Anyone who has walked into a dispensary for the first time or spent more than 5 minutes perusing a cannabis menu online ultimately ends up asking themselves, do all these names actually mean anything, or is it just a bunch of stoner marketing speak?
Well, it’s complicated, and I’ll try to lay it all out in this post based on what I’ve gathered. To answer the question, “yes,” strain names generally do mean something, but they can also be infused with a bit of marketing speak.
Gorilla Glue #4, Black Widow, Cheetah Piss, Martian Fruit, Strawberry Gary, Grandpa’s Gunchest, 9 Pound Hammer, Cookie Fruity, Green Crack…
The list of cannabis strain names is as dazzling and diverse as the respective cannabinoid, terpenoid, flavonoid, and polyphenol ratios found in these creative spectacles of human ingenuity.
That’s right, when you smoke or vape cannabis, there is a marvelous symphony that is played out wherein the plant is the orchestra and your entire body, your endocannabinoid system, is the instrumentation. Together, a sensation as beautiful music is produced.
So yeah, if you’re not a regular toker and you feel like you’re in space or time moves differently around you, that’s because a) your body is literally full of endocannabinoid receptors and b) THC interacts with receptors in the cerebellum and basal ganglia, areas of the brain that control balance, posture, coordination and reaction time, among other things.
Why Cannabis Naming Conventions May Feel Confusing
Given the complexity of experiences an individual may have after partaking in l’herbe, one must stop and ask oneself: was it this strain, or was it me?
Well, the answer is “it’s a bit of both.” The experience you had was a combination of the compounds in the plant, as well as how that unique cocktail of compounds interacted with your own unique physiology. So strain names do matter.
The bold font in the above paragraph is used intentionally because, as anyone even remotely familiar with math can understand when trying to calculate the possible outcomes of one large set of variables against another large set of variables (such as the quantity and ratio of psychoactive cannabinoids + your own unique human physiology + set and setting) you’re left with a vast number of possibilities and outcomes.
As such, there’s no way to simply say, “Yeah, just smoke strain X, and you’ll experience Y.” I mean, perhaps if your identical twin experienced a specific type of high, you could reference that strain, but for the unidentical among us, prescribing strains with 100% confidence is pretty much a shitshot.
Or is it?
The sheer breadth of creativity that is on prominent display on weed menus must be indicative of something, right? Surely this isn’t all just random? It couldn’t all be marketing B.S., could it?
No doubt, marketing is a big part of any strain’s popularity, but it isn’t the only driver. I must say, as a passionate cannabis consumer myself, more often than not, there does seem to be some amount of reasoning that goes into naming a particular chemotype, aka the plant’s unique cannabinoid and terpene ratios.
How to Decipher Strain Names?
On the whole, most strain names convey either A) some aspect of the plant’s genetic lineage and/or B) some aspect of its observable properties such as smell, flavor, and/or effect.
For the big brain nerds out there, we’d say it’s an amalgamation of cannabis genotypes, chemotypes, and phenotypes that, in varying ratios and quantities, most often comprise a given strain’s valued characteristics and thus serve as a genesis for its name.
Despite pop culture and government propaganda painting stoners as intellectually dull, I’ve found that couldn’t be further from the truth, particularly regarding the breeders who are constantly hunting for unique cultivars to refine, combine, or backcross.
Seriously, the level of geekery that goes on in the experimentation, production, and release of any “new” strain is comprised of sometimes entire DECADES of labor, love, and countless hours of testing and refinement.
Others, such as the OGs, can remain relatively stable genetically but are still continually refined by environmental factors and curated breeding. The ultimate aim here is to produce the very best possible version of that particular phenotype, or version of the plant representing traits inherited from controllable environmental factors such as nutrients, light spectrums, humidity, and temperature, among other trade secrets.
So you have two avenues of innovation occurring simultaneously in the cannabis industry: the continual pursuit of perfection among classic strains like Durban Poison, Northern Lights, Maui Wowie, OG Kush, Afghani, Bubba Kush, GSC, etc.. as well as the creation of entirely new and exciting strains, including recent standout examples like Wedding Cake, Gary Payton, Now N Laterz, Cereal Milk, Zoap, Carbon Fiber, Super Boof, and White Truffle, among countless others.
The real takeaway here is that the cannabis community is an engine of constant innovation. Passionate stoners don’t smoke willy-nilly; they’re actually extremely particular about what they consume.
This is because cannabis is an unbelievably complex plant today, having been manipulated by man for as far back as 500 B-fucking-C, all in the holy pursuit of the nirvana of highs, which, like all worthy pursuits, is more an aspiration state of mind than a quantifiable destination, but we’re getting a bit too philosophical here.
The takeaway is this: yes, cannabis strains, more often than not, DO imbue meaning grounded in fact.
A name can describe the smell of the plant, the effect of the plant, or the plant’s parents (genetic lineage).
So yes, you should read the whole dispensary menu, and yes, if a name stands out as intriguing to you, then you should take that language cue and give it some consideration.
The quickest way to verify your suspicions is to then give it a smell, as your nose knows, as they say in the industry!
How Do Strains Get Their Names?
As outlined above, cannabis strains get their names from various tangible characteristics. Sensory systems, including the human nose, mouth, eyes, tongue, throat, and the entire body’s worth of endocannabinoid receptors, all have a say in what any given new strain is referred to as.
Take the classic Sour Diesel strain. It smells sour and vaguely of diesel fuel, hence the name. In this instance, the name takes after its scent and flavor, not its genetics, which are Chemdawg 91′ and Super Skunk.
Tropicana Cookies? My favorite strain of all time gets its name from its smell, flavor, and genetics, with an intense sweet-fruit nose and a creamy, yeasty flavor on inhalation and exhalation.
The “Cookies” part of the name is inherited partially from the Girl Scout Cookies parent strain, along with Tangie, which is the impetus behind the smell/flavor and is thus represented by the “Tropicana” part of the name.
Northern Lights? This strain is named after the unique combination of its believed birthplace in the north hemisphere (near Seattle, WA), where the Northern Lights are visible, but also incorporating its indica-leaning nature (sleepy/sedating effect> nighttime>Northern Lights) as well as the “magical” type of high that users experience with this classic 70’s hype strain.
Green Crack? This one was called initially Green Kush but was renamed “green crack” after Snoop Dogg described its uniquely potent sativa effects. FWIW, this was one of the first strains I smoked, and it was definitely a bit jittery.
GSC? Well, this acronym unofficially stands for “Girl Scout Cookies,” although you can’t market it as that because it’s an existing trademarked organization.
It’s a shame, though, because, from many a stoner’s perspective, it’s more of a sincere homage to Thin Mints specifically because of its smooth cookie/doughy flavor and refreshingly pleasant minty-esque finish.
Gary Payton? Just a licensing deal between Berner of the Cookies brand and NBA all-star Gary Payton, so yes, some naming convention can be the result of marketing. However, overall, this represents a small portion of the cannabis world and is more of a recent post-legalization phenomenon.
Jack Herer? Created in the early 90s as a commemoration of a beloved cannabis activist, it was bred by Sensi Seeds, combining multiple all-time classic strains befitting of the all-time great visionary of its namesake.
Mimosa? Smells like a freshly made mimosa and makes you feel like you’ve just had three of them at a particularly invigorating brunch with friends. Mimosa’s parents are Clementine and Purple Punch, if that helps paint a more complete picture of its flavor.
Cookie Fruity? Oh, because it’s an ultra-sweet dessert strain? Wrong! It’s actually kind of spicy and gassy, and it’s named not for its flavor/smell but primarily for its parents: Fruity Pebbles OG and Crystal Cookies.
As you can see, there are a variety of variables that go into names, from profit-driven licensing agreements (Gary Payton) to pirate-esque commandeering of existing consumer products (GSC) to sincere memorials (Jack Herer) and sheer genetic logic (Cookie Fruity), the origins of a strain, while varied all grounded in some aspect of reality.
Consumers, as such, can thus confidently know that, yes, strain names do have meaning, come from somewhere, and are worth reading into.
Who chooses the strain names anyway?
It is usually the breeder who comes up with strain names. Some of the hottest strains today are bred by canna geniuses who naturally give names to their new creations, their babies.
Other times, names are provided by seed companies that either outsource phenohunting or do it in-house. Think plant geneticists.
In unique cases, such as Green Crack or perhaps more notably “Khalifa Kush”, names are imparted by larger-than-life figures who either commission them or have a personal preference for them.
Others, like OG Kush or Thai Sticks, are examples where the market aligns on a naming convention more than on a single individual.
What does OG denote in a Strain Name?
The family-friendly version here is that OG stands for “ocean grown,” as it was initially explicitly assigned to strains popular on the west coast of the United States, specifically those cultivated and refined within the notorious “Emerald Triangle” in northern California, which today is comprised of Humboldt, Trinity, and Mendocino counties.
The other interpretation is that OG stands for “original gangster” and refers to the association between rap stars and quality cannabis, as before recreational legalization, rappers always seemed to have access to the best quality cannabis from the “unregulated” market.
A quick perusal of Urban Dictionary will show how widely applicable “OG” has become as a loose synonym for “classic,” “vintage,” or just shorthand for “original.”
Whichever the case, perhaps a bit of both, OG today denotes legendary strains, usually kush strains with an indica lean, which are very popular on the West Coast but are also spreading throughout the rest of America.
How to Decide Which Strain Is Right For You?
Hopefully, by now, you’ll have taken away the fact that while not 100% accurate, strain names do, for the most part, associate with some aspect of the strain’s experience.
Like song titles or sports cars, names impart meaning. As such, when you’re reading a menu, if something communicates an emotion or recollection that you find pleasant or intriguing, it is a good indication you should add that strain to your shortlist.
Once you’ve scanned the entire menu, go back to the names that stood out to you and have a frank conversation with your local budtender about what these girls have to offer.
In lieu of a good budtender, you can reference sites like Leafly or Seedfinder. Still, given how subjective the experience can be, it’s preferable to speak to someone who regularly interacts with larger numbers of stoners to get more of a mile-high view of the reception and opinion of a given strain.
Once the budtender shares their insight into your strain shortlist, the rest of the decision-making process is on you. In deli-style states, a sniff of the actual product is a very reliable and quick way to find something that speaks to you.
In pre-packaged states, that’s not possible, so you’ll only have background information and the appearance of the plant itself to base your decisions on, which isn’t optimal.
Some growers list specific terpene percentages, so if you vibe with a particular one, this could be helpful. Still, because there is no standardization (no federal oversight or regulation), it’s kind of a crapshoot as to which growers will list terpene content on their labels and which won’t.
Personally, I haven’t found a difference in quality between those that display terpene percentages and those that don’t.
The reality is that to truly get a solid understanding of strains, you’re just going to have to keep smoking weed!
The more variety you sample and the more you understand their genetics, the better you’ll be able to identify favorable strains with favorable traits. For example, take my favorite strain, Tropicana Cookies. Before smoking it, I’d smoked strains with GSC lineage as well as Tangie. As it turned out, these were the parents who gave birth to Tropicana Cookies.
If you like the parents of a strain, there’s a high chance you’ll enjoy their offspring, so to speak. Shit, even if one of the parents is one of your favorites, the intrigue of trying that mixed with 50% new genetics is an exciting proposition.
Ultimately, identifying strains that speak to you is half science and half art. You can obsess about terpene profiles, or you can take a chance once in a while and see what comes of it. Regardless, given the imprecision, maintaining an open mind is critical to enjoying the journey of discovery that is smoking cannabis.
6 Tips Find Your Personal “Grail Strain”
There are a few things you need to do in addition to keeping an open mind to find a “favorite.”
Sure, maybe you’ll strike gold on the first swing of your toker pick axe and fall in love with your first strain, but given how many fish are in the sea, I perhaps cynically presume this to be an unlikely scenario.
Instead, there are a few things you can do to help paint a more clear mental map of the canna-universe and where you fit within it.
1) Keep Tasting Notes
Whether it be saving labels or keeping a journal, the first part of ascertaining what you like is actually remembering what you smoked in the first place.
Human memory fades fast, and it fades even quicker when you’re blasting off to space regularly. Taking. Taking a few notes on a given purchase is a great way to record your opinion while it’s fresh, as well as to keep it in historical context in the future.
2) Do Some Online Sleuthing to Connect Dots
Use websites like Seedfinder.eu to look up your strain’s lineage. Trust me; it’s a fascinating experience, and over time, you’ll start seeing popular strain names pop up again and again, and when you see this, you’ve found a thread to tug on.
If you know a specific strain that is used at some point in history to birth a strain you like, you can search for other offspring of this ancestor to try because they all will have a commonality, but also incorporate new and exciting expressions, expanding the options available to you.
3) Stay Up to Date on Your Sampling
The cannabis industry is at a fascinating point, not just in terms of record-breaking profits associated with growing legalization but in the explosion of creativity occurring as more and more people can crossbreed strains without fear of legal repercussions.
Simple maths says the more people creatively crossbreed and phenohunt, the more spoiled for choice we’ll be, and the more diamonds in the rough we’ll discover— and trust me, they’re found all the time—literally every year.
So asking your budtender what is hot and/or what is new and popular is a great way to discover new and exciting strains, which are sometimes referred to as “hype strains,” which I think is just a hipster way of rejecting genetic populism, which is not a negative in the slightest in my opinion.
4) Follow Proven & Favorite Breeders
Got a strain you really like? Do some research and find out which breeder or seed company birthed that bad boy. If a cultivation geek created a strain that you love, the chances of you having similar tastes to him/her are high (no pun intended), and thus it makes sense to keep tabs on them to see what they’re dropping fresh.
For example, Sensi Seeds, Seed Junky, Bloom Seed Co, Sin City Seeds, Cookies Fam, Compound Genetics, Oni Seeds, Capulator and Cipher Genetics are all names that have produced genetics that resonate with me and are, thus, brands/individuals that I try to keep tabs on (via email lists, Instagram, forums, etc) to not miss any new and exciting drops.
5) Embrace Friendly Recommendations
Yes, the cannabis universe is vast, but also, people who smoke all day, every day have a thing or two to share if you ask politely. Some of the best strains I’ve ever had have come directly from budtenders’ recommendations.
Sure, not all budtenders are helpful. Still, if you keep asking, you’ll pretty regularly find gurus willing to impart some sacred knowledge or share what’s selling well, at the very least, which you can then investigate further.
6) Keep Exploring!
I moved to Oregon almost four years ago and have been sampling strains as fast as I can, regularly finding new and delightful terpene expressions and sensations.
It’s become quite apparent that the universe of cannabis genetics is profound and inspiring, with seemingly limitless possibilities. Sure, I have my favorites, and you’ll quickly hone in on yours, but evolution never stops, and for that reason, it’s important to keep trying new things.
Strains Are Always Highly Subjective
Cannabis evolves, your tastes evolve, and different farms will produce slightly different (for better or worse) iterations of any given strain.
As such, enjoying cannabis requires a degree of flexibility and a willingness to stretch your palette.
Or not, if you found a strain you like that makes you happy, there’s nothing wrong with just smoking that.
That’s the great thing about cannabis: there are no rules, and nobody can tell you otherwise. It’s a form of expression and an intimate connection between plant and humans, and as such, no guide or blog post can, with 100% confidence, dictate to you what you should or shouldn’t be smoking.
Just keep your ears, heart, nose, and lungs open, and you’re pretty much guaranteed to have a good time.
Although I probably wouldn’t recommend Green Crack as someone’s very first strain…
