Last week had me traveling out of my comfort zones into licensed dispensaries in Perris, CA, Santa Ana and San Bernadino, CA, which are about an hour and half away from San Diego, CA. The licensed dispensaries in San Diego are quite posh and follow the letter of the law, of which there are many. The Perris licensed dispensaries follow a whole different set of rules that include allowing dabbing and bongs to be done right in the middle of their shops, just like the old school medical dispensaries used to allow-legal and illegal.

So, after getting over the initial shock of seeing real flower in jars, loose and not covered in plastic, I went to town finding new strains in these new strange places. The first strain that caught my roaming eye was Orange Bang. Although I could not find any reference or any information on Orange Bang, it looked and tasted very much like a strain I could find called Orange Bud.

Orange Bud, as it was labeled in the dispensary’s jar, is a sativa (65%/35%) dominant hybrid. It is a cross between two types of skunk strains-both sativa leaning, which makes it a 100% skunk strain. So, what’s up with the name orange since it doesn’t have any Tangie in it or any other citrus like terpenes at all. It’s all about its looks and it was covered with a plume of bright orange hairs.

Historically, Orange Bud appears to trace its origin from California. It is said to then made its way to the infamous coffee shops in Amsterdam during the 80s. Since then, it has become one of the favorite strains in many Southern California dispensaries. At any rate, Orange Bud has made a name for itself culminated by placing second in the Bio category of the 1994 High Times Cannabis Cup.

As you can see Orange Bud looked just like cotton balls of orange threads. . It's aromas to me was all skunk and no citrus. The effects are quite cerebral, a classic Skunk effect and yet the strain also chills you out enough to not get stuck in your head. It keeps you focused on what is important which for me is always about being grateful for what I have and knowing even better is coming to me. So moving out of my comfort zone got me exactly where I need to be-chilled and grateful for being able to try a new strain from a new place.

From another unfamiliar dispensary came yet another unfamiliar strain, Acai Berry. . I found this video which tells you more about this strain than I could write.

To me this strain tasted very much like Forbidden Fruit-with big tangie flavor mixed with berry and skunk. It’s hard to imagine that cannabis can taste so incredibly fruity as if some sort of artificial flavors were added. Although this strain tastes like Forbidden Fruit, it does not have the powerful sedating, indica effects, like Forbidden Fruit. In fact, it starts with an uplift of mood and energy and then after consuming more, mild calming effects take over, without overcoming you. I’ve never seen this strain before so it was a good thing that I traveled out of my comfort zone and found yet another strain to fall in love with. Step outside your comfort zone and I bet you find some surprises too.