Never Forget These Classic OG Strains

Have you walked into a cannabis dispensary lately and been overwhelmed by the selection of 20 or 30 different strains? Were you taken aback by all the wild names, from Trainwreck to Purple Monkey Balls to Cat Piss?

These new strains are cool and all, but am I the only one who wishes we could bring back the classics? Some of the staple strains that I grew up with have unique flavor and aroma profiles, but growers are ditching them for strains that are easier to cultivate. For example, Haze is a classic strain that takes around three months to flower, but the majority of today’s cannabis matures in approximately 60 days.

Let’s take a look at some old-school classics that many of us wish somebody would (properly) bring back.

Afghani

Afghani is a classic indica strain from the Hippie Trail. This potent strain produces light green, whitish-colored nugs known to have flashes of brilliant purple throughout them. The buds are covered in a beyond generous portion of trichomes, helping to give this strain its high levels of THC. The flavor is a unique, one-of-a-kind funk, giving it an earthy flavor with a sweet finish.

Sour Diesel

This strain surfaced and rose to popularity in the early 1990s. It is a sativa-dominant hybrid created by crossing Super Skunk and Chemdawg that produces lime green-colored nugs with fiery red hair smothered in a frosty blanket of trichomes. The flavor profile is strong, pungent, and often referred to as gassy or diesel-like with a skunky finish.

OG Kush

OG Kush is a legendary cannabis strain from the 1990s. There are conflicting stories about where it started and the genetic lineage used to create it. Most people, however, will agree that the OG in OG Kush stands for ocean-grown. Some people like to claim Florida as the home of OG Kush, while the majority vote for California, where OG Kush is cultivated at elevations and in a temperate climate that is perfect for it to thrive. The buds are olive green with dark red hairs and a frosty coat of trichomes. The flavor profile typically has hints of lemon and pine with a pleasing funky finish.

Durban Poison

Durban Poison is a sativa-dominant landrace strain that comes out of the port city of Durban, located in South Africa. When flowered properly, the buds are olive green with tiny fiery orange hairs hiding under a thick blanket of sticky trichomes. The flavor profile is sweet with a piney finish, although it is sometimes referred to as being very floral and sweet.

Hindu Kush

Hindu Kush is a legendary strain that gets its name from the mountain range it came from that spans between Pakistan and Afghanistan. Hindu Kush produces beautiful buds that are bright green to olive green in color with brilliant flashes of purple throughout. They are wrapped in fiery red and orange hairs and blanketed in a thick wall of trichomes that’s enough to gag any grinder. The flavor profile is earthy and spicy with a pungent undertone. In the Middle East, where hashish is very popular, Hindu Kush is a highly sought-after strain for producing quality hashish.

Chemdawg 91

This hybrid variety of cannabis can lean indica- or sativa-dominant. It is said to have originated on the East Coast, where a breeder crossed it with a Thai landrace strain. The buds are bright green in color with fiery red and orange hairs smothered with a generous portion of diamond-like trichomes. The flavor profile is gassy and sweet with hints of pine and lemon, followed by a pungent, diesel-like finish.

Northern Lights

Northern Lights is an indica-dominant variety of cannabis said to be created by crossing Thai with Afghani. The buds range from olive green to light green in color, with dark red hairs hiding behind a dense blanket of trichomes resembling fresh, powdery snow. The flavor profile is spicy, herbal, and sweet with a pine-like finish.

Roadkill Skunk

Every once in a while, you’ll come across some good Afghani, Sour Diesel, or Chemdawg, but you never run into Roadkill Skunk. This is a strain that many people haven’t seen since the mid ’80s or early ’90s. The buds were almost white in color, completely engulfed by an almost impenetrable fortress of trichomes. The flavor profile was funky, skunky, and nasty—in a great way! The aroma literally smelled similar to skunk spray or a dead skunk in the road, hence its name.

Haze

This sativa-dominant cannabis strain is a classic that is said to have made its way from the east coast to the west coast of California back in the ’80s. Haze, unlike other strains, has a very long flowering time that averages around 11 weeks. Remember this the next time you see Haze sitting on the shelf of a dispensary. Chances are it did not receive three months of flowering time, but if it did, you are in for a treat. The flavor of this strain is sweet and earthy with a spicy, citrus-like finish. Once you’ve had the real deal, nothing else compares.

1979 Christmas Tree Bud

For those who grew up around cannabis, this was most likely a staple strain of the holiday season. Before legalization, we didn’t have the variety to choose from that we have today—you basically got whatever your dealer offered. But during the holidays, dealers would often have a special strain that we all knew as “Christmas tree bud.”  These bright green nugs were covered in fiery red hairs that lit up like a Christmas tree thanks to their abundant trichome coverage. The flavor profile was sweet and earthy, with a strong pine-like finish.