Most Popular Trees of 2024: All-time Classics vs. New School Hype

While there is no denying the staying power of timeless OGs and classical strains on dispensary menus, it is always interesting with each new year to see what fresh and exciting cultivars bubble up across legal markets in the United States.

If you’re a flavor chaser like myself then you know the excitement that comes along with dispensary trips in which you discover cannabis genetics that are either A) completely new to you and/or B) are some type of cross between one or more already beloved cultivars.

This arms race in creativity means that with each passing year we get new titillating varieties of cannabis thanks to the hard work of genetics geniuses and breeder boffins from the Pacific to the Atlantic. 

As 2024 storms down upon us I wanted to take some time to reflect on 2023, not just my own consumption but what American stoners overall found the most interesting. 

Seeing what everyone was smoking on in 2023 at the national level is pretty neat but given the state-specific nature of recreational legalization I was also curious to see what everyone was smoking on at the state level as well. 

The below data was collected from Google Trends search interest history over the course of the year. This is just what people typed into Google and is not reflective of actual sales data, that may ultimately be a different story…

In terms of sheer curiosity, this first list contains strains that were the most popular in search interest over the entire year, while the second list below contains strains that grew the most over the year and which will likely become very popular into 2024.

In summary, in terms of total popularity, based off occurrence and average interest levels by state, in aggregate, by search interest alone, it would appear that the top 3 strains of 2023 overall were:

1. Runtz
2. Gelato
3. Miracle Alien Cookies

So next time you want to start bitching about why every other dispensary you stop in has a bunch of Runtz on the menu this is why; people love Runtz. 

Personally I’m more of a Gelato fan myself as it feels like half the strain reviews I do on this blog have a Gelato parent or grandparent. 

The creamy richness with sweet subtle top notes makes Gelato a perfect backdrop for smoothing out the intensity of partner strains. Jet Fuel Gelato is a perfect example of the uniting power of Gelato. 

MAC, short for “Miracle Alien Cookies” is also a logical top 3 in my opinion as these are simply amazing genetics that never fail to impress and when grown well have the ability to leave you floored, figuratively and literally!  

If you were hoping to see more eXoTiCs in the top 5 lists you’re not alone. I suspect that the fact that these year-long averages are all pretty timeless strains is due to the sheer popularity of these staples in cannabis culture globally. At this point, they’re bound to be podium finishers.

Things DID get quite a bit more exciting when I looked specifically at the strains that weren’t necessarily the most popular over the entire year but which experienced the most growth over the span of the year. 

The below lists are strains that experienced rapid and significant growth in search interest over the course of 2023, some exploding in popularity as recently as the last 3 months…

New Kids On The Block, Who Will Be Most Popular In 2024? 

Looking backwards is interesting but looking forwards can be even more exciting.

While we can assume anything that was a Top 10 strain in 2023 will likely maintain some portion of it’s popularity into 2024 and beyond, there are already new eager upstarts vying for your dispensary dollars. 

So with the below list I looked at the top 10 recreational states by search interest to see what strains are ACTIVELY breaking out in search popularity, again using Google Trends data.

Listed are the top strains in each state that have been rising in popularity the fastest over 2023.  

How many of these will rise to the top to become top sellers in 2024 is anyone’s guess but one thing is for certain, breeders and farmers are clearly keeping the pedal to the floor when it comes to new and exciting genetic crosses. 

Heck, Leafly JUST recently named Permanent Marker their “Strain of the Year”. Since they’re often the first place stoners go to research genetics they can undoubtedly they can see in their analytics a rapid rise in interest for this stanky specimen. 

Still, the diverse set of consumer interests that varies state-by-state is fascinating to me.

California doesn’t surprise with their bleeding-edge lineup. Or how Oregon (my current state) has a few popular genetics that came as a surprise to me as I haven’t seen them around that much (Pave, Chimera, Gelonade), while others like Super Boof are familiar friends. 

Florida seems to be doing typical Florida things with a top 5 rising-in-popularity list that reads like a frozen drink selection from a mega-sized gas station. 

Washington is eclectic as hell, which fits, and Nevada, home of the biggest U.S city that never sleeps, very unsurprisingly seems to have a thing for chemy sativas. 

Arizona and Illinois might have more in common with one another given the strains they’re most interested in here at the end of 2023 and Massachusetts, well, let’s just say that’s the most Bostonian sounding lineup there could be!

I honestly couldn’t stop salivating while composing the 2024 rising strains list, there are so many flavor bombs on here I for one am looking forward to the New Year! 

If anyone is curious about this little blogs 2023 favorites I’ll say that in terms of the best cultivated classics I’ve smoked this year that left a lasting impression, those honors would go to Evan’s Creek’s MAC #1, Trichome Farm’s Black Widow, and Focus North’s White Truffle strain. 

In terms of dessert/hype strains that aren’t quite as long in the tooth but which left equally lasting impressions this year (and which I hope to see again sometime in 2024) I have to give a shout-out to Herbal Dynamics for their utterly decadent Ice Cream Cake, to Fox Hollow Flora for their twangy funky sugary Tang Breath, and last but certainly not least, the heaviest hitting bud I blazed all year, Soul Train by the one and only Eugreen. 

All-in-all 2023 was a fantastic year for flavor chasers and connoisseurs. Yes, the year was also plagued by news of a struggling industry overall, but much of that seems confined to brands competing on volume rather than value. 

While a robust affordable market is a necessity I would challenge readers to mix things up in 2024 and give smoking higher quality in potentially lesser volume a shot.

Craft and boutique farms are pumping out some of the best bud ever, and for just a couple bucks on the gram more, for which once you taste it and feel it, becomes entirely justifiable, IMHO.

TL;DR: Smoke more living soil organic premium dank and less bargain basement mids fam, and thank me later! 

2023 was a fantastic year to be a fan of the plant. This is because of backbreaking work put in around the clock by green thumbs across the country.

I’d like to extend a sincere thank you to all the breeders, farmers, harvesters, trimmers, drivers, budtenders, and everyone in between that worked to make this year an absolute fuckin treat.

Keep up the good work, we recreational consumers do notice and we appreciate it very much!