420 All Month: Oreoz

Oreoz has become one of those strains that seems to just be around most of the time, having a dedicated but not enormous fanbase, and even though it’s not a strain typically shouted about from the rooftops by budtenders, it’s a reliable recommendation for people looking for a true mellow without getting sleepy. I’ll be honest, it’s never been a go-to strain personally. Regular readers and customers have largely come to expect me to dig for complexity in cannabis, and so it’s easy for me to lose sight of strains that do a thing and do it well, if that thing isn’t something I need or need more of in my rotation. There are plenty of more complicated mellow highs out there, but sometimes we don’t want complicated; sometimes what we need is to simplify. Oreoz keeps it simple, and creates a chill that in turn feels like it’s removing complication from the brain and body.

This particular cultivation of Oreoz is exceptional. The medium-small buds are tight and clean, sporting darker green tones, deep purples that are almost black, and a coating of trichomes that I had a hard time placing between what I think of as frosty (light but evenly distributed and very visible) and snowy (heavy trichome coverage which I don’t see as often, and particularly an amount that almost obscures the greens underneath). I’m calling this snowy in the Notes below and the tags for the post, but it’s really more of a medium dusting. I’m not sure I want to use that term in my official notes though, as “dusty” is a term I use for texture. But all that being said, I have other terms that are similar across categories, so maybe I’ll add it. I always seem to include some aspect of my process in these reviews, and there’s this entry’s apparently semi-obligatory mention.

The aroma is clean and pleasant, with a clearly chocolatey top note and light notes of cream and diesel beneath. It’s not terribly heavy in the nose, nor too light, having a Goldilocks-type just right weight that allows the contrasting tones to all come through clearly. The smoke is medium-bodied, with a smooth draw and a buttery mouthfeel. The flavor comes through with a bit more complexity than the aroma, which I find fascinating, as it usually goes the other way, where the smoke itself mutes or dulls the aromatics a bit, and adds a bitter overtone. Not so with Oreoz. I found the chocolate flavor maintained its position at the top, but with a nutty quality replacing the normal bittering flavor, more like a skin of a walnut than the dull or harsh bitter of smoke. Under these the diesel aroma shifts to a very light skunkiness that lingers in the aftertaste, and is admittedly my least favorite part personally, but I’ve mentioned my lack of love for skunky weed before, and given the subjective nature of that take, I assume there are plenty of people for whom that is a boon.

To return to the effects mentioned in the opening, Oreoz is just really chill. It’s a mellow that is not sleepy or heavy. I find the thoughtful nature of the head high to be quite well suited to the mellow in the body, and while I may not suggest it for even the calmest of activities that require a ton of physical concentration (like painting or sewing), I would recommend it for doing something engaging for the mind without requiring too much physical or mental energy (I wouldn’t want to work on a PhD dissertation with an Oreoz high, but I might write a future blog post with it). Also, this is one of those strains that could be really helpful for people seeking some of the secondary therapeutic effects of cannabis, like migraine relief, sleep regulation (but not something that puts you to sleep), digestive relief, body temperature regulation, and general mood regulation (this isn’t an ecstatically happy high, but the profile of this strain can help some people with simply having better control over their emotions in general). So, as I said at the top, Oreoz is a reliable strain if you’re looking for an uncomplicated mellow high. I’ll be keeping this one in mind more than I used to, I think.

I hope everyone’s 420 was excellent. Until tomorrow…