Marijuana Strain Review: Golden Goat at Altitude

Am I the only one who feels like the day is over once the sun goes down? And by day, I mean all things productive: work, chores, exercise, etc. Because once the darkness comes, I’m in Homer Simpson mode, and pizza, beer and lowbrow entertainment become my only interests. Since that means I’m essentially useless for sixteen out of every 24 hours at this time of year, I set out one afternoon looking for a trichome-laden shot in the arm that I could use when the sun started setting at 4:30 p.m. A quick Google search found a new shop in the area with a recognizable name: Altitude the Dispensary, at 10455 East Colfax Avenue in Aurora.

It had been at least a year since I’d set foot inside an Altitude shop, but that wasn’t because of low-quality herb; the older Altitude locations, on East Evans Avenue and South Federal Boulevard, are just out of the way for me. The chain’s newest shop, open in Aurora since Halloween, had a beautiful, modern interior that made me a little nervous: Chic floor plans and shelves full of merchandise rarely equate to fine cannabis. But Altitude hadn’t done me wrong before, and the sun was dwindling. After spotting Golden Goat on the menu, I bought a gram for a little over $18 after taxes in hopes of finding a cure for my evening laziness.


Golden Goat is an accidental blessing, born after a Hawaiian strain accidentally pollinated an Island Sweet Skunk female. The crossing created a classic, beautiful, sativa-dominant hybrid that is known to gain a golden hue near harvest time. The gram I bought from Altitude didn’t disappoint during its ocular pat-down: Bright-green calyxes got progressively tanner toward the bottom, and orange pistils and a healthy sheath of trichomes caught my eyes immediately. It smelled even more impressive, as sweet, tropical odors breezed right up the bridge of my nose after a few sniffs. The next only appropriate action? Puffing a bowl from the Volcano, of course.

A few rips at around 350 degrees resulted in a little more than I’d bargained for, but once the blood stopped rushing to my head and I got some oxygen, I noticed sour and tropical fruit flavors that, though not quite as tart as an orange-pineapple smoothie, were still supremely saccharine. The high was far from sedating, but the expected sativa uplift never came. I was able to finish doing and folding laundry, but I still found myself distracted by detergent labels and the fridge every five minutes. The fact that Golden Goat not only failed to energize me but made me even less focused doesn’t concern me — everyone feels strains differently — because its flavor really shone through. And for that, Altitude’s version of the classic palate-wrecker is always welcome in my jar.

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