Why Colorado Tokers Love Super Silver Haze

Strains that stand the test of time merit proper respect. Seeing a jar of Super Silver Haze gleaming on a dispensary shelf slapped that sentiment into my skull on a gloomy Monday afternoon, just when I needed something to brighten my day.

If you feel like Super Silver Haze has been around for a while, you’re right. The strain rose to popularity in the mid-’90s, reportedly bred by Green House Seeds, the Dutch breeding company also known for its Strain Hunters web series. Green House Seeds crossed three timeless strains to create the popular sativa, breeding Haze and Northern Lights — the genetics behind Silver Haze — with a Skunk variety for something a little more, well, super than the original.

I’ve never been a huge fan of the flavor of most Haze strains. They’re usually too spicy and herbal, but citrus-heavy cuts of Amnesia Haze, Ghost Train Haze and Super Lemon Haze (offspring of Super Silver Haze) have all proved my prejudice wrong in the past. While early experiences with Super Silver Haze helped create that prejudice, that was a version I’d found on the black market.

Retail versions of Super Silver Haze have shown it to be a sweeter, danker-tasting strain than I’d thought, with a productive, happy high once I figured out its respectable potency and tendency to turn my mouth into Death Valley. I’ve seen it at Drift, Emerald Fields, the Health Center, High West Cannabis, the Joint, Nature’s Herbs and Wellness and Universal Herbs so far, but there are likely more stores carrying it.

Looks: Super Silver Haze’s buds always remind me of Wisconsin, Michigan or some other mitten-shaped Midwestern state. Sparkling, milky trichomes heavily dot lime-green calyxes, giving more credibility to the words “Super Silver.” Those oddly shaped buds can also mean intrusive leaves, though, so it’s not the easiest to trim.

Smell: While it does carry some spicy floral notes at the end, Super Silver Haze is largely full of clear, pungent whiffs of lemons, wet soil and gasoline, with a skunky layer hanging over it all. That definitive type of smell opens up your eyes and helped start that whole sativa-means-energy thing.

Flavor: Grainier, earthier and spicier than the smell suggests, but still very sweet and thick on the Diesel-like flavors of sour rubber, with a slight citrus aftertaste.

Effects: Super Silver Haze’s flavor may stack up with other old Haze strains, but the high is still relatively calm despite its reputation. Although it causes time to move a little slower than your brain and makes you prone to cottonmouth, the strain is still very reliable in the daytime and for creative projects. Medical benefits have included treating exhaustion, stress, eating disorders and excessive apathy.

Commercial grower’s take: “What a classic. It’s too bad that Super Silver Haze isn’t a huge yielder or that great in our outdoor conditions, because it’s one of my favorite old-time sativa strains. The high will make me upbeat and carefree, but it’s not too crazy for me. But it needs a humid climate — Colorado sure doesn’t have that. It’s not an easy strain for experienced growers trying it out for the first time, let alone a beginner.”

Home grower’s take: “The dispensary guy is right. I’ve tried this twice: once in a bloom room with another strain, so it wasn’t humid enough and the buds were too weak...all that after waiting over two and a half months to harvest. I [added too many nutrients] the other time and burnt the flowers. If I did it again, it’d be in a separate room, and only a plant or two for R&D. It’s too hard to depend on unless you really know what you’re doing.”

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