I spend a fair amount of time scrolling through the online herb menus of dispensaries to keep my eye on what strains are showing up, and what the buyers for the dispensaries see as popular with the public. One of the strains that I saw a lot over this last year was one called Tangie.

I haven’t had a chance to get my hands on a jar of Tangie, despite it’s popularity. But I’ve kept trying… when I saw that Cheef Botanicals now had a Tangie hemp strain in stock, I jumped at the chance and ordered a jar from their website. It arrived in just a few days…

Cheef Botanicals has really impressed me so far. They have a very easy website to navigate, a wide selection of products, they put Boveda humidity packs inside their herb jars and packages, and the pricing is very working-class friendly. I’ve ordered herb a handful of times from them, and every time I’ve been more than satisfied with my purchase.

Tangie

Back in the mid-1990s there was a strain called Tangerine Dream that had a strong tangerine, citrus aroma and an uplifting feel, but sadly it’s disappeared – at least I haven’t seen it in years. This strain is like an homage to Tangerine Dream in it’s pursuit of the tangerine terpenes and blissful, uplifting high…

Tangie is a cross of a Skunk variety and California Orange. Because this is a hemp version of the flower I believe that the original Tangie was crossed here with a hemp variety to increase the CBD and bring down the THC below the legal limit of 0.03% for hemp. Cheef Botanicals doesn’t offer any information on the genetics of this strain, so I’m using the best information I have.

The Look and Smell

The jars from Cheef Botanical are first rate… solid feeling, opaque with a child-proof lid.

I noted on the side of the jar that this one held four grams instead of the 3.5 gram eighth we’re used to in the industry. Their measurements were accurate, because the herb weighed in at 4.12 grams.

The jar smell of the herb was a delight! Strongly citrus with a skunky and earthy aroma… I was just starting to get excited at the thought of smoking this one as I had inhaled the aromas a few times. Yum!

Pouring out the contents on the tray I could see that I had received a few mediums, some smalls and a scattering of shake – a bit scrappy looking. I was rather surprised because the nug quality from Cheef has been rather good so far. I picked out a few nugs to photograph, but generally I wasn’t overly impressed by the golden and dark green buds. Looking at the photos I could see that there was a healthy amount of trichomes glistening on the surface of the nugs, so there was that.

As I cut up the nugs there wasn’t a noticeable increase in the smell, but these nugs sure were well-cured!

I quickly loaded a bowl up in my bong and took a hit, wondering what this Sativa-leaning hybrid would taste like and feel like…

The Taste and Effects

I took a big hit and it was tangerine flavor going in and tangerine flavor going out – the taste was strong in the citrus notes. I just wanted to hold the smoke in my mouth and savor it! The aftertaste was like the flavor of an orange rind, like the zest from an orange or tangerine. Tangy, tart and sour. There were also some of the earthy, skunky notes under the citrus flavor of the smoke that fattened up the flavor, in my opinion.

I took a few hits from the bong before the effects started to roll in, and when they did I could tell this one was definitely hitting like a Sativa-leaning strain. My eyes, instead of being lidded from the herb, felt brightened. My eyes felt wide and alert. I could feel the uplifting effects within the first five minutes and the effects came on gently at first, slowly building.

One thing I can always count on from hemp herb, CBD flowers, is the body comfort… some have it more than others, but it is a major component of the hemp experience. I’d call this one about mid-range on the body comfort… definitely there, but not the most noticeable feature.

Eventually, after about a handful of hits I felt a slight liddedness to my eyes and a small bit of the ‘fuzzies”. But by this time I was all about the Sativa effects and enjoying them. This one is said to be 70% Sativa and 30% Indica, and I wouldn’t argue with that after smoking this flower.

This is a get-up-and-do-stuff kind of herb! Focused, motivating and creative, it really provided a spark in my day. Want to wake-and-bake without it taking over your day? This would be a good strain for that… but take note, it might alter the trajectory of your day – the effects are mellow, but evident.

Back in high school I ran cross-country and I was not one of the fastest runners. We had some very strong members of our team, and during our workouts they would drop pack in the pack and come alongside one of us slower runners and somehow impart their speed to us. They would get in step with me and then slowly increase the pace, helping me to find a faster pace and be a better runner. This herb had that feel to me – like it comes along side, and becomes a companion on the way, helping me to pick up my pace, improving my day.

The Wrap Up

If smoking herb is a new experience for you, I recommend this hemp version of Tangie. The CBD level is just 11.193%, and the effects won’t be too powerful or overwhelming.

Thanks to something a friend told me, I now look at herb like driving a car… the CBD or THC is the engine and the terpenes and other cannabinoids steer the car. The engine on this one isn’t that powerful, but the ride will take you there, if “there” for you is a place that is focused, creative, energized and motivated.

I’m still on the search for the cannabis version of Tangie, but until I come across it – it’s good to know that this version from Cheef is just a mouse click away!

Until later, best of health.

The Low Down