It goes without saying that the quality of a concentrate depends largely on the quality of the plant. It’s no mystery, then, how AOM’s careful cultivation of the Cannatonic strain for over five years has produced a venerable pain reliever of unmatched magnitude, packed with a truckload of CBD, and just enough THC to provide pleasant, accompanying euphoria. Now for the kicker: try it as ultra-refined sap, processed by the equally-expert dab-aficionados at Oilwell.

The top shelf selection, an all-organic 50/50 hybrid with a 7:1 ratio of CBD to THC, was beautiful in sap form, dark like wildflower honey, sweet…

By now the story of Golden Goat hardly needs to be retold -- but the overwhelming conclusion is that surprising (albeit, explosively fruity) accidents can happen in unexpected locations (Wheat Belt, America). That fortuitous accident, the lovechild of Island Sweet Skunk and Hawaiian Romulan, is just about sativa-leaning as flowers come. Another surprise? That despite the Goat’s signature cerebral nuttiness, puffing can actually make you more efficient than normal.

Three Rivers Dispensary sent over a meaty bunch of rugged buds that were appropriately golden-blonde, shimmering in the light from crystals, with a coiffure of tangerine pistils. The super-dank stench sliced…

Sometimes you just need a fail-safe smoke: flower so completely powerful that you can just write-off the afternoon and excuse yourself from doing anything productive. That sure-fire brain-melting mellow doesn’t just “happen” though--and even the best-known genotypes can fail in a pinch. Thankfully Epic Remedy has been harvesting the sativa-leaning Strawbanana Cream, a sure-fire Strawberry Banana and White OG cross that hits like drinking a milkshake of madness.

The nuggets were pleasantly dense, perfectly trimmed with tiny stems--no waste when ground, i.e., major bang-for-buck. They were deep green with bronze stubble and “striking red-lightning streaks,” and a tart, peppery smell…

These days it seems just about any store sells some device or otherwise you can smoke from, from tobacco stores to the 7-Eleven down the street. But there’s something absolutely lacking about a store that doesn’t appreciate the time and vision that goes into making the ornate, beautiful spectacles that most tokers only dream of sparking. And that’s where Colorado Springs’ newest glass shop, Third Coast Headies, comes in.

A convenient destination on any budget, first time purchases get you a free dab straw or chillum, which rocks. But it’s not just that they have something in every price range…

Super Bud, the venerable Sensi Seeds’ tribute to cannabis Godfather Ed Rosenthal, supposedly combines the best of the entire Indica/Sativa spectrum into the perfect, most bombastic bud on the planet. You don’t plant this flower unless you’re ready to show off your level of grow expertise; consider it the test and signature of an established operation. Big bonus if Ed Rosenthal himself actually came to the dispensary to offer guidance on cultivating it.

No surprise, that Super Bud from Altitude Organic Medicine (AOM) hits all those check marks (including Ed’s hand in getting the strain setup). And it shows in…

The indica-leaning hybrid, Milk and Cookies, provides just the kind of evening snack you'd expect from such a name. Combining the exotic GSC and Kush-heavy Cookies & Cream with the complex lineage of Triple OG, you get equal parts flavor, chill, and mental madness. As the sample nugs from Three Rivers spilled from the jar, one critic immediately sighed in satisfaction that it was moments like this that truly defined Colorado quality. 

We see a lot of sugary bud, but this flower was purely “clumped with trichomes.” Fluffy but dense, she was bright, yet brushed in contrasting strokes of auburn…

Berkel, the lethargic child of Pre-98 Bubba Kush and GDP, packs an introductory, quick smack in the face. But it’s the innocent, seemingly sweet humming buzz in the background, that returns like a quiet boomerang, back for another explosion of the senses, to take things to the next level. On a summer day that begged to end in sun-soaked relaxation, our sample of the flower from The Other Place is Greener provided just the powerful, funky disequilibrium we needed.

Our sample was mysterious in appearance, in darker hues of warm green and whispers of purple, with rich fiery pistols and…

With a memorable sweetness, Doc’s Cake melds face-melting Doc’s OG with the delectable wizardry of Wedding Cake, in a high-octane hybrid deserving of a staple-strain status. This flower consistently delivers the well-earned dizzying relaxation for that day off, and we were treated to ours from Epic Remedy on just such an open afternoon. Talk about good timing.

Like glittering diamonds, the tight olive-green buds were covered in and out with well-cured trichomes and bristly orange hairs, hiding the occasional blue-violet hues. A creamy but spicy melange of pine, mint, and a little lemon-lime erupted from the grinder, and smoked incredibly…

It’s always a treat to dab the Colorado Extract Company line. Their signature cold-cured SHO rosin badder is immaculate, made with Altitude Organic Medicine’s top-shelf flower “manipulated into its purest form using only water, heat and pressure.” This issue’s selection was a special treat, using the dispensary’s crop of Jupiter, an indica-leaning cross of Chem 4 and Goliath, which creates a rosin particularly known for some crazy, gushing terpenes.  

Our sample was a creamy gem, the color of flan, "almost glittery, almost fluid, and really quite pretty." Her consistency was like that of an all natural nut butter, moldable and…

What happens when you cross the combination of Forbidden Fruit and Silver Lemon Haze with the child of NY Cherry Pie and Critical Glue? A spectacularly resinous, meaty bouquet of bliss.

Typically regarded as an indica-leaning hybrid, the growers at Three Rivers report this particular phenotype swings a little harder sativa -- at least in the power of its uplifting zoom. A completely free afternoon gave us the opportunity to test that theory.

Our sample buds were dense, shining, sticky neon morsels with patches of amber shag, bursting with some of the best aromas we’ve reviewed: blackberry and lemon-citrus, against…