Why Colorado Tokers Love Cornbread

Life is really about simple pleasures, such as warmth, comfort and a full belly. Cornbread takes care of all three of those, costs under $1 at the grocery store, and you only need water to make it. The result works with soup, barbecue and chili, as well as all on its own. This crumbly cornmeal delight is an American delicacy — a Native American delicacy, actually — but no corn kernels in the dough, please.

Mama Fuego didn’t care for cornbread, but now that I’ve flown the coop, I eat that shit all the time, and have even made cornbread with cannabutter to stay extra warm during chili season. So imagine the stupid grin on my face upon learning that not only does a cannabis strain called Cornbread exist, but it was born right here in Colorado. A child of Rare Dankness #2 and Katsu Bubba Kush, Cornbread hails from Denver breeder Rare Dankness. Unfortunately, you can only get Cornbread on the medical side of the breeder’s dispensary, House of Dankness, but a growing number of recreational shops are carrying it. After one taste of the strain’s zesty and honey-like qualities, you’ll be glad they are.

Cornbread’s parents are both formidable indicas, so expect the same melting high from their child. This can be dangerous, given Cornbread’s unique mix of citrus, honey, doughy, herbal and soil flavors, which made it hard to tap out after my first session. Sure enough, I took about ten collective steps in the following hours, most of which I don’t remember.

Cornbread is a lot more popular in Denver than it was in the Fuego family kitchen, with Farmers Market, Healing House, House of Dankness, the Kind Room and Karmaceuticals all carrying the strain. My favorite cut comes from the source, House of Dankness, at less than $20 an eighth, but the Kind Room offers a tasty version for recreational customers, too.

Looks: Expect oval and circular buds with moderate density and wide, plump calyxes. Cornbread’s light-green color can be hard to notice because of the strain’s dark-green leaves, common purple shades and heavy trichome coverage.

Smell: Cornbread carries a very complex aroma, with a strong whiff of lemon up front, followed by notes of honey, lavender, grainy dough and a spicy back end. In fact, it smells much like cornbread, but with a lemon, floral twist.

Flavor: Cornbread’s flavor — my favorite quality — combines Katsu Bubba’s grainy notes of Kush and coffee with Rare Dankness #2’s sweet, floral hints of honey and lemon for a heavenly, doughy taste.

Effects: Cornbread might be labeled an 80/20 indica-dominant hybrid, but that 20 percent of sativa genetics must come and go quickly after you smoke it. Despite a short burst of uplifting curiosity and wide-awake appetite, the strain’s effects are largely sedating on the body and slightly psychedelic on the mind, making it a nighttime strain for me. Cornbread has been used to treat minor pain, stress, glaucoma, headaches, eating disorders and sore muscles.

Commercial grower’s take: “Cornbread has been around for almost five years, at least, but it was never that big. A few shops had it here, and Washington and Oregon stores will carry it, but even now, it’s likely only sold at a handful of places at any given time. That could always change, though, if the genetics spread out more. It has great resin production, good yields, and you can cut it down inside of two months.”

Home grower’s take: “I tried this out from seed as a medical patient years ago. I don’t know if you can find clones of it yet — at least in dispensaries, anyway. No idea what the THC percentages are, but I imagine they’re high, because Cornbread will really knock you out. Those effects and all those trichomes make good hash for pain patients.”

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