Why Colorado Tokers Love Forbidden Fruit

Growing up in a religious household or watching Snow White is not required to understand the concept of forbidden fruit. Maybe I need a trip to history class, though, because I've already lost three afternoons to it.

A mix of Cherry Pie and Tangie, two dominant strains of the mid-2010s, Forbidden Fruit has a strong pedigree and pumps out Golden Goat-like fumes of fruit cocktail, but finding real representations of the strain in dispensaries is getting harder. Most of the Forbidden Fruit options I come across are boiled-down versions in vape cartridges, which isn't the best way to experience a strain's characteristics. There are some growers and hash makers out there still fighting the good fight by honoring the stars of recreational pot's early days, however.

If you're lucky enough to come by a cut of Forbidden Fruit from Higher Function or Indico (or anyone else growing it right now), don't forget what the Garden of Eden and Walt Disney taught us about temptation, or you'll be stiff on the ground like I was. Cherry Pie was a popular relaxing strain in its day, and Tangie is still a mind-bending, mouth-drying energizer. The warnings are clear if you know the lineage, but like a poison apple, Forbidden Fruit lures me back. I tend to take one hit too many because it tastes so damn good. And then maybe another. And a few more, until I'm left wandering around the house long enough to forget what I'm looking for.

Being so mindless is usually a turnoff, especially when expecting otherwise, but save Forbidden Fruit for one of those no good, very bad days. Within ten minutes, your melted brain will only be focusing on the strain's ripe fruity qualities, and none of the small stuff will matter anymore.

Looks: Wide and chunky with a tendency to turn purple, Forbidden Fruit has solid, if unspectacular, resin coverage. Still, the bright-green calyxes and nug size are pretty attractive as long as the buds aren't too wispy.

Smell: Berries, cherries and lemons make frequent appearances in Forbidden Fruit's aroma, but so do tropical notes of mango and passion fruit. After getting over that fruit blast, I notice hints of mint, pine and rubber, with an occasional layer of bubble gum or a spicy ending.

Flavor: My favorite quality of Forbidden Fruit is the flavor transition, which lines up almost perfectly with the smell. Fruit cocktail, pine needles and tropical hard candy bounce around my cheeks and tastebuds, and it's done in a louder fashion than most strains are capable of.

Effects: Fruity as it is, the strain's high also fully lives up to the name. Each hit makes my eyes and mind more cloudy and my stomach rumble louder, making tasks hard to finish and concentration nearly impossible. Although my physical energy isn't totally robbed, the mental fog guarantees that anything more than lying in the grass will be blurry at best.

Where to find it: We've recently seen Forbidden Fruit at Ajoya, Alternative Medicine on Capitol Hill, Callie's Cannabis Shoppe, Emerald Fields, Everbloom, Green Cross of Cherry Creek, Green Sativa, the Green Solution, Green Valley Dispensary, the Herbal Center, the Joint, Kaya Cannabis, Life Flower Dispensary, the Lodge, Magnolia Road Cannabis Co., Medicine Man, Oasis Cannabis Superstores, Rocky Road, Silver Stem Fine Cannabis, Social Cannabis, Spark Dispensary, Star Buds and the Stone. Most of these offerings are extracted products, but Indico's flower is a beautiful, lip-smacking representation.

Cosmos sells infused Forbidden Fruit joints at dispensaries across Colorado, too, and Higher Function has grown a version of Forbidden Fruit, but we haven't come across it yet. Green Leaf Concentrates, Harmony Extracts, Haze Industries, Mile High Dabs, Pax, Prysm and Rockin' Extracts all have various forms of Forbidden Fruit concentrate in Colorado, and Dialed In has made gummies with Forbidden Fruit rosin sourced from Higher Grade, as well.

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