I recently acquired a 6-pack of Blazy Susan Grateful Dead pre-rolled cones.
The cones are 2 ¼” long excluding tip. With the tip included they are about 3 ¼”. The cones are vegan, GMO free, chlorine free and feature Grateful Dead-themed tips. Each empty pre-roll comes with its own little round smusher stick to aid in an even pack.
Empty cone with smusher stick
In order to fill one of these things properly, break your weed down to a fine mash. You can use your fingers or a grinder, but I usually use a grinder with these types of cones.
It takes about a gram of flower to fill one of these pre-rolls. You don’t have to fill it all of the way, especially if it’s intended for only one single smoker. I usually fill it all of the way regardless of how many smokers will be partaking in the piff.
To fill the cone with broken-up weed, you can fold a piece of paper, put your pot in the crease, and pour it into the cone bit by bit, using the smusher stick in between pours. Some brands of cones, such as RAW, even come with little custom pouring tools in addition to the smusher sticks.
If you don’t have or want to use a pouring pal, pinch some pot with your thumb and middle finger. Place the pinch into the cone. Use the smusher stick to evenly pack the plant product.
Pinch and repeat. Never pinch or pour more than once without using the smusher stick to pack the pot. This will ensure your joint is stuffed sufficiently in order to burn evenly and maintain its shape.
Near-full cone
When you’re finished the joint should look something like this. You can twist or pinch the remaining paper at the top if you plan on saving the jib for later. In this example I lit the thing as it was right then and there.
The joint burned slowly and evenly. I barely tasted the paper at all. I was smoking on some London Pound Cake 29% THC Hybrid from Kynd. It had sweet notes that reminded me of icing along with some earthier, nuttier flavors that gave me the impression of sponge cake.
Usually I prefer unbleached hemp papers, so I’m not sure I’d buy these again. Many readily-available brands such as RAW make unbleached, organic hemp pre-rolled cones. I recommend the 20 pack from RAW since it comes with both smusher sticks and pouring pals. Element makes organic rice cones, and you can get a 240 pack of Papa Jim’s unbleached cones for $20 on Amazon.
On a side note, rice paper for joints is a special style of thin translucent paper made from organic Earth-based materials. It is not made from the same type of rice that you eat.
When you flick a lighter’s striker wheel, a flint spark ignites a jet of butane gas. The ongoing source of the flame is butane.
When you hold that lighter flame to your bowl and inhale, you are directly breathing in that butane gas. This is not ideal for your health. I’ve even had people tell me when they light pipes, joints and blunts with a standard lighter, they can detect a subtle butane taste throughout the session.
This is why you’ll find hemp wick sold in every headshop throughout the world. When hemp wick is used to ignite your flower or melt your hash, the flame originates from a cleaner source. This allows you to avoid the inhalation of butane while smoking, which in turn helps you to experience the truest possible terpene taste.
For convenience’s sake, I usually wrap my lighters in hemp wick for use during smoke sessions. Hemp wick is coated in a thin layer of beeswax, which makes the wick kind of stick to itself when wrapped around a lighter. It works nicely.
In stores you can find special lighters that have hemp wick dispensers, but if you want to go the D.I.Y. route, check out the following guide on how to wrap your lighter in hemp wick.
You’ll need the following items:
A lighter, preferably Bic, but other brands will also work.
A roll of standard adhesive tape, preferably 3/4ths of an inch in width.
A roll of hemp wick. It’s sold in both small and large bundles. I usually buy a 200 foot roll to get a good bang for my buck. Different brands come in different colors and thicknesses. Companies that I’ve used in the past include I-Tal, Bee Line, RAW, ZONG, Twisted Bee, Zippo and Humboldt Hemp Wick. In this article I am using a 200 foot roll of Hemptique Organic that I bought on eBay for $9.32 after shipping. I particularly like Hemptique Organic because it’s thin, malleable and burns super clean without leaving behind soot or black ash residue.
200 foot roll of hemp wick
First, break off an inch-long piece of tape.
3/4th inch wide Scotch tape
Take one end of the hemp wick and place it in the middle of the tape like this.
Fold the tape around the hemp wick but leave the two sides apart from each other. This will allow you to stick the wick to the Bic.
In this image the sticky side of the tape is facing down.In this image the sticky side of the tape is facing up.
Prepare your lighter.
Flip it over so the back of the lighter is facing towards you.
Tape the hemp wick to the bottom of the lighter. Make sure the wick is facing downwards like this.
Wrap the wick around the lighter.
Wrap as much or as little as you’d like.
When you’re ready to smoke, use the lighter to ignite the end of the hemp wick. It’s important to be mindful of the flame at all times. While the wick is lit, tilt up or down to control the flame’s size and shape.
The flame approaches the flower.
Be sure to extinguish the flame completely after each toke. I typically use a gentile puff of lung air to kill the fire and then use my fingers to pinch out the remaining ember. Another way to kill the fire that burns upon the wick’s end is to quickly flick the flame with your wrist.
After killing the flame, use your fingers to extinguish the burning ember.
If you’re afraid of the heat, you can also stamp out the ember against the glass bowl with one finger. I don’t feel anything at all when I use this method.
Stamping the ember against the bowl seems to be a little less intense than using just your fingers to extinguish the smoldering hemp wick. However you choose to do it, make sure you kill the ember after each hit. Never assume it will burn out on its own.
Zong! Wick
Now that you know how to wrap your lighter with hemp wick you can say bye-bye to breathing butane. You can use hemp wick to light bowls, pipes, one hitters, chillums, bubblers, bongs, joints, blunts and hookahs. Smoke strong, live long and bubble your bong ’till the song is gone.
The other day Autumn from Bloom in Akron advised me to try one of her favorite strains, Thai Kush from King City Gardens. I bought a tenth and stretched it out over several sessions in order to gain a comprehensive understanding of its unique properties.
This is a digital representation of the light that entered my eyes when I opened the jar of Thai Kush. There’s nothing else I’d rather behold!
The strain’s lineage is Hindu Kush x Thai. It’s a hybrid that features a crisp, citrusy scent and taste thanks to the high limonene content. The tenth was packaged in a glass jar with a black label and black plastic lid. My tenth weighed 2.86 grams, with 2.65 of those grams contained within one giant bud!
Big bud, small bud! Kind of like two peas in a pod, but stonier.
The Thai Kush flower not only looked beautiful but it was well-trimmed and contained minimal stemmage. The overall light green color was contrasted by flecks of purple combined with shiny trichomes and orange pistils that protruded proudly from the pot.
This close-up view of Thai Kush from King City Gardens is enchanting.
I was a little surprised with the dryness of the flower, as King City’s stuff is usually up to par. However, through a grinder, this particular batch of Thai Kush became about 50% dust. When broken up by hand it was sticky and shredded apart into nice little chunks of green goodness.
The flower had fair density to it and gave resistance when squeezed. I was especially happy with the large bud that weighed 2.65 grams, as it was thick and contained a very small amount of stem matter within. The nug gave a bit of a crunch when pressure was applied. I would have liked to put a Boveda packet in this jar for a few days to see if it would have helped with the moisture.
King City Garden’s Thai Kush burned at about a medium speed and ashed mostly white in color. It didn’t taste dry. In fact, the flavor was truly something to behold and appreciate.
Ash color of King City Garden’s Thai Kush
To me the taste of this flower leaned towards the lemony side. It was very refreshing, with sweet fruity and herbal notes to give balance. The exhale was smooth, with a clean taste that brought a sheen to my face.
Upon consumption I felt relaxed and pain-free but not sleepy. It was a good middle-ground balance to remain productive while still achieving that sought-after analgesic effect for which marijuana is so often used.
I’d recommend Thai Kush for those looking to take the edge off while remaining focused, dialed in, clear-headed and creative. During my initial session with the strain, the following verse brewed within my brain:
Thai Kush, Thai Kush. Wanna grow a whole bush. Stick a nug in my rosin press and give it a smush.
Humulene makes me feel like a human being. Limonene makes me feel like the Lion King. Caryophyllene is a scary offering. Indeed, caryophyllene is a cherry on top kind of thing.
I gave the Thai Kush from Cincinnati’s King City Gardens an 8 for taste, 3 for harshness, 7 for strength, 7 for smell strength and 45 to 60 minutes for length of medical effects.
Total THC 30.1%, Delta-9 THC 0.242%, THCA 34.1%, CBD 0%.
Cultivated by FW Green Investments LLC. Harvested 09/03/2024, tested 11/16/2024 by North Coast, packaged 12/12/2024, first consumed 01/04/2025, expires 09/03/2025.
The bottom of the jar has slight magnification properties, which helps while inspecting the trichomes.
I am not a fan of the winter months. The cold air dries my skin. The slushy ground dampens my shoes. If it wasn’t for weed I would bellow the blues.
One literal bright spot about winter time is the holiday display lights people affix to their homes. Despite their questionable energy demands upon the power grid, it’s comforting to see illuminated decorations during the holidays. Some groups of people go all out and decorate large industrial buildings while others band together and create multi-house displays.
This past season my brother Kenny and I decided to take a Christmas lights tour in order to see the best displays Cleveland had to offer. December 15th, 2024 was the date we embarked upon this quest.
Someone had a giant Ralphie from A Christmas Story blowup figurine in their front yard. It was two stories tall!
Kenny found a Christmas lights map on a Facebook page called Northeast Ohio Family Fun. He also researched information on ClevelandTraveler.com. He loaded up a pro wrestling theme song playlist on his car radio and off we went to our first stop, NELA Park, which is owned by General Electric Lighting. It’s the world’s first industrial park and was the location of many important discoveries in the field of lighting.
If you can’t park in one of the few front visitor spots there is really nowhere to park. Everything else was gated off. Across the street there is a GAS USA location which offers hot corned beef sandwiches. GAS USA should be the name of a weed strain.
We made it to East Cleveland and parked at NELA around 5:45 pm. It had already gotten dark outside. The weather was 42 degrees with some slight rain.
NELA Park featured a lot of pre-made displays with wooden cutouts. There were also some huge arrangements such as the 100 year anniversary candle atop the building. I appreciated the large variety of colors incorporated within the displays.
100 years is a long time.
The setup was somewhat underwhelming but still worth visiting. There were no flashing lights, animation or music incorporated anywhere. Most of the displays were behind fences, so you couldn’t walk through the lighting configurations. You could only stroll in front of them. The Ho Ho Ho Santa-Hat Bungalow was the only interactive element to the display.
KennyBill holding up the Christmas tree
There was a small amount of other people at NELA Park looking at the lights. It wasn’t much of an active scene. I’m sure the rain didn’t help with that. NELA park was a good stop to make in regards to completing the holiday lights tour but I wouldn’t say it was a must-see attraction. Its overall rating was a 6 out of 10, above average but not a required pilgrimage.
Trolley time!This was the most impressive element to the display.
On the way to the next stop I missed a few real good shots of huge downtown Cleveland buildings with cool lighting. I did manage to snap a few shots of Progressive Field.
There are several dispensaries near the ballpark.Dispensaries near Progressive Field: The Landing, RISE, Shangri-La, Therapy, The Botanist, Nectar and Insa.
The second stop on the tour was Strongsville Town Square. Apparently this place called Pleasant Hills Church was on the holiday lights list. They had a small outdoor display, but inside they were supposed to have a full-on light show with interactive Christmas-themed rooms.
As we entered the church this is what we saw.I snapped a shot with the cutout.
My brother and I entered the main worship hall and found an empty pew. The light show began just as we sat down. It turned out to be underwhelming with bad music and low-budget wizardry. I took some video but it is so boring that I didn’t bother to upload it and include it in the article.
I was expecting Christmas-themed rooms to walk through, not quite this. It wasn’t a big deal though. The people at the church were friendly. The second stop on the lights tour got a 2 out of 10 rating. It was a waste of time. You can’t win ’em all.
As I sat in the pew the song High in Church came to mind. Rest in Peace to Trevor Moore.
On the way to Strongsville Town Center I saw a house with Santa aliens in the front yard but sadly didn’t snap the shot in time. As we passed by I got a few shots of these holiday houses.
Next we went to Strongsville Town Center. There were several large displays, a big purple tree and a Grinch up in a high tower. It was an immersive walk through experience. I gave it a 7 out of 10. It lacked of audio and animation but I appreciated the large-scale effort and attention to detail.
The final stop on the 2024 holiday lights tour was Crown Point Parkway in Strongsville. This annual multi-home lighting arrangement has been featured on The Great Christmas Light Fight TV show. On the way there we drove past the highly-regarded restaurant known as Honeygrow. Sadly it was closed at the time.
Crown Point Parkway was holiday overkill. There were dozens of animated displays with synchronized music and flashing lights. During certain hours, live musicians perform and a man dressed as Santa hands out hot cocoa to people walking around the cul-de-sac. I gave Crown Point Parkway a 9 out of 10 for their daunting display of holiday detail.
There were more stops on the list but it was getting late and we were getting hungry. On the way home we had no choice but to stop for food. The only place open was Wal-Mart. In the snack section we saw an old classic, blue raspberry gummy sharks. When we got home we had a close encounter of the 26% kind with the UFOG strain from Old Pal!
It could just be me reminiscing with rose-colored glasses but it seems like a greater number of residents would light up their homes for Christmas in years past. Nonetheless, it’s entertaining to see the efforts people put forth with their holiday decorations. The only time I will truly be impressed is when I see green lights on a home for 420 or golden lights on a house for 710.
I’ve tried Meigs County flower here and there, including some of their popular cuts like Swampwater Fumez and Strawberry Guava. I’ve always been impressed. Everybody always talks about how Meigs County is among their favorite cultivators, so I decided to try a tenth of Truffaloha.
The southern Ohio county known as Meigs County has been famous for growing great cannabis since the 80’s. In modern times, Agri-Med Ohio, LLC grows and distributes medical and recreational cannabis under the brand name Meigs County. Agri-Med Ohio is owned by Ethos Cannabis.
I love how Meigs County lists their flower’s lineage on the back of the jar. This needs to become a required piece of information for all Ohio flower. The Truffaloha’s parents are White Truffle and Platinum Punch #1. The strain is a hybrid with 24.30% THC.
Upon opening the jar, the first joint I rolled and smoked seemed to ash really dark. I was surprised. I packed a bowl afterwards to see if the trend would continue.
This bowl seemed to ash white.The hand bubbler appeared to cash out a bit darker.
It didn’t seem as bad from there on. Weird. I was using hemp wick to light the joint, bowl and bubbler.
The tenth weighed 2.80 grams. It came packaged in a glass jar with opaque white frosting to avoid any light hitting the bud. The “country cut” label was orange instead of white and the jar had a white plastic lid. Someone once told me the “country cut” stuff was Meigs’ lower-quality, budget bud but I had another person dispute that notion.
The stuff smelled fresh and fruity but not overpoweringly so. The flower was not very dense or dry. It was a bit spongier than normal. However, the nugs were not stringy or skinny. There was a pretty nice trim with minimal stems and leaves.
I spy some purple!
The Truffaloha buds were mostly bright green with long orange pistils. The trichomes had more of a fuzzy appearance than the usual shiny or crystal-like look. There were visible trichomes while breaking up the flower. All of the nugs had hints of purple but two of them were especially purple.
The stuff doesn’t look bad!The tenth’s most purple nugs are seen on the top and towards the right.
The stuff broke up nice with my fingers and had a bit of stickiness to it. Through the Santa Cruz Shredder it did not turn to dust. I was happy with how the Truffaloha broke up and burned. It had an even, smooth burn that combusted at medium speed.
It kind of tasted like it smelled but I felt like the flavor wasn’t all there. I was expecting something a little more unique. The smoke had a hint of harshness. There was more of a smoke taste than limonene flavor. You had to really search for the sweetness. I could still detect the terps with my taste buds, especially caryophyllene, but in my opinion this wasn’t Meigs County best-tasting cut.
The medical effects were middle-of-the-road. It did make the knot in my neck seem less intense and helped me relax, but for me it wasn’t a strain that provided significant pain relief. It didn’t make me feel foggy or sleepy, so the limonene and humulene must have been balancing out the linalool.
The Truffaloha didn’t knock my socks off but it was a solid mid-level smoke with with a decent taste that contained mild fruity and floral notes. I gave it a 5 for taste, 5 for harshness, 6 for strength, 6 for smell strength and 30 to 45 minutes for length of medical effects.
Manufactured by Agri-Med Ohio, LLC. Lineage: White Truffle x Platinum Punch #1.
Total THC 24.30%, THCA 27.40%, Delta-9 THC 0.29%, CBD 0%.
Top terps: Limonene 0.69%, b-Caryophyllene 0.60%, a-Humulene 0.27%, Linalool 0.28%.
Harvested 08/26/2024, tested 09/11/2024 by North Coast, packaged 09/20/2024, first consumed 12/26/2024, expires 08/26/2025.
The Truffaloha awaits its ultimate fate, to be blazed!
We have all heard of pre-rolled joints. I’m sure you’ve made or bought a few yourself throughout your time on this planet. A pre-roll is a joint prepared for future use, rolled well before the intended toke time.
But how often do you prepack bowls? I remember seeing these little rubber rings in headshops called something along the lines of “Save-A-Bowl”. You would pack a bowl and then slide the rubber ring over top the pot to prevent it from plummeting from the pipe.
To properly use this product, you would need to buy a rubber ring that fit your specific bowl size. Conveniently, I had already developed a less expensive technique that worked even better for preserving bowls. The method required only three pieces of Scotch tape to achieve.
I will now explain this technique of “putting a bonnet” on it.
If possible, use the kind of tape that is about three fourths of an inch wide. The one fourth inch or half inch skinnier stuff will require you to use more tape to cover up the whole bowl head.
This bowl has been packed with Ice Cream Cake flower from Klutch.
Tear off a piece of tape that’s just a bit bigger than your bowl head. For wider bowl heads you may need to stick two pieces of tape next to each other to achieve full coverage. Most of the time this isn’t necessary, especially if you’re using tape that is three fourths of an inch wide.
Break off a new piece of tape that is about three times longer than the first piece. Lay the new, longer piece on the table facing sticky side up.
Hold the first, smaller piece and make sure its non-sticky side is facing up towards your face. Slowly stick the smaller piece in the middle of the big piece. Be sure to line the two pieces up as close as possible.
When you’re done, the longer piece should have a non-sticky portion in the middle which has been created by the smaller piece.
Pictured above is what the tape bonnet should look like after you’ve attached the two pieces together.
Now you can affix the bonnet to the bowl head as seen below. Make sure the non-sticky portion is facing downwards and touching the flower.
If you’d like some extra protection from crumb spillage, take another piece of tape and stick it crisscross atop the first piece as pictured below.
You should now have pretty good tape coverage around the bowl’s entire perimeter. For even better coverage, lay the tape flatter and tighter than usual.
The tape has been crisscrossed to prevent one from being pissed off that their weed has spilled from their bowl.
The pipe above is ready to be put in a case and taken to where it needs to be. Pre-rolled joints are great but pre-packed bowls can be just as handy if not handier in the correct circumstance!
When it is time to remove the bonnet, do so slowly and thoroughly. You don’t want to melt or smoke any of the tape’s plastic or glue. Usually a few cannabis crumbs will stick to the tape as you can see pictured above.
Discard of the tape in a responsible fashion. Smoke the bowl with a sense of appreciation for what has been and anticipation for what’s to come. Never let emotions get in the way of developing and following through with a strategy to achieve your most desired goals.
First, pack a bowl with great airflow. Then use a bamboo or titanium toothpick to grab a glob of extract from your jar of joy. In the photo above I used BHO extract from two different strains.
You want to drop the globs near the middle of the bowl so it doesn’t melt too much along the edges. With less-sticky forms of extract like shatter, sugar or crumble this is usually pretty easy, but with some gooier badder or diamonds and sauce it can be more difficult. I wouldn’t recommend putting RSO or FECO on top of your flower but I have had some people tell me they do it.
If you’re having trouble getting your hash glob to drop properly, use a second toothpick with your other hand to scrape the goopy clump downwards. You can also flatten the hash chunks into pancakes or break them into smaller bits if need be.
I now feel like there is enough hash atop my bowl to move forward with the process.
Try to avoid getting pieces of weed mixed in with the hash clumps. In the above photo you can see how some bits of weed got mixed in with the bottom left and bottom right chunks of cheer. When you go to melt the hash, these bits of weed will set ablaze and interfere with the cleanliness of your melt.
The lighter approaches.
If you don’t have any hemp wick handy, try to gather two lighters. It’s possible to melt the hash with only one lighter but the device can get hot in your hand after some time. Switching off between lighters when needed will help keep your thumbs from getting burnt.
Hover the flame just over the extract clumps. Don’t touch the flame to the hash. Take your time. There is no need to inhale through the mouthpiece during the melting process.
The oil will eventually become viscous and start to bubble. It will begin to pool up and melt down into the flower. If need be, use your non-lighter hand to move the pipe around so the hash doesn’t drip out of the bowl head. Switch lighters as needed, or if using a hemp wick, put out the flame and relight when necessary.
If the extract catches fire, gently fan it out with your hand, or use a subtle puff of lung air to extinguish the flame. Move forward with the melting process when the flame has floundered.
The hash pictured above is in a state of half melt. I wouldn’t go to smoke it quite yet. There is more melt work to muddle with before you can blaze this bowl.
Keep the bubbles brewin’ until the glob distinctly dissolves into the flower as seen above.
The pipe is now properly prepared for human consumption. In the picture you can see how some areas of the flower are black and charred because I held my lighter a bit too close at times.
I also accidently let small pieces of weed intermingle with the hash globs by not plopping them properly or precisely with the first drop. This led to additional unnecessary charring during the melt. If you have to relocate your hash globs after first drop, you may get weed chunks stuck within the BHO bits that will catch fire during the melting process. Fan them out with your hand as needed.
This is my glass dabber with carb cap for stamping out burning bowls.
While smoking the pipe, you’ll notice after each hit that the bowl keeps burning slowly but surely. To put out the ember between each toke, cup your hand over the bowl head. You can also use a glass carb cap like the one pictured above to quickly and safely cut off oxygen to the burning hash ball.
Globbing extract atop your bowls is a fun and fruitful activity. Use this heady technique to pack bonkers bongs that last for long lengths of time. Melting wax atop flower is also great when using hand bubblers or for any other situation in which your bud burns fast.
A packed bowl with bad airflow will burn the weed but the smoke won’t hit your lungs. You’ll have to use a toothpick or your finger to unpack the bowl and replace the partially charred pot back into the pipe in a looser fashion. This situation is not ideal.
There are several ways to pack a bowl with good or great airflow. I’ve seen many techniques over the years through various stoners.
I knew a guy who would take a big, dank, stemless nug and just shove it into the bowl head without breaking it up or anything. Afterwards he would use a metal poker to stick a hole through the middle of the bud. His bowls always burned beautifully.
This got me thinking one day. I wondered what would happen if I were to take a toothpick and stick it in the bowl before I packed it. Then afterwards I’d remove the toothpick to create a chasm that would allow for air to flow freely from the pipe to my lungs.
It worked. Eventually this technique became known as “using a flagpole” or “putting a flag in it”. Below is a step-by-step guide on how to pack a bowl with perfect airflow.
Put a toothpick inside of your pipe’s bowl head. Ideally this will be a bamboo toothpick to prevent splinters and sawdust from mixing in with your weed.
Issues with splintering and wood dust are usually only seen with cheap toothpicks. Most any toothpicks will do, including plastic or paper, but I try to avoid using titanium toothpicks to prevent scratching the pipe’s glass.
Break up your marijuana by hand or grinder. Fill the bowl with as little or as much cannabis as you’d like. Just make sure the flagpole stays in place.
I think this bowl is about full. Sometimes I’ll really pack the pot down in there with plentiful pressure if I want a heapin’ helpin’. Using a flagpole will allow you to do this in order to pack slow-burning, long-lasting bowls that burn properly.
Now you can take the flagpole out of the bowl head. During removal you may need to apply pressure to the pot with a finger or your thumb to avoid spillage.
In the photo above, take note of the bowl head’s four-o’clock area where I removed the flagpole. There is a noticeable hole or chasm where the toothpick once stood.
As seen above, take a small amount of marijuana and lightly patch the hole created when the pole was removed.
Throughout my time in the Ohio marijuana program I have tried a few of UB Good’s 510 carts and disposables. They were very botanical tasting, which is to say they did not smell or taste like marijuana.
I wasn’t a huge fan of the UB Good Watermelon Punch disposable. I thought the flavor was too intense and it made me cough. I had yet to try any of UB Good’s new-style disposables, so I went with the Banana Split flavor, which I had sampled in a 510 cart and I knew I would like the taste.
The older UB Good disposables were rectangular with 90 degree edges but this newer model has rounded edges. It’s just over 3 inches in height and a little under a half inch thick. There is an oil window that shows the yellowish extract and how much is left in the device. The back of the unit has a USB-C recharge port.
This is what the newly-designed UB Good disposable looks like.This is the charge port. As you can see, I consumed all of the oil in the chamber before writing this review.
There is a button on the front of the vape that needs to be clicked five times to turn it on. It turns off automatically after five minutes. This becomes annoying when you pull your vape out of your pocket and go to take a hit just to realize you need to power on the device because it automatically turned off.
Two clicks of the button will activate a preheat mode. Thankfully the device never got clogged so I never really needed to use this, but it’s nice that the function is there just in case. Three button clicks will adjust the temp from low (green), medium (blue) to high (red). Switch to higher temps for bigger clouds and more intense hits.
I think UB Good Banana Split carts and disposables have a nice smooth flavor. I just wish the oil wasn’t as harsh as it is. This disposable would often prompt me to cough and make my voice phlegmmy like Lemmy’s. The oil does not smell or taste like weed.
The oil is pretty smooth going down so it’s hard to gauge your draw size. I’d recommend going with a three to four second draw to start with, and adjust your toke time from there.
Overall the device was reliable and functioned the way it was intended. The mouthpiece did not leak or become sticky. However, the half gram nature did not lend itself well to longevity. I went through this thing pretty quick in just a few days of light use.
It seems like such a waste of materials to make throwaway devices that live such short lifespans. The use of the word “disposable” is also odd. Rechargeable batteries aren’t supposed to be thrown away in the regular trash since they leak poisons into the ground and water. Despite this, when is the last time you’ve heard of a recycling program for empty vapes and batteries? In other states I see disposables referred to as “All In-One” devices, probably to downplay their temporary nature.
Effect-wise, the UB Good Banana Split vape was a pretty solid hybrid. Limonene, caryophyllene and myrcene are the three listed terpenes, which is pretty standard for any hybrid I’ve seen in the Ohio program. I had pain relief and I felt relaxed but I didn’t become sleepy or unmotivated. Upon consuming four or five draws the effects lasted about a half hour or so.
If you are okay with using botanical vapes with non-cannabis derived terpenes and oil extracted with CO2, butane, propane and ethanol, the UB Good vapes are a budget-friendly option. I won’t be going out of my way to get them due to their harshness and super botanical nature.
I am also not a huge fan of the new UB Good disposable design, as I feel like I am clicking too many buttons and taking too many hits just to realize the vape had turned off automatically. It would really just take some time to adjust to, but I think I’d rather spend my time consuming better vapes that aren’t as harsh.
I gave the UB Good Banana Split Half Gram Disposable a 7 for taste, 7 for harshness, 6 for strength, 4 for smell strength and 30 minutes for length of medical effects.
Serving size: 10mg is a 10 second inhale. 50 servings per disposable. Extraction method: CO2, butane, propane, ethanol.
Manufactured by One Orijin LLC on 10/03/2024, tested 10/08/2024 by North Coast, packaged 10/12/2024, first consumed 12/14/2024, last hit taken 12/20/2024, expires 10/02/2025.
I’ve always been interested in aliens, UFOs and outer space. Even when I was a child in my elementary school library I’d gravitate towards the astronomy and cryptozoology sections. I would read every UFO book I could get my hands on and watch alien-themed TV shows and documentaries.
Appropriately, the Alien OG strain is one of my favorites based on its name, taste and look. Alien OG genetics are also found in my favorite Galenas strain, Alien Pebbles, which is Alien OG crossed with Fruity Pebbles OG. The U.F.O.G. strain from this article is an invigorating blend of Alien OG, Star Killer, and Skywalker Kush.
Old Pal released U.F.O.G. just as the 2024 New Jersey drones were in the news. Aliens were on the minds of many people. Sure, the drones might be a secret government project or something Earth-based, but aliens can’t be ruled out until there is a valid explanation for the sightings.
Old Pal’s U.F.O.G. hybrid flower has everyone talking about its bag appeal. The nugs have a significant amount of purple color to them. I’d even go as far as to say these are the most purple nugs I’ve seen to date in the Ohio marijuana program. This was a factor when I decided to buy the tenth. In Ohio, all Old Pal cannabis including U.F.O.G. is grown by Buckeye Relief.
The flower came packaged in a clear glass jar with a black plastic lid. There was a brown sticker with the Old Pal logo and a label on the jar with information about the medicine. I did not get a chance to weigh the buds before initial consumption.
When I opened the jar I was overwhelmed with a strong, sweet smell with a hint of fruit or citrus. It wasn’t super gassy or skunky but it definitely smelled like cannabis. It smelled liked something I wanted to taste and experience the effects of. The scent was very funky fresh and could be smelled across an entire hallway with ease.
Wait until you get home to open this jar. Otherwise you will silently shout through scent to everyone around you that you’re holding some bomb weed!
The buds had a really nice dark purple look to them. I can tell why this stuff is named after UFOs, because it almost looks cosmic or otherworldly. There were jagged orange pistils protruding off of the precious plant material that gave an exotic impression.
In my opinion there could have been a bit more of a trim on some of the leaves but it wasn’t too bad. In addition to that there was kind of a lot of loose plant and leaf material at the bottom of the jar.
The color contrast is stunning!
While observing this flower, the contrast of the dark nugs with their heavy amount of shiny trichomes makes it seem like you are staring into a vast galaxy filled with twinkling stars. If aliens pop out of these mysterious skyborne drones and want to have a smoke session with me, I hope I have a jar of U.F.O.G. at the time. I feel like it’s among the only kind of bud they would want to blaze.
The stuff was a bit dry. When broken up by hand it gave a crunchy, crackling sound. It didn’t disintegrate, though. The nugs left my fingers sticky and coated in tiny bits of dark plant material. The dryness could have been much worse but I was a bit taken aback by the crunchiness of the nugs. While pulling the flower from the stems, loose, dry trichomes flew every which way.
Even though it was a bit dry, it shredded nicely through a grinder. It did not turn to dust. It rolled and burned nicely in a jib. The buds had density to them and they weren’t stringy or skinny.
This is a close up of U.F.O.G. after being broken up by hand.
When packed in a bowl it looked delectable while waiting for my consumption.
This U.F.O.G. was broken up by grinder.
Even though the stuff lacked moisture it burned slow and evenly. Maybe this was due to all of those sticky trichomes! It ashed white as expected.
To me it didn’t quite taste like it smelled. This is not to say it tasted bad but I was kind of surprised. It did not taste dry at all. It had a bit of that signature purple taste you’d find in Grand Daddy Purp but with some sweetness, piney notes, and a fruiter exhale. There was no harshness at all to the vapors produced by this plant.
The medical effects were very much along the lines of a powerful sativa. I see that it’s labeled hybrid but if I was doing a blind guess I’d say sativa based on the energized and creative way it made me feel. I was experiencing a knot in the left side of my neck and body that seemed to dissolve while I was medicated with the U.F.O.G.
I gave the U.F.O.G. 26.2% THC hybrid flower from Old Pal/Buckeye Relief an 8 for taste, 3 for harshness, 8 for strength, 8 for smell strength and 60 minutes for length of medical effects.
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