Why Colorado Tokers Love Strawberry Milkshake

Strawberry ice cream and milkshakes will never get the same love as their chocolate and vanilla counterparts. Is that fair? Not really. Almost anything is better than vanilla, the missionary position of ice cream. And while strawberry isn’t quite in chocolate’s reverse-cowgirl territory, it’s nearing the same ballpark. So stop treating frozen strawberry treats like an over-the-pants hand job, America. They deserve better.

I take solace in the fact that strawberry aromas and flavors are still sexy in the weed world, which has made Strawberry Cough a first-ballot dime piece. Strawberry Diesel, Strawberry Fields and Sequoia Strawberry all pack popular strawberry characteristics, too, with luscious, ripe notes that remind users of America’s fourth-most-popular fruit in 2018. The newest strawberry cannabis contender, Strawberry Milkshake, has received similar treatment from dispensaries, usually trending on the expensive end for flower.

A mix of Strawberry Soda and White Fire Alien OG, Strawberry Milkshake (also called Strawberry Milk in some stores) is usually labeled a 50/50 hybrid or nighttime strain by breeders and dispensaries. The strain’s thick, creamy notes of berries, chalky sweetness and sour, resinous hints of new rubber and soil combine for a lovely dessert smoke, with calming effects to match. I typically feel gradual relaxation in both mind and body after an initial (but short-lived) lift, but the relaxation isn’t overly sedative or stupefying unless overdone. Strains that taste like lemons, limes and grapefruits get too acidic after a while, and anything “grape” or “banana” usually means a quick knockout. Strawberry strains are more varied, though, usually with a middle-ground high that works during most times of day.

Strawberry Milkshake is still a rarity on Denver pot-shop menus, but we’ve seen it at Higher Grade and RiverRock dispensaries, and wholesale cultivator Veritas Cannabis provides it to other dispensaries around town, too. Generally priced at $40 (at least) before tax, Strawberry Milkshake might be too expensive to bring all the boys to the yard, but it’s a summer treat worth trying.

Looks: Typically compact, round and packaged in oblong shapes like an iceberg or mitten, Strawberry Milkshake looks a lot like its parent, White Fire Alien OG, with its lime-green color and peach pistils, as well as a healthy coat of small trichomes.

Smell: Imagine a Kush milkshake with a little strawberry added, and there you go. On top of dank, grainy whiffs of earthy OG and a chemical, rubbery sourness, Strawberry Milkshake carries hints of sugary lactose and ripe strawberries. Not as syrupy as Strawberry Cough, but sinfully sweet in its own way.

Flavor: As with most fruity strains, Strawberry Milkshake's sweet flavors aren't as strong on the tastebuds as they are in the nostrils, but that malt-shop flavor of berries and cream still comes through; the vanilla, rubber and soil flavors from the Alien and White Fire OG lineage are just a little bit heavier.

Effects: Definitely a nighttime smoke, but still calm enough for you to walk the dog or enjoy an hour or two of TV without drooling or getting overly anxious. Strawberry Milkshake reminds me a lot of another great relaxing strain, Tiger’s Milk, with its sugary flavor and gentle, lulling comedown, which is a good sleep aid and appetite inducer while also relaxing the body.

Home grower’s take: “It’s got more cat piss and chem notes in there than you might think because of all those Kush and fruit smells that kind of lay over it. A friend of mine picked it up online — about five or six seeds of it that he could use, anyway. Took him at least nine or ten weeks to fully flower, but it blew up fifty or sixty days in and smelled like a weed ice cream shop in the grow. Huge trichome heads right off the bat, too. Wish I could find more of it.”

Is there a strain you'd like to see profiled? Email [email protected].