting the mark on the flame to price ratio like CAM. One of the newest hitters from their continuing work with Seed Junky Genetics famed gear is Biscotti otti otti. It’s a fantastic pairing of Biscotti and Kush Mints that should be on your must smoke list.
5: Ridgeline Farms – Lantz
The multiple-time world champions at Ridgeline Farms have heavily emphasized to us over the last year they believe the Lantz is the truth. After taking home the Emerald Cup with Green Lantern and Runtz in recent years, we have to believe it must be the truth. We’re excited to see how competitive Ridgeline is at the cup given the quality of weather and lack of smoke in Southern Humboldt County this year.
6: Vesuvio Gardens – Bubblebath
Courtesy of Vesuvio Gardens
Another offering from Southern Humboldt, we’ve argued for years that Vesuvio Gardens is one of the most underrated farms in the state. Now after collaborations with names like Kalya Extracts and a bunch of killer breeders in recent years it’s probably less true but we’ll continue to preach!!! Bubblebath is a pairing of The Soap and Project 4516. It’s a reputable offering to the wave of detergent terps we’re starting to see.
7: Alien Labs – Y2K
Photo: Jimi Devine
The Alien Labs team has spent the last couple of years finding a new purple to change the world. Y2K is the initial offering from this body of work and we’re all about it. It’s the best reminder of the great grapes of yesterday that won the hearts of many.
8: Skunkbank Genetics – Root Beer x GMO
Courtesy of JTrees
If you were extra good this year, as in you helped multiple senior citizens cross the street on separate occasions, Santa might bring you some Root Beer x GMO. The strain is a paring of Mean Gene’s famous Root Beer with Jaro done by Skunktek for Skunkbank Genetics. Rootbeer is Headband x (Hollywood PureKush x (Hindu x Black Afi)) while Jaro is SourDiesel x (Pure Kush x (HinduxBlackAfi)). Expect this one to have a massive 2022.
9: Compound Genetics – Red Bullz
Courtesy of Compound Genetics
Me moments before I pulled the Red Bullz jar out of the box. Photo: Courtesy of Compound Genetics
On planet Weed Hype there is currently a country named after Compound Genetics and Red Bullz is one of its newest shining stars. We originally discovered the pheno in early August when Compound invited us by for a pheno hunt with some of their rapper blunts. Six blunts in I was in great shape. Blunt seven was the Red Bullz and I don’t think I’ve been that high since. I was basically having a mini panic attack and my face was covered in sweat in the back seat of the Uber, but it would be criminal if it didn’t get some love here. They’re keeping this one for their flower line much like the Jokerz 31 but they still love Berner.
10: Maven Genetics – Blue Lotus
Courtesy of Maven Genetics
One of the big stars of Hall of Flowers Palm Springs was definitely Maven. Every offering they had stood above most of the pack but for the 12 Strains of Christmas, we’re going with the Blue Lotus. It’s the second offering from their limited black box series and brings together Blue Gelato #41 with their pheno of XXX OG. They hunted through a dozen phenotypes to find the winner and that keeper is certainly a standout.
11: Seed Junky Genetics – Purple Octane
Courtesy of Seed Junky Genetics
There are few names in the game that pair commercial viability and heat quite like Seed Junky. Sure some Two Light Terry in the flyovers might claim Kush Mints is over and they’re mad about the Ice Cream Cake flood, but we will smoke all that because it’s all heat. This year we’re going with the Purple Punch x Hi-Octane for the list just to throw a punch in there to salt the haters’ wounds a little. We’re excited for a big 2022 from Seed Junky as they continue to grow.
12: Whatever you’re smoking!
We get it, some of the 12 Strains of Christmas are a bit on the exotic side. I couldn’t even get the Red Bullz for my Grannie Annie if I wanted to. That being said, your pot is great too. Whatever pot you and your family are going to enjoy together this holiday is always one of the 12 Strains of Christmas.
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