Why Colorado Tokers Love Tally Mon

Not knowing the words or meaning of a song never prevents them from getting stuck in our heads, and the first one I can remember like that is "Day-O," by Harry Belafonte. You know, the Banana Boat Song.

Coming across a strain called Tally Mon at an Englewood dispensary instantly put that song back in my head, which didn't thrill me. No one likes a public whistler, and that tune turns me into a songbird — or a car alarm, if we're really being accurate. I'm all for a gassy, tropical smoothie at the pot shop, though, and that's exactly what my nose was slurping up when the Tally Mon jar came around.

Also known as Tally Man, this relaxing strain is a mix of Papaya and a Banana OG/Do-Si-Dos hybrid, so it's no surprise that I smelled fruit cocktail so fast. This Oni Seed Co. creation is relatively new to Colorado, but will likely gain steam as more people discover Tally Mon's buoyant effects or craft beer-like flavor. The high would be pure elation if more energy were attached, but it still puts a grin on my face — and, dare I say, makes me a little randy at night.

I've mindlessly hummed "Day-O" nearly 1,000 times, but it took an internet video of Harry Belafonte and the Muppets to teach me that the song is about Jamaican dock workers asking a tally man to count their loads of bananas so they can all go home. While the tropical notes and Banana OG influence could easily pass for an homage to "Day-O," the high is one of the truer expressions of a strain name I've experienced.

Walking away from a day spent framing doors to a bowl of herb and a hot meal was a feeling of relief and jubilation that I'll never re-create but don't want to earn again, either — yet Tally Mon somehow re-creates that feeling, magnified. The physical effects are just strong enough to plant me down, but not enough to glue me there. In fact, the shared euphoria it produces can even be arousing in the right setting with the right partner. When daylight comes, go home and try it out, and those grin-stamping characteristics will keep the experience stuck in your head.

Looks: Lime green with limited pistil coverage and average trichomes by today's standards, Tally Mon looks like a citrus strain from 2010, but with denser buds.

Smell: Tally Mon has plenty of fruit-like sweetness, starting with what smells like a half-ripe banana right after the skin splits open. Hints of papaya and plums are also common, but I've also smelled green apples, sour mangoes, white grapes and even coconut. A thick, dry gust of hash and gas rounds it all out.

Flavor: The smoke teeters between sour and gassy, but with noticeable bursts of bananas, apples and stone fruit. After all of that, a hashy bitterness settles on the tastebuds, sort of like a hops flavor in beer.

Effects: Tally Mon's high is mentally and physically nurturing, but it won't burn you immediately. My curiosity and generosity are briefly boosted after smoking it, and a smile stays printed on my face until I fall asleep. If the munchies weren't so strong, it'd be the perfect 5 p.m. strain. (If dinner is within sight, though, maybe it is.)

Where to find it:  Allgreens, Apothecary Farms, Chronic Therapy, Cosmic Light, Del Mundo Cannabis, Ganja Gourmet, the Herbal Center, Herbal Wellness, Leiffa, Lightshade, Medicine Man, Nature's Kiss, Rocky Mountain Cannabis, Solace Meds and Terrapin Care Station have all been spotted with Tally Mon, though more stores likely carry the strain.

Leiffa grows an in-house and wholesale version, while Local Love and Malek's Premium Cannabis also grow Tally Mon. Chronic Creations, Green Dot Labs, Kush Masters and Leiffa all produce extracted versions of Tally Mon, as well.

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