WELCOME TO SUNGROWN SUMMER 🌞
Celebrating Solstice with a new review series highlighting the best regenerative flower for fun in the sun
The concept of summer feels almost surreal at this point, especially for sun-spoiled Californians who were forced to endure months of oppressive cloud cover throughout the entirety of an abnormally cold spring.
Here at Hot Tokes, we survived (barely) and are back from a particularly gnarly depression spiral to celebrate Solstice and all that is hot.
Welcome to Sungrown Summer, a new review series where I’m going to highlight my favorite sungrown cultivars from regenerative farms around the Emerald Triangle. Each stellar offering is designed to pair with the festive fruits of life that only ripen this time of year.
The idea for this series came from a conversation I had with a friend. We realized that (for us, at least) the radiant, multi-faceted highs of sungrown weed are great for connecting with nature and enjoying outdoor activities in the warmer months, while the heavier highs of potent indoor tend to be better suited for the cozy energy of colder weather.
Now that the sky is finally blue and heat radiates off the river rocks like a mirage, I’ve rounded up the varieties I’m most excited to share with you guys. They’re ordered by how I consume them from morning to night, with some resources on how to find them near you.
Be sure to follow the farms and distros I’ve linked below to keep tabs on where their flower is currently available. One of the biggest issues many of these farms face is consumer accessibility, so following each farm on IG is a great way to keep tabs on when and where their products drop.
So without further ado, let’s get stoned!
Citrus Sunrise by Arcanna Flowers
Citrus Sunrise by Arcanna Flowers is a tangerine daydream that’s as perfect for morning Zoom calls as it is for long days in the sun.
I love all the weed that comes from Arcanna. This family-run farm high in the hills of Mendo specializes in unique genetics that produce some of the most holistic and happy-feeling highs on the market.
This Citrus Sunrise is a particular favorite of their most recent drop that I was lucky enough to sample. Sparkly green nugs read orange from red hairs, with the kind of icy dusting of visible trichomes that indicate potency in flower.
I’m a real sucker for this kind of creamy citrus profile, and this variety is a perfect embodiment of that vibe. Succulent, dreamsicle orange blossoms burst out of the jar, tart on the nose, sweet on the inhale.
The high is energized and floaty yet super productive. It’s a clear, high-flying boost that’s great for being creative, hiking, and just generally experiencing life at an elevated frequency.
I’ve been smoking her first thing every morning since I got the jar about a month ago, and it has all but replaced my need for coffee. When I apply this flower to a work setting, I feel focused and driven, and at a party, social and confident.
Great for: Daybreak, deadlines, long hikes, beach days
Find and follow: Arcanna Flowers IG
Trilogy by Emerald Spirit Botanicals
If you’ve been following me for a while, you know that I’m obsessed with Emerald Spirit Botanicals and the spiritually potent flower they produce.
This family-run farm in Mendocino is famous for ratio varieties with some of the highest levels of minor cannabinoids ever recorded, like Pink Boost Goddess, a THCV cultivar consistently sweeping The Emerald Cup and every other conceivable award show.
The farmers behind Emerald Spirit believe in communicating with the plant’s spirits to get them to produce these unheard-of minor cannabinoid levels. While this may sound a little woo-woo to some, as soon as you try their flower, you’ll believe it.
Trilogy is their brand new cultivar featuring THC, THCV and CBG, which together support mood elevation, focus and also have the medicinal potential to help with gut health.
While I find all of Emerald Spirit’s flower to have a mystical depth, this is a fantastically productive cultivar that lends itself to introspective creativity, making it great for writing and thinking.
This flower is available through Farm Cut, a farmer-run collective who have a unique approach to the way they package and sell their weed. While my pics aren’t the best, you can see there are intact fan leaves protecting these nugs. These farmers believe that the trichomes need to be protected and handled carefully. Each time you damage the head of one of these sticky little nodules holding the chemicals that get us high, you are destroying the effect of flower.
Keeping these longer leaves intact is akin to leaving the skin on a banana, or any other consumable that comes with a peel to protect itself. Each nug asks for a little trim before you enjoy its untouched beauty.
With notes of heavy pine and terpinolene, you can almost experience Trilogy just from smelling it. The high is upbeat, heady, and therapeutic. One of the things I love about THCV varieties is the heightened sense of vision, where the colors are more vibrant and the world presents itself to you in a different way than ever before.
This flower offers a full spectrum healing experience for body and mind, propelling you into a clear-headed, focused connection with the world and the people around you.
Great for: Backcountry campsites, contemplating wildflowers, writing your manifesto
Find and follow: Emerald Spirit Botanicals IG
Wildland Haze by WildLand Cannabis
Wildland Haze is my go-to art buddy, whimsical, exciting, and up for anything. Here we have another great example of how the energy and intention put into the plant by the farmer shines through in the experience you glean from consuming it.
WildLand Cannabis is a Mendocino farm hanging high on a hillside founded by two visual artists from Philadelphia. After graduating from art school, the duo found the small valley of Covelo in search of a life closer to nature.
Their creative souls and reverence for the artistic nature of breeding cannabis shine through in Wildland Haze, their farm’s signature strain.
This cross between Jah Goo and Super Silver Haze delivers you directly into that coveted creative flow state that can be so hard to reach in our technological age of distractions.
Fruity, moody, funky and dank, she has a smooth, round smell, with notes of pine and wood spice. On the first hit, any notions of ickiness, mental or physical, melt away.
The mental space she brings you to is whimsical, playful, and quiet, allowing your mind to let the ideas flow.
Great for: Visual art, tie-dye parties, watering the garden
Find and follow: WildLand Cannabis IG
Road Trip by First Cut Farms
Road Trip by First Cut Farms feels like an afternoon spent tubing down a warm river with your best friends. Though the purpose of this list is not competition, she’s my favorite flower in terms of the high alone.
Gassy, earthy, dense nugs melt you into an elated pile of love with just one hit. A deeply joyful experience that is as much mental relief as it is physical relaxation, this cultivar is so fantastic because of the man who grows it.
Jerry Munn of First Cut Farms has been in the game since helping HIV/Aids and cancer patients access medicine while working at the first cannabis buyer’s club in San Francisco.
A master in every sense of the term, he’s been breeding and growing proprietary genetics for over 30 years. Jerry is a true warrior for the plant and our right as humans to access her healing powers. This flower is a testament to his inspirational legacy.
Road Trip is everything you could possibly want in a weed high and I could not recommend it more, whether you’re a seasoned stoner or a total n00b. She is balanced and buoyant, a perfectly constructed feeling that is spiritually soothing and totally silly.
The first time I smoked Road Trip, I was upset. Within seconds, a warm embrace of love crept behind my eyes, wrapping around my body. My sadness dissolved like smoke into the night sky as I thought to myself, this is what weed is supposed to feel like.
Great for: Open roads, old friends, and balmy evenings on the porch when the light is blue just after the sun sets
Find and follow: First Cut Farms IG
Lantz by Ridgeline Farms
To end today’s list on the most totally potent note possible, we have the absolute juggernaut that is Lantz by Ridgeline Farms.
Created in the hills of Southern Humboldt by Jason Gellman, a second-generation cannabis farmer, Lantz is the kind of weed you can only produce if you’ve grown weed your entire life. She’s pretty much perfect, delivering on every aesthetic and sensory detail while getting you high as fuck.
These beautiful, dark purple and silver nugs won first place in the Mixed Light category at the Emerald Cup this year, and have even caught the eye of Berner, who carries Lantz in his current Cookies lineup, along with a few other Ridgeline gems. Lantz is also available through Redwood Roots, a community-focused distro out of Humboldt that reps multigenerational farmers and has the best lineup of flower in the weed game, IMO.
Lantz commands an immense amount of attention because she’s simply that special. As soon as you open the bag, you are punched in the face by an unbelievably pungent terpene profile. An insane tidal wave of juicy, creamy berry terps sends a chill up the spine. The smell translates perfectly to the flavor, like a sumptuous berry cream cake with gassy overtones.
The high is super heavy, zoomy, and content. It makes me feel like I’m 15 again, lit as fuck in the convenience store. Eyes are heavy, mind is playing “Hits from the Bong” by Cypress Hill. You feel laid back and wavy without feeling sleepy. If you suffer from anxiety, pain, or just need to chill out after a long day, this is your girl.
Lantz is the kind of flower that makes you realize how great sungrown weed can truly be, and how blessed we are to have access to medicine of this caliber.
Great for: Riverbanks, campfires, living the sweet life slowly
Find and follow here: Ridgeline Farms IG