Blue Dream CBD smoke report

Blue Dream by HSO (Humboldt Seed Organization) has been one of my favorite Haze-based strains for the last 5 years. With its heavy Haze high and sweet citrus taste, there is not much to not love about this legendary strain. With that being said, if, like me, you suffer from "mental health issues", a high THC-based strain like Blue Dream would not be the best choice from a medical perspective. Thankfully the good guys at HSO (Humboldt Seed Organization) have seen this and have started to introduce high CBD strains into their line up, the first being 2 of HSO's more popular strains. Blue Dream and Green Crack are both now available in high CBD form. Everything you know and love about these 2 epic strains has been retained (flavor, yield and appearance) whilst introducing a lower THC count and increasing the CBD content dramatically. In the case of Blue Dream CBD, the THC has been reduced from around 20% to 10% and the CBD significantly boosted from 0.3%-0.8% to 10%, giving a 1:1 CBD: THC ratio and thus creating a much more manageable sativa high whilst delivering great amounts of valuable CBD. Now that we have the technical side out of the way, let's take a look at these buds and get into my favorite part the smoke report!

Physical appearance

The buds/flowers had a nice shade of light lime green, 95% of the pistils had acquired a very light orange coloring and the visible trichome content was amazing. When looked at under the microscope, the trichomes were all well formed with 25% of the heads amber, 70% milky and 5% remaining clear. The buds/flowers had a medium/dense structure with some fox tailing that I typically see in heavy sativa strains or with heavily dominant Haze-based genetics. A solid 9/10 for bag appeal. When the buds were broken off the stems, I was immediately hit by a unique Blueberry Haze smell combined with hints of pepper, lemon and pine. Now onto my favorite part: the smoke test.

Smoke test

For the purpose of the smoke test, we used both a water pipe/bong with a flower bowl and my trusty Davinci Vaporizer. This way, we get the full flavor (typically from the vaporizer) and the fastest onset of effects (delivered by the bong). We have found vaporization can really bring out the flavors in the end product, retain some valuable terpenes and, boy, we were correct. I set about to grind up the Blue Dream CBD and proceeded to fill up my bowl. Once filled, I cleared my lungs and took a huge rip from the bong. The smoke immediately hit the back of my throat and my taste buds got bombarded with tastes and flavors, the most prominent flavor being blueberry with a unique Haze aftertaste. Heavy citrus hints on the exhale combined with a strong hash aroma. The high was super-fast to come on and the hit was heavy as expected from a sativa but not too overpowering. Normally the high would be very intense but this one is much more manageable. Perfect for daytime use. As soon as you exhale, you can feel your whole body relax. My seized joints loosened up and my back pain immediately soothed. I'm feeling fantastic. As expected, the water bong delivered immediate effects with a nice flavor profile and not too harsh on the chest. Now let's see what the vaporizer can do! Set to 365ºF the vapor produced was quite thick. The effects did not come on as fast as the water bong but the vaporizer truly does bring out the full flavors of the flowers. If you are using cannabis/marijuana for medical benefits, have chest issues or simply just do not like to smoke/combust your herb, then this is a perfect alternative. One aspect of a vaporizer I love is the fact that I can start off at a low temperature (for me that's 345-365ºF) and increase my temperatures which does deliver a bigger hit but, in my opinion, some of the flavors are sacrificed. At 365ºF, the tastes coming through are heavily Haze influenced with a hint of sweet blueberry with added spice (possible pepper) on the exhale. A very tasty strain just like the original Blue Dream.

Final thoughts

This was a totally different experience than I am used to as I love my heavy hitting sativa strain with high THC content. So I was not sure how I was going to feel about the reduced rate of THC, but, given the excellent medical benefit from the increased CBD, this is a tradeoff I'm willing to make. This strain was VERY effective for pain relief, inflammation and worked extremely well against migraines, anxiety and lasted for a solid 2 hours. Quite impressive for a strain reduced in THC! All the flavors from the original strain have been retained. The high was super-fast to come on and the effects were just what I needed. Fast medical relief from a strain without trading in the flavor or quality of the flowers. I call that a winner!