The Tannins
The Alchemist’s Heady Topper is one of the quintessential craft beverages of Vermont. It is an 8% American Double IPA that is “meant to saturate your senses with the flavors and aromas of Cannabis.” If you don’t heed the label and drink from a glass, it pours a deep golden, hazy orange beverage with moderate carbonation, capped with a rich and persistent foam chapeau.
Supported by the peachy notes of the yeast, the nose is full of dank, piney resin and a slightly tropical citrus. The flavor follows in kind with a palate-saturating, resinous pine, tangerine and musky mango flavors, with a light peppery spice. The medium-light malt backbone provides some balance, but this flavor profile is all about the hops. There is a modest bitterness that lingers, and the 8% ABV becomes more apparent mid-palate and in the finish.
The Terpenes
The Birdman G Puff is a Gage Green cross of Grape Stomper x Joseph OG. The buds have a meticulously tight trim, with clusters of burnt orange hairs scattered about. Caked in trichomes, the shimmering density frosts out the deep green and purple hues of the flower, which become more obvious when you crack into the buds. The nose has a hoppy, woodsy foundation with lavender and a touch of vanilla that makes berry notes seem dusted in powdered sugar. I can see where the nose may evoke some memories of fruity, sugary cereal, as those sweet purple berry aromas really come to the forefront as you break down the flowers.
A real nice dry and cure on this sample, the flowers are springy yet dense, and they crumble nicely without disintegrating into dust. The texture of the smoke is soft and smooth, with the woodsy pine needle, hops and peppery spice flavors coming to the forefront upon ignition and through the exhale.
G Puff is a great choice for your daily driver, fly-in-any-weather kind of toke. The onset of effects is quickly apparent, but G Puff has no intention of keeping you from enjoying your day however you choose. It will elevate you to a creative and motivated headspace with a warm, comfortable body high.
The Pairing
Paired together, the medium malt body of the Heady plays nicely with the vanilla and lavender notes of the flower. They further resonate on the tongue with dank, hoppy resin and woodsy humulene and pinene terps. The warming body high and 8% alcohol act as a comfortable blanket that won’t slide off your shoulders as you head off on your next adventure or the snack drawer. The lavender berry notes of the G Puff add a fresh counterpoint to the assertively dank, resinous pine and mango citrus profile of the Heady.
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