Why Colorado Tokers Love Lemon Meringue

Meringue, you fluffy bastard. Always around to dupe me. I love creamy desserts, sweet flavors and adding egg whites to just about anything. So why can’t I get down with you? (TMI answer: Being reminded of my limitations is depressing, but that’s better left for the leather couch.) Even when I had a younger stomach and tastebuds, meringue was too much. Too light and sugary on top of my pie, too hard and acidic in cookie form. Call me myopic, but I’m more of a cheesecake guy.

Still, I won’t stick my nose up at a cannabis strain named Meringue. After all, I love creamy desserts, sweet flavors, adding egg whites to just about anything...and weed.

Lemon Meringue is the child of Cookies and Cream and Lemon Skunk, a cross of new and old daytime strains. The hybrid is still growing its reputation in dispensaries around the country, but it’s gaining a following in Colorado and is already popular in California — probably because it’s held on to many of the traits that make its parents so popular. Known for a vigorous uplift and dessert-like flavors, Lemon Meringue is somehow able to taste sinfully sweet while also helping users burn calories. That’s good for at least one win over Key Lime, a sedating phenotype of Girl Scout Cookies named after lemon meringue pie’s better-tasting rival, Key lime pie.

Unlike its namesake, Lemon Meringue doesn’t get too acidic or soft for two reasons: One, it’s weed, and two, the smoke carries funky notes of skunk and wet air in the morning, balancing out that creamy sweetness. The strain’s high is very motivational and keeps me relatively focused, allowing me to burn through work at home with enough energy for a workout afterward. Safe to say I like this version of Lemon Meringue more than the bakery’s.

I’ve spotted Lemon Meringue at Bgood, Lightshade, Mile High Green Cross, Standing Akimbo and the Green Solution, while wholesale growers and extractors also stock dispensaries with the strain. My favorites so far hail from Bgood and Standing Akimbo, and they pair well with coffee and a blunt wrap in the morning.

Looks: A clear sativa, Lemon Meringue sports buds that virtually always grow bright-green and fluffy, with an above-average amount of orange pistils. The strain’s oblong-shaped buds can get both round and long, but the plant itself is usually tall.

Smell: Like the dessert shelf in your grandma’s fridge, but with weed in it. Sweet and sour smells of lemon, along with nutty, creamy cashew might make you forget that you’re smelling cannabis, but dank hints of grass, soil and skunk on the back end quickly remind you what it is.

Flavor: The strain’s Cookies background ensures nutty, doughy flavors with a creamy twist, but Lemon Skunk’s heavy citrus influence and earthy, skunky flavors won’t be ignored. The result is a lush, dank and creamy flavor covered in lemon.

Effects: Lemon Meringue’s head high can seem very intense initially, but calms down quickly once you find something to focus on for a few minutes. Although that energy is best used for physical activity, the visual aspects and focus can also be fitting for a fun movie or thrilling read. The best part? The comedown is minimal, leaving you relatively unzomibified.

Home grower’s take: “You’ll probably need to find Lemon Meringue as a clone, because I don’t think feminized seeds of this were ever made available. If they were, it’s been very recently, and good luck finding them. Grows sativa, for sure: stretches about halfway through and produces these lime-green buds that are softer than a blanket. I’ve heard of the effects leaning indica sometimes, though. Either way, it can push out a decent yield in eight or nine weeks if you top out the right amount. Those leaves can get in the way on the bottom nugs.”

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