420 All Month: Jamaican Thai Ultra

In my Golden Tiger review from last July, I highlighted that while that strain (possibly my favorite cultivar of cannabis) had what I called an “uninspiring” 12.4% THC, but the lineage of two landrace varieties (Thai and Malawi) caught my attention. Well, Jamaican Thai Ultra took that and doubled down, offering a measly 5.2% THC. I’ve been a fan, a proponent, and an enthusiastic budtender of low THC strains since Golden Tiger, but 5.2 felt like it was really straining (get it? straining?) the limits of how low a THC was truly viable for a decent high. But here we are again with a strain whose parents are both landraces – this time the more obvious Jamaican and Thai varieties. But JTU has an additional tool in its box: really high CBD. We’re talking just over 10%.

A very common size of pre-rolled joint is .5 grams of flower, and a decently-sized bowl is also about .5g. A typical THC of 20% would mean that in that joint or bowl, you’d have about 100mg of THC effectively. (There’s more math, and more acronyms/initialisms, so please forgive my simplification for the sake of my point). Burning cannabis flower on average is about 50% effective for the transfer of THC to the body, so you’re looking at about 50mg of THC actually getting you high in the .5g joint or bowl. Shift this math over to that CBD% in the Jamaican Thai Ultra, and we’re getting a whopping 25mg of effective CBD in that .5g of flower we’re smoking. Given that 1% or more CBD is considered a decent CBD percentage normally, netting us 2.5mg once smoked, and the potential effects of that massively elevated CBD come into focus.

The example I use with customers when describing the effects was from the very first time I smoked a joint of this strain, a half hour before an acupuncture appointment. My acupuncturist had been working on relieving the pressure from a compressed disk in my back primarily, but on this day I came in with what was clearly seasonal allergies. She had me face up instead of down, and for the first time I had acupuncture needles in my face, which is the way that tv and movies seem to portray comically bad acupuncture experiences. I, however, had a lovely experience, and even nodded off for probably 15 minutes or so. With needles in my face. Where I could see them if I had opened my eyes. And I had a lovely nap. But that’s not to say that JTU knocked me out. No, I was just so at ease, so calm and elevated, that when I was roused and the needles were out, I popped up, ready to take on the day… which meant going home, smoking the other JTU joint, grocery shopping, and happily cleaning the house.

I feel weird doing this backward, but that’s my take on the effects: happy, mellow, and calm; my cares and worries drifted away. My take on the flower itself is also quite positive. The buds are decently sized, fluffy, fresh, and vibrantly colored. The aroma is likewise fresh, reminiscent of that freshly cut lawn smell but without the lingering gassy odor: fresh grass, with floral and sweet citrusy notes. The flavors carry over to the smoke fairly well, though they bitter a bit, but less than many other strains. The smoke itself hits well. It is clean and medium-bodied, easy to hit, and with minimal need to cough I found. Refreshing myself just last night on this strain, I noted that I only coughed after a single one of the hits I took from a nearly .5g bowl.

If you’re looking for an excellent daytime, functional high, that’s a clean and pleasant smoking experience, this is one of the single best strains I can recommend.