New for 2020 and only available to a very limited number of returning farmers, meet the “Sours.” One of our goals in breeding unique hemp varieties has been to widen the range of flavor available to farmers and consumers. By pairing the unique olfactory components of our production mother lines with a newly developed “sour” pollen donor, we were able to craft a seed that produces a flower capable of inducing the widest of smiles upon exhalation.

Our sour pollen donor line is an in-house favorite in terms of recent development projects. Through many generations of selection, we converted GG4—a uniquely resinous and flavorful THC-dominant photoperiod variety—into a CBD-dominant autoflower variety. Many questioned whether or not this was possible. GG4 has a notorious flavor, made possible by an interaction between beta caryophyllene (35%), limonene (18%), myrcene (17%), and humulene (10%), as well as other non-terpene compounds. For these flavors to consistently carry over in cannabinoid conversion projects, each of these major terpene synthases must exist on a separate chromosome from the cannabinoid synthases that need to be swapped (both THCAS and CBDAS are on chromosome 7). Recent work by Allen et al. (2019) and in-house whole genome sequencing of our library demonstrated that these major genes reside on chromosomes 6, 5, and 9—indicating that it is indeed possible. Fast forward through our selection and recombining process to the 2020 production season, and these oh-so-sour fruits of farmers’ labor are now available from select hemp farms and dispensaries. 

We have never seen resin or complex flavors quite like these and can’t wait for the world to try the next hit of the hemp flower market.