By now the shock has likely worn off—Seed Junky didn’t go three for three in Strain of the Year wins?!?! It feels unnecessary to say that Seed Junky and his strain empire will be just fine (and he makes plenty of appearances here.) The crown goes to lowkey California-based breeder Blockhead’s Blockberry aka Superboof, a playful strain that broke the gassy cream and candy profile streak of past SOTY winners for something more tangy, more rooted in fruit than fuel. 

As editor David Downs reports in our 2024 Strain of the Year announcement, Super Boof descends from two strains that weed snobs have long underestimated: Tangie and Purple Punch. Looks like some apologies are in order! Or, if you’d still rather laugh at the Boof bandwagon, we deduced these six alternatives provide similar effects and flavor experiences.  

7th runner-up—Sherbanger

If Gelato is the muse of rap songs, Sherbanger better suits a house beat. The electro-house duo Havoc on World created their song, Sherbanger, in perfect harmony with what the strain offers. It has Sherbet’s sweet notes, but it also blooms with Headbanger’s kushy, sour aroma. This is a great strain before a night on the dance floor, one that keeps your nerves at bay but gives you the guts to bust out all your best moves. Sherbanger is in nearly 1,000 stores on Leafly, but that is only half of Super Boof.

6th runner-up—Gastropop

Another Compound Genetics winner evokes sweetness over savory terps. Gastro Pop descends from strains Apples & Bananas x Grape Gas, making it a cousin to Superboof with a crazy extended family. Apples & Bananas itself comes from braiding in old legacy strains like GDP with newer hitters like Gelatti and Blue Power; paired with Grape Gas, it runs the flavor spectrum of sweet berry, diesel fumes, and creamy.

5th runner-up—Cap Junky

Has anyone seen Gladiator II? If so, imagine if Paul Mescal and Pedro Pascal got to team up and breed weed strains fit for an emperor instead of killing each other. That’s Cap Junky—a cross of Alien Cookies x Kush Mints #11, but also a cross of the talents of Capulator and Seed Junky, two canna-coliseum champions. Cap Junky evokes that same Super Boof playfulness, with a palate that favors a more menthol and earthy experience. Cap Junky is in nearly as many stores as Super Boof, but the experience is less versatile and more aggressive. 

4th runner-up—Zoap

When you need a palate cleanse, wash your mouth out with Zoap. The Bay Area’s Deo Farms crafted Zoap from many disparate parts, including OZ Kush and the Rainbow Sherbet, aka RS line of strain. Zoap captures the kind of soap you’d buy at a farmer’s market—floral, earthy, and sweet. It has also carved out a place at cups, nabbing spots in multiple Zalympix and Hash Bashes. Your brain needs Zoap like your body needs soap. Zoap had a great run this year, but it’s still not as prevalent as Super Boof, nor as well-liked by budtenders.

3rd runner-up—Lemon Cherry Gelato

Oh, LCG. Shall I compare thee to a summer’s day? Thou art as loud, and as sweet. This Backpackboyz creation takes a familiar cross, Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint, but their spin on it reveals a visually-popping strain with strong tart citrus terps, plus Gelato’s signature euphoria. It has a trophy case full of reasons to try, including two High Times Cup wins, a handful of Farmer’s Cup wins, and placements on multiple best-of lists. It’s made its round across the country, appearing on dispensary menus from California to New York. We love LCG, but it was just not new enough to be Leafly Strain of the Year.

2nd runner-up—Tropical Slushie

Slushie, more specifically Tropical Slushie, comes from the not-very-tropical state of Colorado and its breeding don, Cannarado. Blending Snowman’s blizzard of trichomes with Papaya’s enigmatic fruitiness creates a strain sweet enough to sip on.

It’s new to our database, but it already has a reputation for complex terps and, surprisingly, an arousing effect. Slushie is in half as many clubs as Super Boof, and it hasn’t caught on with budtenders or the awards circuit—yet!

1st runner-up—Glitter Bomb

A glitter bomb requires vibrancy and surprise, so any strain named for it must also wow its audience. Compound Genetics’s complex breeding of OGKB Blueberry Headband x Grape Gas #10 creates both a prismatic plant, but also prismatic terps. Glitter Bomb catches the eye with its thick, opaque trichomes, and the nose with its sharp, petrol berry aromas. Still, Glitter Bomb is on 400 fewer menus than Super Boof, and lacked budtender or contest excitement.

Think we missed something great? Comment below with your Leafly Strain of the Year and be sure to tell us why.

This may be niche, Leafly Nation, but walk with me. There’s an old children’s rhyme I remember as a little girl that went “make new friends / but keep the old. One is silver / and the other’s gold.” It’s a nice mantra—don’t forget your old friends when you inevitably, in life, meet new people. 

I think the same should be said for weed. The 2020s have so far shown remarkable innovation and growth in the strains bred, grown, and sold across the country. But does that mean we should abandon the old faithfuls that got us through tough times, all those years ago? I say ‘No,’ and it seems like you do too, Leafly Nation, because our 2024 bestsellers look a lot like our 2023 bestsellers. Here’s the rundown.

Blue Dream

Blueberry x Haze

• Creative • Uplifted •Energetic
• Blueberry •Berry •Sweet
• THC 20% •CBD 0%

Listen, if you don’t want to keep seeing Blue Dream top the list, stop buying it! The Blueberry x Haze combination out of Santa Cruz, CA, may bore many cannasseurs, but it still offers whimsy to those willing to give it a chance. It still has tasty, skunky blueberry terps and the unique euphoria of the Haze family. Plus, it still offers patients an aid for both mood enhancement and some minor aches. 

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Apple Fritter

Sour Apple xAnimal Cookies

• Relaxed • Tingly •Giggly
• Apple •Cheese •Butter
• THC 24% •CBD 0%

Winner, winner, Apple Fritter. This Lumpy’s cross of  Sour Apple and Animal Cookies has climbed the ranks year after year, taking the coveted #2 spot on our list, plus some cup wins. Does it have what it takes to overthrow Blue Dream? Maybe. Leafly reviewers revere it for its palate of “sweet, but also has this funky, pungent dankness,” and effects that impart a “true, psychedelic happy euphoria.” Time will tell if this heady hybrid will reach the heights of #1. 

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Gelato

Sunset Sherbet x Thin Mint GSC

• Euphoric • Aroused •Happy
• Sweet • Vanilla • Mint
• THC 21% •CBD 0%

“I got gelato in the air / I got money everywhere” raps Young Dolph in his 2017 song Gelato. Gelato is a strain for winners—it’s played some role in nearly every Strain of the Year (including its own crown) we’ve ever anointed. But it’s not just the awards circuit that loves Gelato. People love it, year after year. It helps that many phenotypes exist to provide nuance to what started the “candy gas” trend. Check out the best dozen with our The 12 best Gelato crosses of all time.

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Wedding Cake

Triangle Kush x Animal Mints

• Relaxed • Hungry •Happy
• Vanilla •Pepper • Sweet
• THC 24% •CBD 0%

Even the snobbiest weed head can’t deny the allure of Wedding Cake—who doesn’t love cake? Wedding Cake has been on our most-sold and most-searched-for strains for years now, and the foot stays on the pedal. Since we dubbed it Strain of the Year in 2019, its legacy has increased exponentially with offshoots like Ice Cream Cake, Purple Push Pop, and E85 with cult followings of their own. As Matt Jackson writes in Top 12 Wedding Cake strains of all time, Wedding Cake has made its name due to its “prismatic, colorful buds and blend of vanilla, fuel, and doughy flavors.”

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Granddaddy Purple

Mendo Purps x Skunk x Afghanistan

• Relaxed • Hungry •Happy
• Dizzy •Dry Mouthiest
• THC 18% •CBD 0%

Purple will never die. While its heydays of popularity and access have long ended, plenty of consumers coast to coast still seek it and its strain progeny out. Jeffrey Oropeza of Oakland’s Dark Heart Nursery told us about GDP’s allure back in 2021, saying it “has always been held in high esteem due to its dark coloration and taste, but its effect is what makes it truly special…GDP just simply makes things stop hurting.” That combination of niche terps and pain management fits right in at the end of a tumultuous year. 

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Durban Poison

South African landrace

• Focused • Energetic •Uplifted
• Pine •Earthy • Sage
• THC 20% •CBD 0%

I’ve been writing these bestselling strains lists for a couple years now, and I’ve never seen so many sativas on the list. Durban Poison is the sole landrace strain here, and the most intensely uplifting and energizing pick of the bunch. Durban Poison comes from South Africa, and has been growing in American soil for decades. It has a unique peppercorn nose, so sharp and skunky that it nearly burns the nose. 

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Pineapple Express

Trainwreck x Hawaiian

• Energetic • Happy •Talkative
• Pineapple •Tropical•Mango
• THC 20% •CBG 1%

Let’s get it straight—the movie Pineapple Express predates the strain, and not vice versa. The onus is on the strain then, to match the zany, full-bellied laughs that come when watching Seth Rogen, James Franco, and a supporting cast of comedians get into increasingly dangerous (and thus hilarious) situations due to the weed that smells like God’s, well. Pineapple Express the real strain is Trainwreck x Hawaiian, a blend of tropical tang and turpentine.  A review from 2010 calls it “The dopest dope I’ve ever smoked,” and one from 2024 says it’s “the king of strains.

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Strawberry Cough

Strawberry Fields x Haze

• Uplifted • Energetic •Happy
• Strawberry •Sweet •Berry
• THC 19% •CBG 1%

Ring the alarm! Strawberry Cough has entered the chat. This strain, despite its many years in stores, still carries mystique. It’s not entirely clear who initially bred it, and its genetics may or may not be Strawberry Fields x Haze. Either way, it still intrigues consumers to this day, whether it’s to lift the fog of anxiety or enjoy its skunky berry terps. 

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Let’s put a punishing election month behind us and get back in that joyful warrior pose. 

Leafly Buzz—our hit West Coast fire flower roundup is back for Turkey Day and the holiday season. We’re talking rip-rorious, indoorious beasts. Plus, some truly stunning sungrown.

Here’s what we’d bring to a fancy feast all winter long. 

Here’s Leafly Buzz for November 2024.

Data grinder

We broke out our calculators, plugged into the Leafly strain database, and ran a scan for zaza. Here’s what the stats tell us.

Durban Poison

Short, cold, wet days got you down? Some Durban and coffee will help you get the house ready for visitors. The classic sativa comes in flower, vape, and sometimes single-source edible format. We could all use a pick-me-up. Durban moved into the No. 12 spot from 16 across the Western US.

Glitter Bomb

We said that the strain Glitter Bomb would blow up in 2024 and yeah, it’s at No. 30, up from 33rd in October. Glitter Bomb is among the blingiest tree from breeder Compound Genetics. This relaxing herb has a loud, grape-fuel taste. It’s a cross of Grape Gas #10 to OGKB Blueberry Headband.

Piescream

This is that ‘impress your hometown friends’ weed. Piescream’s a mix of Wedding Pie x (Gelato #33 x Cherry Limeade F5) for a candied cherry lime pastry dessert flavor. Piescream has been organically climbing the charts for the past two years. It’s now a top 500 strain on the West Coast and one of our favorite Thanksgiving smokes. We just saw a phenomenal cut of it from Sense cannabis in SF. Piescream also won six medals at the California State Fair Cannabis Awards 2024. You can’t have Thanksgiving without Piescream.

Dante’s Inferno

Oreoz x Devil Driver is the Budtenders’ Choice of Maine 2024 and it has cracked the top 100 across the western US, landing at 84; for when you need that crazy bag appeal, crazy potency, with a dessert and melon note.

Other chart news:

New in the Leafly strain database

Tropical Juice Box

Award-winning Southern California indoor growers Team Elite Genetics has come out of their lab with a grip of new crosses. Smoking up quick at our house—Tropical Juice Box, a cross of Orange Juice and Pearadise #4. Expect a delicious, tropical fruit smoothie layered with flavors of citrus, sugar, mangos, & pear.  A nice, mood-enhancing sativa high also includes mellow vibes and body relaxation.

Dulce Con Gas

Fresh in the Leafly database, the Terphogz seeds catalog—popularizers of the Original Z. Notable this month—their new collaboration with Kounter Kulture—Dulce Con Gas. It’s a savvy mix of Lemon Cherry Gelato x Crop Duster and the packs run a stiff $300. LCG remains a top 5 national best-seller, and Crop Duster is a reported Daily Driver x Chem D cross that’s extra-pungent. Take 10% off with code LEAFLY (Leafly gets an affiliate fee for purchases). 

Detroit Diamonds

Compound Genetics releases 26 new crosses to its hit, blingy weed Eye Candy. We’re eying Detroit Diamonds for a strain that drills down into pure aesthetics. Detroit Diamonds is (Pure Michigan x Baby Shark) crossed with Eye Candy and should be a killer.

Sour Peaches

Sour Peaches is yielding some of the best hash the folks at Purple City Genetics are smoking this winter. It’s a cross of their hit hash dumper Moroccan Peaches and the classic New York strains AJ’s Sour Diesel. Sour Peaches grows into huge plants with a 6 to 7% hash yield—so keep an eye out for it. It should hit hybrid and strong with a sour caramelized sour peach note. 

Picks of the dispensaries

New on shelves

Mandarin Cherry Tree by Sticky Fields

Impress your sesh with arguably the most lip-smacking strain around—Mandarin Cherry Tree grown by industry icon Sticky Fields, Mendocino County, CA, and sold by Solful across Northern California. It’s a Mandarin Tart crossed to a volunteer Sticky Fields calls Cherry Tree, with thick mandarin, cherry, and lavender notes. The rare linalool-dominant strain comes hand-picked from the full-sun run at 26% THC. Limited batches.

Burning up the charts

Nova Cane by Team Elite Genetics

Need to get comfortably numb? This Novacane strain from more-than-living soil growers Team Elite Genetics in California went fast at our house in November. It’s Squirt x Kush x Grandma’s Cookies, bred by T.E.G, with a smell like blue raspberry sour gummies and a 50-50 hybrid effect on mind and body. A three-time Cannabis Cup-winner.

Best-sellers

Ballin out

Empanadas Diez by A Golden State

A Golden State grows large-scale indoor buds up in Shasta County, CA. Leading off their holiday lineup is Empanadas Diez—a Purple Churro x Cinnamon Horchata cross. When you want to chill after dinner and pre-game for dessert, hit this dessert strain with notes of banana bread, elote, berries & cream.

Ballin’ on a budget

Sour Diesel by Alpenglow

Plenty of great Sour Diesels have come in with the harvest. But the standout is a Sour Diesel Bx4 bred by Garden of Grease Seeds in Oregon, and organically grown by Alpenglow as outdoor, living-soil, full-term. Half-ounces of it sell out the door at Solful for $100, making it a killer, best-selling, budget option that won’t stick around. Just make sure you have the right mindset and place for taking it. It’s 31% THC. “It’s freaking strong, you got to be careful. It’s just zippy.”

High Note

Storz and Bickel Venty

Get your flu and COVID shots, even if you’re strong like bull. You can save yourself a secondary infection, and a second week in bed. If you already got bit by this year’s bug, consider giving your sinuses and lungs a smoke break with a flower vape. Flower vapes heat, instead of burn bud for the same effects. The makers of the famed Volcano vaporizer have a new, portable ripper called the Venty. You can pack it thick and full, it heats up in seconds and it rips pretty substantial clouds with big effects. The battery life is outsized as well. Another medical-grade best-seller from German leaders Storz and Bickel.

OK—that’s Leafly Buzz for November 2024, full of trees we’d personally pack during our ‘cousin’s walk’ before dinner. You bring the breath mints.

Growers, breeders, brands, stores—got buzz for Leafly? We’re all ears. Email us at david.downs@leafly.com