Trulieve Flower Review: Colombian Gold (Sativa)

I was very excited to get an opportunity to try this classic landrace strain that hails from the heights of the Santa Marta mountain region in Colombia, South America. For those readers who haven’t heard the term “landrace strain” before, it refers to indigenous strains that were found across the various continents in the earliest recorded days of modern cannabis use. Colombian Gold was extremely popular in the United States during the late 1960’s and early 1970’s, known for its enjoyable smoke and mellow, euphoric high. 

Trulieve has had this strain available a few times during 2018, but I wasn’t lucky enough to catch it in stock at the right time. Fortunately, that changed, and I’m able to provide a review for those of you who will be lucky enough to try it (so sad that I have to ay “lucky enough; come on, Florida government!); hopefully that amount will significantly increase as the Florida medical marijuana program expands in 2019. 

Quick Facts:

Colombian Gold  (Sativa)

Batch/Harvest Number: FFOBTRUQM0000010 (that’s an “O” at the beginning and zeroes at the end)

577.5 mg THC/3.5g

0.0 mg CBD/3.5g

16.5% THC

0.20% CBG

16.7% Total Cannabinoids

Appearance/Feel

This batch of flower has simply been the best I’ve gotten from Trulieve in terms of the quality of curing, moisture, etc. The buds are a blend of soft yellows, light and medium greens, and covered in amber pistils and trichomes. The stickiness is just how I prefer it to be: not too tough to break down for vaporizing, but not at all dry and brittle. There is a abundance of both pistils and trichomes on these Colombian Gold buds, which makes them very aesthetically pleasing to the eye. I can see where the name of the strain comes from as the softer yellow color in the bud and the darker amber pistils blend together to create an almost golden appearance to the flower. Quite honestly, it’s some of the best looking bud I’ve ever seen; the only flaw is that we aren’t yet able to see what the true buds would look like.

Rating: 4.10/5.00

Smell/Taste

I admittedly had high expectations for this strain, in part due to a few posts on reddit speaking of a pineapple flavor in the buds. Surprisingly and quite fortunately, my expectations were exceeded when I first opened up the jar that houses the ceramic pods. There is a very strong and sweet smell of lemon, lime, and general citrus, with an underlying skunk/musty scent. It smells amazing. Though I mentioned reading about a pineapple smell and/or taste, I did not personally find my batch to have this scent or flavor. However, I can easily see where another batch could have expressed those terpenes more and led to a pineapple smell/tase. There is definitely a tartness in the smell of Colombian Gold, the kind that keeps us returning to our stash, even if just to take a whiff of it. There have been a few strains from the black market I’ve come across in years past that had this type of sweet and fruity smell, but they were much more rare than skunk or diesel smelling bud. I hope that Trulieve is able to keep growing and stocking this strain, because it is my favorite that I’ve tried so far. The price makes it that much sweeter at $35 for an eighth (3 ceramic pods filled with flower).

Rating: 4.30/5.00

Effects/Medical Use

Colombian Gold is not a racy sativa like Sour Diesel or even Jack Herer have sometimes been for me. It behaves a lot like what is commonly called a “creeper” strain; the effects may not seem immediately apparent at first, but they gradually settle in until one finds themselves in a warm, mellow, energetic state. Thoughts flow freely and easily; there are no complications in the train of thought. This strain helps me get to what I refer to as a “flow state”, where movements are fluid and the body feels relaxed and poised. Any depression or anxiety are whittled and melted away until a gentle euphoria is left in their place. This strain leaves me very functional; sometimes sativas can give me a bit of social anxiety if I dose too highly, but even at high does, Colombian Gold has left me feeling really nice. Surprisingly for a sativa, there were also some pain relieving qualities I noted after medicating. With the “warm body” feeling often comes a reduction in pain, and that held true in this instance as well. A minor headache that was trying to creep its way into the front of my forehead was quickly squashed away after 6-7 short hits from the vaporizer. I wouldn’t recommend this strain as a frontline treatment for pain, but it does  act as a nice “plus” when using the sativa qualities to medicate for anxiety and depression. This strain also has a particularly unique quality that sites such as Leafly touch on: it seems to help collect and concentrate thoughts in a way that alleviates common attention-deficit symptoms of ADD and ADHD. I have a diagnosis of ADHD, and though I have largely learned to manage the symptoms on my own, I do find that this strain seems to relax me enough to give me that extra motivation when my mind is pumping out creative thoughts while under the effects of this sativa. Again, it’s one of my favorites. This is a classic, and it deserves to be.

Rating: 4.40/5.00

Overall Rating: 4.27/5.00

I would best describe this strain as “especially excellent” and “unique”.

As always, I appreciate your taking time to read this review, and genuinely hope that it benefits at least one patient.