Why Colorado Tokers Love Deadhead OG

Most American men in their mid-fifties went one of two ways in early adulthood: Bruce Springsteen or the Grateful Dead. My straightlaced, married dad chose Bruce, while his slipper-wearing, divorced brother chose the Dead. And I love them both. My chill uncle wasn’t able to get a ticket to the Dead & Company show in Boulder earlier this month, unfortunately, so instead we watched a recording of their show in Chicago from last summer. Those fifteen-minute jam sessions are tough to stay focused on, though, so I chose the only fitting option to keep me on the couch: Deadhead OG.

Deadhead OG is a hybrid bred by California-based Cali Connection Seeds, but it’s not hard to find in Denver if you go to the right places – and it's worth the search if you’re in pain, emotionally or physically. Just like the band, the strain is understated but powerful, giving users of all tolerances a comfortable escape from daily tolls on the body and soul. Chemdawg 91 and San Fernando Valley OG Kush genetics create a relaxing but manageable high light on focus and worries. The high won’t have you swaying in a crowd of wooks without an expression on your face, but I still wouldn’t recommend smoking more than a couple hits before going out in public. Deadhead OG’s THC percentages reaches the low twenties, and its SFV OG genetics tend to keep your mouth shut. If the aloofness doesn’t give you away, the inevitable comedown will, which is why I keep this strain exclusively at home.

Both of Deadhead’s parent strains are known for pine and lemon characteristics, and Deadhead OG carries on the tradition – just not quite as strong. Even if it doesn’t fill the room, Deadhead’s fresh lemon cleaner and forest notes are a successful, smooth blend of two of marijuana’s most popular flavors. Still, high potency and smooth flavor are the strain's bread and butter.

Good Chemistry, Oasis Cannabis, Universal Herbs and Dank Dispensary all currently carry Deadhead OG. Good Chemistry’s take makes you cloudy from the start, melting pain and stress while robbing concentration and energy. Its dense, bright buds and kush and lemon flavors are worth the $36 eighths. The $20 eighths at Universal Herbs might be the best value, though, with all the taste but not quite the same potency. Lush, Medicine Man, Natural Remedies and MMJ America have also carried Deadhead OG in the past.

Looks: Deadhead OG takes its looks from both of its parents, with long, popsicle-shaped buds like Chemdawg and stockier, more bulbous varieties like SFV OG. Expect a light-green color made even brighter by a thicker-than-average coat of trichomes.

Smell: Imagine OG Kush meets Lemon Skunk and Sour Diesel. Scents of pine, diesel and soil come together for a refreshing blast of kush and Chemdawg.

Flavor: Lemon and kush flavors are easier to notice than the diesel notes that are so present in the smell, but a gassy Chemdawg aftertaste usually comes around at the end.

Effects: Instant euphoria and blind happiness, but the comedown and body relaxation definitely make it lean indica. Deadhead can treat chronic pain, aches and stress, and it erases the angst of a bad day.

Home grower’s take: “I don’t know why this doesn’t get talked about more as a California strain. It was named after the Grateful Dead, a California treasure, and bred from SFV OG and Chemdawg, two all-Cali strains. Smells like a mix of OG and Diesel, and the high sort of reflects that, too, but I always end up with grogginess after ninety minutes or so. I’m not sure if there are two different phenotypes floating around, because all my cuts finish flowering in ten weeks, but I’ve had friends who harvest in less than nine. Yields are good either way, though, so worth it if you have moderate experience growing indoors.”

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