Runtz, or Another “Sometimes I Just Want to Feel Better” Strain

I’ve said it before and I’m sure I’ll say it again, but sometimes what I’m looking for in a strain is not some mind-blowing stoned euphoria, but instead I’m looking for a strain that simply makes me feel better. Several things have brought this to the forefront again recently.

First, I hope you saw the post on Instagram, and I hope you voted for me, but I was in a contest sponsored by Puffco where you make a rig (a very loose term here) for their modular vape chamber the Proxy, make a video using and/or making the rig, and then the Puffco folks and the Puffco Instagram community voted on their favorite. I won’t get into the details, but there was a bunch of shenanigans with people using bots to vote for other people to get them disqualified, and it turned into a bit of a shitshow behind the scenes, but it was fun to do, the exposure I got (less than I’d hoped) was still cool, the folks from Puffco have talked to me directly about how they plan to address some of the issues that happened this year, and I met a couple people in the cannabis community I wouldn’t have otherwise met. But the point is that so many of these videos, and so much of the larger cannabis community seems so focused on just getting stoopid high, ripping as big a dab or smoking as fat a blunt as possible, and I really have started to feel like I’m watching binge drinking. I know it’s not generally as dangerous as all that, but it all reminded me that I like subtle or therapeutic highs much of the time.

Second, I was chatting with a customer just yesterday, and we got into strains that we found to be “too high,” sort of no matter the dose. Some strains (and we had the same opinions on which strains) just hit in a way that always feels a little disorienting or crashes hard after or just never feels comfortable no matter how much or little we smoke, even if that strain is – say – only a parent strain in the experience. Because I’m still in the business of selling cannabis, I won’t get into strains that don’t work for me here, as I endeavor to positively represent the products I sell, even those I personally don’t enjoy, as this is such an individual experience for everyone, and my personal preferences shouldn’t be what dictates the success of a strain. That being said, I do like to talk about my favorites, but that’s pretty industry standard.

Third – and the last I’ll get into here, though there are more – is that I’ve been dealing with some injuries again. The compressed disk in my lower back is flaring up again, and in addition to area itself aching pretty much all the time, when it’s particularly bad what happens is that it presses on a nerve that shoots out into my hip, and my whole hip lights up. It’s like a constant burning that occasionally spikes into a sharp and radiating pain.

So I’ve been enjoying strains that just make me feel better. I’ve reviewed several strains that explicitly or implicitly have this effect (maybe even in addition to others), but we finally got a classic back in at the store that I’d been hoping to find and review for a while: Runtz. Straight up. There’s always Sunset Runtz (which I should probably write up sometime), and Red Runtz was in my 5 Haiku post during 420. But I’ve wanted to get my hands on just Runtz again for a while.

The Runtz I’ve got my hands on is specifically from Grass Roots. I know I’ve gotten a bit away from focusing on the cultivators as much as I used to, but I want to note it specifically because Grass Roots is one of the growers that has a “thing.” I’m not sure what it is, and some of it may come from the way they’re breeding their cultivars (I assume they are doing at least some of their own hybridizing, because so many of their strains have two parent strains that are also Grass Roots strains, so it seems logical that they’re making that happen), but there is a sameness about most of their flower. And that’s not criticism. It’s consistency. If I put a bunch of randomly selected Grass Roots nugs of different varieties next to each other, it would be harder to differentiate them and identify them visually than it would be for many other growers’ flower. Certainly the color differences help, but the degree of curing, the sizes of the nugs, the trichome coverage, and the quality of the nugs themselves to broadstroke it, all are so very consistent it’s kind of amazing.

The Runtz nugs have this general Grass Roots quality. They’re regularly-shaped, medium-sized, dense, and tacky to the touch. The color pallet ranges from dark to pale greens, with orange pistils distributed in little clusters throughout. The trichome coverage is dense but not heavy, giving it a sparkly look under the light.

And it smells amazing. It’s like the answer to the question “What if that classic weed smell had no ‘offensive’ odor quality?” It smells undeniably like cannabis, but it’s not skunky, nor pungent, nor gassy or cheesy or pissy. There’s a sweet and herbal overtone to the whole experience. You can immediately smell the Zkittlez of its lineage in the Limonene-driven citrus-fruity top notes, and the hops and pepper aromas from the Caryophyllene of the Gelato parent build a solid foundation beneath.

I will admit, the smoke was not my absolute favorite. The aromas dull a bit under the smokey bitterness, and the smoke itself is fairly thick, but not it’s not as harsh a hit as you might think given those. This is another good smoke ring strain, which fits with the effects quite well.

Let’s circle back to “feeling better,” shall we? Runtz is certainly a mellow high. I’ve always put it in the “body high first” category, and while that’s not inaccurate, disaggregating it from the other strains it’s commonly crossed with brings the relaxing head high into sharper focus. Or lack of focus. Despite the lemony tones, this is not an energizing strain. It soothes the mind and body, lightly at first, but scales to a deep and calming chill as you smoke more. This is a strain that pairs perfectly with the some hemp flower for a boost of CBD, enhancing the pain-relieving and brain-quieting effects while not adding unwanted highs. If you’re in the market for some cannabis that mellows without being sleepy, but can certainly help you get there if you need, give Runtz a try. I think you’ll find it quite pleasant.

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