April Pride: This podcast discusses cannabis, and is intended for audiences 21 and over.

April Pride: Welcome to the High Guide in audio. I’m April Pride, and I, along with a few experts, mostly in the various aspects of cannabis, from seed to sale, as I say, we’re your high guides in this episode. And before they introduce themselves, might I suggest, if you haven’t already, pause the show and take a moment to get high, perhaps a cultivar or an edible that’s fruit forward. After they each introduced themselves, we’ll dig into today’s topic.

Lo Friesen: My name is Lo and I’m the founder and CEO of Halo Cannabis. I feel like cannabis has helped me marry my two passions, which are chemistry and helping take care of people.

Jewel Zimmer: Hi, my name is Jewel Zimmer and I am the founder and formulator of Juna. When purchasing cannabis flower, I always look for strains or any flower that’s grown biodynamically with regenerative practices under the sun.

Carlen Costa: I’m Carlen Costa, AKA the everyday goddess. I’m a clinical sexologist, psychotherapist, cannabis advocate, and best-selling author.

Mario Guzman: Mario Guzman, AKA Shubinski and I created gelato.

Antuanette Gomez: Antuanette Gomez, the founder and CEO of Pleasure Peaks. I don’t like to talk about genetics because people are so crazy about genetics, but I’ll be very casual about it.

April Pride: You know, one way to be casual about genetics, create a show all around cannabis cultivars, or strains with names that include a fruit of some kind. And who said learning, couldn’t be fun? Let’s dig into a few legendary cannabis strains like we’re picking them out of a fruit bowl. Imagine the smells because yes, cannabis smells like the fruit from which its name is inspired.

Mario Guzman: If I smoke something and boom, right away, it’s like, oh my God, that’s banana. You taste it. And then you pass it around and people are like, “Yeah, yeah, I tasted banana.” Suddenly that’s a banana strain.

April Pride: Banana is one half of one of my favorite strain discoveries of the quarantine, strawberry banana. It’s happy, peaceful, mellow high. Senses are heightened thanks to the effects of the strain. And it’s universally appealing flavor certainly contributes to a well-rounded experience. This cultivars other half, strawberry is a strain unto itself that is characterized by what’s missing. Strawberry induces no paranoia while high. In fact, the high is simply thought of is happy and encourages socialization. Do you remember what that is? As in, if you could choose from any strain to consume before a holiday party attended by people who make you paranoid, strawberry’s your girl. Strawberry Cough on the other hand, it’s recommended you start with a small dose, like a single puff up a j. Higher doses bring on more intense body sensations. And you cannot talk about bud and berries without talking about blueberry.

April Pride: Named so because of the blue hues and its leaves and buds. Fittingly, blueberry helps with the blues by relieving stress. Blueberry essence is all about bliss. It’s a high CBD strain. So more calming and relaxing without sluggishness. You start to have a little bit of a body high, it’s kind of tingly. But when you want to really relax and really knock out pain, there’s a better berry bud for that, Blackberry Kush. You can think of this as like the Anaprox of weed, a staple for pain management. Relaxes menstrual cramps and diminishes anxiety, stress, and insomnia brought on by changing hormones. May bring on the munchies, couch lock and dry mouth.

April Pride: Sounds like you may want to have actual fruit on hand to quench an evitable case of dry mouth, like an orange. Those are my favorite.

Speaker 7: Yeah. I love Tangerine Dream. It’s a winner for me.

April Pride: I have yet to try Tangerine dream. And when I went to Leafly to check out the reviews, they ranged from, “Yo, I was vibrating and shit”, to “Smoking the strain for the first time, I felt like a triumphant alchemist, who’d finally found the real philosopher’s stone, cerebral, rational and penetrative.” Clearly Tangerine Dream is a winner for all. Lo Friesen, the chemist has of course figured out what’s really the winning ingredient of orange strains.

Lo Friesen: One thing that I’ve found really interesting to follow is the citrus strains, because there’s the citrusy that has lemon citrus or lime citrus. And then there’s the citrusy that’s like the sweet orange. Those give you the energy, but in a balanced energy. And mitigate that paranoia that can sometimes come from having a little bit too much energy.

April Pride: And guess which cultivar has a long history of balanced effects, California Orange, a classic strain. But when consumed in higher doses to an extreme, the effects become less balanced and extreme as well, extreme relaxation and extreme hunger. And there must be something with orange colored fruit named strains because mango also a classic cultivar is characterized by intensely calming and indescribable hunger. And while the munchies may not be on your list of must haves while high for some, it’s why they choose to consume cannabis. Frequently, I’ve met women who consume to stimulate their appetite, whether as an antidote to stimulant appetite suppressant pharmaceuticals, or to combat an eating disorder. Lemon Skunk happens to be one such strain. Let’s break down what’s in a strain name. Lemon definitely denotes the presence of the terpene, limonene.

Jewel Zimmer: As a former chef and sommelier, I have a love story with terpenes. They’re found in all plants, even some fruits.

April Pride: And all flowering plants, such as grapes, hops, lavender, et cetera, you’ll find or smell the terpenes. These naturally occurring compounds, trigger connection through smell. We connect with everything through our senses. So anything we typically ingest, we smell first to give our systems a chance to tap into a basic defense mechanism. Our sense of smell, conjure the smell of a zested lemon rind. Do you notice your mouth getting that sour patch kid feeling? Or maybe you smell the zest and it gives you a little lift. We’ve briefly talked about terpenes in the cannabis plant and the lemony smell, taste sensation, when it comes to weed, is a terpene called limonene. Strains that are dominant in this terpene, give a shot of uplifting energy to your system, but be warned if you’re sensitive to coffee or other stimulants, strains dominant and limonene can cause the same jittery and anxious feelings.

Lo Friesen: Sometimes, they make you too energized and they give you that racy feeling and kind of the anxiety and spiraling thoughts.

April Pride: Uh oh, how do the skunk genetics compliment this intensity? Known for their skunk like aroma, skunk strain varieties or cultivars provide a balanced and uplifting psychoactive effect and full body buzz. First developed in the 1970s, this cannabis strain family is considered to be one of the most important strain groups ever created. So when you cross a lemon with a skunk, you do get a strain that’s dominant in limonene, right? Nope. In fact, Lemon Skunk, Mango, California Orange, Tangerine Dream, Blackberry Kush, and Strawberry Cough are all myrcene dominant strains.

Jewel Zimmer: Myrcene is generally found in high quantities in cannabis strains, such as Kush varieties. And they are known to be very relaxing and heavy and have sort of this feel good property about them. This terpene is also very common in hops, which is the focus of any IPA. So ever wonder why some people love IPA while others don’t so much, this is the myrcene effect. Not only is it a specific flavor, but it’s a very specific feeling of feeling more relaxed and having a little bit more of a body heaviness.

April Pride: And since I prefer both IPA and cannabis cultivars, high in myrcene, my quest to R-E-L-A-X has been fruitful and I can pinpoint the exact myrcene dominant cultivar with the fruit in the name where this quest began. Smoking a Cherry Pie pre-roll with Katie Via of Native Sea Creations out California, a few years ago, who first introduced me to this cultivar. A tart fruity taste gives it its name and the energy it supplies is ample to mind expanding affects. And it helps a conversation wander in all the right ways. But before we wander off, a quick recap to consider shortcuts when trying to decipher, what could the fruit and a strain name be trying to tell me. Strawberry in small doses. Blueberry for bliss. Blackberry remove the thorn of pain. Orange you glad it’s balanced. Lemon is like coffee, proceed in the same way. Cherry turns to cheer.

April Pride: And Cherry Pies genetics include Granddaddy Purp, which is perfect because on our next episode of the High Guide, we’ll explore by strain names inspired by every color of the rainbow. The High Guide is kicking off our inaugural five episodes on the feed of How to Do the Pot. And you can follow the High Guide podcast now, wherever you listen to podcasts like this one. A big thanks to our High Guides in this and every episode, which I hope you’ve enjoyed. And I’d love to hear from you as these episodes take shape. Many who listened and followed my journey in cannabis, and I’m very excited to share in this next chapter. So please follow along on Instagram @aprilpride.