One of my favorite things about the cannabis plant is the diversity of effects we can experience by consuming different strains.
Some varieties are good for ending a long day just chilling on the couch watching TV. Others are more energetic or mentally stimulating and are a good precursor to doing something physical or creative. Personally, I enjoy playing with different strains and activities to find what works best for me.
As part of my preparations for an action-packed night, I popped over to Mile High Green Cross on Broadway to get some flower.
I checked out the Cherry Diesel and Bubba White, both grown by wholesale cultivator Veritas Fine Cannabis. Being a sucker for cherry-flavored anything, I was already leaning toward the Diesel, and when I stuck my nose in the jar, it was settled.
When I’m trying out a new strain, I often just buy a gram as a sample. But this wasn’t going to be an ordinary strain review.
I had a whole evening ahead of me. The Cannabist wanted to get me on camera for a live strain review on Facebook and had set up an activity for my high self to navigate, so I asked for an eighth and went on my way.
Cherry Diesel by the numbers: $40/eighth (recreational) at Mile High Green Cross, 852 Broadway #606, Denver. Strain grown by wholesale cultivator Veritas Fine Cannabis
An activity for the high: Puff, Pass & Pottery
Transportation provided by: High End Transportation
While The Cannabist’s Vince Chandler was setting up the cameras for the live smoke sesh, I decided to prep the weed. I took one nug out of the jar and started to break it up. It had mostly bright green, lime-hued leaves with some darker ones underneath that were all coated in trichomes. It was extremely sticky — I had to get up and wash my hands before we started the video.
According to Leafly, Cherry Diesel was bred by MTG Seeds and is a sativa-dominant cross of Cherry OG x Turbo Diesel.
The dominant fragrance was a sweet cherry smell, but not a fresh cherry. It was more of a dried cherry, trail-mix type of scent. As I broke it up, there were subtle hints of pine and gasoline — as the name would imply.
With the camera rolling, I rolled up a joint and sparked it up. The dried cherry was still the dominant flavor, although the piney taste was more prominent than it smelled. Obviously, I don’t know what actual gasoline tastes like, but I could smell a hint of it in the smoke when I exhaled. The joint had me coughing every few seconds, in a trichome-y way, not because it wasn’t flushed properly before harvest.
As I started answering questions from Facebook viewers, I felt a wave of mental stimulation. I was able to answer the questions as I read them and didn’t feel my pace of speech slow. The high was more cerebral and less physical — it didn’t have the raciness of a Durban Poison and reminded me more of a Hawaiian Sativa high.
After we wrapped up the live smoke sesh, we waited for our ride to arrive. High End Transportation sent a consumption-friendly Tesla to get us to the art class.
We used a cannabis-friendly transportation service for two reasons: First, we don’t want to have anyone driving around under the influence, and second, I wanted to be able to sustain the high from the Cherry Diesel through the entire evening.
So, I smoked some more in the car while we made the 20-minute drive to the South Broadway art studio for “Puff, Pass & Pottery,” a cannabis-friendly class hosted by Puff, Pass & Paint.
We got to the venue — a nice house in a residential area — and made our way to the top floor where instructor Jessa was waiting. We waited for the other people in the class to arrive: a local couple, a couple visiting Colorado for a honeymoon, several people celebrating birthdays and a group of guys doing a roommate night.
After getting some instructions from Jessa, we started making some art. I went with the most obvious idea — an ashtray. I didn’t feel very confident about my ashtray, so I had Vince roll me another joint because my hands were covered in clay.
After toking, I started on another piece. This time I was going to make something equally useful, but something I couldn’t buy in a store: a wand stand.
When I was in Florida for work last week, my colleagues saw my excitement when we drove by a billboard for The Wizarding World of Harry Potter at Universal Orlando and decided to take me one evening. We got to Diagon Alley and went straight to Ollivanders Wand Shop. I was chosen by a black “Death Eater” wand with a snake at the end.
Now I had a matching snake-themed stand to keep my wand on. With the leftover clay, I made a decoy wand in case of any shady characters.
We finished the class and gave our art to Jessa, who would handle firing and glazing the pottery. When we went outside for our transport, a Yukon XL awaited us. I melted into the seat as we jetted back to the studio.
The Cherry Diesel was definitely good for a creative activity like PPP, maybe even the fuel that made me a pottery-making machine.
