There’s no denying that Alien Labs is evolving from one of your favorite weed companies into a full-on lifestyle brand like Cookies or World Industries. So when creating a new strain for 2025, they decided to use the opportunity to highlight not only a brand partnership but also a longtime friendship with another big lifestyle brand, Talking Terps.
Brainwash is the result of some of the adventures Alien Labs’ Ted Lidie and Hopelord from Talking Terps have shared since they first became friends in 2013. According to them, both halves of this strain represent a time where the law offices of Lidie & Lord have gone to work.
Speaking with Ted from Alien Labs, he told Leaf Magazines the OZ Kush used in this cross goes back to 2015, when Hopelord bought a bunch of seeds from 3rd Gen/Dying Breed Seeds. After they had phenohunted it together, Lidie says, “This one OZ Kush ended up being the keeper that we brought into Alien Labs.”
Two years later, the dynamic duo headed out on a secret 1 a.m. mission to Willits to pick up a single Zkittlez clone from Green R. Fieldz of Terphogz. Lidie recounted, “We sat around this dimly-lit kitchen table at 3 a.m. while he freestyled to us, then we drove home.”
These are the cuts of OZ Kush and Zkittlez Alien Labs runs to this day. Brainwash is the result of 10 years of history evolving into a massive phenohunt that produced the jar you see now. The duo told us, “When we crossed the two and found a keeper, it was an obvious perfect choice for the collab.”
More than just a collection of stories, art and powerful genetics, Brainwash is a great example of the candy-gas trend that seems to be building as consumers begin to take a small step back from the river of candy flavors that has been dominating the scene. The nugs have a beautiful purple tone and are surprisingly dense and photogenic considering the double dose of Z in the recipe. Hopelord says Brainwash is a heavy smoke that leans on the gassy, Z terps, and Lidie says the OZK really gives the strain the OG notes that provide a spin on those Z terps.
Jar appeal doesn’t begin to cover it when it comes to Brainwash. Another collaborative part of this project is the label, which showcases Talking Terps’ mascot Terp Crawford and head-melting artwork from their longtime artistic collaborator Daniel Herwitt. Along with the new drop, Talking Terps and Alien Labs have plans for some exclusive merch, which Hopelord says they might preview for Mary Jane Berlin in June.
Perhaps the best description of the effects of Brainwash was summed up by Hopelord: “Brainwash is the marination of your whole existence inside one jar, and that marination unlocks the keys to the universe.”
alienslab.org | talkingterps.com | @talkingterps | @returnofthealien | @hopelord
This article was originally published in the May 2025 issue of California Leaf.
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