Cannabis hypebeasts drew in a sharp breath today when Leafly came out with its 2022 strain of the year, the deep purple, caryophyllene-rich Jealousy. In addition to hyping its relaxing properties, the revered weed publication and strain-classifying database released some sales data about the bud: It’s sold in 1,500 stores listed on the site from coast to coast, and seed packs are apt to retail at prices up to a whopping $750.
Leafly’s announcement came with a qualifier in the stellar reviews that consumers have left for the strain within the site’s copious weed evaluation system. Apparently, Jealousy is garnering an average of 4.7 out of 5 stars, with 48 reviews to its name. According to these metrics, it’s perhaps no surprise that Jealousy took second place in the California High Times Cannabis Cup this summer.
“I want to play my piano and sing! I want to make love to my husband and blow his mind!” wrote one site user. “This strain should be called ‘World Peace’ rather than ‘Jealousy’ cos if everyone smoked it world peace would break out.” OK, now that is a recommendation (for the record, we aren’t the kind of stoners who think the consumption of any particular strain, or cannabis in general, will in itself lead to world peace.)
On Weedmaps, the flower is said to conjure the taste profiles of sweet cream and candy — and that home gardeners should be prepared to take odor-controlling measures if they want to suppress the earthy-diesel aroma of their medium-sized Jealousy plants.
Is it a sativa, indica, or hybrid though? Jealousy was born from a cross between Sherbert Bx1 with Gelato 41 and the Leafly classification calls it a tension-reducing hybrid. But the site has moved away from those reductive and rather useless categories and into a more complex — and often, aesthetically arresting — 6,000-strain labeling regimen that is based around other factors like THC and CBD content, and terpenes.
For a peek at how these different measures impact the consumer’s experience when ingesting a cannabis strain, you can dive into the database and start matching the strains you have had a good time with, with the components of which they are made.
Jealousy, we learn from its site profile (contributed to by 49 users at the time of writing this article), is high in caryophyllene. That terp tends to taste like pepper and is suspected to harbor anti-inflammatory benefits.
The proprietors of the prize-winning pot are Seed Junky Genetics, a Southern California brand that takes pride in its early 2000s providence in a garage. Vis à vis its website, Seed Junky is also the creators of Wedding Cake and other well-known strains.
Last year’s strain of the year on the site was Dosido, a flowery, 20% THC strain rich in limonene, a terp that is promoted as being effective in the treatment of anxiety and stress. It’s also big on caryophyllene — could it be that this terpene is in fact, this era’s big winner?
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