Ha, I've had that same reaction a lot more lately, like "damn this shit smells and tastes funny, why did I get this?" Like I had a better streak picking winners a year and a half ago when I wasn't vaping and still smoking and didn't know shit about terps or what makes flavors. I started having to draw a line in the sand and just be like, some of ya'll grams I'm never touching again haha. We definitely live in blessed times to explore all the variety in flower.
New guys I'm working fast through:
Eucalyptus - I couldn't find anything on this strain's lineage online; at the dispo, it was labeled as Durban crossed with something else. It hits on the sweet and light fruity side with a hint of piney diesel. I really wanted it to have the woody, sage, menthol bouquet. If anyone knows a good recommendation in that area, please chime in. Still some excellent morning bud.
Cactus - I just finished Orange Cookie MAC after forever, which really struck me as a Tangie wannabe. So this Afghani x Northern Lights cross kinda satisfied that sweeter, lemon-lime-ish flavor profile. The only NL I've had was way earthy and no pine/sweet, and most Afghanis I've had do have a sweet/berry thing going on, so this cut maybe leans more Afghan. I believe it was $2 for the gram, so like, sure let's take a shot at it.
Chernobyl - this is a Trainwreck cross (with Trinity Kush and Jack the Ripper). Similar to Eucalyptus in bud structure and aroma, both are not too dense and just lovely to hand rip and stuff into the vape. I've been getting pretty "wasteful" lately, only taking one rip out of a half bowl, 2 out of a full, and then tossing the rest...but bud is so cheap here and I'm always after something new.
I did end up trying Ghost OG but it was probably too much of a budget cut, because it struck me as a very standard, mediocre OG. I realized I'm pretty much on a quest to find a reliable grower for "citrus-pine-dank", whatever that might be. I realized I should start trying some Skunk crosses (like a lemon or lime skunk), BR I know you had Lime Skunk on the vape for a minute. Now I'm looking at Chem 4, Florida OG (still unsure if this is different from Triangle?), and Lost Coast. Also East Coast / NYC Sour Diesel but I'm on the opposite coast so it's a bit rarer.
A man after my own heart. This is beautiful.
Eucalyptus looks dope, I'm obsessed with durban poison and it's always interesting to me that a lot of the crosses I've tried are super different from the cut I usually get. I'm not sure if it's one of those "lambs bread" situations where multiple genetics got assigned the same name in the black market days or it's just such a deep gene pool that it can be expressed in many ways.
In terms of something menthol-y, we have a strain called Blue Agave (I've also seen one of the big corporate growers put out something called Blue Anejo which I didnt try but had a suspiciously similar terp profile) that's from compound genetics. It's something citrusy crossed with a strain that's just called "the menthol" and it definitely has some of those notes. I've never had the menthol on its own but they do sell it here so I can get a terp profile if you want.
I think I had a cactus cross a while ago but I forget what it was. I'll have to check my notes. NL is definitely earthy, almost sweet dirt tasting when it's fresh. I find that a lot of afghani crosses tend to lean that way, like the Afghan side is usually dominant. Not complaining as I fucking love good afghanica strains, I believe I've mentioned my obsession with Alien Technology and my quest to acquire a legit cut of it some day.
I've actually had Chernobyl flower and we have a pheno called Slymer here that I've gotten in vape form couple times. Lovely strain, I don't fault you at all for just taking the green hits. That's where most of the trichs get vaporized so it's really not that wasteful, I definitely don't smoke my shit all the way either. I really don't need those last 2 hits sucking hot ash haha.
So ghost is definitely on the earthy side of the OG tree. Ive never been a huge fan of the taste, that one is more about effect for me. I could definitely see it being unimpressive, especially if it's not a great cut. Florida and Triangle is probably one of those muddy "maybe the same, maybe isn't" situations I think, but either is good. They'll lean more towards the piney side and usually have a nice dirty fuel note. Keep an eye out for Biker OG too, it definitely has that fuel taste but it really surprised me with how lemony it was.
@lydius I just remembered that last week when you said you were also smoking Jack that I took a pic of the terps on my cut for you. It's not the stinkiest batch but it's not bad for the popcorn and larf that comprise most of the quarters we get.
https://imgur.com/a/D5JNOewI like my morning strains sitting at around 1% terpinoline, that seems to be a sweet spot for my brain. The durban I get is up to 2.5% sometimes and while that's absolutely amazing tasting it can also kinda fuck your day up once the initial rush of energy wears off. Jack is more gentle on both the come up and come down, and has some of the most consistent mood elevation I've found. Might be the best way to start a day off I've found.
I'm actually still waiting for my new card to come in the mail so I can't go get anything right now. Im down to that weird sundae float, a single bowl of GMO, some bits and pieces of nameless garbage, and a whole bunch of roaches haha.