There are thousands of growers, edible makers, and concentrate processors in Oregon. And although I partake of 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 while this is not a comprehensive list of the majesty that is available, here are a few brands that I consider favorites.

Green Source Gardens

Arguably one of the leaders in Northwest “clean cannabis,” Green Source Gardens has obtained numerous third-party certifications and awards from the likes of Sun+Earth and Dragonfly Earth Medicine for its hyper-organic flower. The company fully embraces the belief of cannabis as medicine over commodity and provide a level of transparency surrounding its grow methods that all farms should strive to match.

Last year, I used their Koffee Berry (Koffee x Pinkleberry) in a vaporizer 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. They are the platinum standard for what can be achieved in sun-grown cannabis when an exacting attention to detail is applied to all aspects of the grow. Highly recommended. (greensourcegardens.org)

Ten Four Farms

Ten Four is a hot commodity. I’ve watched people at dispensaries wait for a fresh delivery of product. And one budtender told me their dispensary limits the amount that even medical patients can buy of Ten Four’s product due to its popularity.

A rotating selection geared towards quality over quantity, their signature strain is Platinum Girl Scout Cookie (PGSC). Although the GSC strain has numerous variations, Ten Four’s 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 inspires mouthwatering.

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 their menu. Consistently solid in every manner. (tenfourpdx.com)

Pruf Cultivar

(Full disclosure: The head farmer at Pruf is my friend Jeremy Plumb. He didn’t hook me up with any flower.) A tour of Pruf’s facility, in person or via their website, confirms a cutting-edge, technologically advanced grow system, which makes me 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 29 strains in the THC rich category alone. There are a few familiar names—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. (prufcultivar.com)

Gnome Grown Organics

This vertically integrated brand has its flower scattered around town and a well-stocked dispensary in Oregon City. It’s worth the trip for flowers produced using their self-described “legendary cultivation,” which Gnome Grown says creates “renewed, naturally rich growing conditions” thanks to “many symbiotic relationships within a healthy ecosystem.”

Gnome Grown’s Durban Poison remains the best example I’ve found of this strain in Oregon, providing a rush of energy that rivals double-fisting Red Bulls. The company 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.

Gnome Grown has been producing exceptional flowers for over 25 years and represent what Oregon bred and grown cannabis can achieve. Seek them out.

(gnomegrownorganics.com)