Phone Home from Pearl Pharma via New Generation on 8/14/19. THC tested out to 20.43%. Purchased for $35 plus sales tax, normally retails for $60. I had been wanting to get my hands on some more Pearl Pharma for a while now so when I saw Phone Home on the menu at New Generation at a steep discount I jumped on it. To be fair, this batch is fairly old as it was packaged on 2/4/19, so I’m assuming that’s why it was about half off the normal ticket. On popping the jar the first thing that catches the eye are the massive triches that give the surface of the bud this yellowed sort of sandy look. The bud itself is a light green made lighter by the golden nature of the triches with only the occasional flashes of dark green. While there are small extremely thin red hairs, they are very few and far between, and manage to camouflage themselves under the coating of triches as well. The buds themselves are not as dense as they appear, being just slightly more dense than a piece of popcorn, and crumbling in a similar way between the fingers.

The nose out of the jar is very savory and hit me similar to a muted version of soy sauce. On the finger grind I still get the same scent but it’s accompanied by a very light sweetness. The inhale is a little harsh on the back of the throat which I’m going to attribute to it’s age. The exhale doesn’t really carry any noticeable flavor, I get maybe just a hint of spiciness but it’s not too pronounced. The headchange is subtle at first, you don’t really notice how spacey you are until you try to do something that requires focus. In conversation I found myself hitting these cognitive snags where I was having trouble coming up with the right words. Even now as I type this I’m sort of second guessing my writing choices and I keep pausing and wondering if this is the right direction for this particular sentence. In that sense it would seem Phone Home is aptly named as it reminds me of ET and frankly I keep spacing out. I would put this in the indica leaning hybrid camp as it feels like it puts some real weight on your body and you may find yourself ready for a weed nap after the initial thump wears off. I’d definitely save this one for the end of day when you’re ready to put your brain away. At $60, I might be a little hesitant to cop this as there’s a lot out there that falls within that range, but at $35 I’d buy a buyer all day. You can tell this is expertly cultivated herb, my only criticism is it’s age and the fact that it smoked a little harsh, but that’s not a knock against Pearl Pharma as the ravages of time are out of their control.

Sin Mint Cookies from Pearl Pharma via MMD Hollywood on 1/24/19. THC Tested out at 20.2%. Would have been $55 plus tax but I got it for $20 due to MMD Hollywoods first time patient deal. I’ve had my eye on Pearl Pharma for a while now with all of the positive buzz I’ve heard revolving around Sin Mint Cookies and Double Cup. As with a lot of premium brands I found the ticket a bit difficult to stomach so I was fortunate to catch a break with MMD Hollywoods first time patient deal. While the look was impressive, the sample didn’t jump out at me like some of the other herb they had on display, but on hype alone I pressed forward with the Sin Mint Cookies. The look on these buds is the real winner.

It has a nice patchwork of light and dark greens comprising a majority of the surface with the greens getting so dark at times they approach hues of purple. The triches are also plentiful and give the surface a good fur like shine. The scent really isn’t quite there for me. I pick up on spice/must in the foreground and a very slight mint scent in the background. I find myself being bias these days towards sweet smelling and citrus terps so this isn’t a huge knock on this batch, but if I were to select from 3 different strains while blindfolded, this one wouldn’t stand out to me as the winner. The smoke and exhale is smooth through and through although I didn’t pick up on any lingering after taste there either. The effect is fairly powerful given this batch only tested out to just over 20% where I understand most of the time it tests out over 25%. The headchange itself comes on fast and heavy. If you’re looking for a good late afternoon hybrid experience I’d suggest pairing this strain with a cup of coffee. If have energy, you’ll definitely feel that uplifting mood enhancing effect that’s good for gaming or other semi-active yet not focus intense activities. If you’re at all tired this the headchange will just hit you like a sack of bricks and you’ll be out in 30 minutes. Not unexpected from a hybrid but I’d definitely put this in the indica leaning camp. At the full ticket, I can’t say I’ll be picking it up again soon. It’s a nice contender in the California high end market, but within that bracket there’s simply too many strains/companies to try to think about repeating unless it’s something incredible. While great, it’s not one for the books, especially when compared to MAC from LA Made coming in at a little over half the ticket. Unfair comparison? You tell me.