Featured Flower
Featured Flower: Tangerine Dream
Learn more about your favourite cannabis flower or dive into something new as we explore the history, growing methods and unique properties of our most popular strains. In this feature, we’re spotlighting Tangerine Dream — a citrusy sativa-dominant strain with eye-catching orange-flecked buds.
At a Glance
Aroma and Taste: Citrusy
Common Dominant Terpenes: Pinene, Myrcene, Beta-Caryophyllene, Limonene, Guaiol
Average THC: Medium to High Average CBD: Little to none
What Is Tangerine Dream?
To answer this question and more, we turned to the experts at Canna Farms and San Rafael ’71 (grown by Aurora Cannabis).
Tangerine Dream is a sativa-dominant strain that smells and tastes like its namesake fruit.
History
Tangerine Dream was first created as a cross between three strains: G13, Afghani and Neville’s A5 Haze.
As with other strains, there’s no universal definition of Tangerine Dream; each Licensed Producer refines its strain to draw out the characteristics that matter most to its customers.
Aurora Cannabis says its San Rafael ’71 Tangerine Dream is “one of a kind” and “a signature piece” of the company’s portfolio. Andrew Hand, Aurora Cannabis’ director of cultivar development, along with Aurora’s plant science team, starts by screening thousands of seeds, examining qualities like potency and terpenes.
“At each stage, clones of plants are evaluated through analytical testing and are personally smelled by Andrew. The nose knows!” says a San Rafael ’71 spokesperson. “The cream of the crop moves on to larger tests for validation, where their best genetic traits are validated during replication.”
Characteristics
While you’re not likely to confuse one of its buds for an actual tangerine, Tangerine Dream features bright orange pistils, in addition to a noticeably fruity aroma. It’s a sativa-dominant strain, with medium to high levels of THC and little to no CBD.
While there are many similarities among all varieties of Tangerine Dream, there are also subtle but important differences between those offered by Canna Farms and San Rafael ’71.
In addition to citrus, Canna Farms’ Tangerine Dream has notes of hops and pepper, thanks to its dominant terpenes — myrcene, limonene, caryophyllene, pinene and humulene. Its buds are coated in white trichomes and those orange pistils. Canna Farms’ Tangerine Dream has a high amount of THC and little to no CBD.
Over at Aurora, San Rafael ’71’s Tangerine Dream owes its fruity aroma to a terpene profile of beta-myrcene, alpha-pinene, trans-caryophyllene, beta-pinene and guaiol. The buds have deep purple hues and large swollen calyxes (the part of the plant that has the most cannabinoids), and are accented by orange pistil hairs. The San Rafael ’71 Tangerine Dream has mid-range THC levels and little to no CBD.
Growing
In the grow room, Tangerine Dream stands out with its large, heavy colas and colourful buds. It has a relatively short growing time of 60 to 65 days. The plants need a lot of room to grow; they can get very tall (between 100 and 120 centimetres indoors) and require extra support for those hefty buds.
San Rafael ’71’s Tangerine Dream is grown indoors in Ontario and then hand-selected, dry-trimmed and hang-dried. To produce its Tangerine Dream vape cartridges and disposable vapes, the company uses a proprietary CO2 extraction process to extract a full-spectrum pure cannabis resin that preserves the Tangerine Dream flower’s original cannabinoids and terpenes.
Canna Farms’ Tangerine Dream is grown indoors in British Columbia using a soilless growing medium, and intense LED and high-pressure sodium (a system commonly used in cannabis production) lighting. It’s then processed in small batches. The resulting product has terpene-rich buds and a distinct sweet but dank aroma.
What is a strain?
To understand what a cannabis strain is, think of it like a breed of dog. While all dogs share similar traits, there are distinct differences among breeds (you wouldn’t confuse a Great Dane with a dachshund, for example). When it comes to different cannabis strains, this means one may have a sweet, lemony aroma, while another may boast a pungent, sour, diesel-like scent.
These differences have been fine-tuned by cannabis growers over many generations. Growers will choose two plants with desirable traits and then cross (or breed) those plants together, creating an offspring with a stronger expression of those desirable characteristics. When breeding cannabis plants, growers are often focused on the unique aroma and taste, and the potential THC and CBD content. Just like no two Great Danes are identical, strains can vary from lot to lot and grower to grower.
