One of my favorite Bay Area Cannabis producers, Sense, has been wowing me with exceptional-looking flower since I first met them at Jimi Devine’s Transbay Challenge in early 2022. Back then, Leaf reported on their incredible Pink Certz and how, in the hands of Sense, “flower reaches its delicious potential.” This time, we’re back with another one that feels like it’s been given overdrive by the team.
Orange Chai was originally named Caliburger by Ziplock Seeds. A citrus-heavy Tangie Cookie Burger x Tropsicle, Sense grew out a few different phenos of this plant before settling on one that had an exceptionally strong spiced quality in the taste and aroma. Given their proximity to San Francisco, the rename Orange Chai sounds more apropos. Breaking down the lineage into longhand, the equation for Orange Chai is (Han Solo Burger x Tangimal), bred with ((Sunset Sherbert x Animal Cookies) x (Tropicanna Cookies F2 x Peanut Butter Soufflé)).
Considering that Han Solo Burger and Tangimal both have Cookie in their history, you can begin to see the pattern weld of all that Tangie and Cookie folded on top of each other like layers of doughy, citric steel — all quenched in a bath of sorbet and soufflé. The resulting creation is something just a little different and far more complex.
Like we were saying, Orange Chai really got its name from the aroma. Freshly zested tangerine peel rests surprisingly calm next to an earthiness that, one minute, gives a cologne-like spice on the back end and, the next, more of an earthy cocoa throughout. There were moments I swore I got hints of the chocolate oranges you get during the holidays.
A patterned blanket of light green with olive flecks, these thick, sharply angular buds are rife with trichomes and wild orange hairs. Bowl-sized pieces easily break off the stem and will be positively cemented to your fingers if you try to break it down without a grinder. The flavor is a mixture of sweet orange and tangerine (fun fact: in the fruit world, they call that a tangor). Past that thick blanket of Tangie terps, discerning smokers will catch the Cookies’ crumb trail in the way the exhale hits an earthy, creamy note at the salivary glands.
Sense warned us that this could be a bit of a creeper strain, so we waited a minute before smoking more… and they were right. The pleasant but still cerebral onset lured us into thinking another round would be even better, but the next thing we knew, this turned that upbeat cerebral to a happy brain fog and then went to work tenderizing our muscles into a relaxed and non-functioning state. It is just as easy to smoke this strain and fix up the house as it is to throw on a movie and take an afternoon nap — so plan accordingly before you take that fourth bong rip of Orange Chai.
I honestly believe this team is growing some of the best weed on the California retail market, and I’m always blown away by how consistently sticky and loud their flower is. Even if you aren’t a big fan of orange terps, the spicy, sweet flavor, mixed with the relaxed, peaceful high makes this some classy day weed.
sensegrown.com | @sensecc | ziplockseeds.com | @ziplockseeds
This article was originally published in the March 2025 issue of California Leaf.
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