Strain Integrity

According to Leafly, ” Northern Lights stands among the most famous strains of all time, a pure indica cherished for its resinous buds, fast flowering, and resilience during growth. Itself a descendant of indigenous Afghani and Thai landrace strains, Northern Lights has given rise to famous hybrids like Shiva Skunk and Super Silver Haze. Rumor has it that Northern Lights first sprouted near Seattle, Washington, but was propagated out of Holland after 1985 at what is now Sensi Seeds.

Pungently sweet, spicy aromas radiate from the crystal-coated buds, which sometimes reveal themselves in hues of purple. Northern Lights’ psychoactive effects settle in firmly throughout the body, relaxing muscles and pacifying the mind in dreamy euphoria. Comfortable laziness allows patients to relieve pain and sleeplessness, while its mellow contentment roots out depression and stress. ”

And the way Hexo describes Tsunami, ” When you want to talk about something that is massive and all-encompassing, you call it a tsunami. At HEXO, we named our very high THC dried flower Tsunami for that very reason. ”

Hexo, you really need to improve your product description.

Northern Lights with an Indica twist

THC content was 19.36%.   Tested was 0.26 grams.

At the start of the session, we noted the smoke was a heavier variety.  There’s some flavour and it is not not harsh.  The effects are immediate and grows as the session progress.   It begins with a head effect as you feel lightness of mind but you can also feel the effects strengthening over the first ten minutes.  There is euphoria and uplift emotionally.  By the ten minute mark the high establishes itself in a meaningful presence.  It is all very sativa like and the effects are all encompassing.  We are ready to head out and party.

While the Tsunami effects are very enjoyable, it is not debilitating.  At the half hour mark, the take off has leveled to to a cruising altitude of medium intensity for the next hour.  We can imagine at 24% THC levels, this strain would be debilitating in the most pleasant way.  This Tsunami batch is just below 20% THC.  There is ample energy in mind and body.  There is some focus but it is not crystal clear and not a strong point for this Tsunami, compared to Hexo’s Kali Mist, which is a better strain strain to weaponize for productive work.  This is more of a party strain not a productive work strain.  Any physical activity would pair nicely with Tsunami.

Beyond the first hour, the strain effects begin to turn.  The sativa effects ebb away into an Indica land of muscle relaxation and your mind slows and chills.  If you are at a party, you would probably be sitting on a couch relaxed and quiet.  The indica presence grows as you approach the two hour mark.   Lying in bed and drifting off to a relaxing sleep is the best thing to do at the end.  Or, you can light up a DT81 or Grail’s Rockstar and save the party.

Conclusion

Tsunami (Northern Lights) by Hexo

This is a strain that doesn’t stand out in our inventory but we seem to gravitate towards it for some unknown reason.  By the time we were reviewing Tsunami, we had barely enough for the review.  We were using Tsunami a bit too much in the late evenings.  This is one of the more expensive strain from Hexo.

In comparison to Broken Coast’s Galiano,  another variant of Northern Lights with a Haze twist, is comparing a sativa to a sativa with an Indica twist.  Tsunami ends heavily reflecting it’s stronger Indica linage.  Overall, the Galiano effects are more intense and vibrant at $48 for 3.5 grams in our review.  But, Galiano is currently a lighter more airy sativa high with the THC content dropping dramatically in the recent 6 months.

THC: 19.36%

Quality: 7.8

Intensity: 7.7

Duration: 8.0

Total: 7.8

Cost: $42.50 for 3.5 grams

On an investment note, Hexo joins Aphria as two major public LPs with a strong product portfolio that is competitive with the grey market.  These two LPs are delivering grey market quality and pricing in a legal environment where the markup to end consumer is 90%.   Reduce the government levies and you have producers that can blow away grey market in a blink of an eye.

Hexo, at approximately 10X price to sales (P/S), the most generous valuation metric, is still a bit expensive but should remain on the radar.  Keep an eye on their next quarterly results sometime in January 2020 as the Hexo brand is gaining traction as the vendor of choice base on volume and pricing.

About the Up acquisition to represent Hexo’s high end?  We have tried Up’s GEMS but did not write a review.  In fact, we have almost 3 grams out of 3.5 grams purchased.  We were not impressed but we didn’t publish because they are private and they have local rock star sponsorship so nothing good can come out of saying something negative about them.   It is no surprise they had to be acquired.  And, that’s Hexo’s high end?  Yikes …  Hexo, you are way better than Up.