A Headie Tour of Arizona Cannabis: My Smoking Review of 4 Brands

4 Headie Brands in Arizona Cannabis: Connected, Alien Labs, Grow Sciences and Tropics

#1: Connected

Connected brought its highly successful California legacy genetics to its Phoenix indoor-grow facility in 2020 and hit the market running in 2021. Connected is known for its consistently dank, terpene-packed buds and has earned numerous awards in Arizona.

Connected x JARS Collaboration: Permanent Sunset (Permanent Marker x Hawaiian Rain)

• Indica-leaning
• 24% THC
• 28% TAC

This particular strain drop was a special JARS x Connected collaboration crossing Permanent Marker and Hawaiian Rain. Both tasty in their own right, the cross of these two strains proved to be a winning combination.

Aroma

Pungent to the point of tickling your nose with a sweet, thick, creamy aroma reminiscent of an old-school Northern Lights strain I grew back in the early 2000s. This strain brings a sweetness crossed with a piney, musky gas that lingers on the palate.

Appearance

Buds are super dark green, approaching a blackish-purple hue. Frosted with a decent amount of trichomes, which were 90% amber, giving the underside of the flowers a golden hue. Small, rusty-colored pistils round out a nice exotic look.

Nice, clean trim job and a solid cure with a decent moisture content. Judging by the amount of terpenes and aroma in the jar, this batch was cured right to this strain’s specifications. Buds broke down nicely without crumbling into powder like many other Arizona brands and left my fingers stinking of goodness.

Flavor

The aroma translated well as the first few tokes were loaded with flavor that permeated the palate with sweet, dank, earthy. Super smooth smoke that burned clean down to a fine white ash. This one grew on me. Be sure to track this one down and roll one up.

#2: Alien Labs

Alien Labs is Connected’s sister brand, sharing the same top-tier indoor grow facility in Arizona. Alien Labs focuses on terpene profiles and has won first-place awards in Arizona for bag appeal and potency.

Biskanté (Melonade x Biscotti #6)

• Sativa-leaning
• 25% THC
• 29% TAC

An interesting cross between Melonade and Biscotti #6.

Aroma

Sweet, pungent Biscotti flavor with a sharp sour end note. This one has quite a unique bouquet. Super light, with just a trace of lemon and grapefruit, and a sweet herbal backbone. It fills and coats the palate in a wonderful way. Classic Biscotti stank with lemon, lime, and a sweet-sour finish.

Appearance

Frosty, greasy, and coated in a thick trichome explosion, but it’s the aroma that sets this strain apart. The cure is spot on with a perfect moisture content, especially for the Arizona market.

Buds are a nice lime green, kissed with purple, giving the buds an almost blue hue. Dark red pistils. Super greasy feel when breaking the buds down, leaving a refreshing Sprite soda and burnt rubber aroma that makes you keep smelling your fingers long after the joint is burned.

Atomic Apple (Apple Fritter x Triangle Mints)

• 50/50 Hybrid
• 24% THC
• 28% TAC

Aroma

Immediately, you are smacked with a sour burst out of the jar, followed by notes of diesel and a vanilla-like, rich, woody sandalwood.

Appearance

Four nice-sized buds made up the eighth. Dark green nugs with swirls of purple streaks and trichome-loaded calyxes. Sweet, candy aroma that fades into a light, smooth apple endnote.

Flavor

Clean smoke with an underwhelming flavor, but still left my palate with a nice sweet/gassy, greasy profile that kept my lips smacking. Remember those old blow-pop commercials from the 90’s? That’s where this strain takes me back to reminiscing. Not the top of the group, but still a solid smoke. Decent effects centered directly behind my eyeballs. Stoney.

#3: Grow Sciences

Grow Sciences is another Arizona-based company known for cultivating elite craft genetics specializing in premium indoor-grown flower and solventless live rosin. Added bonus: Grow Sciences packs out 3.7g units, giving a little extra bang for your buck.

Banana Cream Cake x Jealousy

• 50/50 Hybrid
• 21.5% THC
• 25% TAC

Aroma

Rich earth with a fruity, musky endnote. Sweet, thick, and creamy when buds are cracked open. Candy sweet, and I can’t wait to break down the buds so I can smell my fingers.

Apperance

Frosted with trichomes from head to toe. Eighth is made up of 4 buds with a heavy foxtail structure. Dark green buds with bright, small hairs. Trichomes are intact and bulbous. Cured perfectly despite the Arizona desert heat and dryness. Buds are purple when broken down. Decent trim job, a few stray sugar leaves that were caked in trichomes.

Flavor

Not too overwhelming on the initial flavor pass. Light cream, sweet, and slightly gassy smooth smoke. No harshness and a light gas flavor lingering on the palate.

#4: Tropics

Tropics focuses on solventless extraction methods. They use indoor-grown flower to produce their live hash rosin. Their hash holes come with a glass tip.

Sinful Orchard (Lemon Pastries x Sunglow) Hashwalker

• 39.19% THC

Flavor

My dry pull was straight lemon fruity loops or a piece of Juicyfruit. Make sure to check the glass tip for Scooby snacks; nothing worse than a lungful of flower particulates before the sesh even begins.

Once lit, I tasted fruit with a waxy, clean bubble hash flavor. It coats the palate with a wonderful, light, slightly sweet hash flavor that lingered long after the joint was finished. Clean flavor all the way to the glass tip. Burned as an expensive joint should. Greasy to the last toke. Great effects. Potent medicine.