Cannabis strains that made Cookies

When it comes to cannabis culture, few names resonate today like Cookies. Its genetics have been used to create some of the world's most popular strains today, while also having a major influence on Californian lifestyle. With large blue buildings appearing wherever possible, It would seem that Cookies is the best example of what a global cannabis giant will look like in the future.

Cookies was founded by Berner and Jigga around 2011-2012. Long before they achieved national fame, Cookies was just a family breeders and growers of the Bay Area, the San Francisco Bay Area, dedicated to a very special plant: the Original Girl Scout Cookies, now known as GSC.

But the story neither began nor ended with GSC. Here are the varieties that have made Cookies famous.

1998-2000s: F1 Durban Poison

Jigga's infatuation with cannabis began in his childhood home around 1995. His mother was a grower. He would flip through High Times magazines and be captivated by articles about the different types of cannabis growing around the world. A light bulb went on in his head and Jigga immediately knew what he was meant to do in life.

Around 1998, when he graduated from high school and moved into a house in San Francisco with a childhood friend, he immediately started growing. OG Kush, Purple Urkle, and F1 Durban Poison were the first.

«Even before I started growing, I was lucky to be surrounded by the right plants. We had Kush before OG. And then Urkel, that was the ‘Purple’. Before Granddaddy, it was Urkel.»

More importantly, Jigga was growing his famous F1 Durban Poison, which was to become the genetic backbone of the various GSC varieties.

2003-2004: Cherry Pie

In the early 2000s, Jigga worked for the San Francisco Department of Public Health, where he was sent to middle and high schools to give presentations on the HIV/AIDS epidemic, often with a sick person living with the virus.

At the same time, he was supplying them with cannabis to help relieve their symptoms.

«I was like that revolutionary kid who was anti-government, we were our own little clinic. I worked with about 40-50 people with terminal illnesses, and at the time, I was in charge of providing them with weed. That was my job. The feedback I received on a daily basis was, «Jai, you don't know how much your herb helps me every day with my appetite, side effects or medication.».

La Cherry Pie ended up being one of those strains that changed patients« lives. »Looking back, it helped me gain some basis for seeing the health benefits and respect for the plant. Because people were smoking these strains we'd created and going out of their way to tell us how much they'd helped them."

2005-2007: Girl Scout Cookies

IF the Girl Scout Cookies began to make a name for itself in the early 2010s, it was already being worked on in the mid-2000s.

«It was a time when you always had to have the next thing on because everyone had the Purps. We knew we wanted something else, and that's really how Cookies and Cherry Pie were born. Cookies was one of those things that came out of our house on Noriega and 25th Avenue in [...The Sunset District]. We knew right away. The smell was unique, the heads were the brightest and densest, and the flavor never wavered.»

On how the name came about, Jigga explained that 'after we'd made our new varieties, we liked to sit down and do a taste test with each other. Girl Scout Cookies was one of them, and we'd sit there and try to come up with a name for it. We'd pass them around and [the name] just came to me. It's »Thin Mint Cookies«, man. It had that Earl Grey, pine smell, and it stuck. From there, we made the transition, and Bern literally handed it out to everyone.»

Describing GSC's impact on cannabis cultivation at the time, Jigga recalls, «Once it came out, Cookies immediately got street approval. There was this movement around her, and she got into other people's gardens. She swept the streets. It became the basis for so many other varieties and crosses.»

2010-2012: Sherbert

It was in the 2010s that GSC cemented its place on the Mount Rushmore of cannabis strains. Just after it came its many descendants.

One of GSC's most famous children is the Sherbert, cultivated by Mario Guzman, aka M. Sherbinski, under Jai's mentorship. Jai introduced a unique Burmese Kush pollen into Mario's garden and the resulting plants were the ancestors of what would one day become Sherbert.

2014-2017: Gelato

When it comes to some of the most influential cultivars in the weed world, the Gelato is definitely one of the GOATs. His descendants absolutely dominate today's cannabis culture.

The story goes that Gelato's pollination took place in a Sacramento garden that Jai and Sherbinski shared. The hunt for phenotypes took place in San Francisco. From Gelato came the famous phenotypes Gelato #25, Gelato #33, Gelato #41, Gelato #43 and Gelato #45. Commenting on its impact, Jai said, «Culturally, Gelato has helped define the taste, smell and experience of cannabis, from the street to corporate America.»

2018-2020 : Runtz

In recent years, no single variety has been more popular in terms of name, search volume and cultural influence than the Runtz. Although we all associate it directly with Cookies, it actually comes from the Runtz/Cookie Fam crew and »Cookies Boyz» Nick and Ray.

About the fruity cross between Gelato and Zkittlez, I didn't reproduce the Runtz,» says Jigga, »but my genetics created this unique and powerful variety. It's the Gelato strain that's responsible for its distinctive look and flavor, with its inimitable creamy, carbonated taste."

2021: Gary Payton

In 2021, Cookies is known worldwide for more strains than you can name off the top of your head. One that definitely stands out is Gary Payton, bred by Cookie Fam member Kenny Powers of Powerzzzup.

It was launched in 2019 and has exploded in popularity over the past two years. «Again, I can't claim to have physically made this cross, but fortunately, some of the varieties I worked on are responsible for this wonderful creation. It started with the original Kush variety we called Florida Kush combined with the YLife variety, a Cherry Pie x GSC. Now we have one of the most powerful and colorful varieties to date.»