89 points out of 100

Price: $50/eighth but varies

We’re always keeping an eye out for good Moonbows. Archive Seeds crossed the Z to the Dosi for this more robust candy-gas strain.

Oakland, CA indoor flower growers Flora and Flame show off a very good version that approaches outstanding. A muted Smarties candy smell greets you in the bag. The nugs are on the small side, but a gorgeous light green. It was well-dried, and cured, without much in the way of stickiness. Grinding boosts the sweet, pleasant terps, but we wanted even more. It smoked very potent with a lime, pine, and grass finish.

Suggested activity pairing for this hybrid: a sunny fall hike, some yoga, listening to records, and gardening.

90 points out of 100

Price: $55/eighth but varies

Few strains have captured the flavor of fresh watermelon on a summer day like Watermelon Marker. This collaboration started with grower Yellowthumb asking a favor of breeder First Class Genetics (of The Menthol and Khalifa Mints fame) to cross Yellowthumb’s Bolo Runtz cut to Seed Junky’s Permanent Marker (Leafly Strain of the Year 2023). One 60-seed hunt later, Yellowthumb has ended up with Blueberry Bolo (#41), Crack Bolo (#17), Watermelon Marker (#39), Bubblegum Marker (#12) and a sixth unreleased #46.

All have remarkably different flavor profiles such as Zalympix entry Blueberry Bolo’s wildberry slushie over gasoline nose, and noticeable differences in effect like the way.

Watermelon Marker flower smells almost like a fresh piece of Extra Watermelon gum and the ash is bone white; maximum flavor saturation and minimum background noise. These characteristics are to be expected from anything that gets a seal of approval from powerhouse promoter Doja, but the prices this strain would go for also make it an excellent value for consumers.

Watermelon Marker offers an excellent variation on a new champion. —Max Blickstein

90 points out of 100

Price: $35/eighth but varies

When talking about quintessential East Coast flavors, one must mention Cuban Black Haze, or Piff.

Now that much of the East Coast lives in a world where we don’t have to hide in alleys to smoke, producers like Papermill Cannabis Co in Maine are acting on their nostalgia and imagination with their genetics.

Papermill is one of the winningest longest-running growers of Piff crosses such as Lavender Piff, Midnight Mass, and Piff Coast 3, and other old-school flavors such as ’87 Lem OG and Sour Diesel. But Cat Piff takes the bake for best presentation of old-school genetics with new-school tech. His 2^nd place trophy for Cat Piff live rosin backs this up

Cat Piff is Papermill’s in-house pollination and selection of 707 Seedbank’s NorCal version of Cat Piss x Purple Manguito from Piff Coast Seeds, both of which were also selected from seed hunts in-house.

“The NorCal Cat Piss [was] so squatty and the internal spacing such that you couldn’t fit a piece of paper between them. It’s really hard to grow, and even Purple Urkle goes way past what the Cat Piss does,” said Joel of Papermill.

“But it has a crazy smell that I thought would go well with haze. Purple Manguito [Mango Haze x Harlem Dreams] is a large towering plant that puts out a lot of resin. Cat Piff looks like the Manguito but with Cat Piss and Piff features.”

In flower, the Cat Piff looks denser and rounder than your average Piff and the nose hits as Mango over pine and dryer sheets. The potency is solid, but Papermill claims the hash is where it really shines, and despite the lower than 1% yields, the effect is a “10x soaring high” over the flower, according to Joel who also described the oil almost like degreaser through the bubble bags. Overall, the mango pine and dryer sheets flavor translates to an energizing and floaty effect with no crash or raciness. It’s the type of strain that draw crowds of all ages, and represents the East Coast with its best foot forward. —Max Blickstein