A Golden State - Manzanita - 3.5g

Manzanita is the red-barked shrub that grows on every dry hillside in Northern California, tough and glossy and impossible to kill, and A Golden State named its Jack Herer cross after it because the buds come in the same way: frosted green, threaded with orange hairs, and built for the long haul. The jar smells like lime peel and pine needles. The high is the clear, chatty, get-something-done kind that Jack Herer fans keep coming back for, minus the edge that some of the racier sativas carry.

Quick Specs

Genetics & Lineage

A Golden State describes Manzanita as a distinguished Jack Herer cross, and the brand's retail listings fill in the second parent as XJ-13. That makes it Jack Herer on both sides, since XJ-13 is itself Jack Herer x G13 Haze, and Jack Herer traces back to Haze crossed with a Northern Lights and Shiva Skunk hybrid. In other words, this is a Haze-family sativa stacked on a Haze-family sativa, which is why the lime and pine profile is so clean. AGS breeds in house and credits no outside breeder. Weedmaps tags the listing a hybrid; the brand, its retail partners and the reviewers all call it a sativa, and the effects side with the brand.

Flavor & Aroma

Lime peel is the star, and that is a direct quote from a Stuff Stoners Like review. AGS's own copy says sharp lime peel with fresh hints of pine, and the jar is exactly that: a bright, almost bitter citrus rind up front and a green, resinous pine under it. The Highest Critic tasted mint, pine and citrus earthiness, and the mint is real, a cool herbal edge on the inhale that reads like a lemon-verbena cleaner in the best possible sense. The exhale is earthier and a little spicy. Weedmaps' flavor tags are earthy, lime, pine and spicy-herbal. AGS does not publish a terpene panel for Manzanita the way it does for some strains, so check the jar label for this batch. Both parents lean terpinolene, which fits the piney-citrus, slightly floral nose.

Effects

Cerebral, euphoric, talkative, social. That is the list from a reviewer who called it an all-day smoke, and it matches AGS's description of a euphoric, body-warming high that feeds creativity and focus. The Stuff Stoners Like review put it as "Invigorating. Energizing. Focused," and then, importantly, "Euphoric, yet grounded." The grounded part is the difference between Manzanita and a lot of Haze-family strains: The Highest Critic noted specifically that it "doesn't have that anxiety feeling." Onset is five to fifteen minutes, the head lift holds for a couple of hours, and the body warmth is light enough that you stay upright. Weedmaps' effect tags are creative, euphoric, focused, happy, relaxed and uplifted. Side effects are the usual dry mouth and dry eyes; no hands-on reviewer reported anything worse. It tests a shade lower than AGS's other sativas, which for a daytime strain is a feature.

Best For

• Workdays from home: focus without the fidget
• Talking: dinner with friends, a phone call you have been putting off
• A morning walk through Washington Square Park with a coffee: built for daylight
• Sativa-curious smokers: the calmest Haze-family strain in the case
• Lime people: the citrus is rind, not candy

Not for: bedtime, or anyone chasing a heavy body high.

Pairings

Food: ceviche, a lime-heavy taco, or a slice of key lime pie from the Columbus Ave bakeries. Music: Vampire Weekend, Talking Heads, anything bright and talky. Activity: a browse through City Lights Bookstore, a bike along the Embarcadero, cleaning the apartment with the windows open. Pairs with A Golden State's Alpine Sunrise if you want two AGS sativas, one lime and pine, one petrol and chocolate.

Cultivation

A Golden State was founded in 2018 or 2019 (the brand and the press disagree by a few months) in Redding, Shasta County, by Nishant Reddy, Rob "Bear" Masterson and Simmon Saraf. The flower is grown indoors in coco medium under a mix of LED and HPS light, watered with Mount Shasta snowmelt that the brand says arrives cold enough to need almost no filtration, and hand-trimmed. AGS runs on hydroelectric power plus carbon offsets and calls itself carbon-neutral. All genetics are proprietary, bred from an in-house seed library with roughly eighty-five strains in rotation and a naming habit that pulls from the Shasta landscape: Shasta Bloom, Celestial Peak, Palo Cedro, Manzanita. The eighth ships in a powder-coated white glass jar with a gold mark inside a printed carton, one color per strain. Manzanita is one of the brand's newer releases, first reviewed in late 2024.

Dosing

New smoker: two puffs and a ten-minute wait. It is gentler than most sativas but it is still AGS indoor.

Regular smoker: a half-gram joint is an afternoon. It does not creep much.

Heavy tolerance: an all-day strain in the original sense: small doses, repeated, without losing the thread.

Storage

Jar closed, cool, dark. The lime top notes go first in heat. If a jar arrives dry, a small humidity pack fixes it overnight.

Similar Strains

• A Golden State Alpine Sunrise 3.5g: the brand's other daytime sativa, fuel and chocolate instead of lime
• A Golden State Celestial Peak 3.5g: bright citrus sativa from the same garden
• UpNorth NYC Diesel 3.5g: grapefruit and fuel with a similar chatty lift
• A Golden State Empanadas Diez 3.5g: the dessert indica when the day is done

FAQ

Is Manzanita indica or sativa? A sativa, per A Golden State and its retail partners. Clear, social and focused, with a light body warmth.

What does Manzanita taste like? Lime peel and pine, with a cool minty edge on the inhale and an earthy, lightly spicy exhale.

What is the lineage? A Jack Herer cross. AGS's retail listings give the second parent as XJ-13, which is itself a Jack Herer cross.

How strong is Manzanita? Strong, though it tests a little under AGS's other sativas. Two puffs is a working dose.

Does it cause anxiety? Reviewers specifically say it does not, which is unusual for a Haze-family sativa.

Can I smoke it during the day? That is exactly what it is for. Morning through late afternoon.

Why is it called Manzanita? After the native California shrub with red bark and glossy leaves. AGS names its strains after the Mount Shasta landscape it grows beneath.

How long does it last? Two to three hours, with the talkative phase in the first hour.

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