Ask a Stoner: Dabs vs. Flower Taste Test

Dear Stoner: I recently went all in on dabs and now love shatter, butter, rosin, resin, etc. After dabbing, if I take a hit of even the dankest flower, it tastes like sh*t — like burned hair mixed with dry hay. I mention this to fellow dabbers and almost always get a quizzical look. Is this just me?
Job

Dear Job: If you have a dirty bong, then it’s not just you. Any flower will taste like ass out of dirty glass. But if your piece is clean, then, yes, it is you. Live resin and extremely well-purged concentrates can taste just as good or even better than flower itself — but unless you’re dabbing the best of the best, you’re probably not hitting anything that tastes better than cured flower out of clean glass. Even if you were, the taste difference isn’t drastic enough to be as bad as you describe. Maybe it’s just the butane you like?
Dear Stoner: My favorite marijuana strains when I am in Denver are Chocolope and Lamb’s Bread. Do these names mean anything, or are they just made up at each dispensary?
Burt Smiley

Dear Burt: The names definitely mean something, especially for the two strains you mention. Lamb’s Bread is an iconic Jamaican sativa that Bob Marley reportedly liked to smoke, known for its skunky, earthy smell and awesomely sticky buds. Chocolope is another classic, bred from Cantaloupe Haze and Chocolate Thai more than thirty years ago for a distinctive flavor with notes of sweet chocolate and coffee.

Most strains you’ll find at dispensaries were developed elsewhere and became popular and attainable enough for Colorado shops to buy and grow as their own. Chocolope and Lamb’s Bread fall under that tree, and because they’ve been around for so long, they’ve built their own reputations. Lesser-known strains or in-house strains bred by the shop’s growers are tougher to catalogue.

Although there’s no watchdog organization making sure that dispensaries are selling strains with names true to their genetics, it would hurt a shop’s reputation greatly to sell fraudulent flower — but it still happens, unfortunately. Trust your eyes and nose when in doubt. If those two strains are your favorite, you should have a good grip on what characteristics to watch for when shopping. I’ve seen both on the menus at Botanico and the Kind Room.

Have a question for our Stoner? E-mail [email protected] or call the potline at 303­-293­-2222.