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DANIEL BERMAN

Leaf Picks

California

Hitchhiker

from Connected

This gassy pheno brings its own fuel along for the journey.

Each month, we at California Leaf strive to find the perfect flower to anchor the theme of the issue. It’s a worthy quest that exposes us to an endless array of flavors, gardens, and vibrant characters in the state’s astounding Cannabis scene.

For the Culture Issue, we set the bar high (again). The flower needed to come from a legit operator with respect on the set. We wanted something new and special that captured the current collective palate of the community. And, above all, it had to bring the heat. 

We knew we’d found the right traveling partner when we picked up the Hitchhiker. 

Thumbing its way from Connected, the Sacramento-based collective that’s earned a reputation for top-tier genetics, this gassy pheno brings its own fuel along for the journey.

The Connected crew cheekily characterizes the purple-streaked flower as a “combination of burnt motor oil and swamp water” – the types of descriptors only people deep into the appreciation of heady, gassy strains could love. 

It’s an apt description. The Hitchhiker’s foundation of fuel underlies wet earth and petrichor, alongside subtly sweet hints of lavender. 

The flower burns clean, sloughing off white ash as the terpenes shine through the entire length of a J, delivering an immediately dizzying and pleasurable euphoria.

The Connected crew doesn’t share the lineage behind their new premier genetics, but this flower fits in beautifully with their bedrock lineup of bulletproof standards, including Gelato 41 and Biscotti. It’s joined by three other new crosses that Connected says they expect to become parents in their significant breeding program: Pantera Limone, Slow Lane and Nightshade. (We also sampled the Pantera Limone, which was neck-and-neck with the Hitchhiker for this column.)

They’ve come a long way since 2009 when co-founder Caleb Counts first launched Fruitridge Health and Wellness – before growing his empire to include multiple indoor cultivation facilities, a line of concentrates, a partnership with Alien Labs and three Connected-branded dispensaries. 

We’re looking forward to seeing what else comes out of the Connected breeding program as they continue to work their new crosses into the parental mix. If the Hitchhiker is any indication, it’ll drive the culture to new, delicious destinations.

This article was originally published in the February 2022 issue of California Leaf.

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