DavidRayDavenport1977

Bedford Grow Orange Afgani Crumble and Popcorn Buds leads to Verano Mag Landrace on an alchemical quest for the taste of hashish

Bedford Grow Orange Afghani is a solid, tasty Afghani, very familiar tasting, but all cleaned up – smoother and fresher than you might remember. Weed back in the day seldom packed a punch like this.

The reason I’ve gone through so many varieties of legal cannabis in Illinois is I’m looking for hashish, but it’s just not here. (EDITOR’S NOTE: It’s here!) A hash buzz is easy to approximate. It’s the taste and the smell I crave, and I’ve craved it now for forty two years.

“It’s not hashish, but the first hit is smooth, downright mellow. It hits the head quickly, and the goofy smile spreads and the eyes droop a notch almost before the first hit is fully exhaled.”

Aside from a handful of opportunities, I’ve not smoked it for about forty of those years. In southern Illinois, hash went from rare to almost non-existent.

I’d been smoking the Orange Afgani Popcorn Buds from Bedford Grow for a few weeks now. Without thinking, it became my go to weed.

My favorite Hashish is Afghani, and the Bedford Grow Indica by the same name does have some of the same flavors, as well as the buzz. The citrus throws it off though. You get the Orange on the inhale, and the spicy Afghani on the exhale.

The first hit is smooth, downright mellow. It hits the head quickly, and the goofy smile spreads and the eyes droop a notch almost before the first hit is fully exhaled.

I loaded a second and found it just as nice, and I realize this is been one of my favorite Indicas so far.

A Bedford Grow Orange Afghani popcorn bud with a bit of crumble added. While it added punch, and was still smooth and quite tasty, it didn’t bring out the hashish flavor as I had hoped

A note on popcorn buds.

They’re smaller, about the size of a piece of popped popcorn. The generic brand, not Orville Redenbacker. If you want to get technical, they’re not quite as potent as fully matured buds. But the difference is minimal, and it’s unlikely most people can tell a difference.

You save a few bucks and get the same buzz. So don’t be afraid to give them a shot.

On creating a hashish flavored cannabis elixir with a dash of Orange Afghani Crumble

I’d been painting Orange Afghani popcorn buds from time to time with hash oil, which tamed the citrus notes and brought the taste and scent closer to hashish.

Then I scored the Bedford Grow Orange Afghani Crumble.

So the next hit was a bit of flower, a bit of crumble, like the other hits, smoked through a bong. With clean water even, as I had high hopes.

I realized two things simultaneously. The first was the hit was still smooth, still sweet and there was no cough. The second was that the orange tasted even more orange, and less like Hashish. Which makes sense as with the stronger concentrate, you’re accenting the flavor not changing it.

What to do when a body buzz feels just too nice

The buzz from Orange Afghani is euphoric. You feel high, uplifted and yet your brain keeps chugging along. It doesn’t wipe you out in one fell swoop like a lot of Indicas. It’s quite a cerebral high, but the body buzz comes creeping up. After about forty five minutes, sitting back comfortably feels real nice. I mean real nice.

Something else I noticed after smoking the popcorn buds one night when the wife was still awake … things physical feel really nice too. I mean real nice.

But she’s asleep tonight so I wander over to the back window, looking out over the back yard. I can’t see the new garden from here, but I have a good view of the route the raccoons take from the top of the barn on their nightly prowls. One crosses a beam of light for a second on the patio, then shuffles off.

I stand there for much too long, and realize the Orange Afghani makes one easily entertained.

Does a dab rig bring out the hashish taste of Bedford Grow’s Orange Afghani?

It occurs to me that I haven’t fully tested the options here. I haven’t for instance, tried just the Orange Afghani Crumble in the dab rig. I ponder it for a moment. If I keep sitting here, typing this review, I’m screwed. The body buzz will win out and slowly but inevitably, I’ll turn vegetable.

Before I can smoke a dab, I’ll have to clean the nail and dome, rinse that, change the water and that should wake me up. At least till I take the hit.

I cleaned out the rig, added fresh, chilled water and whipped out the torch. Pinching off a small piece of the Bedford Grow Grange Afghani Crumble, I dropped it on the nail. By then I wasn’t hoping for a Hashish taste, so I wasn’t disappointed. It was an itense version of the flower hit, more flavor, a stronger scent, a beefier whallop to the psyche.

Adding the Iranian to the Afghani for a last hope of the hashish taste

I recently picked up an Iranian based weed, Verano RSO Mag Landrace, It has a very spicy, woodsy taste … not like evergreens, but aged wood. I also managed to score the RSO oil version of it. I though that might be enough to overcome the citrus flavor of the Orange Afghani, and give a true Hashish taste.

So I swabbed out the nail, heated it up and managed to get a bit of Bedford Grow Orange Afghani and Verano RSO Mag Landrace on my dab tool. And to drop off together even into the heated nail.

Consciousness reeled before coming back, looking like it had been out on a night on the town. And slept in the gutter.

The flavor wasn’t like hash. At least no hash I’d ever tasted. But it was brilliant. It did push down the citrus overtones and it tasted like something from that part of the world. A wave of exotic middle eastern stereotypes flooded the brain as I exhaled.

Then I’m back at the window, looking for varmints. Directly across from me, about fifteen yards away, there’s a shadow under the eaves of the barn. As my eyes adjust, I see it’s a silhouette. I can see the outline, the skinny head, the big ass.

“Consciousness reeled before coming back, looking like it had been out on a night on the town. And slept in the gutter.”

My eyes are still bleary from the after effects of the dab, and my gaze is stolen by the eye of Sauron, staring at me from above the rooftops behind the house. I stare back, clearly able to make out the ridges and highlights in the iris.

Then my eyes come back in focus, and I find myself staring into a street light.

I think I’m pretty much done smoking dope for the night. I started the evening trying to find that elusive taste of hashish, that sweet smell that haunts my dreams. I got hints of it, and a hellacious buzz. And for tonight, that’s close enough.

The Particulars:

BEDFORD GROW ORANGE AFGHANI FLOWER
THC 20% CBD 1%
BEDFORD GROW ORANGE AFGHANI CRUMBLE
THC 78.4%
VERANO RSO – MAG LANDRACE
THC: 79.095 THCA: 1.929 Total: 80.786733

On weed and health

Smoking pot when you’re sixty years old is bound to have its dangers. There’s likely no way you can justify to yourself, at least on a regular basis, as not having a harmful effect on you.

But chances are, if you’re reading this, you’re going to do it anyway.

I had a heart attack last summer. A pretty good one. Doctor thought it was brought on by smoking. That’s a good way to quit by the way. It could be when the nurse shaved my pubes just before they made incision brought the issue clearly into focus.

The result of that, in addition to not smoking, is eating right. I’d flirted with it for years, but this is the first time I’ve actually done it right. For an extended period, with the occasional binge. I’m not a puritan.

I tend to have one or two drinks a day. Which can be considered healthy.

And I have been exercising. Not enough, but it was a strange winter.

In short, I’m doing about everything I should. It feels good. But my soul craves vices.

Or at least, a vice.

Choosing is easy. I’ll take weed over sugar, salt, grease, alcohol … even Reese’s products. Which for me used to be the fifth food group.

So how to do it safely? If that option exists, it would be edibles.

But I’m old fashioned. It’s not just THC. Part of the Mediterranean diet is finding the joy in the egg, not seeing it as a simple source of protein. Ditto for cannabis. Sure, the buzz is important. But so it the ritual.

The good news is, if you’re like me, you don’t have a lot of tolerance built up. Legal cannabis in Illinois is stronger than what we remember. And usually stronger than the commercial weed on the black market. So you can smoke less.

Concentrates are even more potent. Which means you can smoke even less. Unlike with flower, concentrates are turned into vapor, rather than smoke, which is supposed to be easier on the lungs. There isn’t a lot of research on the subject, but that’s the early conclusions.

In short, a lesser of two evils. Less damage and less inhaling.

People can, and often do, point to how marijuana relaxes them and lowers their blood pressure. It could be true. I don’t think about it a lot. It’s worth a bit of risk, but not worth dying for. Keep it in moderation, smoke as little as you can.

And enjoy every day that you do, so it’s all worth it in the end anyway.

Finishing up the Jack Herer, saying “till later” to an old friend

Jack Herer is a pretty common hybrid strain, developed in the late eighties, always in demand, predominantly Sativa, with refreshing lemony/berry accents over a citrus base. It leaves your mouth tasting zesty and the room smelling of pine, spices and potpourri.

All this flavor and taste helps to mask the fact that Jack Herer from GTI packs an almost 24% THCA reading, an has a 26.1 cannabinoid content.

Jack Herer’s creator, Sensi Seeds keeps the lineage a secret, but it’s believed to be a combination of a Sativa Haze, Northern Lights #5 and Shiva Skunk. It’s energetic without provoking anxiety, and though relaxing, stimulates the mind, without knocking the body out.

I was at the tail end of an eighth of Jack Herer, from GTI, bought from the nearest ThriveIL dispensary, in my case Harrisburg, Illinois. I’d been making the journey there a bit too much lately and needed to finish off the almost finished weed I had laying about.

A friend you can take for granted

I honestly don’t remember smoking the rest of the Jack Here from GTI. It wasn’t that I was overly high, just that it became an everyday smoke, till something new pushed it out of the way. I wasn’t particularly attached to it. It just worked, and it was there.

I tried a couple bong hits to get reacquainted. The haze taste came through first, along with a nice hint of pine. It was exceptionally smooth – my battered lungs briefly considered a short cough, out of habit, but passed on it. The second hit was equally smooth, and though there was no rush to stoned, I was pleasantly buzzed.

I wandered around the house a bit, just getting feel for the high. I didn’t get a burst of energy like I get from some Sativas. No upping the anxiety, but I did feel motivated.

“So the day took on a happy mood. Music was called for, Aoxomoxoa by The Grateful Dead. It’s a jaunty little album with enough weirdness to make the buzz psychedelic.”

I went back in the lounge for another hit. This time I mixed it with the hash oil version of Jack Herer, from Aeritz. It’s darker than most of the oils I’ve had, and I sliced off a bubble from the syringe with a dab tool, then swirled that in some finely broken up flower. The grass adhered nicely to the oil, so it was a simple matter to wipe the glop on the inside of the bowl of the bong.

You don’t have to be precise, once the oil is lit, it stays lit. You either cover the bowl to keep the smoke from escaping, or pass to the next person if there’s someone to pass to.

The weed was burned through in the first hit, which had a lot more punch with the addition of the hash oil. It also filled out the flavor, so the nuances came through. The oil burned for another hit or two and my pleasant little buzz had progressed to pretty fucking high.

The album ended and The Music Never Stopped came on, another Dead tune, which is bound to get a person on their feet. Jack Herer isn’t an overly energetic high, but there is a lift. And motivation. Not being a dancer, or a twirler I wandered down the stairs, thinking a bit of time outside might be good. And there are always things needing done out there.

It’s a beautiful day in the neighborhood

Outside it’s exceptionally sunny, but the cold is back. A hard frost last night, I went out and checked the garden. Nothing is up but some live plants I put in last weekend, spring greens. They were actually thriving in the cold. My pepper plants were shielded and just fine as well.

Most of all I just wandered around, letting whatever wanted attention, catch my eye. I didn’t do much of anything, but I had a damned fine time doing it. I could still hear the music playing inside, sounding far, far away. And I thought that’s actually how music should be heard outside.

The description people keep using in reviews of Jack Herer is clear-headed. I’ll second that. So I figured I might as well do a bit of real work, as I didn’t feel too high to concentrate and I wasn’t dressed for the cold.

“The oil burned for another hit or two and my pleasant little buzz had progressed to pretty fucking high.”

Inside I made a cup of hot tea, as my taste buds were on overdrive from the weed. I opted for German Breakfast Tea, with honey. I wanted to be able to stay up with the buzz, and not succumb to the mid-afternoon doldrums that come from staring at a computer screen.

After sitting and typing for a bit I started feeling tense between my shoulders, and stood up. I tried doing an exercise I used to know which helped reduce the tension. After a few minutes I realized I was actually just doing The Safety Dance but oddly enough it worked, and stuck the song on my head.

The phone rang and I took a call from a client, which went surprisingly well. She’s notoriously difficult to explain things to – she’s visual so she need to see it. But it was a very mellow conversation and I managed to explain things clearly enough that she could follow along with the issue.

Jack Herer’s clarity pays off. Which makes it a good daytime buzz if you don’t have to any heavy lifting, physically or mentally. It’s just … pleasant. Which is likely why it didn’t stick in my head more. It’s like an old friend that’s always there when you need him.

I’ll be calling on Jack again.

The Particulars:

GTI Jack Herer Flower
THC 0.97#, CBD 0.01%, THCA 23.42%, CBDA 1.70%
Aeriz Jack Here Full Spectrum Hash Oil
CBD: 0.59% | THC: 76.08% | THCA: 0.35%

Frequently Asked Questions: Is This Shit Good For You?

A little dab’ll do ya. This much hash oil can provide a pretty decent buzz. When smoked through a dab rig, you don’t inhale smoke, but vapor instead. That means less bad shit gets inside you.

If you’re the type of person who smokes weed, you’re going to smoke weed. I don’t have to tell you it’s not good for you. Smoking anything is bad for you, even if it has benefits.

If you want good for you, try edibles. Or capsules. Or broccoli.

So if you’re going to smoke it, smoke as little of it as possible. You don’t need as much when it’s twice as strong. Or even stronger in the case of concentrates.

Your goal isn’t to look like those kids blowing out a huge cloud of vapor or smoke. Remember, you don’t want to cough up a lung. If it’s been a long time, go slow. And keep a paper bag nearby just in case.

When I started smoking legal dope, my usage went down. Not enough to recoup the cost. But that means to afford it you have to give up all your other bad habits, and for some of us, that makes smoking dope a downright healthy option.

How can smoking dope be bad for me. It’s natural! It’s a weed!

So is Jimpson Weed, I grow it. But I sure as hell won’t smoke it.

Smoking anything anything is bad for you. My biggest fear is COPD. Let’s face it, old stoners quite often used to smoke cigarettes too. That makes our lungs amongst our most abused organs. You could use the shit I cough up in the morning to grout the tile in your bathroom.

You get all the tars and lung gunk you get from cigarettes with weed. No nicotine, but THC which can lead to a totally different menu of problems. Like psychosis, particularly amongst long term, heavy marijuana smokers.

Then there’s lung cancer.

A lot of people I know develop paranoia, or anxiety. A lot of it was fear of getting busted. But even without that fear, there are certain weeds that taken in a healthy dose will instill anxiety all the same. And paranoia seems to grow from that.

Aren’t you a little old for this shit?

Apparently not. I grew up in southern Illinois in the seventies. There wasn’t much to do here, so when you finally found pot, life turned technicolor. How do you outgrow that?

Granted, you hit a certain age, you look at your consumption, and the variety of things you’re consuming, that all lead to untimely death, and start to ponder your life choices. If you’re like me, you have a reason to live.

So you chuck out the vices that are most likely to kill you, pick the one or two you don’t want to give up and develop moderation. Instead of working on your tolerance, you work at weakening your tolerance.

I’ve smoked pot for fifty years and it ain’t hurt me yet.

Congratulations! I know a lot of people like you. Unfortunately, there are people like me who pick up a bit of heart and lung disease along the way. I’ve known some people who got so nutty they had to quit. I’ve known a few that blew a gasket the first time they smoked it.

In short, the damage can be non-existent, or fatal, depending on how much you smoke, what you smoke and your genetic makeup. You don’t know when you start, so it’s always a gamble. Some of us are gamblers.

But when you get our age, the stakes are higher. So are the THC levels, and a lot of long time smokers find their face melting the first time they smoke legal weed. Or take a puff off a dab pipe.

So for myself, I take advantage of the higher THC content, and smoke far less. And smaller hits.

They always say drugs kill brain cells. How many do you have left?

267

What happens when you mix alcohol and pot?

The same thing that happened when you mixed alcohol and pot as a teenager. Quite often it was something that you don’t want to remember, and likely have never told your spouse. I always considered beer a marijuana enhancement device. It’s a win-win. You smoke less pot and drink less beer.

Once again, moderation is the key. Unless you have a raging drug habit or buy your beer by the case. Hard liquor is a different story altogether. Hard liquor is an advanced class, and more dangerous for a variety of reasons. Not the least … the dreaded spins. You know you don’t need that last bong hit, but you do it anyway. You find yourself flat on your back, tasting stale whiskey on your tongue, the room is tried to break loose from its moorings and finally it does. I go straight for the vomit, I don’t fight it. Besides, a good puke helps prevent hangover.

Should I take vitamins if I smoke pot?

It depends on how much you smoke. You need your vitamins but you should be getting them from what you eat. That said, I do take a multivitamin. If I’m not getting an abundance of fruit, I’ll pop Vitamin C. Potassium and Magnesium are good as well.

That’s about all I can vouch for. But yeah, marijuana does eat up the nutrients in your body. You’ll find if you eat right, and plug the holes in your diet you’ll feel a lot better. And get sick less.

Are you a health professional? Do you know what you’re talking about?

No, I’m an artist, writer and sometimes dabble in music and advertising. But I’m alive, relatively healthy and where most people dropped the habit, I kept going. I never became a burnout – my brain works better now than at any other time in my life. I think. Of course I could be totally fucking nuts.

It was the late eighties, a Sunday afternoon and I was walking into a restaurant/lounge which had live music outside. As I walking in, I saw an empty package of Emge hot dogs there amongst some other trash. I’m guessing LSD was involved as it didn’t make me crave one. Instead, I was turned off by trash. When the music started, I kept noticing the garbage all around me. Plastic, paper, boxes and I thought, “what if I started eating like my granny Bert did back when she was poor?” In the middle of the twentieth century, shit was hard. And people like her ate simple and ate right.

So I decided that day I’d stop eating anything that came in a package with a logo on it. Which turned out to be a good idea, because it pushed me to the basics, I had to learn to cook. And though I wasn’t religious about it, for most of my life after that I ate fairly well.

Otherwise, I surely would have died years ago. Instead I started studying food and nutrition, how to avoid the things which were likely nasty. Here’s the bottom line. Each region of the world has its cuisine, that was developed over the past thousand years. It wasn’t developed to be yummy, but to keep you alive and healthy. If you eat the way they ate in the past, supplement with fruits and vegetables your ancestors never could have dreamt of, you’re pretty much following the most recent dietary advice.

Where I fucked up was cigarettes, and I knew it. And having a job which had me sitting on my ass twelve hours or more a day.

So no, I’m not a professional. Take everything I say with a grain of salt, (but under 1500 mg per day), and double check anything I say for yourself, starting with asking your doctor. Then make your own choices.