Rejoice, my Cali smokers, we’re in a new era for the world’s most prestigious cannabis competition—the Emerald Cup. Now based in Oakland, a new venue means fresh blood; the leaderboard this year was a mix of newcomers, old favorites, and heady collaborations. Decibel Gardens made a splash with their own Roswell 47, a Jealousy cross. Huckleberry Hill Farms had a hand in multiple winners, from concentrates to prerolls to edibles. Rebel Grown’s Double OG Chem continues to dominate the Sungrown category, and Whitehorn Rose might be the strain of the year. That’s just scratching the surface.

From the best buds to edibles to what to put in your Puffco, here are the standout Emerald Cup winners and where you can find them in shops across California, all on Leafly. 

Flower

Hundreds of buds pass through judges’ pipes, papers, and bongs every year. The 2024 Cup had four growing categories, and we’ve picked the creme de la creme from each.

Indoor

Roswell 47 by Decibel Gardens is a cross of our 2023 Strain of the Year Jealousy crossed with their proprietary C-Note. It won the Indoor Flower Breeder’s Cup for its peppered berry terps. You can find it at Santa Cruz Naturals in Aptos, CA, LAXCC in Los Angeles, Jungle Boys San Diego in La Mesa, CA, and Pacabol in Chula Vista. 

Runner-up Nameless Genetics stood out with their Mega Wellness OG, a Chemdog x OG Kush cross with an OG Kush male that dates back to 2002, which created a kush with intense earthy, hoppy, and petrol profile. You can find it at Buzz Wellness in San Diego, Jungle Boys San Diego in La Mesa, CA, and Purple Lotus Patient Center in San Jose. 

Decibel Gardens takes third place with Golden Kiwi, a cross of Stardawg x Vanilla Kush that creates an energizing fruity and chemical canna-concoction. You can find it at Jungle Boys San Diego in La Mesa and Exhalence LA in Sun Valley, CA. 

See also: Seven Alien Labs strains placed in the top 20 indoor flowers this year, and the top was the sticky and sweet Honey Bananas S1 at number four; BK Satellite and Area 41 made the top 10.

Mixed light + Greenhouse

Terp Mansion takes the Mixed Light crown with a tantalizing Thin Mint x Jealousy cross, yet unnamed. You can only find it right now at Bigfoot Cannabis Co in Willow Creek, CA. 

Wave Rider Nursery and Humboldt Seed Co teamed up to bring HSC’s Blueberry Pancakes the Mixed Light Breeder’s Cup win, and second place for Mixed Light flower overall. You can get this sweet treat at Cornerstone Wellness in Los Angeles, Liberty Cannabis in Gardena, Mission Organic on Geary in San Francisco, and Airfield Supply Co in Redwood City.

Chameleon Craft fills out the podium with Bubble Bath. You can find it at Elevation 2477 in Nevada City, March and Ash in San Diego, Purple Star MD in San Francisco, and CoCo Farms in Concord, CA. 

Sungrown

If you can’t beat ‘em, join ‘em! The 2022 and 2023 Sungrown Flower winners, Farmer + the Felon and Rebel Grown, teamed up to take gold both and the Sungrown Breeder’s Cup with Rebel’s Double OG Chem. You can get it at Pacabol in Chula Vista and Padre Mu in Oakland. 

Teamwork makes the weed work, as Magic Meadow Farms x Conception Nurseries x Humido win second place with Heir Heads, available at The Boulevard in Lemon Grove, CA and Purple Star MD in San Francisco.

Ridgeline Farms has been building their reputation on their small stable of strains, and their proprietary Ridgeline Runtz is the leader. Runtz is available all over the country, and no two growers will have the same result. You can shop for another of their creations, LANTZ, which came in ninth, at Lemonnade in Union City,  Cookies in Hayward, and Cookies Brentwood in Los Angeles.

See also: If you prefer a low-THC experience, or want some CBD-rich flower to mix in with your next bowl or joint, Heartrock Mountain Farm’s Love and Laughter, a, 18:1 CBD:THC hybrid, won the Breeder’s Cup for Alternative Cannabinoid Flower. You can get it at both Solful locations, in San Francisco and Sebastopol, and at Cornerstone Wellness in Los Angeles. 

Concentrates

Solventless

Huckleberry Hill Farms and their Whitethorn Rose are dominating the solventless categories, no matter their partner. In this collaboration with Ay Papi, their Whitethorn Rose ice water hash reigned supreme. You can find it at Klover in San Diego and Berkeley Patients Group in Berkeley. Ay Papi also took third place in the hash category with their team-up with Mattole Valley Sun Grown to produce Purple Papaya, available through DNA Delivery in Los Angeles. Have Hash’s Sour Bears took silver.

Have Hash achieved total victory on the live rosin side with their Royal Budline collaboration on Honey Bananas, on shelves (for now) at Cookies Brentwood in Los Angeles and Lytt in Pacifica, CA. 

Moon Valley Cannabis, whose name you’ll see again later, came runner-up with their Panther Candy “dual consistency” rosin; they were also the fourth place hash winner, Neon Panther. An oldie but a goodie, Durban Lime, took third place thanks to Punch Extracts x Luma Farms.

Solvent 

No shame in the BHO game, we promise. Absolute Xtracts came in clutch with a 1-2 victory with Ghost Lemon and Original Z, shoppable at shops like The Chronic in Los Angeles and Nice Guys Delivery in San Rafael. Hot on their heels in third was some wax by a biblical roster collab of Holy Water x Happy Dreams Farm x Lemon Tree Farms with their Unholy Fez x Kiwi. You can find it at Airfield Supply Co – Redwood City.

Vapes

It’s hard to make vapes as appealing as straight flower or globby dabs, but these brands did it. Shoutout to Arcata Fire x Ridgeline Farms, who nabbed podium spots in both categories. 

Holy Water and Happy Dreams Farms are back to dominate the live resin vapes lane with Lemon Pave.

Arcata Fire x Ridgeline Farms and their Grape Gas sauce cart took second. 

ColdFire Extracts and a lost list of collaborators, Team Elite Genetics x Valley Grove x Lumpy’s Flowers x Green Dawg Cultivators x Blueprint x Booney Acres, took both third and fourth for BHO carts with Mimosa #3 and Grease Bucket.

ColdFire Extracts returned with Mountain Man Melts to take solventless vape gold with their Spritzer “ColdFire Juice Bar.” 

Arcata Fire x Ridgeline round out the podium with two collaborations of live rosin syrup in LANTZ and Grape Gas.

Prerolls 

Infused

Holy Water shows out again with a group effort with Good Pizza x CGO for a Fugazi x Tractor Fuel hash hole in the Deluxe Joint category. Senior Editor David Downs predicted Tractor Fuel would be a hit this year, and he was right again!

Wedding Cake proves it’s still a hit with a first place infused preroll by Selfies.

Moon Valley Cannabis pops up again with Neon Panther for third place.  

Non-infused

Moon Valley Cannabis gets gold and bronze for straight bud joints with Grape Gas and Hash Burger, respectively.

Hogwash Pharms x Huckleberry Hill Farms proves Whitethorn Rose is a winner in all forms. 

Edibles

Oui’d Confections x ST6R x Huckleberry Hill Farms bring the acumen of good food and good weed in the Sweet Category winners, Blackberry Limeade Soft Chew, followed by Emerald Sky’s Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter Cups. Shop them here and here. 

Ay Papi and Huckleberry Hill Farms team up with ST6R for a Whitethorn Rose live rosin gummy in third place. P&B made a splash with a Cucumber Melon hash gummy.

If you prefer a bev, you need Blaze Mota x Cheech’s Stash’s Cheeche’lada.

View all The Emerald Cup 2024 winners, and have a great sesh.

Planning on working next weekend? You’re doing it wrong.

Summer officially ends with the Labor Day weekend—which means barbecues, hikes, parades, concerts, and some serious seshing. 

Labor Day and the fall season make for superb occasions to rip the vape. THC vape carts and pods get you lit in a low-profile way—that means no stink-eye from judgy parents or nosy neighbors. You just sip it and rip it to get lifted on the tastiest terps legal weed has to offer.

Here are some of our favorites.

California

Arcata Fire Rosin Syrup Disposable

A brand that’s made a big splash with its cartridge lines, Arcata Fire has multiple awards for its vape flavors. They produce a killer 510 threaded live rosin and live resin selection, but for those looking for that top-shelf experience, track down one of their AVD hardware Rosin Syrup disposables, especially the Lantz flavor they made together with Ridgeline Farms. At Hash Week in San Francisco, they held a sneak peek at some upcoming flavors and I wouldn’t be surprised to see them taking home another trophy next year. (Matt Jackson)

Suprize Suprize Live Resin Carts

Part of Royal Key, one of the best living soil producers on the West Coast, Suprize Suprize is their art department, releasing collabs not just between them and farmers but artists as well. These full-gram 510 cartridges and all-in-one disposables are made from fresh frozen flower only and have flavors like Apricot Cherry Chill and Midnight Sapphire. We recommend searching out the Fuel Z, a ((Sunset Sherbet x (OGTT) x (RS11 x Geist)) No.186. Featuring the same batch of Live Resin they use in their super popular jars of frosting, just split into two formulations for the vape smokers in their audience. (Matt Jackson)

See also: All-in-ones from Kalya and Nasha.

Oregon

Fenario Farms Rosin Disposable 

Located in Eugene, Oregon, this small-scale, family farm holds the title for best pod/cartridge from the Oregon Grower’s Cup in 2023 and previously won their Master Grower title in 2020. Fenario Farms runs a bunch of gear from noteworthy breeders like Symbiotic Genetics, Archive Seed Bank, and Masonic Seed. Their half-gram, disposable rosin pods feature iKrusher hardware and, along with a great Papaya, the flavor lineup right now has a couple of extra notable hitters on deck like the Grape Fanta and Super Boof. (Matt Jackson)

Entourage Cannabis Live Resin Cartridge

Entourage works with a number of incredible partner farms throughout Oregon. They recently released a full-gram live resin all-in-one which carries enormous clouds of flavor but we want to focus on their outstanding selection of live resin 510 threaded cartridges. For smokers looking for something classic or that they’ve never had the chance to try before, Entourage has flavors like Caffeine x Gold Moonshine, Lebanese Spice, and Portofino #13. We highly recommend lighter smokers check out their Nightmare Cookies, which despite the name actually carries a 2:1 CBD to THC ratio. (Matt Jackson)

Washington

Pacific & Pine Live Rosin Cartridge

Residing in the eastern high plains of Washington, this farm specializes in native soil-grown cannabis and is proudly family-owned and operated. They have a line of half-gram, solventless, single-source, ceramic AVD 510 cartridges that are a big hit. You can also get them in an all-in-one version. Check out Guava Wookie or the Orange Fruit Snax. (Matt Jackson)

Blush Velvet Rosin Disposable

The female-owned hash brand Blush Velvet has a great lineup of rosin disposables that they’ve put out on the market including Gelato Mintz and Birkinz. These feature O2 Vapes rechargeable hardware and represent some of the best top-shelf options for Washington’s solventless vape fans. (Matt Jackson)

Colorado

Green Dot Labs Live Rosin Carts

Colorado’s mile-high altitude and arid air can be brutal on fresh flower, but it’s perfect for making hash. Colorado’s leading concentrate brand Green Dot Labs gets the terps flowing with their “Blue Label” line of single-source, live-rosin carts. The plant never touches butane or other volatile solvents. They do it all with ice, water, screens, heat, and pressure. Green Dot’s hardware is high-end, too. They use borosilicate glass and stainless steel—so there’s no plastic mixing with the oil. The 510-thread carts work best with their variable-voltage battery for a super-low-temp ‘sesh mode.’ Strains right now include Red Froot, Blu Froot, Holy F#@k, and Thunderdome.

Arizona

Connected live resin cartridges

Arizona is awash in vape carts—with nearly 700 cartridge options in Phoenix alone. The Copper State is still getting up the learning curve on live rosin, but they’ve got plenty of live resin and distillate carts on tap for the pool party. Standing out—Connected brand live resin carts of Lemonatti (Gelonade x Biscotti)—a chill, flavorful hybrid. Connected has been leading the cannabis game since the medical era in California.

See also: MPX Melting Point Extracts Triangle Kush sauce cart; the Select BRIQ all-in-one 2-gram Clementine; nugrun live resin all-in-one Forbidden Fruit, Canamo all-in-one live resin Blue Dream. More top vape brands in Arizona: Stiiizy, MFused, Select, and Canamo.

Michigan

Element live resin disposables

Michigan legalization has resulted in intense competition and even bigger savings and quality for consumers. One-gram vape carts start at just $7—versus $70 in command economies like New York. All the big brands play in The Mitt—including Select, ROVE, Airo, Stiiizy, and Timeless vapes. So what’s good? Check out the Element brand live resin all-in-one (aka ‘disposable’) vape in strains like Peanut Butter Breath. The cart hits crazy strong and tasty, with 81% THC and 9.65% terpenes. The multi-cannabis cup-winning brand avoids distillate and sketchy additives like non-cannabis flavorings. Other strains include Gorilla Cherry, Island Paradise, Rainbow Belts, Strawberry Cream Cake, Moby Grape, and Granny’s Apple Fritter.

Ohio

Select BRIQ Elite

Ohio’s legal weed regime is less than a month old and sales are hot, hot, hot. Run, do not walk to the limited supplies of legal, tested vapes—and avoid sketchy vapes sold on the streets and head shops. Popular national brand Select brings its all-in-one device the BRIQ to recreational smokers in the hot strain Bubblegum Gelato. The 2-gram unit runs $75. See also: Timeless Vapes, and Vapen.

Illinois

Daze Off Jokerz #31 + Dante’s Inferno

Chi-town comes down from a raucous Democratic National Convention this week—good thing there are over 300 vape options in the city. The brand Daze Off clearly understands the assignment with a brilliant lineup of new cultivars in vape form. Other strains include Crossbreeze (Cap Junky + Jungle Lava), French Inhale (YUZU Sorbet + Jokerz 31), Alternate Reality (Durban Poison + MAC 1), Power Stone (Jokerz 31 + Florida Oranges), Arc Reactor (Durban Poison + NF-1). Daze Off comes from the grower making Aeriz products. See also in Illinois: Rhythm, Cresco, 

New York / New Jersey

Luci Live Rosin AIO

New York’s market is young, but their operators remain dedicated to the grind of staying on trend. Luci made a splash this past year with their 2-gram hash hole joints, and now they’re rounding out their product line with dabbables and vapes. For optimal discretion and optimal terps, their live rosin all-in-one half-gram disposables deliver, with a range of fruit forward strains like Strawberry Parfait. These run a pretty penny, ($60 for half a gram) but the pairing of potency and pungent flavor make them well worth it for terpheads. We recommend the classic Blueberry Muffin. (Amelia Williams)

Massachusetts

Suncrafted Cannabis live rosin vapes

We already gave Suncrafted Cannabis a shoutout for their award-winning rosin gummies, but their accolades don’t stop there. Their in-house live rosin vape cart placed fourth at the 2024 Boston NECANN Cup, for good reason. Their options run the terp spectrum, from Mandarin Cookies to Garlic Butter, and offer high-CBD options for those who need an alternative to THC. (Amelia Williams)

Beboe Downtime Vape Pen

Massachusetts’ legal cannabis market keeps improving this fall. Boston alone has 246 legal, tested vape options—crazy considering its Puritan roots. One unique national standout—the Beboe Downtime vape pen. It’s classier, effect-based, and lower-THC for a more mature crowd. The pen comes “socially dosed” at 60% THC, which is plenty. Additionally, it has 15% CBD to prevent anxiousness. The ‘downtime’ effects also come from a custom blend of minor cannabinoids CBN, CBG, and CBDV. See also in Massachusetts: The Clear, Airo, Sanctuary Medicinals, and Fernway.

Maryland

SunMed Labs live resin carts

SunMed Growers is one of Maryland’s biggest cultivators, but their sister brand SunMed Labs handles the extracts and vapables. You can get disposables and distillates, if that’s your thing, but their live-resin 510 carts maintain the integrity of their greenhouse flower strains, and run the gamut of classics and new flavors. We recommend the immutable Maui Wowie, Lemon Berry Tart, and Kush Cake. (Amelia Williams)

Maine

Third Shift Resin live rosin carts

Maine has no shortage of heady hash, but not everyone can transfer that solventless integrity from the jar to the cart. Third Shift Resin, however, have managed to package their beloved line of rosin into vape pens in over a dozen strains. Exotic, little-known flavors are their specialty, with options like Pineapple Kiwi, Dole Whip, and Piegasm Punch. Just make sure your medical card is up to date, as they are for patients only, but offer reciprocity for patients from 28 states, plus D.C. See also: Maine Craft Cannabis (Amelia Williams)

Missouri

The Clear Blue Raz 2-gram distillate cart

Missouri has 100% legal cannabis and it’s awesome. Kansas City, MO alone has 126 vape options for pickup and delivery. On the top shelf, The Clear brand distillate carts like Blue Raz. The fat tank contains 2 grams of potent oil that tests at 85% THC and other cannabinoids. Blue Raz tastes bright, sweet, and jammy—juicy and sweet enough to have you think about the last time you had a slushie. The Clear uses food-grade glass tanks, stainless steel posts, and ceramic heating tech—as opposed to cheaper plastic. The Clear brand helped pioneer legal extracts all the way back in 2012 in California. Other cultivars include Grapevine and Lime Sorbet all-in-one. See also: BRIQ, The Clear, ROVE, Timeless, Airo.

New Mexico

ghost. Blue Dream 2g All-In-One’

One of the southwest’s newest legal weed states, New Mexico gets up to speed on national trends this fall. For example, the brand ghost. offers a 2-gram ‘all-in-one’ ready-to-use vape in the most popular flavor of the US—Blue Dream. Ghost started in 2019, and the all-in-one has this small, innocuous form factor that won’t attract attention. Other cultivars in the solid lineup include Black Mamba, Apple Jacks, GMO, Slurricane, Guava, and Horchata. See also in New Mexico: Dime, O.pen, Airo.

Pennsylvania

Standard Farms All-in-One rosin vape

Don’t write off the medical-only states. Standard Farms have products in multiple states, but only Pennsylvania have their new rosin vapes, available in both 510 and disposable form. Your best bet at finding flavors like Biscotti Pie and Blue Slushie are at Rise dispensaries throughout the state. (Amelia Williams)

And that’s 15 states of tasty vapes for Labor Day 2024 and beyond. There’s even more so take a spin around Leafly.

Get your grinders and bongs ready for a really delicious list. Putting the best OG Kushes of all time took us back in time and made us excited for the future.

Pivotal pot from a generation ago help define the dispensary menus you see today. In the mid-’90s, some super-dank, super-strong weed made it from Florida to Hollywood, Los Angeles, and changed the game. Credit goes to Matt ‘Bubba’ Berger and Josh Del Rosso.

Del Rosso tells Leafly: “It was just called ‘Kush’ back then before we added the ‘OG’ to it around ’98-’99. … It was the strongest shit that had hit the scene, ever. … That crazy loud, lemony, skunky gas was filling up the entire house or the car or wherever we went with it.”

Today, countless hundreds of strains have roots in OG Kush. Breeders have taken different facets of OG in different directions: one rips your face off, while another deletes insomnia. So which ones are the top 12 of all time? 

Leafly looked at current popularity across the US, plus the impact each varietal had on breeding and the culture. This is where we landed—for now.

#12 Face Off OG

Face Off OG is Archive Seeds’ Fletch selection of OG Kush to breed with. You don’t see Face Off OG alone in the wild, but it powers big winners like Animal Face, Blue Face, and Leafly Strain of the Year Dosidos. Face Off OG has at least 10 generations of crosses descended from it, according to its genealogy on Seedfinder.

#11 Double OG Chem

Call it the new kid on the block. Double OG Chem is the youngest iteration of OG Kush on this list, but it’s earned its place through a growing legacy of wins at the Emerald Cup, word of mouth, and ubiquity. Crossing OG Chem x OG Sour F4 creates a perfect terp storm of fuel, chem, and funk, plus a floral surprise; the serenity of OG gets a vivacious, energetic boost. 

#10 Godfather OG

Two types of OG Kush combined to make the third most popular OG Kush on Leafly in 2024—Godfather OG. A reported cross of XXX OG and Alpha OG—Godfather OG is super sedative. “I have severe insomnia, and this is hands down the best sleep med I’ve experienced,” reports one reviewer. Lab samples labeled Godfather OG have averaged out to the same three top terpenes as OG Kush.

#9 Larry OG

As soon as the original OG Kush touched down in California, growers across the state pounced to put their spin on it. Larry OG, also known as Lemon Larry, comes from the eponymous Larry crossing two of our top-4 strains, OG Kush x SFV OG, in Orange County. Larry OG puts the citrus terps before the pine, along with balanced effects between lost in the couch and buzzing around. One reviewer said it felt “like a light radiating down my skin and removing all of my stress.” Besides some cup wins of its own, Larry OG has spawned dozens of crosses among seven generations, including as a parent of Purple Punch. 

#8 WiFi OG

A perusal on Leafly shows that Wifi OG is available in all corners, from its native California to Michigan and even Ontario, Canada. Whether you call it Wifi OG or White Fire, OG Raskal’s breeding result is the same; Fire OG x The White creates a spongy plant led by limonene and nerolidol terps that hits the head and the body. WiFi OG ranks No. 147 in menu popularity in the US out of more than 9,000 strains.

#7 Fire OG

If you want to make a better OG—just cross two OGs. Fire OG is a cross of OG Kush x SFV OG that often seemed to come with more red pistils (or “hairs”). The effects hit dead in the middle of the road—a great hybrid. Humboldt Seed Company CEO Nathaniel Pennington said, “We loved Fire OG and made Emerald Fire OG out of it.” Today, it’s No. 117 in US menu popularity.

#6 Alien OG

Alien OG is another NorCal banger. Tahoe OG crossed with Alien Kush means big, ET-green buds with heavy pine tree terps. There are plenty of Alien OG progeny strains keeping this branch of Kush alive and well. It’s ranked No. 145 in US menu popularity.

#5 Tahoe OG

NorCal can’t let SoCal have all the fun with OG’s legacy, and the Tahoe OG pheno proves it. This is OG Kush at its best: big, verdant buds, sticky as heck, and rank with earthy, forest terps. Tahoe OG won a modest share of awards in the 2010s, but it remains alive for true OG heads and for breeders who need a heavy-hitting OG to spawn new iterations. 

#4 King Louis OG

King Louis OG is charging hard in 2024, partially thanks to OG Louis the XIII the “Creator of LouieTheXIII.” A cross of OG Kush x LA Confidential—it’s super-sedative. It’s ranked No. 137 nationally in store presence, and joined more than 300 additional store menus over the last year.

#3 SFV OG

Short for San Fernando Valley OG Kush—SFV OG is the lighter-green, smaller-nugged, more energetic OG Kush. People really pick up on the pine, and lemon on SFV OG. “Like inhaling Pine-Sol. Love this taste. Sticky buds.” SFV OG is associated with Swerve and The Cali Connection—who helped popularize OG Kush in the ‘90s.

#2: Skywalker OG

Second place in the top OG Kushes of all time goes to Skywalker OG. We think of Skywalker OG as more sedative than regular OG thanks to its mix of (Blueberry x Mazar) and OG Kush. Others say it is merely a variation of classic OG Kush—which might be true. Our first reviews of it date to the origin of Leafy back in 2011. People take it for stress, pain, and anxiety. A current top hit with Skywalker OG deep down in it is Super Boof. (Noted descendants: 501st OG, Hardcore OG, Falcon Heavy)

#1 OG Kush

A lot of people think the original OG Kush from the ’90s remains the best version of it. OG Kush ranks 11th among all 9,000 strains in the Leafly database—higher than any of its successors. When we think of real OG Kush we think of dark, green, smaller-sized buds that are resinous and pungent with notes of fuel, lemon, and pine. OG Kush always hits hard no matter how many times you smoke it—with a hybrid indica effect that’s best for after-work relaxation.

Josh Del Rosso affirms, “The best OG I ever had was the first. That was 1996.”

Rebel Grown Seeds’ Dan Pomerantz agreed after he first smoked it in 2010. “The best OG Kush I ever had was the real one, the original. It was the loudest best best-tasting OG I’ve had. It’s the original mom I used in my Double OG Sour seed line.”

Humboldt Seed Co’s Ben Lind concurs as well, “It wasn’t the prettiest weed—it would never make it in today’s market, but it reeked and it would just get you the same high each time. It was a really predictable high. You never got a tolerance to it. You could smoke it for a year and still get blazed. And it was called OG Kush.”

Readers choose a best OG Kush strain of all time