There are thousands of growers, edible makers and concentrate processors in Oregon, and I partake in a great deal of cannabis in many forms. Despite my best efforts, I haven't tried everything, and new products drop all the time. So, these are just a few of the brands I consider favorites and is not a comprehensive list in any manner representing all of the majesty available.
Arguably one of the leaders in Northwest "clean cannabis," Green Source Gardens has obtained numerous third-party certifications and awards for its hyper-organic flower, including Sun+Earth, Certified Kind, Dragonfly Earth Medicine and more. The company fully embraces the belief of cannabis as medicine over commodity, and provides a level of transparency surrounding grow methods that all farms should strive to match.
Last year, I used its Koffee Berry (Koffee x Pinkleberry) in a vaporizer at an event I produced and paired it with some Stumptown Cold Brew. The flavor notes of the flower matched the beverage perfectly, and the strain exploded with terpenes that coated my mouth.
I've sampled their other unique strains such as Zelly's Llama, Pinkleberry Wonder, Coyote Art and others that I've only found through them. The company is the platinum standard for what can be achieved in sungrown cannabis when an exacting attention to detail is applied to all aspects of the grow.
Ten Four products are a hot commodity. At one dispensary, the budtender told me they limit the amount even medical patients can buy of this brand due to its popularity. I've watched people waiting for a fresh delivery of product.
A rotating selection is geared toward quality over quantity. Its signature strain is PGSC, aka Platinum Girl Scout Cookies. Although the GSC strain has numerous variations, the PGSC is a masterful offering of tight, frosty buds that break apart to reveal snow-covered interiors. The buds are a riot of reds and purples, with a scent that starts the mouth watering.
Citrus strain fans are in luck, with Mimosa, Sour Tangie and Lemon Meringue, along with two strains bred in Portland: White Tahoe Cookies and Astral OG. Gorilla Glue #4 and a new strain, Breathwork, round out the menu. Consistently solid in every manner.
A tour of the facility, in person or via the website, confirms a cutting-edge, technologically advanced grow system which underscores that I, for one, welcome our future robot overlords. Until then, I welcome getting my meatsack hands on anything Pruf is producing.
It's a wide-ranging selection of three categories: THC rich, balanced and CBD rich. The website shows 31 strains in the THC-rich category alone. There are a few which are familiar— Strawberry Cough and Purple Punch—but the majority are not. Many have Pacific Northwest names (Timberline Haze, Steel Bridge, Doug Fir), and the website offers exquisite terpene profiles of each along with valuable flavor profile information.
It's a painstakingly achieved strain collection and shows technology and hands-on care can produce some extraordinary flower.
(Disclaimer: Head Farmer at Pruf is my friend Jeremy Plumb, who has forgotten more about cannabis than I know. He didn't hook me up with any flower.)
This vertically integrated brand has its flower scattered around, along with a well-stocked dispensary in Oregon City. Flowers are produced using its self-described "Legendary Cultivation," which involves "many symbiotic relationships within a healthy ecosystem create our renewed, naturally rich growing conditions," the company says.
Gnome Grown's Durban Poison remains the best example I have found of that strain in Oregon, providing a rush of energy rivaled by double fisting Red Bulls. They also produce some other well-known strains (Zkittlez, Peanut Butter Breath, Dogwalker) and some rarer exotics (Bewilderbeast, Purple Goji, First Class Funk). Everything tastes as it smells, and is pot-porn-centerfold worthy.
This crew has been producing exceptional flowers for over 25 years, and represents what Oregon bred and grown cannabis can achieve. The focus is on producing the loud, and not being loud with a thirst for clicks and attention.