Strains & products

Grape Stank strain wins two ways at Oregon Leaf Bowl

Published on May 31, 2023 · Last updated March 8, 2024
Cannabis stars, born weekly. Leafly Strain News Weekly. Above, Compound Genetics’ Double Up.
Cannabis stars, born weekly. Leafly Strain News Weekly. Above, Compound Genetics’ Double Up.

Late May heralds the high season for cannabis planting in North America. 

Millions upon millions of starters root in soil for their 2023 full-sun run. The clone trays at Mainstage dispensary in Sacramento, CA look picked over.

On the weed contest circuit, strains like Grape Stank and Trop Cherry are crushing it in Oregon. Blue Face brought gas back to California at The Emerald Cup May 13.

And fresh on seed banks this week: new crosses from Seed Junky, Compound, and Clearwater.

Here’s what’s cooking in the white-hot magma core of the US’ $60 billion cannabis industry. Here’s Leafly Strain News Weekly #5.

New in the Leafly Strain Database

Blue Lobster. (Courtesy of Maine Trees)
Blue Lobster. (Courtesy of Maine Trees)

We’re living in a Golden Age of cannabis cultivars—adding new strains to the 5,000-strong Leafly database every day. Recent additions include: 

Blue Face, the Emerald Cup 2023 winner.

Blue Guava, a Transbay Challenge 2023 qualifier.

Blue Lobster, the East Coast Zalympix 2023 winner.

Strain creators who want to get listed can email us at strains@leafly.com.

Top strain news

Grape Stank wins two ways at Oregon Leaf Bowl

Oregon’s major contest the Leaf Bowl concluded May 26, with the frontrunner growers Left Coast Standard and TrueCare Farms slugging it out for first and second place in five categories of sungrown flower.

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The indoor contest proved ferocious; ten brands won or placed across five categories. Watch out for that Trop Cherry by Verdant Leaf—the Best Exotic Fruit. A Grape Stank strain won the citrus and sap category and took second in the fuel/og/chem category. 

Desserts rule—a Biscotti Pie from High Noon Cultivation won the Open category, while a Z-type called Moonbow 112 from Archive took second.

In mixed-light/greenhouse, the brand Real Eve swept four of six categories with the strains: Hash Burger, Super Boof, Sherb Cake, and Chem-Lato. Huzzah. 

Overall, we see lots of Leafly Buzz and Strain News Weekly faves holding trophies; very affirming. Read up on the Oregon Leaf Bowl winners in carts, extracts, edibles and more.

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Blue Face takes The Emerald Cup 2023

The smoke has cleared on the epic May 13 Emerald Cup Awards 2023—the world’s biggest cannabis contest. Seed Junky Genetics‘ beastly Animal Face phenotype Blue Face, grown by Fig Farms, took Best in Show. Double OG Chem returned to the podium. Here’s the full list of winners, we’re cooking up a buyer’s guide for your summer.

Gucci Mane will headline the Zalympix Awards Show in LA June 17 (ticket link). We’ve smoked all 25 jars in the judges kit; plenty of gorgeous weed and a good amount of great-smelling weed. The proof came in the taste and effect, where a few clear winners emerged. Overall—the California Zalympix 2023 showcases intense competition on the top shelf. Yet space remains on that shelf for newcomers who can blast our taste buds with unique, revelatory flavors. Here’s an hour of us judging live on Instagram May 26.

Featured photo: Litty in the City pitted Cherry Guava vs Z May 20

SF Canna Chris and Z team leader Fields split a bag at LA's Litty in the City. (Dan Wilson for Leafly)
In the above photo, Cannabis Chris from SF Canna, and Green R Fieldz of Terphogz/The Original Z pump up the crowd for their debut of a split bag of Cherry Guava, and the Original Z, aka Zkittlez. Attendees could vote on the best flavor. SF Canna and Terphogz have organized and thrown several private industry nights—often dubbed a ‘sesh’—in San Francisco. They took the event to Los Angeles for a major expansion May 20 that included nearly 60 brands, many of them top names in California cannabis. The Backpack Boyz released the strain Zmokers Club, a collaboration with Fiya Farmer and The Finest Farms. Marty Grimes made an appearance with his Marty Missile, a one-pound joint he passed around. For the culture. Dan Wilson (VisitHollyweed), for Leafly

Rad strain release radar

Most hottest

LA’s Seed Junky Genetics continues to dominate like peak Kobe Bryant. Seeds of Hawaiian Rain (London Pound Mints x Jealousy) x Permanent Marker, and Zkittlez x Sherb bx1 x Permanent Marker F debuted Friday at 4:20pm PST for $200. They won’t last long.

Supreme Seed Bank also scored another exclusive SJG assist with 10-packs of Caribbean Breeze (Pineapple Fruz) x (Biscotti x Sherb BX) fems for $450—apparently the “last restock ever.” 

On May 28, Compound Genetics set off some of their own fireworks with drops of Double Up (Mellowz #8 x Gastro Pop #5 ) and Total Eclipse (King Slayer x Gastro Pop #5); part of their Gastro Pop Vol. 3 Collection. 

Candy gas station

Clearwater Genetics did a big Discord pre-sale on May 27 of two dozen new Hi-Chew 47 [(Oreocake (Wedding Cake x Oreoz) x Now N Later (Platinum Cookies x Granddaddy Purple) x Blue Power)] crosses with 12 feminized seeds per pack. 

James Loud and Mosca Seeds recently released dark-flowered Dread Zeppelin and Sugar Fly fems that brighten things up considerably with their gassy candy aromas and terps.

Compound Genetics’ Double Up. (Courtesy Compound Genetics)

Cookie jar

Raw Genetics restocks include more potent and fragrant Gary Payton crosses for your all-star squad. 

Strawberry Milk & Qookies F2 (Milk & Qookies x Bruce Banner #3)—an exemplary autoflower bred by Night Owl seeds—is back once again by popular demand. 

OG Kush and friends

Pure Sativa Seed Bank keeps things sacramental with restocks of DNA Geneticsclassic Kosher Kush crosses.

Cream terps

Solfire’s creamy fruit concoction, Udder Madness (Bitties x Mind Flayer), is now available; with additional frosty feminized crosses out soon.

Funky town

Stank innovator Skunktek offers Gas Cap, now available for your olfactory pleasure. 

Speaking of funk, scoop up GMO Gelato Conga seeds, as well as Ice Cream Cake x Meatbreath seeds and clones direct from Fresh Coast Seed Co.

Get your sticky, weed-growing hands on some Thug Pug Genetics restocks that include PB Diesel, PB Wuu, and PB Skunk regs.

Mendocino county’s Freeborn Selections’ latest regular seed drops include the kush gas of their Grape Lime Skunk, Hollywood Pure Kush x Jaro, and the “heavily-worked” Skycuddler Double Kush F4—a breeder’s fave.

Quote of the week

“If it’s heat, it’s heat. You don’t need to get three or four pounds a light.”

Dan Adler, CEO of Node Labs 

Hash dumpers

The latest limited releases from Twenty20 Mendocino includes a cross of two solventless extraction monsters—Queen of Diamonds (BubbaWhip! A17 x MMXX #48)—among several new autoflower and photoperiod seeds available.

Gnome AutomaticsOctober Sky is another exclusive autoflower cultivar with vigorous genetics and amazing hash-washing ability.

Symbiotic GeneticsGinger Mints and Champaya (Papaya x Mimosa v6) can hold you over until their Kombucha line debuts soon. 

Old-school

Get some Sour and Haze power in your grow with the classic genetics of Top Dawg Seeds and the 24 strains recently restocked at Gas Lamp Seeds

Genetics stories of note

The panic over the cannabis virus called hop latent viroid ratcheted up a level with a breathless SFGate.com story: More than 90% of Calif. pot farms infected with ‘severe’ pathogen

Podcast time: Smoke and Bridges: Jimi Devine talks with Dan Goldman from Node Labs.

Brain break

Upcoming seed/clone releases

Pacific NW Roots will soon release limited Koffee crosses like Arizona Green Tea, Mac Koffee Breath S1, and Mac Koffee Breath BX S1. 

Mass Medical Strains releases ChemDMT fem seeds on June 2 for any psychonauts looking for some distinct mothball DMT terps in their weed.

Pre-orders for Symbiotic Genetics Kombucha crosses are still available on Horror Seeds.

Cannabis contest calendar 2023

The Zalympix California 2023 box. (David Downs/Leafly)
The Zalympix California 2023 box. (David Downs/Leafly)

A contest win can change lives. Here’s what’s coming up.

June 3—Nomination period opens for the GreenGrow Oklahoma Cup. [link] Also, The Grow-Off Oklahoma and Maine clones drop. [link]

June 10—Voting closes for the Nevada Cannabis Awards Music Festival. [link]

June 17—The Zalympix California awards ceremony in LA. [link] Also, Judge Kits available for Cannabis Cup People’s Choice NM. Peep the award show September 4. [link]

June 24—Secret Stash Genetics and Culture pop-up in Denver. [link] Oklahoma Cup festival and winners announced. [link]

July 1—Entry window opens for 1st annual Missouri Growers Cup. [link] Closes September 15. 

Related
7 epic 85+ point Missouri flowers for summer 2023

July 10—High Times Cannabis Cup People’s Choice Michigan winners announced. Judging underway. [link]

July 15—Intake forms due for The Grow-Off Massachusetts and Maine. [link]

July 22—Entry drop off for Maine division of the multistate NECANN Cup 2023. Ceremony slated for Aug 12. [link

September 11—Submission window opens for all categories of the New England Harvest Cup. Closes September 24. [link

September 15—Deadline for entries for Missouri Growmaster competition. [link

Oct. 7-8—Errl Cup Arizona in Mesa. [link]

Dec. 9—Oregon Growers Cup in Riddle. [link]

What is Leafly Strain News Weekly?

If strains are the celebrities on Leafly—then Strain News Weekly is TMZ. Send tips to david.downs@leafly.com.

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Written by David Downs, Amelia Willians, Anthony DiMeo, and Dan Wilson; edited by David Downs

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David Downs
David Downs
Leafly Senior Editor David Downs is the former Cannabis Editor of the San Francisco Chronicle. He's appeared on The Today Show, and written for Scientific American, The New York Times, WIRED, Rolling Stone, The Onion A/V Club, High Times, and many more outlets. He is a 2023 judge for The Emerald Cup, and has covered weed since 2009.
View David Downs's articles
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